Why I LIFT...

Check out my page to support the movement! 

About a year ago, as I was getting ready to graduate college, I was planning for my next big adventure, I knew it had to be something impactful and to me a year of service was the most natural course. I completed my AmeriCorps application and began exploring different organizations, and then I found LIFT and knew I had found something special. I remember leaving my interview for the Site Coordinator position and realizing how crushed I would be if I did not get to be a part of this amazing organization, as I was not fortunate enough to be involved with LIFT in college, and at that moment I know I had found something special.

As a Site Coordinator for LIFT-Chicago’s Uptown office, I have the best job I could have ever imagined. I recruit, train and manage an amazing group of college students from Loyola University Chicago who continue to inspire me on a daily basis and this is why I LIFT. The work we do is by no means easy and it is difficult to imagine as a college student you would have to tell someone maybe twice your age, “I’m sorry but it looks like you will not be able to keep your apartment. Let’s look into some emergency shelter options” However, the student advocates in my office and across the network do just that and they do so with so much compassion and empathy that the clients we work for are given a renewed hope, a reason to move on and faith in what lies ahead, no matter how uncertain the future may be.

LIFT is as much about service to our clients as it is about the experience of the college students who help our clients navigate their path out of poverty. My favorite moments within my day are when clients leave their meeting, walk up to the front desk beaming and tell me “I need to me with him/her again, they just made my day!” One particular client, when I ask her how her meeting went, always tells me with a laugh and a huge smile, “Matt, you know I love coming in here! Everyone just makes me feel so empowered and motivated, this is the best appointment I have all week.” It’s always the same and some days it is hard to wrap my head around the impact these students are having, but it ALWAYS gets me up in the morning, excited to see what my day will bring, if no other reason than to get to be around such positive energy, despite often challenging situations.

It’s easy to look at the newspaper and feel hopeless for the direction our world and society is headed. However, when I read everything going on in this world, I am able to maintain hope simply by looking around at the student advocates I work with, if they and I have anything to do with the future direction of our world, we will be just fine.

I LIFT to inspire and motivate the next generation of leaders in the anti-poverty movement. Will you join them?