The Specific Needs of Homeless People

For the majority of my service work, I did work for the Manna House. The Manna House is located in Florence, South Carolina, where I was born, raised and lived until I started attending the Citadel. It is located in a rather poor part of Florence. The Manna House is a place where the homeless, hungry or those just down on their luck can go eat breakfast and/or lunch during the week. People can also apply for emergency assistance, until they can apply for food stamps. This place is important because it offers those homeless and less fortunate people, who might not otherwise get to have a meal every day, a place to sit down and eat. Many of these people cannot support their families and at times cannot even support themselves. The Manna House is there to offer that support by feeding them and giving out canned and/or dry goods. In one of the research studies it states that homeless people are, “individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime resistance.” (Shields, 2010).

The meaning to this is these people usually did not know where they were going to sleep from night to night. With that being said, they would also need to have different ways to get from place to place. I noticed personally that most of them walked to the Manna House, but that some of them rode bicycles, a few drove, and still others were dropped off by someone, likely someone they knew. From being able to go to the Manna House and for those being dropped of by someone, it showed them that they had someone/someplace to rely on. Studies show that being able to rely on someone is good for their mental health and helps keep them from giving up hope. This would eventually allow them to work on trying to do better for themselves, and their families if the have one. Another major thing that I noticed was that there were two different groups of people being served. One of the groups of people appeared very shy and did not really speak that much, even if spoken to. They also did not make much eye contact. All they might attempt to do was nod or shake their head. It is known that many people that become homeless develop mental health issues or visa versa. I believe that is a possibility as to why they did not speak or stick around long after eating to chat with each other. Another research mentioned that its ,”because ofthe challenging behavior of people experiencing homelessness,” (de Veer, Stringer, van Meijel, Verkaik, & & Francke, 2018).

The other group of people was a more outgoing personality of people. This group talked more and expressed how grateful they were when they were being served. Sometimes they would talk about other stuff, such as the weather, my clothes, and the food. These people seemed to be in a more comfortable place, as if they had been there before, or maybe that they understood that this situation they were in was only temporary. The final thing that I noticed is that the staff and regular volunteers at the Manna House understand what is going on in many of their lives and usually put themselves in those people’s shoes when serving them. The staff showing the positive attitudes that they did, serving the meals with a friendly smile and welcoming behavior makes the homeless feel comfortable and makes them feel good about coming back. Some less fortunate people tend to avoid getting help which can eventually lead them into a bigger hole and possibly into trouble, which is not good. The Manna House owner knows this and like the outcome of research they do their best to notice these problems, “They also tried to answer to the specific needs of homeless people.” (Jego,

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