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Christian Cotton

Ms. Godfrey

Honors Leadership

27 April 2019

Leadership Final Reflection

There are 150 Million people homeless worldwide. 17% of the population of the United

States was homeless on any given night of 2017 which is a shocking number and over 500,000

people every night. There are roughly 10.95 Billion dollars spent annually by the United States

on homelessness. This is why I decided to do my leadership practicum with the Housing

Assistance Corporation on Cape Cod, or HAC for short. HAC works mainly to combat

homelessness here on Cape Cod, in all aspects of it. They also work to prevent people on the

edge from becoming homeless. They do this by providing classes, counseling, and even funds

sometimes, to help these people out. They provide and research clean energy and efficiency,

which can ultimately save money for homeowners. They build housing developments and build

many houses that can be affordable housing through grants. They provide many forms of

affordable housing with the help of the affordable housing act, including, but not limited to,

buying homes and selling them back to eligible families for a decreased price. Massachusetts has

a right to housing law for families with children under age 18. This law is titled right to shelter,

making Massachusetts one of several “right to shelter states.” This law helps HAC reach out and

help the majority of families on Cape Cod. HAC also manages over 1,200 section 8 vouchers and

follow through with frequent follow-ups, check-ins, and any assistance needed. HAC manages a

few shelters as well such as Angel house, Carriage house, and in scattered sites that the company
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has secured. They also have real estate offices that can help people to move from a shelter to a

position of owning their own home. There is also a very large emphasis of classes and education

which provide financial counseling and education of people so they may live sufficiently on their

own and provide ways of getting off of assistance and back to normal life.

I have been actively involved in working with HAC at least once a year with their Big

Fix. The Big Fix is an annual fundraising and community service event that is coordinated by the

Housing Assistance Corporation. The goal of this event is to raise funds to support existing

services offered by HAC while making improvements to programs that enhance the comfort,

safety, and quality of life for seniors, the disabled, and veterans on Cape Cod and the Islands. We

get together with hundreds of other volunteers and go around the town in which the event is

stationed. The town the event is held in changes every year by the “passing of the Big Fix

Hammer,” and helps people fix up their homes when they are seniors or disabled veterans, etc.

and meet all the applicable criteria. For many, this means they can keep their homes in a stable

and working condition because they are unable to do the work themselves. People are so grateful

for all of the help and it truly feels so good to help out. It is very hard to explain the feeling you

walk away with after volunteering at this event of for HAC in general.

I am going to be working with HAC this year specifically in their housing development

sector. I have met with the CEO and COO of the company, and we put our heads together to

figure out in what area I may be able to help the company using the resources I have. We found

the housing development area would be the best fit. I will be working with the Director of

Housing Development, David Quinn. I will be personally helping to head a new initiative within

the company to educate high school students and young adults on housing issues we currently
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face on Cape Cod. The goal of this work would be to provide a survey to as many juniors and

seniors as possible. This survey will examine some of the students' experiences with the more

prominent housing issues most of us face here on cape cod as well as analyze their plans and

factors that affect them coming back to live on cape cod if they plan on leaving for college. This

is very important I feel because it is something that has a great impact on the future of our lives

as students but nobody at our age really talks about it. HAC is trying to educate students but they

need the results of the survey I conducted to personally tailor their education program to high

school students so that the next generations can work to get involved and try to solve some of

these problems. The biggest push is for advocacy. HAC needs people who are passionate about

living on cape cod and want to make this their home after schooling and want it to be a financial

possibility for themselves to live here later in life.

I reached out to all principals of high schools on Cape Cod and to my surprise only ever

heard back from several. Out of the roughly 14 schools I sent the email to, only 1 responded the

first time. I revised the email and sent it again this time receiving 3 responses back. This was

frustrating to see that principals of high school students were reluctant to help out with a local

senior project. However, with the help of Mashpee, Monomoy, and St. John Paul II

administrators I was able to get survey results from over 100 high school students. This was not

as broad a sample size as I was hoping but with the time constraints of the project and school, I

was not able to get all the other schools on board. This was ok however because I made it my

goal originally and I fell a little short but accomplished the task well. This taught me true value

to the saying “under promise and over deliver” as well as the idea of aiming higher than possible.

Through this practicum, I learned so many life skills from doing things like calling the town hall
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of every town on cape cod and arranging spreadsheets of every town on cape cod about their

town meetings and warrant deadlines and important dates for each town. Through this, I

practiced self-confidence and had many phone calls and used social skills with people I do not

know. I can see a lot of growth in myself personally as a result of this class in only a short period

of time. My public speaking has greatly advanced as well as my ability to be comfortable in front

of peers and those people working above me in the practicum. I learned through meetings with

corporate leaders about acting professionally and learned from group discussions with adults that

standing your ground on some things is good and compromise is your best friend in a group

setting. I also learned that if you do not understand something that someone above you is saying

that you should tell them that so that you can be crystal clear on the task you are to be

performing and that way everything goes smoothly. I am so glad that I now have this experience

to be able to put on my resume but also to bring to my future positions. I learned so many

important life skills from this class and even more from the practicum and guest speakers. This is

because I not only learned these skills in this setting but I used and practiced them so that I now

own them and they have become a part of the person that I’ve become.