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ANGELS IN MOTION

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Angels in Motion Kimberle Watt Diversity and Oppression Reflection Paper Rutgers University December 2021

Angels in Motion

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Working in substance abuse treatment at Enlightened Solutions I have convinced myself that I am actively doing the work needed to be done within my community every day. Going through the ups and downs of our client’s (and recently my coworker’s) highs, relapses, and too many for comfort overdose and death. Throughout my years in this work I have allowed myself to take a back seat on both community support. I have run groups to create “hope notes” for blessing bags for a local program, Angels in Motion, however outside of my working hours I stopped committing to the practice of service and disconnected with the purpose of the work we do. Angels in Motion (AIM) is a program based in Philadelphia, PA with a subgroup in Atlantic City, NJ. This program goes out and literally meets people who are experiencing homelessness where they are at in the side streets and alley ways of Atlantic City and under the boardwalk seeking shelter. Angels in Motions hopes to treat every person we come in contact with the same dignity and respect we would want on daily basis. This is done through conversation and providing blessing bags to those we encounter. These blessing bags include food, snacks, water, clothing, hygiene products, notes of hope, and resource information for when they are ready to get help. Not only are we providing basic necessities, but we are also spreading hope. By stopping and talking to those we hope to serve we are able to work with them directly in real time on what barriers they feel they face within their recovery and work together to see how we can overcome them and get them where they need to be. Angels in Motion shows those who are simultaneously suffering homelessness and substance abuse disorder that they are seen and heard. When those we serve are willing, we can work to help reintegrate them into society where they can get the resources they need to return to their lives or build a better one

Angels in Motion

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complete with support. Angels in Motion works against social and economic injustices for those we serve. Realizing that I needing to be active and not passive in the work I am doing I decided to attempt the next phase in Angels in Motion. Making a blessing bag is easy, going out in Atlantic City and helping to distribute these bags was unchartered territory for me. By going out and actively helping eliminate the oppressive structural barriers of social goods and rights right in my back door I was able to reignite the passion in the work that I do. Nothing compares to the spark in someone’s eye when I make them feel seen for what I can tell is the first time in a long time or maybe ever. While fulfilling it was also very heartbreaking to see so many people who truly believe they are undeserving of help, undeserving of respect. Halfway through the day I thought this would be the most challenging thing I would face during the outing. I was proven wrong with a hard punch to the gut when I saw a previous client under the boardwalk a shell of who he was. I knew he didn’t recognize me as I approached him with a blessing bag, until he did. The heartbreak and shame in his eyes as he began to cry is something I do not think I can ever forget and he will never remember. Him asking for help to get to our detox when I finally went to walk away reinforced the value of being out in the community. If I was not someone he recognized, would he have had the reaction that he did? Luckily, I do not have to find out because I chose to bear witness to his experiences and meet him where he was at physically and mentally. Working to empower those who are or feel unseen or unheard is the premise of the work that we do. Putting a name to nameless and a face to faceless works to rehumanize those who have been dehumanized through oppression. As a Puerto Rican woman who grew up in a low income community I know all to well the burden of having to earn the right to be seen or heard. Empowering those who simultaneously experience homeless and substance use disorder simply

Angels in Motion by seeing them and listening them before giving them resources that they need reminds them of their inherit worth and makes them more apt to use the resources we are able to connect them with. Without being willing to see the things that hurt to see and speak up and against the things that are not right injustices will only continue to thrive. Educating ourselves is a formidable start however taking action is where the magic lies, where the change happens. We must be active in our pursuit of justice for those who are being oppressed in order to ensure that the work we do is able to make an impact for those we are working for. Eliminating the oppressive structural barriers within our society is not going to be easy, and we may not always see a direct effect however the ripple effects of actions can and will be infinite.

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Angels in Motion

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About aim. Angels in Motion. (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, from https://aimangelsinmotion.org/aboutaim/...