First Place for Youth: My Favorite Community

First Place for Youth is an organization for emancipated youth and teen parents who have emancipated from foster care, which the staff there are really dedicated to help them expand their horizons. First Place is located downtown of Oakland, Ca, which is some what of a good area. The good thing about it is you don't have to wait for buses as long( if your traveling on public transportation), very secure with sercurity walking around, and there are widely used stores that many shop at. The bad thing about downtown Oakland is the drug dealers, bad parking ( anywhere you park you would have to pay), and the riots that have been going on. First Place is also very diverse and has offices throughout California( not sure if it is worldwide).First Place provides services for their clients such as housing, transportation, jobs, food,etc. While in the process of applying for the program, you will have to fill out an application, be interviewed by the intake coorindator, and take a class called Step It Up. The class is only a few weeks long and the instructor teaches how to become a responsible adult and tips on how to handle minor and major obligations in the adult world. As long as I have been in this program, my life has dramatically changed. I have went from a struggling single parent to a independent, responsible mother and young woaman. As stated in the beginning, the staff at First Place are truly dedicated to helping troubled youth. They really try to help resolve issues by brain storming all possible aspects of the situation and making sure that we have back up plans. The staff are always upbeat, inspirational, motivating, and fun. The participants there, however, are rude, loud, and just messed up. It may be because of their past or reason for being in foster care or they made had a bad experience with that person. In addition, all of that is thrown out of the window when it comes to the events First Place has planned.

Plus/Deltas of myself

I have learned a lot about myself in the first module. I feel I did very good in participation, organization, and communication. I'm really surprise that I handled some conflicts the way I did because of my bad temper. I'm gradually working on my temper and is learning how to keep it under control. I was really disappointed about the infractions I earned because it could be the smallest thing and it would be considered being irresponsible or not being professional. Below, is my self evaluation:

Plus:

• participation
• organization
• communication
• keeping up with work
• code switching

Deltas:

• Attitudes
• Taking better notes
• Being more focused and prepared
• Avoid infractions

My Neighborhood

What comes to mind when I say I am from East Oakland, Ca? People may say it’s too dangerous, some may say they don’t care, or some may say it is certain parts you should avoid. All is true but I have a different outlook on my neighborhood. I grew up on the 79^th and Ritchie, but like most parents, my mom was so strict she wouldn’t let me walk to the store. In high school, I saw why my mom didn’t let me go outside by myself. My generation then was robbing others, being victims and suspects of rape, and shooting others for unnecessary reasons. My neighborhood today has gotten worst but there have been more shootings than anything. Castlemont High School (aka herpe high) was the worst school you can go to, I heard. The students was always fighting, bringing weapons to school, and even having sex on campus.

When I was able to experience “the hood” for myself, I didn’t care about nothing, I wasn’t scared of nobody, and I always was fighting. I guess I was thinking I was tough and nobody couldn’t step up to me. My second year in high school, I had my first child, but being a teenager and a new mother didn’t affect my ability being in the streets. A year and a half later, I was an innocent bystander in a shooting. I couldn’t believe that I got shot, someone who is a mother and a 4.0 student. I tried everything in my power to get away from this area because it seems like trouble would always follow me or I was being the follower. My neighborhood has made me the person I am today because if my mom let me do what I wanted to do, I would be dead, in jail, or prostituting. I sometimes feel ashamed of being from East Oakland because of what the country has to say. “Oakland is a mini- Afghanistan”, “Oakland is too ghetto”, says TV shows and maybe people around the world.

“The Poverty Business”

The mentioned companies are making the opportunity divide worst because they target low income people or people who are working but still struggling. The reason why companies do this is the rich have the money to pay back with no problems, but the poor would take longer to pay back or even go into debt. When trying to get a loan, the banks do not tell them what the risks are.  When consumers sign the loan agreement, they don’t read the small print nor look at the interest rates because they need the money fast. The banks just give the consumers the basics. For example, in the “The Poverty Business”, Thomas was trying to get a computer from Blue Hippo. The company told him they would take $124 dollars out of his account by direct deposit and would owe 17 payments after that, which he thought was a good thing. A week later, he didn’t know he would have to pay over a thousand dollars over nine months to get the computer; he called and cancelled the order. The company told him it would take up to ten days to cancel. The company basically gave him the run around and tried to take his money.

I personally believe it is the people who go out and get these loans and/ or expenses because they need the money right then and there. When going to the bank and trying to get a loan, they don’t read the small print because of how bad they really need money. The consumers wonder why they owe so much money when it’s time to pay the money back. It is also the corporations fault because they don’t tell their clients about the interest rates and such things like that; greed is getting the best of them. In order to prevent this from getting exacerbating, the community needs to come together and brainstorm things they could do. Some welfare offices have things like this, such as, financial advisors, non-profit organizations, budget your money, having a savings or checking account, and only use your credit when you really have to.

-Shakila T.