On Saturday, June 10th, 2023, I did something that I have never done before: intentionally approach a group of homeless folks. Throughout my 25 years of life, I have had many different types of interactions with homeless people. Most of them took place when I lived in Austin for six years.

Throughout my life, and especially my time in Austin, I have been trained to essentially ignore people on the streets. “Keep your head down, don’t look them in the eye, etc.” were things people around me said. And so that’s what I did. For 25 years.

It wasn’t until I volunteered with The Human Impact on that wonderful Saturday morning that my outlook changed.

Charities2Love Volunteering

My mother, Maitry Shah, started the initiative Charities2Love to bring awareness to different types of charities and causes. Homelessness is one of her focus areas.

She told me a couple of weeks ago that she came across a nonprofit called The Human Impact. She asked my father and I if we wanted to go with her to check out one of their volunteer opportunities called Saturday Street Times. I love any type of volunteering and new experiences, so I quickly agreed.

The Human Impact

The Human Impact’s mission is simple: to befriend the homeless, bridge relationship gaps, and build a long-term community. I had never heard of this type of approach before, and was very intrigued, and even a little bit nervous, about how the day was going to go.

We met up with two team members from The Human Impact at 10 a.m. at a coffee shop in Deep Ellum, Dallas. They gave us a short briefing of what we would be doing that morning: walking towards a nearby homeless shelter and building connections with “friends” we see along the way.

Already, they were reframing the way I saw things by saying “friends” instead of “homeless people”. The team said it might be awkward and that building connections takes time.

Walking the streets of Dallas

As we made our way over, I was immensely grateful that the Human Impact advocates had taken the time to talk to us beforehand. We walked about 5-10 minutes and saw a group of friends hanging out there. There were a couple of people playing football, a couple in a car, and a few sitting underneath the trees to get relief from the heat.

As we approached the group, I could feel myself getting apprehensive. This was not something I had ever done before. Thankfully, one of the advocates of The Human Impact team immediately recognized a friend. This definitely broke the ice a little bit for me.

Making friends

We met and talked with about three friends over the course of an hour. I was blown away by how open they were, and how grateful they were to talk to and build connections with us.

I could feel myself opening up as the hour went on. By the time we were leaving, I had promised one of the friends that I would go and visit him at the Subway he worked at. I fully intend on keeping that promise.

Changing my perspective on the homeless

All in all, my experience with The Human Impact retrained my brain. In 2 hours, it made me realize that these friends are people just like you and me. Yes, they need food, water, shelter, and money, but more than anything, they need human connection.

I personally feel like I’m going crazy when I am isolated. I can’t even imagine what they go through.

Volunteering expands your world view

This day was a great reminder that volunteering for different types of causes opens your mind to different possibilities and world views. The world is a lot bigger than our privileged problems.

It was extremely inspiring to learn about a new organization and understand what they are doing to make the world a better place. Thank you to The Human Impact and Charities2Love for this awesome experience!