What is this for?

By Maria Clara Oliveira

To do good in the community is help and be compassionate for a community. It is not to make a short-term change, but make a change that will impact their lives. To do good, one has to build relationships, that relationship needs to be build on trust, kindness, and respect. By having these main factors in a relationships it will positively promote a healthy mutual growth that is shared between the individuals in the relationship. To do good is to understand what is happening in the community, recognize it, and make that change true. One promote good by making that change as that change will allow people to grow and learn from it.

Research plays a ole in community engagement because it is the part where one realizes that there needs to be a change in that certain situation in their community and they are researching to make that change come into reality. By researching it also shows that a person cares about that community in which they are interested in and they are taking the time to figure out different ways to help benefit or solve any problems in that community which displays compassion and therefore is a community engagement. The opportunities for progress is recognizing the needs and causing an impact in that community. An opportunity for error could be keeping biases or prejudice against that community and taking information from second-hand reports and not actually someone from the community who has experiences it.

My understanding of a community has shifted greatly. Before I used to think that I had to make a huge impact in the community to make it consider a “change”. However, the more I spend time with my community the more I realized that the real impact comes from the little things and the consideration one has for that community. There are many “little” impact that one can do that can cause a big change that are usually unreported. Something as simple as being respectful and asking “how are you?” can go along way. Building a relationship and trying my best to help my community of interest as much as I could is small however, as many say, it was needed.

So far from what I have noticed and from what I have heard, many changes come from what is happening to our current government and depends on what is currently happening in the world. One of the most common reasons that cause homelessness in Central Florida is the current rising home prices that keep increasing as each goes by. Another reason could also be because of the environment that one grows up in.  It is unfortunately almost impossible to get rid of homeless not on in Central 
Florida but the whole world. There are changes made but these changes don’t think long-term, which doesn’t stop the problem, at least for a while. The further work that needs to be done comes from our leaders who need to invest more in these issues and put more long-term care in the system or try to improve one’s living all at once.

This picture is of a frequent donator and who has a very recognizable face.