Day 05 - Hoping on Hope

Today, we visited an organization called “Hope”, which mainly assisted underprivileged families through housing assistance and a backpack program focused on providing meals to young students in Wythe and Bland counties. On first impression, the administrative space seemed different than the Bland Ministry Center and the Bluefield Union Mission, so I was a bit excited to dive into what Hope had for us since it seemed like they reached a different group of people through various initiatives.

After learning about some of Hope’s history and what it encompassed, we began our mission, “Operation Clean-Up!” Our service for the day was cleaning out a storage that Hope used to store furniture for homes, which I thought was going to be a relatively simple task. Turns out, I could not have been more deluded (in a light, humorous way, of course). In cleaning out the storage, my teammates and I moved several pieces of rain-drenched wood, carried webbed bed frames almost double our size, battled thorns, plucked trash from the mud, cracked away at potholes, warred with weeds, and finally, ate dinner after shedding blood, sweat, and tears...over bugs and spiders. Overall, it seemed like a decent day, and that was because we all learned how to be flexible when it came to designating different tasks and working on different projects - one of the very quintessential aspects of nonprofit and volunteer organizations. We achieved this through listening to one another and being open with everything that we know about dedicating ourselves to a higher vision and achieving goals with efficiency and purpose.

After we cleaned out the storage, we ate dinner as a unit, as a team, and as a family, and we proceeded to finish up packing lunches for younger students through Hope’s backpack program. Interestingly enough, it was a nice change of atmosphere to actually participate in bagging other lunches, and that was because we had the opportunity to collaborate with other members of the community who also participated in volunteering and civic engagement, which gave me a sense of optimism for the community and how they have significant actors of their own willing to do good and achieve change. Although a bit silly to admit, when we leave, there will be others to carry on our work and improve it (which I hope can happen in a sustainable manner, like creating an inventory system for the warehouse), but that is a matter for the future and one that I can actively partake in, having started a relationship with this organization.

After our community service, at the end of the day we reflected on forms of power, privilege, and oppression and what that really looked like in today’s world. In actuality, I was familiar with the concepts, having examined them within American Studies - my major; however, it is always disheartening to see why the world is the way it is and why certain people who have a different race, ethnicity, gender identity, class, sexuality, body, et cetera get treated in an acidic manner. They do not meet the norms of today; and as a person of color, this fact is almost always shoved in my face, time and time again until the fight in me gets a little bit lost. As much as I can become more and more determined to pick out the weeds, it’s always such a struggle.

Fortunately, that very struggle that knocks me down also reminds me that without me, another person can similarly suffer the same problems that I went through, by the same people. Another person can become impacted and think that they’re not good enough because they don’t meet an arbitrary standard. That is why I continue to fight and go on until I can finally say that I made an impact in this world of ours.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring about another day, filled with new challenges and new ways to tackle the things I care about.

Sincerely,
Joel Vazquez