Ethical Applications | serviceproject

ethical applications

Journal Entry #1

Vaguely brainstormed ideas about Civic Learning Project
Minimal Research on homeless shelters within Norfolk

Something that has always been something I want to help with is homelessness in my community. I want to help them and get my community involved at the same time by getting donations that I could take to homeless shelters around town or just one. I haven’t called any of them yet, but I plan to soon. I want to get donations of necessities or small little pleasures that the homeless can’t always get. Here are some of my ideas: food, blankets, sleeping bags, jackets, toys, toothbrushes, etc. If I were to think about this in Ethical terms, you could say that it would be in my best interest to help these people who can’t help themselves, and in turn they could help me. I also want to do it because they are human and I feel the compassion to help them in their time of need. My brainstorming led me to research some possible homeless shelters in or around Norfolk. I’m honestly a little distressed to see how many of them there are. I always knew that homelessness was a problem, especially around Norfolk, but this is overwhelming. The shelters, at this point, have criteria as to who can be housed within their shelters. I understand why this happens, I just believe that it is very sad that they will inevitably have to turn away some people. I’m sure there are many ethical problems, ideas, etc, that can be applied here, but I can’t think of them. Perhaps we will learn something in class that can also be applied to what I am trying to do here. Somethings I need to start working on: e-mail homeless shelters, talk to co-op leaders, think about opening a facebook group/page.

Journal Entry #2

Met with Dr. Wiener
Talked to one of the co-op leaders at my church
Researched some homeless shelters within my community

I talked to Dr. Wiener about my project this week, and I feel confident about my idea now. He thought it would be a good idea to get my church involved, but as I was talking to my mom, there are a lot of co-ops based out of my church, and they have a lot of people who I believe would feel compelled to help. I’m really excited about this project, I feel like it could do a lot of good, in the lives of the homeless, and the community that I hope to get involved. Hopefully the community’s eyes will be open to the real truth that not everything is great in the world. Something that I need to do in the following week: what do the shelters need? How many co-ops can I get to help? When I talked with the leader at one of the co-ops, I began to formulate some plans. Every once in awhile we could have a drop off day at the church and I could pick it up after school. Then one day later in the year, closer to the end of the semester, we could have a day dedicated to packing up bags/boxes of supplies. I actively researched some homeless shelters today. Surprisingly, I found one much quicker that I originally thought I would. It looks to be exactly the right fit for my project. They’re called Union Mission in Norfolk, Virginia. They’re open 365 days a year, and they provide shelter, counseling, three meals a day, clothing, showers, etc. everything that we take for granted. Their website has a phone number that you can call if you have anything to donate. I plan to call them within the next asking them about my project, and if they think that it’s something that we could work out between the both of us. We just recently learned in class about good-will being the only unconditional will. I’m not totally sure if this applies here, because technically, I’m doing this for a credit, therefore making this a means to an end. But hopefully, I will begin doing this project not just because I have to, but because I want some good to come to the lives of the homeless in my community. Separate thought: I began working on my project statement, but then I was unsure of what it needed to include. I will need to ask Dr. Wiener about what he expects in this portion of the project.

Journal Entry #3

Called Union Mission Ministries; no response
E-mailed KEYS; no response

I called the homeless shelter, but have yet to hear back. I did call them on a weekend, so that is probably part of the problem. I also sent an email to one of the co-ops based in my church asking if they would want to help me out with gathering donations. They’re actually a pretty big co-op, probably around 300+ families who are all connected in someway. I’m really hoping that they will be willing to help, and if they’re not, I’m not totally sure what I can do instead. I’ve been thinking about opening up a facebook group to also ask for donations, but I’m worried that that might cause this project to become too big. Of course, if KEYS can’t help, that might be the way to go. Hopefully this is how the collecting will go: 1) I will receive information from the shelter as to what items they can and cannot accept. 2) I will coordinate with KEYS a day where the students can drop-off donations, and I will pick them up that same day. 3) Depending on how many donations we have, maybe this is another way we could get the co-ops involved in helping. They could possibly help me sort through the items. 4) Make sure all the donations are items which the shelter can accept. 5) Take the donations to Union Missions. (Side note: I might need to start collecting boxes). Ethically, as we have been talking about Aristotle, generosity is a virtuous character trait, and collecting donations and donating are generous acts. In this way, I am giving to my “political community”, and therefore bettering my own life while bettering the lives of others. Unlike Mills and his views of only consequences matter, my actions are right in themselves, but are technically wholly selfish, because I am only helping the homeless in order to help myself. Aristotle, on the other hand, believes that I can help them and help myself at the same, which is the view that I prefer to think about, as I do want to give to these people in a selfless way. Even though I am doing this for a credit, I specifically chose this specific project, which allows for the idea that I am doing this for a good cause.

Journal Entry #4

Talked to UMM
Created a list of needs for informational purposes
Created a presentation (and presented) for the kids at the co-op
Emailed KEYS and coordinator of my church’s youth group (had a few back-and-forth convos)
Started collecting donations from around my house

I feel like I’ve gotten a lot done this week, yet there seems to be so much left to do. Or maybe I just feel like I’ve gotten a lot done, because up until this point I haven’t done a lot...Either way, I’m actually super pumped for this project, and I feel like I have a lot of great people who really do want to help, and are going out of their way to help. I talked to the kids at one of the co-ops in my church this past Monday to let them know all about the project, hopefully I can talk to the kids at my old Youth Group soon, too. Depending on how many donations I actually receive, I’m thinking about having a small group get together to organize the donations. I got confirmation from the youth group I was talking with earlier this week. I’m going to be going there this Sunday (19th) to present my project to the youth group, and get the kids aware of the homelessness that is going on right in their community. I’ll let them know when they can drop off their donations, and I’ll make sure that I’m there to collect them. Also, I’m planning on collecting donations from the co-op this coming Monday (20th). I feel confident that I should have a good amount of donations by the end of this project. It’s probably prudent that I set-up some kind of timeline of when to do certain aspects of my project, because I’m really feeling the time crunch now that Spring Break is over. I also want to revise my project statement and start on the website that are supposed to create. At the same time, I feel like I don’t have enough time to finish this project, and on the other hand I feel like I won’t hit the thirty hour mark.

Journal Entry #5

Pitched idea to Youth Group
Corresponded with KEYS again
Wrote an email to everyone in the youth group

I just re-read the syllabus for this service project, and I’m a little stressed as to how much I have left to do. I have got to create my own timetable/timeline so that I can get this project finished. I also need it to judge whether I am going to even hit thirty hours, which hopefully I will. Now, back to what I actually have done for this project. KEYS finally emailed me back, but they decided that this was not something they can help with. I kinda figured that it would be hard to get them on board, so their denial did not come as a surprise. I did get my former youth group involved with my plan, though, which is super exciting. I pitched the idea to them last night (Sunday, March 19th) and I got some positive responses! It’s a group of middle/high school kids, that don’t always think about some of the problems that others face day to day. Like I planned, this service project is kind of two-fold. Not only do I get to help the Union Mission Ministries by collecting donations, but I am making the problem of homelessness known to those in my community. Hopefully these young kids will remember and learn from this experience, thus creating a better “political community”. Which of course, ties into an ethical standpoint by utilizing Aristotle’s view of ethics as he believes that happiness, i.e., the happiness of all is what matters the most. I have already received a few donations from those around me, mostly clothes, but some other items like food or money donations. I just read back through some of my previous journal entries and honestly I feel like I’ve been making a slow, but steady, pace to finishing this project, but now that we’re in March, I feel like I really need to get going. I also realized that my journal entries are kind of light on the structured questions that are supposed to be included, so that is unfortunate. I really need to start thinking about this project more, may do some research, and think of some problems/questions that I need to be thinking about critically.

Journal Entry #6

Created a project schedule
Research on ethical ideas about homelessness
Revised project statement
Received three bags of donations from a family at the co-op

I feel much better now that I have a schedule in which to adhere to if I am going to finish my project by the deadline. On the other hand, I am still a tad worried about the time requirement that I have to meet for this project. I estimated the time it would take me for each thing that I have left to do, and I am short on my hours. Even so, I believe that I will be able to succeed in this assignment. Also, now that I have a plan, I am once again super excited for my project. I have also received a few donations from various people this week, and I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the people that I have talked to, which is really exciting. I also did a little bit of research through the ODU library for ethical articles about homelessness. I found one article that offered some good insights about my project and about homelessness in general (http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/science/article/pii/S001671850600100X). For one, they brought up a point about emergency services. Technically, the research put into the article was about homelessness in England, but it still applies over here in the states. While they did not go into depth, as far as I could tell, it still got me thinking about how those who are homeless can receive urgent medical services. They do not always have the resources to receive help in dire circumstances. In turn, this got me thinking about if they do make it to the hospital or whatever, they have no way to get treatment. One, because in most cases they wouldn’t have the money, and two, there is a stereotype in our society about the homeless, and they considered to be of a lesser class. This also relates back to what we talked about in class last Wednesday, which is of course, according to Singer, that there is no reason for this to be the case. For example, in a very dire circumstance, maybe a kid is homeless, and they cannot receive a proper education. Obviously, he would not be as smart as other kids his age. Does that mean that him satisfying his own interest is any less important than the interests of a kid who received a proper education? Most people would say no, but still, the stereotype of homeless people remains. Which leads me to another question. Will we, as humans, ever get past these stereotypes? Will we ever be content to treat people equally? And as much as I would like the answer to these questions, I’m afraid that I will never know the answer. To change the subject a little, I want to continue with what else I have done this week. I revised my project statement, it has more detail, steps that I have taken, and steps that I plan to take. Last, I need to remember to email Dr. Wiener about some questions that I have. 1. When he says a reflection on two events, either campus of local, what does he mean/what does he expect. 2. I feel like my journals a lacking structured questions, mostly because I don’t totally know what he means by that. Is it questions I have about my project, questions about ethical dilemmas, or is it a combination of things? Something I also need to do is start taking pictures of what I have done. I didn’t get any pictures at the youth group because I’m not sure about the policy of pictures in a place like that. I also need to get a few pictures of the donations that I receive. I thinking that the website will have a timeline-esque series of pictures about my collection of donations.

Journal Entry #7

Wrote an email to Dr. Wiener about some questions I had
Wrote another email to youth group/co-ops reminding them they could bring in their donations
Collected donations from youth group (first round) and co-op (second round)
Research about homelessness statistics and ethical theories

I got a few things done this week. I’m actually pretty surprised by the amount of donations that I’ve gotten. I thought I wouldn’t get this many, and I still have a few collection days left. I sent a few emails this week, in order to get some things cleared up about my project. I decided to do some more research about some scholarly articles about homelessness and some statistics about homelessness in the United States. According to: http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/snapshot_of_homelessness: the homeless problem in America is at about 549,928, as of January, 2016. This is down 15-18% (97,330-112,110 people) since 2007. This is actually pretty amazing when you think about it. That’s a lot of people who aren’t classified as being homeless anymore. And while there are still many people who still live in desolation, it is good to see that the numbers are going down, as opposed to up. I still have a lot to do ahead of me, and hopefully I get it all done. It seems I may have over-estimated just how much time it would take me to complete all the tasks I have to get done so as to complete my project with the proper time requirements. I should also start thinking about the website that I have to create. That’s probably the part of the project that stresses me out the most at this point.

Journal Entry #8

Picked up last rounds of donations
Started my website
Collected things from around my house

I looked up that website that Dr. Wiener gave to us that featured many other different service projects done by other kids. A good many of them had links to the website that they created for their project, and it gave me a good sense of what I needed to do. There was a very structured format to every website, i.e. the same tabs and general layout. I don’t know if it was mandatory, or if they just found that that was the best way to get all of their information into a website. I asked through my facebook page what website builder was best, and many of them suggested wix.com. I already created a template on a piece of paper to gather my ideas, because I think better that way. I plan to have tabs like intro, home, what I accomplished, etc. I also received the last of the donations and right now everything is piled in my garage. I am absolutely floored by how generous everybody has been. They donated more items than I imagined they would. Part of my project is to count and organize everything, and send it to the people who’ve helped so they can see the impact that they’ve made. Now that I have my donations I need to set-up a date with UMM to drop off the items. I’ve also tried to think of my project in terms of what we’ve been learning in class, that is Preference Utilitarianism, which is presented to us by Peter Singer. Honestly, I don’t think the lecture aren’t totally related to homelessness, but I’m sure Singer supports the idea of giving to the needy. In fact, his view that everybody should have the ability to satisfy their preferences, then the homeless should be given the means to achieve those ends. But I don’t know who he would consider should be giving the homeless those goods. For example, should we give up some preferences (saving our own money or not giving away what is ours) in order to make sure others can satisfy theirs? This seems to be the same conundrum that we ran into in class when discussing Hobbes, I think. His view started to crumble when two preferences were at odds with each other, and there was no way to decide which preference was more important. I am beginning to reach the end of my project, which is exciting, because I feel proud of what I’ve done, hopefully that doesn’t sound too boastful. The only big things left to do are to finish the website, organize the donations, and drop them off at the UMM. From there I can finish the ePortfolio and put everything in there that I need to. I should also get some pictures of the donations, so that I have something of substance for evidence of my project. Mental note: upload email correspondence to my ePortfolio.