Running head: MIDNIGHT RUN
Midnight Run ASL reflection paper
Mikaiel Ishaque
St John's University
MIDNIGHT RUN
Midnight Run ASL reflection paper
The Midnight Run was the ASL program that I had participated in. The Midnight Run
was a program that was formed in order to combat homelessness in New York City. The
Midnight Run is considered to be the most popular service in St John's University. The mission
of the Midnight Run is to provide homeless people food and drinks and to overall understand
how these individuals became homeless. Students who participate in the Midnight Run get to
talk to a homeless person one on one.One way in which the service fulfill its goals of helping the
homeless is by encouraging students to find the homeless people, meaning that students go to the
city and try to look in areas where homeless people seek refuge in. When participating in the
Midnight you learn about many difficulties that homeless people have to deal with. One of these
difficulties is loneliness and isolation due to how lonely many of these homeless men and women
are. The goals set out by the Midnight Run are achieved through means of going out of your way
and talking to a homeless person. When you talk to that homeless person your perception on
what homelessness is and what poverty is, gets changed. Your idea of how many goods you have
is that are taken for granted are thrown out the window and you yourself realize how difficult it
may be to get a meal.
The population that is being served to when participating in the Midnight Run are
homeless people. This population is sadly a very large population in New York in fact 1 in every
121 people in New York City are said to be homeless. In addition 1 in every 17 homeless person
is said to be visible meaning it is difficult for participants of a program in the Midnight Run to
find homeless people. While students may attend to many homeless people during the Midnight
Run there are still many other homeless people that are left behind due to them hiding
MIDNIGHT RUN
somewhere or seeking refuge in a spot that's students don't know about.
In my opinion I believe the Midnight Run does carry out its mission in helping homeless
people and understanding the issue of homelessness as a whole. The point of the mission is to
help others and to learn about being a more positive and a more generous person. The main
reason as to why the Midnight Run is formed to change your overall view on what homelessness
is. A person usually looks down on a homeless person and would most likely think that it is their
fault that they (homeless man ) are homeless. While this may be the case it is not always true.
Many homeless people become homeless due to many financial and legal reasons that they were
unable to break through. Many people become homeless