Case Study - Joshua
13 year old Commits to Serving the Homeless and Needy in His Community
It was a Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds was the last book Joshua, 13, read. “It’s a really good book”, he says, ”This kid, the main character - his brother is shot and he wants to take revenge. But as he’s in the elevator, all these people he’s known from the past in some way come to ask him if that’s what he wants to do.”
The young adult novel explores the ripple effect of each person’s actions upon others and their community.
Joshua likes reading books by black authors like Reynolds. He enjoys spy novels, hip hop and video games. “I’m a bit more of an introvert unless I get to know you really well”, he says, “Testing video games would be a good side job.” Joshua lives with his parents, Romeo, a mover, and –, an in-home care nurse in The Filmore, a gentrified, historically black neighborhood in San Francisco. An honors student who’s bilingual in French, he starts at a new school this fall. He got a scholarship to a private Catholic school that’s a top high school in California. “I’m feeling a little nervous, but other than that, I feel alright”, he says.
Racial Bullying Makes School Challenging
He describes his past school year as “not exactly the best”. As one of the only African-Americans at his school, he dealt with multiple racially-based bullying and taunting incidents. Joshua and his parents were volunteers at Third Parent when the bullying started making school challenging. They’ve volunteered weekly at the non-profit since December 2021. The family had known Daveea Whitmire, the Founder of Third Parent Family, from Third Baptist Church, under Reverend Amos Brown years ago. Daveea had directed a program there called Friday Night Live at Third Baptist Church of which Joshua was an alumnus.
A Mentor to Confide In
Over many Saturdays at Third Parent, Joshua got to know Daveea better. “The first day, Daveea showed me around. Now we talk about different things on Saturday, and we joke around sometimes when we’re not doing anything serious”. And so, when the bullying started happening, Joshua and his parents turned to Daveea. “He gave me advice on how to handle that”, Joshua said, “Dav is a kind, big-hearted person who wants to help and put back into his community. It’s been cool to get another perspective on things and be able to talk to someone.” “When I get in trouble with my parents, he doesn’t just take one side. He’s on my parents’ side and also my side. He kind of just gives me a new perspective to get on cool terms with my parents.”
It’s a commitment
Every Saturday at 10:00 am, Joshua comes in, sets up, and starts putting bags of food together with other volunteers and supervisors. They start giving them away at about 12:30pm. Joshua passes out tickets to the people picking up the bags, he gets pizza, and helps unload the U-haul trucks they use to deliver food. “Some Saturdays, I don’t feel like getting up”, he says, “It’s a commitment. I like just helping out in the community.” “Joshua shows up every Saturday,” says Daveea, ”Sometimes Joshua and his mom are there first, leading the set-up process.”
Growing in Responsibility, Making an Impact
“I’ve not seen my own growth personally, but I’ve heard that other people have seen growth in me,” Joshua says, “They say I’ve become more responsible with things, and I’ve just grown as an overall person.” “We have a DP (dry produce) bag for those who are homeless or who don’t have a refrigerator. We only make about 10, because there are not that many. It’s always nice to see the smile on their face when you give them the bag.” “It’s something that I actually enjoy doing in my free time” says Joshua, “It’s something that may not mean much to me, but it’s the whole world to someone else.” We can only imagine the ripple of his actions upon his community.