Homeless Visits

Silicon Valley is home to the heart of America’s tech industry, but also home to thousands of homeless people. This community is not just multistory houses and large tech companies, but we also have to be responsible for the people living on the streets.

I am a part of the Bay Area Youth Initiative (BAYouth.org), a youth-led organization dedicated to expressing the youth perspective and giving back to the community. On Thanksgiving, a group of BAYouth students met to directly donate to the homeless lead by a long-time adult community volunteer Paul.

We went out near San Jose airport, carrying tubs filled with necessities. It was such a fulfilling experience to see the gratitude from our actions, and a paradigm-shifting one as well. I saw the kindness and community that radiated from the people there, and I learned that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and compassion, because we are all humans at heart.