This event was hosted on October 24th, 2020 on National Make a Difference Day. It was a great learning experience where we got to give back to the community and make a difference in the lives of others. We performed projects for a charitable organization Lotus House Women's Shelter.
This day was founded in 1992 when it was a leap year and USA weekend decided that other should use the extra day to make a difference and do something good in their community for those in need. This year, the event was hosted virtually where over 100 of people joined for different projects that were of choice.
Houseless women and female youth are at a heightened risk of sexual assault, human trafficking and violence. There is about 3,528 houseless individuals in Miami-Dade County. Furthermore, there is a high percentage of domestic violence since the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic violence is the second leading cause of houselessness among women and due to this lack of housing, women tend to stay in those abusive relationships.
I also learned about the food insecurities that we face in South Florida and here on campus with Florida International University (FIU) students. South Florida currently has 326 food deserts and there are many individuals who do not have adequate access to receiving food. Those who are more affected by these food insecurities are usually low income families and those who do not have auto transportation to pick up food from the food drives.
This Day of Service was knowledgable and a great learning experience as I did not know about the food insecurities and the food deserts that are located in South Florida. To dedicate our time to helping others, we learned how to make several face masks using a T-Shirt for the Lotus House of Miami. It was rather interesting because I did not know how we would make these face masks, but they turned out great. This is good to know because improvising with things that you have can be very helpful especially if your items are limited. If you are coming from the outside looking into those who are houseless, they do not have the luxuries that we do nor do they have access to many clothing and items. They have to use what they have to make things and that is how they live on a day to day basis.
Lastly, learning about the food shortages helped me see visually the statistics and the amount of foo deserts are located in South Florida. I was very shocked at the numbers. I mostly was shocked to learn that Overtown is a very poor community that is considered as a food desert. The Lotus House has been serving the community and has seen an increase in the amount of individuals who come and need food items. They try to give out food to the community each week since April 2020 where they were giving out 15 bags a day. However, these numbers have skyrocketed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
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