Samantha Hirschman | Assistant News Co-Editor

The Urban Plunge is a weekend-long service trip designed for students to understand homelessness and hunger in the city. Twenty-two students, along with Ken Meissner and Carol Williams, headed down to Omaha, NE to visit multiple ministries and service organizations.

Throughout the weekend, students experienced multiple eye-opening moments. The group began at the Hope Center by getting a tour of the facilities. The Hope Center is an after-school program designed to teach young students how to succeed in school and life, as well as teach them about faith. The center has a gym, art room, football field, garden, and so much more. Because the Hope Center is right across the street from the school, students are safe from the heavy gang violence in the surrounding neighborhood. To end Friday night, the students served food at the Sienna-Francis homeless shelter.

Kristina Grossman is a sophomore Communication major who attended the trip.

“I loved the Hope Center. To be able to help kids stay out of different gang-related issues; a place to go and know they’re safe; a place to have adults help and know someone cares about them; that’s what is important,” Grossman said.

Bright and early, the students had breakfast, hopped into the vans, and headed to the Douglas County Youth Center. Here the students experienced what it would be like if they were a delinquent. The officer who gave the students a tour told the women to get in one room and the men in another.

“Hearing the door slam made it real,” Williams said.

The students then went to Open Door Mission, a store that families can go to once a month and fill a ten gallon bag for free. While they were at Open Door, the students helped organize items before the store opening. When the store opened, the group went into the back to sort and hang clothing.

“The Open Door provides everything bedding, food, clothes, furniture, and a place to live- that people need. Both kids and adults. That’s what I liked best,” Nadia Umwali said.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons