I wish I were more committed to blogging each day. Every day I hear a story or experience something at ACCESS that teaches me something. Here are a few:
We recently had a group of student leaders from University of Akron come to ACCESS and put on a carnival. The kids loved the games, food and yes...the gum. A few of our elementary age boys thought it would be fun to stick as much gum as they could in their mouths, chew the gum and then...ugh..swallow the gum. One of the U of A students had a brilliant idea. He had one of the boys sit with him and showed him how to properly chew gum. They unwrapped the gum...placed it in their mouths...chewed...and did not swallow. The cool thing was words were never spoken. He just modeled the behavior. He demonstrated what I believe was a powerful lesson to us all. Sometimes words go unheard and actions speak louder. He also demonstrated the importance of giving someone your undivided attention and what a difference it can make in their lives.
Last night we had another amazing group from Kent State come to ACCESS and fix dinner. I noticed that one student really engaged with the clients. After I gave them a tour he pulled me aside and said thank you! Not thank you for allowing them to come...but thank you for the work at ACCESS. He shared with me that when he was a younger teen his family was homeless. He shared with me how hard it was to be a homeless teen and thanked us for making ACCESS a place where teens can feel loved and not alone.
There are more stories....
