About This Project - by Jill Kronstadt, Associate Professor, English

In Fall 2011, at Montgomery College's Germantown campus, my Basic Writing II class had a theme of homelessness and community engagement. As part of this project, we read Jeannette Walls' memoir The Glass Castle; volunteered for service learning project related to homelessness in Montgomery County, Maryland; and wrote essays that connected our reading and service learning.

This fall, with the help of Germantown's Service Learning Coordinator, Kris Borcherding, our class volunteered for service projects that would help shed light on the memoir. Most of the class participated in Montgomery County's first-ever Homeless Resource Day, with a few other students volunteering to tutor children in math, serve Thanksgiving dinner to families in poverty, or bag nonperishable foods for kids who would otherwise go hungry over the weekends.

On October 19, 2011, Montgomery County bussed homeless people from shelters and encampments to a central location in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Students who volunteered at the Homeless Resource Day guided these homeless guests through a maze of medical, dental, mental health, personal care, and social services that had gathered in one location for one-stop access to resources. The day was a huge success, with MC students earning particular kudos for their dedication, enthusiasm, and generosity.

The essays that follow are based on the reading and volunteering we completed during the semester and were written, revised, and edited entirely by the students. Not all the students elected to have their essays published on this website, but the ones that did show growth in both writing and awareness of the issue of homelessness.

Enjoy!

Jill Kronstadt
Associate Professor, English
Montgomery College
Germantown, MD



Saturday, December 10, 2011

Useless Resource Day by Kristina Marsh

The dentist at Homeless Resource Day was extremely friendly to the clients. Her perfect, sparkly teeth smiled at my clients yellow stained chipped mouth. Julie watched intensely as the dentist examined her grimy mouth. Although Homeless Resource Day was a resourceful day it didn’t offer full time help. If Welch had a Homeless Resource Day, things would not change for the Walls. This is because the Walls are unwilling to accept assistance. What would happen if they did attend, though, is that they would get clothing, food assistance, and jobs.
           
If the Walls went to Homeless Resource Day, the first resource they would contemplate getting would be clothes. The family would try and get winter jackets, boots socks, and gloves. Rosemary would then become greedy and grab more clothes then they actually needed. The kids would then be embarrassed by their mother, like when she made them shoplift (111). As a result of this, the children would tell their mother she was being selfish and needed to put the clothes back or they would tell security. Their reaction to this is similar to the time Rosemary was eating chocolate under the covers when the children had no food (174). Unfortunately, this resource would not be beneficial for the family because instead of them getting clothes it would turn into an argument about how the mother is selfish and ungrateful.

If the Walls went to Homeless Resource Day, the second resource they would attempt to get would be food assistance. Rex Walls would then tell the children that they did not need the assistance because he was bringing home enough food for their survival. However, the kids spent most of their time at school digging through trash cans to get food because they were not getting any at home (173).  Jeannette then would stand up and defend the fact that they really needed food assistance because they had none at home and tell her father he was a useless drunk. As a result of this Rex would then beat Jeannette in front of all the volunteers and the other homeless people. This is just like the time Rex beat Jeannette at their house for talking back to Rosemary (220). Instead of this resource being beneficial for the family it would result in Rex Walls getting kicked out and Jeannette being furious with the family.           

If the Walls went to Homeless Resource Day, the third resource they would aspire to get would be jobs. Rosemary would look into getting a job as a teacher to help her family financially. Unfortunately if she did get the job she would stop going. Just like in the book, Jeannette, Brian, and Lori would begin to do her work for her (74). As a result of this the kids grow to resent their mother because she would be unwilling to sacrifice her dreams as an artist to support her family. This is similar to the time Rosemary picked her art work over watching her own children when they were younger (3). The children would then decide nothing could help their family or motivate their mother or father and all four children would then leave for New York earlier than they did in the book.  Overall, Homeless Resource Day would separate the family and they would grow apart from each other.

The Walls children would really enjoy the opportunity to get the resources at Homeless Resource Day. However none of the resources would have any effect on the family’s lifestyle. Once the clothes got old, the food ran out, and the parents lost their jobs, the kids would return to their same poor life. In the end the children would leave for New York just like they did in the book. Homeless Resource Day would unfortunately have no effect on the Walls family.

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