Blog #2 - Amanda Leon

Figuring out what Social Innovation TRULY meant

   

    Before this upcoming project based on Social Innovation, I never would've known or even thought about the effect our society has on individuals especially the homeless community. Hello everyone, My name's Amanda Leon and this is my second blog for SPC 2608! 

    Social innovation basically means people brainstorming creative ideas or solutions to help a specific cause or problem in our society. Whether it be water projects so people could have access to free, clean water or even helping the homeless through donating food and clothing are all forms of social innovation.

    As we know it, America's housing crisis is slowly affecting more people as time goes by. The amount of homeless people in America is rather embarrassing, especially in Miami. How can we continue to call this the "land of the free" if there are people still in the chains of poverty and inequality?

    The stigma behind the homeless has always been a problem that is not paid much attention to. When I began to work on this project with my peers is when I put it more into thought. Everyone assumes that people who are homeless are substance abusers or even go to the extent of calling them mentally ill but that is not always the case, if anything, that's the least of cases! As we found out through the interview with ChatGPT, most people actually become homeless due to a build-up of unfortunate circumstances. Whether it be losing a job and not being able to bounce back or a reduction in your paycheck, all these events can ultimately lead to homelessness.

    Expressing innovative ideas or solutions to help the homeless is key is we desire a happier community and America overall. Housing security is important to all people of all ages, ethnicities, and cultures. An easy way to get started is through knowing who can help who and what helps what! Through spreading the word of social innovation projects, we can further help society as a whole and support those who are in need of it.

    Focusing more on my group members and the process of preparing the project itself, I'm satisfied to say it all went great! I was happy with the group members I was presented with; although at first, I felt nervous since I was the only new one joining the group. Prior to joining the group, everyone had already worked together since the previous project since they were sitting closely to each other. I was worried if the group would find me too organized or even frustrating. Luckily though, everyone was nice as I joined and I quickly fit in. I asked the group if they were alright with myself taking leadership and organizing everything, as I didn't want to force anyone else to become leader or take anyone's desire to be leader away but the group seemed to be okay with me becoming leader so I was pleased. Throughout the research process, I made sure everyone turned in everything on time and checked up on those who needed help! We all collaboratively selected a power point presentation theme and honestly I loved the way it turned out. My team was truly great, I appreciated them all and the collaboration between the group members that had to work in pairs was lovely. 

    Presentation day was the only day where I was genuinely stressed. A poor group member of ours was stuck in traffic and as the clock continued to tick, it was already about 15 minutes after the lecture started. All sorts of anxiety was rushing through my mind but luckily she arrived shortly after that. Once I felt it was all better and there was nothing to worry about, the presenters began to present and I realized that the text was probably too small and not spaced out enough for the presenters to read, so my anxiety crept right back up. I honestly felt a little guilty and bad since I knew that they had asked me to "Please try to make the font big" in which I did try, but clearly the font wasn't on my side. 

    Luckily, despite all the setbacks, we made it! We got through with the presentation and I honestly felt like we all did great. I was beyond proud. I thanked my group members for all the hard work and research they put in and it was honestly all because of them that this presentation was possible.

See you in the next blog!

Sincerely, Amanda Leon :)