Suggestions for Kicks Challenge: Homelessness

Hello Kicks Community,
Just a reminder to everyone to make an attempt to take on the “Kicks Challenge #1: Homelessness”. This weekend will be beautiful here in Southeast PA, so it’s a great opportunity to take on this challenge on Friday or Saturday night.

I will be posting media from my experience this weekend and encourage you to do the same. It should be a fun way to create an important lesson for young ones. Go on, give it a shot- what do you have to lose?

If you can’t find a way to take on this first Kicks Challenge, I encourage you to still share this experience vicariously with your children by following our blog. Use this opportunity to talk about homelessness and it’s effects on the populations of the world and our very own country. Cite the examples of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans, of how people who had their every possession swept away in a storm and have rebuilt in the face of adversity… while many remain homeless to this day, 5 years on. Or how there are 100 million homeless people in the world, nearly 1 million homeless in America (a quarter of which reside in NYC alone) or that there are 3,000 homeless in Philadelphia (streets & shelters). For more information: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/ , http://www.endhomelessness.org/

You can also use the challenge to start a conversation with younger children about the dangers of playing with matches, for example. “If you play with matches or leave the stove on or jam things into electrical sockets, a fire could start and WE could lose our home… or worse. Be creative- the lesson is what you make of it.

The point of this Kicks Challenge is not to make anyone feel guilty or inadequate; it is to inform our youth of the inequities of the world and encourage them to get involved in their community. It is not meant to be dangerous or shameful or negative, rather the point is to inform through example - to encourage through empathy.

Take this opportunity to start a dialogue with your children/family/loved ones about issues important to you. The lessons and conversation can go anywhere you want; these Kicks Challenges mean to serve as merely the catalyst for starting such a dialogue and getting involved in the community.

Kicks will be doing a clothing drive in Philadelphia this summer, more details on that later. If you’re interested in volunteering or getting involved in this project please contact us at TheKicksProject@gmail.com.

Invariably, we at Kicks hope to create a sense of empowerment whenever we go into schools or interact with kids by teaching them how to become community leaders and bring attention to strife. Children often tell me these things sound “unfair” and they want to know how they can make a difference. We hope to encourage this sense of involvement and contribution at The Kicks Project.

While sleeping outside one night wont solve homelessness or directly help anyone who is homeless per say, hopefully it will impact children to the point of action, both now and in their lives moving forward. This is our mission with Kicks Challenge #1: Homelessness.

Thank you for reading. Feedback and criticism is welcome and encouraged.