Social Justice Project: Changing The Lives Of The Homeless And People With Disabilities

Julie Jochum Gartrell is a truly remarkable person, aside from her being my grandmother. She is proud to be volunteering for an inter-church homeless shelter. She is part of Project Home.  She has spent many nights at the shelter in the past ten years. She  is proud of the work she did teaching teachers how to accept differences, and even after retiring from her job as professor of education with a focus on special education, she focused and acted for homeless children or ones with special needs. Also, she has given persons with Down syndrome a safe place that has not been given to them by people who were uneducated in how to deal with people with Down syndrome. She volunteers at Gigi’s Playhouse, a place where children with Down syndrome can roughhouse, do crafts, or even go to a Build-a-Bear workshop as a group.

At the homeless shelter, she works with the  St. Paul Council of Churches. Last year, a family that had come to stay with at the shelter got an apartment and moved in after a month of staying at the shelter. There was just one problem: when they moved in, they moved into a completely empty apartment, and they had no furniture. My Grandma found a futon she had been meaning to get rid of and thought it might be nice if the family could have it. She wondered how many other people had anything they didn't want any more. She asked around, and at once, people volunteered dishes, a chair here, a desk there, a vase at the other place, and so she filled her friends’ apartment  with furniture My grandmother helped to furnish the home of a family who really needed the help.

For the past year at Gigi’s Playhouse, the twenty-five programs enriching literacy, math skills, and motor skills are completely free o f charge. My grandma (who also happens to be on the Board of Directors) has taken people to a Build-a-Bear workshop so that they could do something as a group, but also to integrate them with the general public. She not only works there, but has the feeling that what she does is an extension of two years of work, ensuring that there was a place where there were supportive mentors for children she knew needed such a safe place. There are currently17 Gigi’s Playhouse affiliates  across the country.

         All in all, My grandmother has definitely done more than most people to do her part in changing the world. She has been working at a homeless shelter for more than ten years. She is on the board of directors for a safe place for persons with Down syndrome. She has helped light a little light in the life of everyone around her.