The William Street Community is Making a Difference

In the heart of the financial district, a New School community is reaching out to those in need. The residents of the William Street residence hall have set a goal to raise one dollar, one can of food and one volunteer hour per student resident in aid of the homeless. As part of this initiative, Residential Advisors Iskander Ahmed and Charlie Leibel held a black tie auction on November 21, 2010, to provide residents with the opportunity to volunteer at organizations that provide help to the homeless. A festive atmosphere and fun prizes - often with a practical component, such as lessons in photoshop use - encouraged students to commit to volunteering their time. The event raised $122 in cash contributions and a further 24 volunteer hours. This brought the community very close to its monetary target of raising $400, and as the program continues, the possibility that the community might even exceed its target has been raised.

In addition to rallying material aid, the ‘Help for the Homeless’ program has had the intangible, but perhaps even more enduring effect of increasing awareness amongst the William St community about the situation of some of New York’s most vulnerable residents. The New School is an institution which takes pride in its long tradition of thinking about and promoting social justice, and at William St, students have shown themselves to be worthy inheritors of that social justice tradition.

Submitted by Simone Gubler- Major in Philosophy at The New School for Social Research