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Running head: MIDNIGHT RUN

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Midnight Run ASL reflection paper Mikaiel Ishaque St John’s University

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Midnight Run ASL reflection paper The Midnight Run was the ASL program that I had participated in. The Midnight Run was a program that was formed in order to combat homelessness in New York City. The Midnight Run is considered to be the most popular service in St John’s University. The mission of the Midnight Run is to provide homeless people food and drinks and to overall understand how these individuals became homeless. Students who participate in the Midnight Run get to talk to a homeless person one on one.One way in which the service fulfill its goals of helping the homeless is by encouraging students to find the homeless people, meaning that students go to the city and try to look in areas where homeless people seek refuge in. When participating in the Midnight you learn about many difficulties that homeless people have to deal with. One of these difficulties is loneliness and isolation due to how lonely many of these homeless men and women are. The goals set out by the Midnight Run are achieved through means of going out of your way and talking to a homeless person. When you talk to that homeless person your perception on what homelessness is and what poverty is, gets changed. Your idea of how many goods you have is that are taken for granted are thrown out the window and you yourself realize how difficult it may be to get a meal. The population that is being served to when participating in the Midnight Run are homeless people. This population is sadly a very large population in New York in fact 1 in every 121 people in New York City are said to be homeless. In addition 1 in every 17 homeless person is said to be visible meaning it is difficult for participants of a program in the Midnight Run to find homeless people. While students may attend to many homeless people during the Midnight Run there are still many other homeless people that are left behind due to them hiding

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somewhere or seeking refuge in a spot that’s students don’t know about. In my opinion I believe the Midnight Run does carry out its mission in helping homeless people and understanding the issue of homelessness as a whole. The point of the mission is to help others and to learn about being a more positive and a more generous person. The main reason as to why the Midnight Run is formed to change your overall view on what homelessness is. A person usually looks down on a homeless person and would most likely think that it is their fault that they (homeless man ) are homeless. While this may be the case it is not always true. Many homeless people become homeless due to many financial and legal reasons that they were unable to break through. Many people become homeless due to losing jobs, homes, businesses, and loved ones. A small situation for many can accumulate and become a large situation; which is what happens to many homeless men and women. When doing the Midnight Run you aren’t just giving a homeless man a sandwich and cookies, you are giving him a friend and a person to talk to. You meet people and you understand that homeless people are in fact just another person who lives in the same city as us. When discussing my experiences that I learned in class to what is in the Midnight Run program one can say that what was learned in class has contributed to the experience found in the Midnight Run program. In class we would discuss about how homelessness occurs and what laws are being passed in order to resolve it. In class we would learn about homelessness and how it is an issue in New York and the factors that cause it such as mental illness, job loss, and losing a loved one. The knowledge that is taken from class is reinforced in the Midnight Run and one can see the harsh reality of what being homeless is. When participating in the Midnight Run, you see at first hand what struggles a person has to go through to live. You realize what is shown in the media and what you physically see first hand are very different.

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The Midnight Run program does in fact contribute to understanding how crime is controlled. In essence when you are providing food and clothes to homeless men and women, you are preventing them from committing crimes such as burglary and theft. When you provide a helping hand towards those who are unfortunate they will have a more positive outlook on how to conduct their lives. The homeless people that are helped out are less prone to committing crimes and are more likely to feel better about themselves. In general helping someone out and being caring towards others can always lead to a more positive outcome. When one participates in the Midnight Run they indirectly end up preventing crime. What I mean by this is that helping those who are homeless you may prevent those homeless people into going to such means as to robbing homes and offices. The Midnight Run helps prevent homeless people from doing such acts like doing drugs due to a college student coming up to him and giving him goods that he needs. This service helps homeless people refrain from committing any crimes and it helps them be a little safer from the harsh world that they live in. The Midnight Run overall helps channel a more positive and safer city due to individuals helping the homeless. In conclusion the Midnight run is a very interesting experience overall. There are many homeless people that get helped through this process. This Midnight Run community service program is an eye opening experience and one can learn a lot from it. The community service can help change ones outlook on life. Your perception on life and what you take for granted gets changed once you meet that one homeless man or woman. You meet many people through this experience and you understand what the true meaning of struggle is. While you may not fully understand what a homeless person goes through physically to live you will certain understand and maybe even relate to what they go through mentally. This program helps you realize what you take for granted such as having a roof over your head, being provided food and water , and

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lastly having brand new and more specifically clean clothes. The Midnight Run can be said to be an eye opening experience and can also be considered to be one of the most amazing learning experiences one can have. I would recommend to anyone and everyone to participate in this type of program. Your outlook on life will change and you will be motivated in some way to be a better person and maybe even give back to these people. To conclude the Midnight Run is a service that every St John’s student should try, because of how much you can learn through the whole entire experience. The experience helps you grow as a person and it makes you realize that you shouldn’t be afraid to lend a helping hand to those who are misfortunate then you are.

References Homelessness & Poverty in New York City. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bowery.org/homelessness/. (n.d.). Retrieved from

MIDNIGHT RUN https://youtu.be/OsokTufNjec.

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