Introduction
I served with the Durham Rescue Mission. Their mission is to help those in need in hopes of shepherding them to become well-rounded, self-sufficient members of society. More specifically, they do this by helping them identify job opportunities to work to finding and affording stable housing. In addition, they also provide an addiction recovery program to help rehabilitate individuals struggling with substance abuse. Therefore, the social problems that the Durham Rescue Mission addresses are unemployment, unstable housing, and addiction. Addressing these issues is important to better society, as well as, provide stability by producing functional society members.
I chose to serve with the Durham Rescue Mission for personal reasons. Several years ago, my uncle had a moped accident which left him slightly mentally impaired; he was left homeless with nowhere to go. My mother, his sister, helped him seek shelter at the Durham Rescue Mission for several months, which allowed him to regain financial stability to then move out on his own. His time at the shelter was a blessing to not only him, but also my family; therefore, I chose to give back to those who made an impact on both mine and my family’s life.
While serving at the Durham Rescue Mission, I worked at one of their thrift store locations. Tasks included racking and sorting clothing as well as maintaining the aesthetics of the racks on the store’s main floor. My service with the organization will contribute to my personal and academic goals. Personally, my time spent serving at the store was fulfilling and rewarding because a goal that I have had for my life is to give back to the community by using my talents. I have a talent and passion for organizing, so given the opportunity to sort clothing was rewarding. It was rewarding because I both helped the organization which in return directly serves the community as well as feeling a sense of accomplishment for completing task. Academically, my goals were contributed to by fulfilling a requirement for an assignment. In return, it will aid in a rich reflection on social problems because I was able to encounter individuals that are a part of the program. Overall, my service was a rewarding experience.
Durham Rescue Mission’s Framework
Identifying the framework of an organization plays an important role in understanding its sociological implications. The structure of the Durham Rescue Mission is hierarchical. There are six departments within the organization including administration, accounting, purchasing, IT and food services, development and volunteer, maintenance, the men’s division, and the women’s division. Within each department there are designated directors and managers. Specifically, within each thrift store a manager is designated per shift to oversee both the volunteers and residents working. The managers work alongside the volunteers and residents by primarily working at the checkout; they also oversee that the workers both sign in and out at the end of each shift. Even though the thrift stores are a structured hierarchical, the managers also work cooperatively to ensure that it is operating efficiently.
Social institutions are interdependent; therefore, they all depend upon each other. Every organization is interdependent with at least one other social institution. For example, the Durham Rescue Mission is primarily interdependent with the social institution of Work and Economy. Given the mission of the organization they are striving to rehabilitate and reintegrate individuals by helping them find jobs. In doing so, they are producing more stable and productive members of society. Ultimately, these individuals contribute to decreasing unemployment rates and stabilizing the economy.
Knowing that the Durham Rescue Mission is interdependent with the social institution of Work and Economy might impact how the organization focuses on the social problems of unemployment, unstable housing, and addiction. With its interdependence with Work and Economy in mind, the Durham Rescue Mission might consider addressing unemployment by helping individuals reintegrate into the workforce. By allowing them to work in their thrift stores without pay, they are helping them gain experience with work ethic and drive. Also, they might consider addressing unstable housing with the solution of helping individuals find a stable job to help them work towards living independently. Finally, they might look at addressing the social problem of addiction by providing an addiction recovery program that also helps the individuals find a job to stay occupied. Overall, assessing the potential impact of the interdependence of an organization with a social institution is important in recognizing and understanding their operational approaches.
Scholarly Connection
Desmond and Gershenson (2016) rationalize the correlation between housing stability with employment stability. More specifically, they investigate the correlation between involuntary housing loss and involuntary job loss noting, “Given the affordable housing crisis, many more families are in arrears than actually are evicted” (Desmond 2012b as cited in Desmond and Gershenson 2016: 49). In other words, the majority of those losing their homes and being forced to move “are not solely the result of the tenants’ behavior” (Desmond and Gershenson 2016: 49). Instead, it is because of the inability to pay rent on time which can happen very easily among the working poor. According to Desmond and Gershenson (2016), all it takes to fall behind on rent is “a reduction in work hours” or “car repairs” because many of the working poor require more than half of their income to afford housing (P. 49). “Forced removal has been linked to homelessness and material hardship (Burt 2001; Desmond and Kimbro 2015 as cited in Desmond and Gershenson 2016: 49) as well as substandard housing and increased residential instability” (Desmond, Gershenson, and Kiviat 2015 as cited in Desmond and Gershenson 2016: 49). This means that the impact of being removed from one’s housing results in financial difficulties, housing instability, and possibly homelessness. Desmond and Gershenson (2016) “propose that eviction temporarily diminishes the ability of many low-wage workers to perform at their jobs” (P. 49). To understand their stance, Desmond and Gershenson (2016) provide important contextual information such as low-wage workers working conditions as well as the longevity of housing displacement. It is important to understand that many of the working poor do not receive paid time off, their schedules beforehand, or security from being let go (Desmond and Gershenson 2016). During the transition period after losing their housing, many do not have time to work while looking for new housing (Desmond and Gershenson 2016). Also, Desmond and Gershenson (2016) explain that the stress of housing instability can affect performance at work. Either of the two preceding circumstances can result in job loss. “In the worst cases,” according to Burt (2001), “forced moves lead to homelessness, the dissolution of families, and the loss of possessions” (Desmond and Gershenson 2016: 50). In others words, housing instability can lead to major consequences such as homelessness, job loss, the loss of material possessions, as well as possibly separating a family.
Their research strengthens my understanding of the interrelated social problems of unstable housing and unemployment. Specifically, they explain the correlation between housing loss and job loss among low-wage workers. Before reading this article, I believed for the most part that unemployment led to unstable housing, but I did not consider the difficulties of paying for rent per se could lead to unemployment. One who does not use their sociological imagination might not be aware of the difficulties in transitioning or even the circumstance of involuntary house loss. The relationship is better understood once reminded to understand the context of the conditions that low-wage workers are under. Overall, the article’s utility to my service-learning project is to further my knowledge of the social problems. The overall implications of the findings within the article is that housing instability leads to employment instability.
Reflection
My expectation of serving at the Durham Rescue Mission was to simply rack and sort clothing. Even though that was the reality of my service, I was also able to interact with some of the residents. Therefore, my experience reflected my expectations generally. In addition, I was given the opportunity to encounter the attitudes of the residents which I had not originally expected.
By serving, it helped strengthen my understanding of the social issues that the Durham Rescue Mission addresses. It did this by allowing me to have firsthand experience with those being affected by the social issues of unstable housing, unemployment, and/or addiction. In times of struggle and adversity, many people become discouraged, stressed, depressed, bitter, and/or angry. However, the residents that I encountered over a span of several days did not appear to be any of the preceding characteristics. Those that I encountered were very cheerful and appreciative. For example, one man sung and whistled cheerfully as well as interacted with customers while racking clothing. In passing, several men expressed their gratitude for me being there by acknowledging the work that I had done. By these encounters, it made me realize that many of the residents are determined and grateful amid difficulties. In finding a job or overcoming addiction, those two qualities are essential. I might apply this new understanding towards other social issues by examining the attitudes of those effected. Overall, my service represented praxis which is actively applying ideas learned. It helped me better understand ideas from lecture in Sociology by witnessing them. Specifically, it strengthened my knowledge about the individual level of society through experiencing interactions among the residents.
Not only did serving benefit the Durham Rescue Mission and the community, but it also benefitted me by helping me recognize my place in society and culture. Since I am considered privileged, my role is to give back to the community by volunteering to address social problems. In respect to culture, my place is to help redefine the meaning and value or lack of associated with those struggling with unstable housing, unemployment, and/or addiction.
Ultimately, serving allowed me the opportunity to learn more about the significance of volunteer work. There is almost always a need that can be fulfilled within non-profit organizations. I learned that helping in anyway is greatly valued and appreciated. In culture, the individuals who reside at the Durham Rescue Mission are generally valued as lesser than those who per se “have their life together.” However, this may be true within culture I learned how individuals strive to overcome it and redefine it through their actions and demeanor. This is important to me because it shows me that the impact of the Durham Rescue Mission and their services are making an impact in many lives.
Future Work
To better address the social problems addressed by the Durham Rescue Mission, things need to change at the individual, cultural, and institutional level. At the individual level, I believe that the social problems can be addressed more efficiently if individuals become more involved through volunteering. A real difference can occur when the privileged become involved by helping the oppressed. Many times, the privileged become complacent and naïve about the reality of the oppressed. Therefore, I believe that if an attitude change occurs then society can become unified through joining forces to improve the issues of unemployment, addiction, and unstable housing.
At the cultural level, I believe that change must occur specifically within cultural knowledge, norms, and ideologies. First, I believe that a major issue is knowledge. Many fail to recognize the actuality of the social problems that exist. Therefore, I believe that if society becomes more culturally knowledgeable through institutions raising awareness then the problems will be more sufficiently addressed at the individual level. To many, specifically the privileged, it is expected that if one does not get an education or is addicted that they will experience unemployment and unstable housing. It has become a norm that if either of the preceding apply to someone then they are helpless and undeserving which relates to the next cultural component that needs to change. A widely accepted, hegemonic ideology is that if one works hard enough they can achieve anything. Relating to that idea, many believe that the homeless who are unemployed and/or addicted are in that state because they simply did not work hard enough. Based on that frame of mind, they feel that they are undeserving of their help because they presume that they had an equal opportunity. For this reason, I believe that if the norms and hegemonic ideology are reconstructed then the social problems can be better addressed.
At the institutional level, changes in the social institutions of Education and Work and Economy could drastically impact how the social problems of unemployment and unstable housing are addressed. If the economy experiences prosperity, then more jobs will be available. The more jobs available in return will decrease the unemployment rate which relates to unstable housing. Due to institutional interdependency, which is the dependence of institutions upon each other, Work and Economy are dependent with Education. A latent or indirect function of education is debt. Therefore, if education is made more affordable then more people would not only be financially stable upon graduating, but I also believe that more people would attend college. In result, there would be a decrease in the number of people holding minimum wage jobs for a living such as fast-food restaurants or retail. With the shift in a more educated society, more temporary positions would be available for those looking to re-enter the workforce to gain stability.