The Rural Poverty Trip, conducted by the Center for Community and Civic Engagement, traveled to Paradise, Pa. on Friday, April 10 for an overnight trip that introduced students to the various hardships faced by a person living in poverty on a daily basis.
The students teamed up with “The Factory,” a faith-based organization in Paradise, Pa. which is committed to serving individuals facing poverty by serving as a hub to connect needs with resources.
“The students toured the facility to see what social workers do, how they work with their clients and what kind of services they provide to the community members,” Sharon Sherick, the Program Coordinator with the CCCE, said.
The purpose of the trip is to “try to get everybody to understand poverty is not restricted to an urban setting. When people think of poverty they immediately think of an urban setting, and that’s not always the case,” Sherick said.
“In a rural area, you won’t see people out living on the streets or the side of the road. Instead you see people living in a motel, or living with several other families in one house. People in urban poverty can usually walk around the area and reach the resources they need that way. In rural poverty, people need a car to access many of the resources, but they might not be able to afford a car,” first-year Abby Sanders said.
Next, the group toured the community and became educated on obstacles related to poverty in rural living. “They saw examples of a home that from the outside looked like a single family house. In reality, there are five families there, some that use just a hot plate to cook with,” Sherick said. The group continued to the Old Paradise Elementary school, a facility The Factory uses to hold their after school programming and other workshops.
Sherick continued, “At the youth center we watched a video and heard from Pequea Valley school guidance counselors concerning the work they do related to poverty in their community. After preparing a spaghetti meal, we served the meal and then sat at the dinner table with the guests to eat while engaging in some planned interactive activities.”
A recent food drive on campus held by the Home is Where the Heart Is Student Directed Learning Community and the CCCE collected canned foods. Half of the food was donated to the local Etown community, and the other half was distributed on this trip.
“I like that Elizabethtown College gives us, the CCCE, this opportunity to engage the students in these real life situations giving them a better understanding of what others might be experiencing,” Sherick said.
“It was shocking to see the living conditions. You can drive past houses like these and not even realize what’s going on inside, which could be anything from four families living under one roof, to a single dad raising six kids under the age of seven. I was with the half of the group that worked at Robert’s. It was like walking into a TV show almost; there was barely any room to move around in the house because of all the stuff. Only a small portion of his bed was uncovered. It would be hard enough to live in those conditions, but he has disabilities that make it hard for him to move around. We wanted to stay and keep cleaning things out, but we ran out of time,” Sanders said.
After everything was cleaned up from the event, the students slept on the floor of the school. “I think the most shocking thing about the trip was the realization that poverty will continue to affect people because of the way in which the systems of our nation are not fairly designed. I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed with thoughts of how anyone in the United States could be placed in poverty,” senior Jessica Leidy said.
“The students were allowed to bring whatever they can carry. If they could fit in their backpack, they can bring it along with, and they also had a sleeping bag. There weren’t any showers or cell phone use. It was not cozy,” Sherick said. The students awoke early on Saturday morning for a quick breakfast, followed by a morning of service.
“We ended the Rural Experience back at the youth center with time of reflection and question and answers,” continued Sherick.
“We get to see the interaction between agencies, community members and the schools in the Lancaster area and it’s very refreshing to see how far it has come along. It’s not a one step process, we do it to walk alongside of them and hope to make a real difference. It’s not a handout, it’s helping. We hope for a bigger, longer lasting result rather than a quick fix,” Sherick said.
The Rural Poverty Trip allowed students to see first-hand the struggles of living in rural poverty while allowing them to reflect and realize they can make a difference. The students were enabled to learn with hands on experience the ways people suffer and how it can be found in the places we least expect it.
