Volunteers for the Hungry & the Homeless

Not everyone wants to get involved with community organizations and do volunteer work in the name of charity whereas I always look for opportunities to extend a helping hand and make a difference in the lives of those who are rather a less fortunate. Family members and friends say I like to work for free. They think I rather use my skills, time and energy in the right place so it brings me some extra cash. From my end, I never regret investing time to serve the hungry and the helpless, making those extra efforts toward creating mass awareness and advocating for a social change while empowering them to achieve a better living or at least help them dream for a secure future ahead of them. In fact, volunteering gives me an extra vibe of positive energy in the body and soul. There is nothing as pleasant as letting someone know that you will be there for him no matter what.

I used to be a frequent volunteer at a homeless breakfast Center in the downtown area of Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas. Of course, going to work was a priority, but there was a sense of enthusiasm on those mornings when I was scheduled to arrange, organize and serve breakfast to the hungry and homeless at the Center. Like other volunteers, I was always ready to embrace the unexpected, and welcome the unknown faces at the Center. There were days when the number of visitors would outnumber the stack of bread and cases of eggs, but we always ensured everyone got a warm cup of coffee. We were always motivated and team-spirit kept us going. Those who consider themselves a little fortunate, and professionals from all walks of life gathered every morning to serve a cause that they believe in and work diligently.

Later the group moved to serve breakfast under the Broadway bridge near Riverfront Park since downtown neighborhoods and businesses complained about the congregation of the homeless people coming together in the morning. Right now there is no fixed place to serve breakfast to these people. Under this uncertainty our long-standing volunteers fell apart. The recent addition of a Homeless Day Resource Center, as part of the Ten Year Plan to end chronic homelessness, within the River City Ministries building in North Little Rock gave some solace to both the homeless and those serving them including volunteers and their patrons. This facility is aimed at providing services like food, clothing, and healthcare apart from helping them out with housing and employment. But until there is a separate and suitable permanent home for the Day Resource Center, confusion regarding service delivery to the homeless will exist. Mayor Mark Stodola recently said that the City is still in the look out for an alternative site for this Resource Center but failed in its efforts as many possible sites have been objected to by neighborhood associations.

The sad reality is that with this floating group of population, the volunteers who serve them are also floating. There are days when I am able to join them but there are times that I cannot guess where they actually are. I hope there will be a day when the City of Little Rock will understand and determine the need for starting up a full-fledged Breakfast Center for the hungry and homeless population of the city and end the dilemma of juggling for these homeless people before they begin their journey on the streets of the city which has unfortunately failed to ensure public housing for them, let alone a confirmed bed in the city operated shelters day in and day out. Meanwhile, though some people may support prohibiting organizations feeding the homeless in the parks or under the bridge, the volunteers will continue to chase them from one place to another to serve both food and smile.

Reefa Mahboob, M.P.A.

Under the Broadway Bridge

I am glad that the recent recession is making national media talk about poverty and child homelessness in America.  But surprisingly enough, in Arkansas local media has almost nothing to report on homeless children who have nowhere to live. Not only is there a lack of permanent housing for children, but there is also no statewide campaign to make concerted efforts to stop more families from becoming homeless.  The deepening recession means more home foreclosures and job losses.

Since last year, I have been thinking seriously about homeless children. Over the years, rarely did I see any homeless children on the streets until that September night when we gathered under the Broadway Bridge which connects the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock to sleep out with the homeless, an event organized by the Arkansas Homeless Coalition. I have never seen such a huge homeless population at one time. I was more shocked to see homeless children in the crowd. Their eyes were blank, their attitude completely emotionless. However, there was a little bit of a smile left on their faces. I still don’t know what that means, but maybe that’s the last ray of hope that they want to preserve for the future which enables them to live for another day on the street. For a second, I took pity on them, but they didn’t care about anything happening around them. To be a part of this event, to experience an evening with homeless advocates and community volunteers had no special meaning to them. They were probably aware that it is only a temporary showcase of love and affection and tomorrow they will be forgotten as others did in some other times.

Today,  it is hard to ignore what is happening to homeless children who are on the frontline of the nation’s economic crisis. Arkansas has a history of ignoring its homeless population and that is probably why Little Rock once became the “meanest” city[i] in the nation for its treatment toward the homeless. More recently, America’s Youngest Outcasts[ii] report card cited Arkansas’ poor role in addressing the issue of child poverty and homeless children living on the streets or living at a temporary location with their families. There is no such program that would make ending child homelessness a statewide campaign in Arkansas. The shelters that house families and their children are only temporary when permanent housing are mostly needed to give homeless children stability in life. With our economy, creating more affordable supportive housing, emergency shelters and outreach programs for the homeless are required for solutions. To this end, our representatives should learn to work together with local governments, law enforcement officials, homeless service providers and advocates to prevent and end child homelessness.

Like yours and mine, these homeless children are also a part of our future. They deserve to go to school and seek every opportunity in life that America gives hope for. In this recession, if government could provide stimulus package money to Wall Street elites, then why not give a little extra to these children to ensure a possible way out of this vicious cycle of homelessness. Something needs to be done now. Otherwise, a homeless child today will become a homeless adult tomorrow and we, the fortunate, will blame ourselves for this dark episode of our society.

After that night, I never saw those children again under the Broadway Bridge or anywhere else.  Maybe they have moved to a different city or to another welfare state. I am not sure about any progress in their journey, but I wish them all the best of everything.  Most of all, I wish for them a place called home.

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[i] National Coalition for the Homeless, 2004

[ii] National Center on Family Homelessness, 2009

Reefa Mahboob, M.P.A.

Trust factor and the Obama Administration

President Barack Obama’s last State of the Union address triggered my senses to contemplate whether I can continue to believe in what and how American government operates. I discovered a newfound difficulty in putting my trust in his agenda. Even more disturbing was the fact that he sounded like his predecessor. Like me, other civil libertarians must now be fuming over his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. By declaring so, President Obama not just mirrored the unpopular homeland security and defense policies of President George W. Bush, but made me question whether his government actually listens to the public. My expectations for a transparent government fall short not in that he sharply slams his critics for his “humble” policies without considering anyone for constructive criticism. The truth is that the ingenuity of my hope towards Obamaism is now challenged. I am eagerly waiting to see how Obama Administration decides to fix and reform, if they do it at all, the controversial PATRIOT Act at the end of this month.

In February 2010, many of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act are likely to sunset and they need to be reauthorized. There are legal challenges and many Federal courts have ruled out those provisions as unconstitutional. In Congress a few tried to take the opportunity to revise and set new limits in accordance with the JUSTICE Act. Even though the newly proposed JUSTICE Act indicate substantial changes to several sections of the PATRIOT Act, it is not clear whether the Obama Administration will include some of those proposed reforms put forth by the JUSTICE Act advocates who care very much about civil liberties.  If it does, then the government will be required to conduct surveillance but within a framework of accountability and transparency.

The government is also accountable when it unnecessarily dishonors citizen’s privacy rights. It is sad but true that the checks and balances of democracy are fading away slowly and trust is posing itself as a new challenge for the public to dwell on when they still hope for transparent and neutral policy making from their leaders. What the government lacks is a commitment to the greater society. To the surprise of many of today’s government figures that political control trumps trust and the more the public is skeptical about government regulations and policy implementation, the more the modern America will seek governing without government.  In reality, democracy should prevail the way the founding fathers hoped for and so progressive politicians must learn to nurture public trust if they try to lead by example. To this end, I demand open decision making and unbiased policy choices when revising the expiring PATRIOT Act provisions. In no way those abusive sunsetting provisions may become permanent. Both the House and the Senate leaders must do justice by initiating amendments required to combat terrorism while protecting rights and liberties of American citizens.

Honestly, I do not want President Obama to fail. I just want him to listen to the public and to listen to what they have to say. This will make the job much easier without leading him into sharp controversy.

Reefa Mahboob, M.P.A.

Let’s not Forget the Haitian Children

There is no single day that I don’t wish to go to earthquake-hit Haiti and serve those homeless and helpless orphan children who are living an impoverish life under an open sky with an almost empty stomach and seeking emotional aid from strangers as they strive to overcome the dilemma of living alone. Haiti is now crowded with international aid agencies, emergency hospitals, doctors, nurses and a world of people who are volunteering their valuable time to reach out to those who are left with nothing but a shocking memory of the past. This past is almost a month old, but recovering from it seems like a life-long process for those who are greatly affected by the devastating earthquake. They now get startled by a leaf spiraling down from a tree. These victims of nature, especially the orphan children need to be nurtured with a long-term recovery plan. Only a family and home, can heal the psyche of these Haitian children.

Kudos to this high-tech media age which presents real stories of these vulnerable children and inspire us to behave like a responsible global citizen to rebuild its future on the rubble of its past. But what will happen to these children when the media leaves, when Anderson Cooper leaves?  Will Haitian children fade away from our memory?

No questions asked to anyone entering and exiting the country in this chaotic moment when relief efforts are at its peak hour. In other words, it is almost impossible to discern who is truly interested in adopting the orphans and who the child traffickers are. UNICEF reports indicated that children have been missing from hospitals and community centers and it gets worse with the news when the Idaho group was found involved in taking  a busload of children out to the Dominican Republic illegally. Groups like UNICEF and Save the Children put a halt in the adoption process to prevent possible smuggling of children out of the country. Even an independent committee like Joint Council of International Children services is formed to create a standard procedure so those who really want to adopt are bound by legal obligation. Probably this is the right time to identify the loopholes of the whole adoption process before it goes out of control threatening the well-being of the innocents.

Before the earthquake, there were about 380,000 children living in orphanages across Haiti, and now the number is close to 600,000. No one is sure as to what will happen to these children. Not all of them will have a home, not everyone will be lucky to receive parental love and motherly care once again. The question of legality, a major concern, to save the children from the hands of traffickers requires most attention, but more important is to find a right match for these children. I am not advocating for adoption biases based on races. What I am saying is that these children are already orphans and unless authority undertakes a detailed understanding of the new adopter’s capacity to take over this innocent’s life there is every possibility for them to become orphans for the second time.  It is better to remain in the waiting list for them than to be cheated with love.

Fear of child traffickers and requirements like background checks may take a whole lot of time now than expected. Caught in this waiting dilemma, the authority must not deny these children from opportunities like education. Time heals everything and it will heal the intolerable pains of being orphans too. But refusing their rights of education and economic opportunities would be a grave mistake for the ones who are now responsible to determine the fate of these children. Be it a year or two, or more than that, the international community must not turn their back from these children. Putting bandages or digging graves is not the end of this show. It is like a movement to help these children by developing a long-term recovery plan that will take account of economic, emotional, and educational aspects of each orphan’s well-being.  Media might take off, but human spirit must not fade away from Port-au-Prince.

Reefa Mahboob, M.P.A

Safety or Privacy?

It happened again. Our privacy and freedom of rights are at stake. As per the Government imposed air security measures, there will be installation of full-body scanners at major U.S. airports. Public opinion is divided. Whether safety or privacy comes first is a question that many are asking now. To safeguard the nation is of utmost importance when the country is in war against the world’s terrorists, but trading in privacy for ensuring that safety is not desired at all. What Government is saying and doing is unclear when it proposed for body-scanners, add-ons to the total safety security package available to air travelers these days. No wonder distrust in Government is at its peak when double standards continue to define Washington’s actions.

Indeed, a false sense of security is looming large everywhere. Security experts explained that body scanners could not have rightly detected explosive device used in the attempted terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound plane.  However, Washington is not hesitant to push for a controversial security measure which pose tremendous threats to personal privacy and freedom of rights. History shows that surrendering our liberties out of fear and panic ends up restricting our freedoms. There is no guarantee body scanners will make us any extra safer if that is the goal of investing millions of dollars in these expensive machines. Moreover, no one is clear about where this money is coming from. At a time of recession, this kind of drastic and dramatic security measure is odd.

In the absence of a detailed plan (whether scanned photos are to be stored, how it will be stored, and for how long, etc.),  there is always the danger of misuse and abuse of images. During this sensitive moment, Government needs to enact procedures that pose least threat to our civil liberties and are also proven to be effective. At least that is what we hoped for when the new Administration came to power a year ago. We cannot repeat this error of breaching our freedom of rights. Safety cannot win over privacy and if it does it will be unconstitutional and violation of American values.

By: Reefa Mahboob