Norfolk teens learn lessons the hard way

By Suzanne Hinman

Anyone driving through Norfolk during a night in late January may have wondered if a large group of homeless people had set up residence on our Village Green.  In fact, a team of Norfolk teenagers was discovering how it might feel to have no place to sleep other than in a cardboard box during a bitter cold winter night.  The ‘homeless village’ was part of the ‘Help-a-Thon,’ an event during which the teens worked all night, painting a mural and making blankets and scarves for the homeless, all to raise funds for their next Work Camp trip.

Despite the cold weather and having to sleep in a cardboard box, Emma Peterson still manages to put on a happy face.

This July will be the fourth trip for this growing group from Norfolk.  Initiated by Erick Olsen, Minister of the Church of Christ, Congregational, the first trip included 11 youths and adults, all members of the church.  Now, the youth group has over 40 members and has expanded to include families from the Immaculate Conception Church as well as those with no specific religious affiliation, but all united in their willingness to give up a week of vacation in order to work in some of the most impoverished parts of our country.

The first two years the group went to rural Appalachia where after a hard day of repairing and renovating houses they could spend the evenings outside, swimming or playing Frisbee.  Last year they went to Philadelphia, where they were so touched by the relationships they formed that they have chosen to go back to  an inner city. This year, they will be sleeping in the basement of a church hall in Washington D.C.  and hoping again to meet the kinds of people whose stories were so moving.

In Philadelphia, one group spent time at a rehabilitation center where they got to know Elliot; “one of the smartest men I’ve ever met,” says Chris Sinclair. Elliot explained that drug addicts can be well-educated college graduates, people with careers and houses and families, until drugs influenced their decisions. The residents told them that they too had once been promising high school students, making honor roll, playing sports and music, full of dreams and plans that were lost with one bad choice.

Another group worked at the ‘Learn to Read’ camp, hoping to improve literacy among the inner city children, many of whom were homeless,  and lived in an area of the city where the streets are littered with broken glass, and overrun with drug dealers.  At the camp they met a counselor named Liz and learned her story:  how she left school in 11th grade, able to speak both English and Spanish, but unable to read or write in either language.  She lost her job and her apartment, and was turned away from a shelter because her oldest son was age 19. She lived on the streets with her three children, rather than risk losing her eldest to a life alone on the streets.   Liz now works at the camp helping other children avoid such a life and is learning to read and write.

The kids spent just a week in Philadelphia, but, as Mary Gollan notes, they learned lessons that will last a lifetime. Meeting people such as Liz and Elliot made the issues of poverty, addiction and homelessness real.  They saw how bad decisions can change lives. “Elliot told us that he knew he had taught us some things, but we also helped him,” says Cody McClave.  Lily Johnston will never forget the goodbye hug she received from seven-year old Justin, “I realized how much I cared for him,” she says, “how much he had changed me and how I had changed him.”

Back in their home town, these young folk have a greater awareness of the injustice of the world and an appreciation for their homes, families and community.  “I realized how lucky I am,” says Stephen Bazzano.  The adults who chaperone the group also notice the impact on the kids and appreciate spending time with such hardworking and compassionate young people.  “If these kids are the future of Norfolk”, says chaperone Holly Williams, “then we are in good hands.”

For more information about the group, or to sponsor one of the youths going to D.C., please contact Erick Olsen at 542-5721.

Photo by Lily Johnston.