Social Justice

Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.

National Association of Social Workers- http://www.naswdc.org/pressroom/features/issue/peace.asp

Social Justice in Washington D.C

http://mediacdn.reuters.com/media/global/editorial/income-inequality/v8-washington-article.html

For decades, Washington D.C has experienced difficulty in confronting various social justice issues within the community. With 18.2% of the population living in poverty, the inequity is alarming. As we explored the city, it became evident that the nation's capitol wasn't just the beautiful architecture of government buildings, it was also consumed with many economically depleted areas. Luckily, we were able to work with two groups that are addressing social injustice within the community, while also learning about how we can bring our new knowledge back to the Iowa City community. Here is our story!

Nutritional Justice- Eco City Farms

Eco City Farms is an urban farm located in the heart of Edmonston, Maryland, committed to growing organic and affordable fruits and vegetables for the Chesapeake Bay area. It seeks to enhance access to nutritional foods for the whole community. With the trend of impoverished communities being exposed to widespread malnutrition, this organization is working to bridge the gap between income and health.

Mission- "ECO City Farms seeks to enhance food security, safety and access, to improve nutrition and health, to preserve cultural and ecological diversity, and to accelerate the transition to an economy based on preservation, recycling and restoration. We amplify community voice and engagement to reinvigorate the Chesapeake foodshed with sustainable ways of making food and money." http://www.ecoffshoots.org/

Learning

Through working with Eco Farms, we discovered that economic disparity is a far-reaching topic that delves into many different spheres of life. Health may not seem overly related to economic disparity on the surface, but in a world where some of the cheapest and most accessible foods are derived from fast-food chains, it is essential that organizations like Eco Farm are given the tools necessary to flourish, so that they can continue to make healthy food accessible and affordable for all communities.

Housing Justice

Access Housing D.C

Access Housing D.C- Access Housing Inc. DC (AHI) is located in Southeast Washington, DC. AHI provides housing, counseling, and rehabilitative services to up to 98 homeless men and women veterans at a time. AHI empowers veterans to find employment and stable, permanent housing in order to improve their quality of life.

AHI is a 501 c 3 community-based nonprofit organization committed and dedicated to the principle that everyone, regardless of income or socioeconomic status, has a right to decent, safe, affordable housing.

http://www.accesshousingincdc.org/who-we-are/

National Alliance to End Homelessness- http://www.endhomelessness.org/

Service

Access Housing is devoted to bringing up impoverished veterans in the Washington D.C, and enabling them to rebuild their lives. Since 1985, they have provided housing for thousands of homeless veterans and granted them the tools necessary to get back on their feet.

Learning

Working with Access Housing exposed us to a new social issue that we weren't entirely familiar with, homeless veterans. We learned of the prominence of homelessness among veterans, and how it likely exists within our own communities. Through this experience, we gained a greater understanding of the multitude of ways in which one can make change, such as giving them full housing and support so that the impoverished can acquire the resources that enable them to thrive on their own.

Social Justice-

Union Station Sack Lunches

Active Citizens

When our volunteer project fell through, we looked for other ways to serve the D.C community. We settled on making sack lunches and handing them out to the homeless Washingtonians of Union Station. While we weren't able to work with an organization, we were still able to make a difference. Through this experience, we realized how simple and easy it is to be active citizens. We were enlightened to interact with so many wonderful people that showed great gratitude for our service. This experience reiterated the vastness of homelessness, which we first saw at Access Housing. We were very happy to witness change at work on a lower, and more personable level. Social justice is a movement founded on the belief that we should assist our neighbors in any way possible so that they can thrive, these personal experiences are what fuels such movements.

What Now?

As a group, we made great strides in pushing fourth the social justice ideology. We contributed to bridging the gap between wealth and nutrition at Eco Farms, we worked to bridge the gap between wealth and housing by performing maintenance work at the Access Housing facility, and we were able to understand why we must work to bridge these gaps by meeting all of the amazing people that embraced our sack lunches at Union Station. Prior to this experience, many of us had never done service work at all. Now, we are gifted with the necessary knowledge so that we can continue to fight the good fight, and hopefully one day make social justice an issue of the past.

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