A Difficult Decision

Since my training session a few weeks ago, I have been waiting to find out where I will be assigned to read to children in homeless shelters as part of The Reading Connection. I had listed my priorities, putting question marks beside the DC box and knowing that’s where they really need volunteers.

During the training, the coordinator could tell us only the general location of the various sites, not wanting to disclose the exact location of shelters, but the DC locations were all in Anacostia, an area where safety might be an issue.

Since then I have tried to drum up interest among people I know, thinking about safety in numbers. But no one has been dying (probably a poor choice of words!) to work with me in Anacostia so far.

When I got the e-mail today asking how I was feeling about DC and wondering if I had found anyone else to join me, I had to stop and think about my reply. The e-mail went on to describe the location, giving me the exact address and saying there would probably be 5-6 children in each reading session. I would be reading just one evening each month.

Part of me wants to say these children are just as deserving as children in Alexandria or Arlington, even though they might be located in a less desirable area. I could almost see their faces looking up at me as I was about to begin a story.

I wrote back to ask if I could talk to someone else who has worked at this site. I have practical questions – like how available is on-street parking? How well lit is the street? Could someone walk me out to my car after we finish? Who would I be working with (since there must be 2 volunteers)?

I will probably sign up for the Anacostia site and it will probably be fine.

What would you do?