Houseless Not Hopeless
Club & Greek

First Year Service Project: Houseless Not Hopeless

Ever want to volunteer or do more for the local community surrounding Monmouth University but you don’t know how? The First Year Service Project is the place for you!

The First Year Service Project is an on-campus organization which gives students the opportunity to serve their local communities by fighting poverty through a variety of activities including fundraisers, events, and food drives.

We are excited to be kicking the year off with one of our marque events, Houseless Not Hopeless.

Senior Student Coordinator Jennifer Ingegno, said, “Houseless Not Hopeless brings the Monmouth community together for an awareness event that puts students in the shoes of a homeless person.

The perspective I gained from that one night is something I hope we can give to the rest of the students here at Monmouth.” 

Students who have been at Monmouth may recognize this event by the cardboard box shelters that are set up on Shadow Lawn. The event invites students to spend the night living in a cardboard shelter that you create yourself. This gives students’ insight into the lives of the homeless.

Throughout the night students participate in several activities to help the local community. These include a scavenger hunt for school supplies and a Peanut Butter & Jelly relay.

This year we are asking students and clubs to team up to see who can last the longest throughout the night in the hand made cardboard shelter home.

Corey Inzana, First Year Service Project Advisor, said, “The First Year Service Project is an important component of the Monmouth experience which offers students of all ages an opportunity to engage and serve the local community regarding important topics such as hunger and homelessness.

This club offers opportunities by creating small service and awareness projects to address needs in our local area. The club helps add to the rich tradition of service amongst our Monmouth Students.”

This year is specifically exciting for me not only because I am a senior but because I am one of three student coordinators who will be running the First Year Service Project.

Three years ago I joined the organization as a freshman because I was looking to get involved on campus. After the first meeting I was hooked.

I met a lot of great people who share similar interests as me. Senior Student Coordinator Lena Sharesky, said, “The First Year Service Project was the first club I joined at Monmouth.

During the first meeting I was already making an impact in the local community and meeting new people who have become my best friends at school. Social events ran through the organization allowed us as a group to become close friends, friends that I still talk to to this day.”

Last year as a Junior I became an assistant coordinator, a position that allowed me to work alongside the current student coordinators to see how the organization was running.

The First Year Service Project has allowed me to take on new responsibilities which will help me later in life. Those responsibilities increased this year when I became a one of three Student Coordinators for the First Year Service Project.

I am excited to begin my Senior with a new set of responsibilities as well as the ability to help Freshman and other students get involved. My goal this year is for this organization to impact students in the same way it impacted me 4 years ago.

Doing so will allow new students to get as much out of this club as I have and have an impact on the local community while doing so.

PHOTO  TAKEN from Monmouth.edu