The following is from a speech given by One Stone member Kylie Casper during the One Event in 2019 about her experience helping a family that had recently experienced homelessness.
Finding Myself Through Service
By Kylie Casper
Imagine this. Two boys, ages 12 and 10, and a six-year-old girl. They are your typical kids: high energy, fun loving, and always ready for the next adventure. However, unlike typical kids, these three have felt the hardships that come with experiencing homelessness.
I came to know this family through a Project Good project: Families Living in Inspired Places (FLIP). I was on a team that partnered with CATCH, a local organization that helps families experiencing homelessness find housing and financial stability, and this family had just moved into their new apartment. Our team focused on helping make their new place feel more like a home for these three kids.
We kicked off the project by meeting the family, and invited them to One Stone. As the kids walked through the doors of One Stone, you could immediately see their eyes widen with excitement, not knowing where to look first. It was a kid’s dream building: colorful furniture, and chairs with wheels! The kids were eager to start playing, so we scrapped our meticulously planned schedule, and we followed their lead. It didn’t take long until we were racing around the building on rolling chairs, much to the dismay of the One Stone staff.
What we learned that night was this: Eric is an animal fanatic. His sister, Sophie, loves pink, purple, and all things sparkly. Nathan is passionate about reading and dragons.
The following week, we took what we learned and got to work on creating the kids’ dream rooms – rooms just for them. For Eric and Nathan we painted their dresser blue and red, their favorite colors. We gave Nathan a book light so he could read in bed and not disturb his brother. We decorated Sophie’s room with pink and purple bedding and a canopy over her bed so she could feel like a princess.
On reveal day I was nervous, but excited to surprise Eric, Nathan, and Sophie with their new rooms. I got to spend the whole day with them, while the rest of my FLIP team went to work transforming the rooms. We took the kids to Ann Morrison Park where we ran around and played their favorite game, cops and robbers, for HOURS.
As we left the park, Eric gave me a new name, Coyote. I love that name and it warms my heart that he felt so comfortable with me.
When we arrived for the reveal, the kids sprinted up the stairs to see their new rooms. The kids were more excited about their rooms than I could ever have imagined. When Sophie saw her room, she jumped and screamed with joy. I’ve never seen anyone so happy. Then it hit me. I realized just how much this new room meant to her. And just how much this project meant to me. This small act of kindness changed their lives, and mine.
The experience with Eric, Sophie, and Nathan opened my eyes to my true self and fostered a passion within me – helping people.
I know this might sound totally cliche, but it’s true. By spending time with these kids I learned how to be empathetic, to take others’ needs into consideration, and to separate all of my outside stressors to focus on the things that REALLY mattered.
Before this experience I thought I knew what mattered: Looking great on paper for colleges. Achieving perfection. Being number one. I believed that accomplishing these things would set me up for the ideal life, but I was beginning to become a person I didn’t want to be.
Now I strive to help people, not just those who seem to need it, but everyone. I want to encourage and support anybody and everybody to be the best version of themselves.
When I joined Project Good’s FLIP team, I thought I would be helping others. Little did I know how much others would be helping ME.
Thank you Sophie, Eric, and Nathan for changing my life, for good.
