Article by Kylie Cota

Fight for What’s Right

When humankind is faced with a challenging decision, they are faced with two reactions. Fight or flight. This can be applied to different situations that aren’t just a life and death situation, but also bigger, and even more threatening issues. An example of this is homelessness and poverty. About 150 million people are homeless worldwide, and 689 million are in poverty. According to Bay Area Economy, “the Bay Area’s homeless crisis ranks among the worst in the United States. The Bay Area has the third largest population of people experiencing homelessness.” Many people in this day and age are fortunate enough to be blessed with a roof over their heads, 3 meals a day, have warm clothes and a plethora of opportunities. Unfortunately, a lot of these people don’t recognize what they have as a blessing, and take it for granted instead.

Some people even look down on others who have less than them, and think of them as lazy or irresponsible. People don’t recognize poverty and homelessness as a big enough problem for them to acknowledge it, and many others just don’t care. However, some people see a need in their community, and decide to fight for them, and do something about it.

Alice Cota saw the need in her community, and decided to do something about it. She started volunteering 6 years ago after finding an ad on a Facebook group for a project called Compassion Week. She learned of an organization called Hope’s Corner, a “soup kitchen” that served hot meals to anyone in need. She began volunteering weekly and worked her way to become the head of volunteers. Everything had a method and process of running things, and all was extremely organized until 2020. When the pandemic hit, chaos ensued. Many volunteers began to cancel, and they were down to little to no people.

What used to be 25-35 people working one 2 hour shift, came down to 10-15 per team, for the full 4 hour shifts instead of the original 2 hour shifts. “We also had to change our operations. We used to be a sit down dining service indoors inside the church we operate out of; since that was no longer allowed, we had to change to a takeout or to go meal service. So operationally, we are now just offering meals on a takeout to go basis” (Cota). This was a huge change that was difficult to get used to, and in the beginning, was an extremely slow process.

There weren’t many volunteers left, so the whole process from start to end took longer. It was also a greater responsibility, as volunteers would have to stay the full 4-5 hour shift rather than be switched out.

Fortunately, there were enough people who recognized how important it was to keep Hope’s Corner running, especially through the pandemic to help those in need. The takeout service originally began in the outdoor hall beside the church, but after a few months moved fully outside to the back parking lot to accommodate for space and to Hope’s Corner speed up the process.

Guests would line up on the sidewalk and one by one walk up and sign in with their name, and ask for a number of meals. Once they received it, they would keep walking and be able to get coffee or drinks at the next station over. They would all stand 6ft apart, and volunteers would double-mask and wear face shields to protect themselves. Gradually, the operation began to run much smoother, as many people began to get the hang of things. Besides a few small bumps here and there, Hope’s Corner has been running smoothly throughout the whole pandemic, without a single volunteer catching any case of Covid-19. Alice has high hopes for her future at Hope’s Corner, stating, “I hope to be able to continue volunteering at Hope’s corner for many more years to come. So I hope to be able to help them grow stronger as an organization and perhaps even to see what other services we can offer in the future.”

“What’s really important in volunteering and sticking to it is finding something that you are interested in and passionate about.”

She has many goals for her remaining time there, hoping to help hundreds of more people and continue to serve her community to the best of her abilities. “When I finally leave Hope’s corner, I hope to be able to leave them with a strong base of volunteers, not just regular volunteers who come and serve every Saturday. But volunteers who are able to give back and become board members and to help with the administrative aspects of Hope’s Corner to keep it going” (Cota). She says that she doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon, as she looks forward to what she can do as the pandemic gradually fades away. When asked if she had any advice for people looking into volunteering, she stated, “what’s really important in volunteering and sticking to it is finding something that you are interested in and passionate about, then it’s very easy to continue doing volunteer work.” freestyleacademy.rocks | Freestyle Academy Spring 2021 Vol # | 5

Happy Guest One of our guests, receiving his lunch bag and hot meal after Halloween!

Bags are often decorated by teenagers and children who want to help out but can’t directly volunteer.

Decorated Bags Another decorated bag being given to one of our guests.

These bags may seem like a small gesture to some, but brighten many guests’ days.

Many have joked about hanging them up and some have kept them for their artwork!

Girl Power!

Our volunteers working together inside the kitchen to prepare the hot meals we serve outdoors. They work in an assembly line fashion for the best efficiency. Pictured from left to right: Mary, Alice, Christine, Judy

About me Kylie Cota is a first year Design student at Freestyle Academy, and loves to create digital art and magazines using Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. In her free time she volunteers at Hope’s Corner and has won multiple awards for volunteering. She is part of the MVHS Fashion Club, and works as the club secretary. She hopes to pursue a degree in marine biology or environmental sciences, and aspires to travel the world with her studies.