Vanesah Roberts

4/24/23

Justice Project Paper

At the beginning of the semester, my Senior Seminar class students were asked to create

a Justice Project that would help benefit the community. The first idea for the selected project

was a game of dodgeball that would bring awareness about deforestation. There were also

conversations about turning this into a clothing drive for the local shelters. However, this project

was shut down due to inconsistencies, and the progression of the idea needed to be faster and

moving forward.

We then had Amanda DeWitt come to our class to try and help us develop a quick Justice

Project that would be fast and help the community. She presented the course with a project given

to her by a former student who needed help with a project she was working on. The project was

based on the idea that helping the older generation will benefit their lives and health. This project

required background checks, driving records, and child abuse background checks. There was an

extensive period for some of the documents to be cleared. However, this could have been better

for the person we were helping. I emailed all of my clearances to the person so that they could

give me a virtual interview to give me the go-ahead to start the project. Three days after I sent

the person my clearances, I got an email saying that the Justice Project had been shut down due

to the time for the clearances and the time we had left until the end of the year. This was very

stressful because this was the second time the ideas were thrown out for this project. Finally, a

fellow student Katelyn Ross had a project she was doing through Project HOPE. This event is
held annually and is a two-part event for the students of the social work department. This was my

last shot to get a project, so I jumped on it and decided it would be my best option.

This project was a two-part event. The first part was an hour-long meeting with Dan

Carney from Union Mission Homeless Shelter in Latrobe, PA, on April 11, 2023. He came to

Seton Hill University to discuss the life of poverty and what it is like to be homeless. He talked

about a sense of community and how it helps people grow and heal. He then described the

cookout and what would happen when we arrived. We would eat, hang out and talk to the men of

the shelter, and take a tour of the shelter. This meeting spoke to my heart and helped me open my

mind to a different perspective on homelessness.

On April 22, 2023, I went to the Union Mission Homeless Shelter in Latrobe, PA, and

participated in the events presented to us. I met a gentleman named Lionel, and he had just

gotten to the shelter the day prior. He told us his story about his life and his children. He had told

us that he was recently in jail and out on bail because of fights he had not caused. He lost his

sight when he was 18 from a glass bottle and could only regain his sight from a bump to the back

of his head and surgery. He told us he used to live in Pittsburgh, but people would jump him

frequently, and it was unsafe for him to live there anymore. He talked about his children and how

he had two sons; one was a "Blood," and the other was a "Crypt." They both died from

gang-related deaths. Meeting Lionel was an experience I will never forget; through his stories, I

felt intense emotion and saw a small piece of his life through his eyes.

The whole group then went to take a tour of the shelter and see what life was like for the

men of the shelter day to day. This part made me feel uncomfortable because we were invading

the men's space and treating them like zoo animals. However, four men were in a room, and each

had little space. They had a small dining hall, kitchen, and laundry room. There is a curfew of 10
PM, and they are only required to do one thing while they are there: stay sober. The men are only

allowed to stay there for 60 days and are encouraged to get jobs and turn their lives around.

There is an extension if they need to stay longer. The shelter plans to expand its help to women

and families, so they are building another building next door to encourage people to come and

get help.

The work this shelter does is beautiful, and they have many successes. I have never

visited a shelter before, and I had a different perspective on them before I visited this one. The

men there are just trying to get help and get back on their feet. I would want to visit the shelter

again and help them in any way I could.