The Region is as diverse in its problems as it is in its population. You do not have to wander too far to see the poverty that is plaguing some of the largest metropolitan areas in “the 219.” My placement is in one the cities that has been, by and large, forgotten by the rest of the Region and left to its own limited resources to rebuild itself. The progress that the city of Gary makes can seem slow but it is truly amazing to see the good that is coming from the organizations and citizens within the city that refuse to give up on each other. I’m proud to say that the Urban League of Northwest Indiana is one of those organizations.

During the second half of my internship, I noticed that many people began to call in for rental and/or utility assistance. Unfortunately, the ULNWI does not have the capacity to help with these specific problems, but we are able to refer people to other organizations that can. It is extremely sobering to realize that something as basic and necessary as shelter, electricity, and water are not readily available to so many people. Poverty is something that we all know exists, but until you meet the people that are living in the conditions or find yourself in that situation yourself, you don’t really “get it.” This is not to say that I completely or even half-way “get it”; there is no amount of schooling or volunteering could ever make me understand what it is like to live in abject poverty. I can only speak on things as I see and understand them through the lenses of privilege that I have.

In the midst of receiving phone calls about housing assistance, we had our monthly handing out of food vouchers. One of the local churches gives the ULNWI ten vouchers per month to give to people who sign up. To put into perspective as to how great the need is for food, if someone were to call in to receive a voucher, the earliest they would be able to receive one would be mid-September. This list is made up of just people who know that we have the capability to give out the vouchers. In June, I went to a grant writing workshop and one of the organizations that was also in attendance noted that they feed about 100 children every Sunday through the soup kitchen they run. Between the two churches, over 400 people are fed per month. And that is just in one city. I cannot imagine how much hunger there is in the other corners of the Region, in my own, more privileged but by no means upper-class, community of Merrillville. Do we really know what is going on with our neighbor?

For people that are in immediate need of food and cannot receive a voucher, we are able to refer them to other organizations throughout Lake and Porter counties. That makes the uncomfortableness of denying food to “The Eleventh” person somewhat less biting. But then you wonder if they have the means to get to the other organizations to receive the food that may be available to them. It is an overwhelming issue that people who are removed from the situation can sometimes diminish. If there was any doubt as to whether or not hunger is an issue in Northwest Indiana, here is the proof.

Even fours years later, the ULNWI is still working to rebuild the US and African American community through job prep services.

As mentioned in my other blog post, the ULNWI  provides career services on Wednesdays and Thursdays and I have been able to help people look for and prepare for work. This has been one of the best things I was assigned to do, hands down. I love having the opportunity to filter my passion for helping impoverished communities and the African American community into a program that directly, positively, affects people. I love learning about people, their stories, their struggles, and their goals. The optimism they have for their future, despite the myriad of obstacles they are facing. The grit they have for being able to apply for job after job even if many of them do not result in unemployment. The amount of work and effort people put into their professional development, from making resumes, practicing interviewing, or simply learning how to use a computer, reaffirms my belief that no one wants to live in poverty and that people do desire to make themselves self-sufficient, but it takes the efforts of those who have been able to “make it” to rise out of impoverished conditions. If the ULNWI did not respond to the needs of the citizens of the Region and did not open an employment clinic, I am not sure what other resources our clients would have. If I find myself having career problems, I can fall back on my university’s career center and a couple professional connections. What other option does everyone else have?

I have been fortunate enough to learn many skills during my internship at the ULNWI. I have learned more minute things, like how to make Excel less annoying and practical things like using my training in academic writing for professional writing. I think the most important things I have learned this summer are the issues of my community. I am going to graduate school in the fall and my focus has always been on the needs of communities of color living in poverty and I hoped for a placement at the ULNWI because of the exposure to these problems I would receive. My hopes were met and exceeded. When I finish school, I want to spend some part of my career improving the conditions of people living within the Region and this summer affirmed that desire. I see so much potential in the natural resources and people of the Region. With proper care, we could be the envy of the Midwest. But in order for that to happen, we cannot ignore the problems of our neighbors. We cannot hope that things will one day change. There must be a conscious effort made to make the Region reach its full potential. Working at the ULNWI has shown me that those efforts have started. Those efforts are creating the progress this area so desperately needs. I am proud of the service that I have done this summer and I am very excited to see in what capacity I can help during and after graduate school.