Overall, my impression of Freedom House was that it was a place with friendly workers and a great mission. However, I did recognize some of their needs and struggles pretty quickly, as to it being understaffed and some of the rooms needing renovation or redecoration.
Our visit really helped me to realize how big homelessness is in the Green Bay area, that this isn’t the only shelter in the area and that Freedom House alone has 40 families waiting to live there.
I had a lot of ideas on how to help serve Freedom House. I thought about maybe screenprinting some of my previously made work for the teen room or reprinting some of my digital artwork for the hallways or rooms. While those would be good ideas for the final project, I thought that one potential idea for the time being would be repainting some of the furniture (if they approve) to give off a more welcoming look. This is something that we have done to A LOT of our furniture at home. I also thought that perhaps inviting my mom along to volunteer and finding objects or furniture to redecorate or refinish might be helpful, as she has a very good eye for decoration. Lastly, I also thought that it might be helpful just to visit with some of the families and kids who live here in order to get to know who we are helping.
I suppose I was uncomfortable trying to think and mentally plan ahead when I would visit and how that would work with my schedule, though I found it MUCH more unsettling how sterile some of the rooms felt, knowing that this is the only home that the people who live here have. It really helped me to remember to count my blessings, also inspiring me to want to help assist Freedom House in making it a more welcoming place.
