Boston, MA
In the month of March, I led a weekend Alternative Break trip to Boston to help with hunger and homelessness. While there, we helped serve food at a local soup kitchen called Rosie’s Place located in 889 Harrison Ave, Boston.
I was fortunate enough to serve and then eat lunch with an individual named Pat. Pat is a homeless woman dealing with two different types of cancer. She was very skinny and unhealthy, but her outlook on life is far better than any I have ever had. When she was telling me about her life, I could not believe how positive she was. She had been molested as a child, beaten, abused, raped, she did a lot of drugs and drank a lot of alcohol. She used to weigh over 300 pounds.
Talking to her that day, she was dangerously underweight, and clean for eight months with a positive outlook on life—I had to ask her why she was so happy.
Contributed Photos/ Daniel Jean: KSC students help serve meals to the homeless at Boston’s soup kitchen “Rosie’s Place.”
Pat told me that she has been blessed by God as she is still alive today. She told me that our group members were angels being sent down to assist her and the fellow patrons of Rosie’s Place.
Being able to interact with the individuals we are helping, and actually getting to see the impact that your service has on the community, is what I believe the Alternative Spring Break program is all about.
Helping the homeless has become something that I am very passionate about, and it is all because of my experiences working with the Alternative Spring Break program.
Jean’s experience occurred during one of the three service trips to Boston the KSC Community service office organized.
Daniel Jean can be contacted at djean@ksc.keene.edu