In Their Own Words

In their own words, Front Steps’ volunteers describe the impact of their time serving homeless men and women at the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless and the Central Texas Recuperative Care Center.

A poem written by our 11 year old advocate...

"What kind of world do we live in
I think it's really strange
We call this humanity
Well take a look around and you'll see
There's people committing crime
And there's people doing time
There's people on the street
And there's people who don't eat
We call this humanity
You may go ride your bike a little at a time
You may go sit and watch a TV episode
And you think you're unlucky,
That you don't have the next big thing
We call this humanity
Did you know that some starving kid would give anything
Or a homeless man would give anything
Or a robber or  jailed man would give anything to be you
They didn't want to turn out this way
We call this Humanity
You may hate your school or hate your computer
You think you got it hard
But you're really lucky
You think it's really sad you don't have the latest and the greatest of whatever it is
But there is someone who, someone who, someone who
Would give anything to be you
We call this humanity
There are kids out there who don't have any food
There are people out there who don't have a home
There are people who do bad things cause they got no choice
And they would do anything
To be you
We call this humanity
We are always at war, lyin' and cheatin'
We cut down these trees that are keepin' us alive
We pollute everything in sight
Cause we ain't got the time to make things right
We call this humanity
We make fun of them
We make empty promises
We make things worse
Cause we don't know what it's like
We call this humanity
When you look back you see all your friends
You take a second look and you feel really bad
Cause you know that this ain't
The human way"

"I was fortunate to have the opportunity last fall to take part in a volunteer project at the ARCH with the St Edward’s University student service council, so that’s how I first became aware of the shelter. I also play for the women’s soccer team at St Edward’s and wanted to organize some community projects for our team during the spring season...It was my hope that volunteering at the shelter would allow our team the chance to see a different side to homelessness, to give them a more positive perspective, and to encourage them to volunteer in the future. All the staff and volunteers at ARCH were welcoming and friendly. Overall the project went even better than I hoped; it has had a hugely positive impact on our team, and we would be more than happy to help out at the shelter in any way in the future. Thanks for letting us be part of a great project!!”

" I get much more from the clients than I can do for them.  Today I was someone's "favorite person for 24 hours" simply because I went out of my way in a small way!  I laughingly asked why I was it for only 24 hrs. and he said someone else would  get the honors for the next 24 hours!  How great is that!"

“I really, really LOVE being an ARCH volunteer!!!  One of the best things I've ever done.”

“Seeing how difficult it can be for other people made me realize how fortunate I am. I would definitely like to help out more in the future.”

“I didn’t know what to expect when going to the shelter. I thought it was an awesome experience and found it to be very eye-opening.”

“I really learned a lot about the ARCH and how Austin helps the homeless. It was a culture shock but I’m really glad I went; it made me view homeless people differently to before.”

“I thought the facility was great. I talked to a Vietnam veteran, and he was really genuine and respectful. It was a real eye-opening experience for me, and I really enjoyed it.”