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Modern Families

Three brave girls took action after their teacher berated a classmate for having two dads

"It's awesome what happened as far as those girls coming forward."

via OD Action / Twitter

Just imagine being an 11-year-old boy who's been shuffled through the foster care system. No forever home. No forever family. No idea where you'll be living or who will take care of you in the near future.

Then, a loving couple takes you under their care and chooses to love you forever.

What could one be more thankful for?

That's why when a fifth grader at Deerfield Elementary School in Cedar Hills, Utah was asked by his substitute teacher what he's thankful for this Thanksgiving, he said finally being adopted by his two dads.

via OD Action / Twitter

To the child's shock, the teacher replied, "that's nothing to be thankful for," and then went on a rant in front of 30 students saying that "two men living together is a sin" and "homosexuality is wrong."

While the boy sat there embarrassed, three girls in the class stood up for him by walking out of the room to tell the principal. Shortly after, the substitute was then escorted out of the building.

While on her way out she scolded the boy, saying it was his fault she was removed.

One of the boy's parents-to-be is Louis van Amstel, is a former dancer on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." "It's absolutely ridiculous and horrible what she did," he told The Salt Lake Tribune. "We were livid. It's 2019 and this is a public school."

The boy told his parents-to-be he didn't speak up in the classroom because their final adoption hearing is December 19 and he didn't want to do anything that would interfere.

He had already been through two failed adoptions and didn't want it to happen again.

via Loren Javier / Flickr

A spokesperson for the Alpine School District didn't go into detail about the situation but praised the students who spoke out.

"Fellow students saw a need, and they were able to offer support," David Stephenson said. "It's awesome what happened as far as those girls coming forward."

He also said that "appropriate action has been taken" with the substitute teacher.

"We are concerned about any reports of inappropriate behavior and take these matters very seriously," Kelly Services, the school the contracts out substitute teachers for the district, said in a statement. "We conduct business based on the highest standards of integrity, quality, and professional excellence. We're looking into this situation."

After the incident made the news, the soon-to-be adoptive parents' home was covered in paper hearts that said, "We love you" and "We support you."

Religion is supposed to make us better people.

But what have here is clearly a situation where a woman's judgement about what is good and right was clouded by bigoted dogma. She was more bothered by the idea of two men loving each other than the act of pure love they committed when choosing to adopt a child.

This article originally appeared on 12.02.19

utah teacher homophobic

Community

Salt Lake City is leading with compassion by building a tiny home village for the homeless

Other cities could adopt this approach.

Photo by Karl Hedin on Unsplash

Salt Lake City is building a tiny home village.

Homelessness is a problem that plagues many cities and there are so many different approaches to address the issue. Salt Lake City is trying a compassionate approach by building a tiny home village to address its homelessness problem. The city council is looking to lease eight acres of land to build 430 tiny homes as a safe place for homeless people to get on their feet.

There's more.

Salt Lake City isn't just placing people into tiny homes and calling the job done. It's also providing services and resources to help residents succeed in eventually being able to move on from the village and into permanent homes. The village is expected to cost around $13.8 million to complete and the city council voted 7 to 0 in favor of moving forward. City council member Alejandro Puy told Fox 13, "We need to do everything in our power to mitigate not only the consequences but bring good things to the westside."

In 2020, there were 580,466 people experiencing homelessness in America, which far out numbers the amount of beds available in homeless shelters. Since there are so few beds available compared to the number needed, there are large numbers of people who are forced to sleep completely unsheltered. Depending on where someone finds themselves without a home, their treatment may be different as there's no universal plan to address the issue.

Hostile architecture.

Wikicommons

Some cities don't exactly embrace empathy and compassion when planning how to handle their homeless population. Several large cities in America, including New York and Philadelphia, have spent millions of dollars on what has been coined "hostile architecture." It's where they make park benches slanted or awkwardly divided to discourage people from sleeping there. Some places have even placed spikes and boulders under overpasses that are often used to escape the elements for people without other means of shelter.

But not all cities are attempting to make it difficult to be homeless. Columbus, Ohio, has been working to keep people off the streets in a more effective and compassionate way for nearly 40 years. In 1986, Columbus created a Community Shelter Board, which controls the funds, programs and homeless response, and in 2000 the city took it a step further by building permanent supportive housing. The Community Shelter Board also makes sure the requirements to enter their shelters are extremely lenient to make it easier for people to get the assistance they need.

Soup kitchen.

Canva

Thanks to the gentle and humanitarian approach to homelessness, Columbus maintains a lower homeless population. As Salt Lake City continues to move forward with its tiny home village, it will likely follow closely in the steps of Columbus ensuring that everyone who wants a home has one.

Ending homelessness isn't something that can happen overnight and won't be an easy task because it's not a straightforward issue. Seeing cities lean more heavily into understanding the root causes of homelessness and doing their part to fix it is heartwarming. For now, it's unclear what will come next in the process for building the tiny home village, but when it's complete, lives could be changed for generations.

From Your Site Articles

homelessness

It’s hard to get back on your feet while sleeping on the street. Utah's found a solution.

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Did you know that in some cities in America, it is illegal to give food to someone who is homeless?

The list of cities that criminalize feeding homeless individuals isn’t a short one. In many cities, it's also illegal to sit or sleep in public areas, leaving homeless individuals with no safe place to spend the night. These laws are essentially making it illegal to be homeless.

Image via Starbucks. All photos used with permission.

Jerome Murdough, a 56-year-old homeless veteran, was trying to sleep in the stairwell of a building on a cold night in Harlem in 2014. He was arrested for trespassing and put in jail. Susceptible to heat due to his antipsychotic and antiseizure medications, he ended up dying in his cell, likely as a result of overheating.

Murdough’s is an extreme case, but it highlights the absurdity and cruelty of how we’ve tried to tackle homelessness in this country. Instead of measures being put in place to help individuals without a home gain stability and safety, they're often punished for their circumstances — making it even harder to get back on their feet.

Lloyd Pendleton saw the flawed way homelessness was being addressed and thought there had to be a better way:

In particular, Pendleton took issue with the requirements homeless individuals had to meet before they could receive help.

He recalls that the conventional wisdom in the late 1990s was that a homeless person needed to be "clean, dry, and sober" in order to receive housing assistance from the very institutions designated to help them. He wanted to give people — especially those who are chronically homeless — the chance for stability first, so they could get back on their feet, instead of requiring them to try to address these issues in the midst of chaos. The solution is so simple it seems rather obvious: housing first.

Housing is key. Housing means stability.

Recognizing this, Pendleton stepped up and implemented a "housing-first" method of rehabilitation in Salt Lake City, Utah. And the results have been incredible.

Pendleton said, "In 2005, we decided to do a pilot, which ended up with 17 individuals off the streets, straight into housing. 22 months later, all 17 were still housed. It was a powerful turning point for us."

Families are able to get their feet on the ground and live a "normal" life again, within a supportive community. Residents have a chance to take care of medical issues. To get their teeth fixed. To reconnect with their families. To take care of the problems plaguing them so they can move forward, healthy and confident. Most importantly, to have hope.

In the 10 years since the program’s introduction, Utah reduced its chronically homeless population by an incredible 91%. Cities across the country have looked to it as a model for effectively reducing chronic homelessness.

Said Pendleton, "You can never end homelessness, but you can give them housing opportunities. That can be done."

From Sierra Leone to Salt Lake City, this refugee is cooking up the American dream.

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Miatta Stevens' culinary journey is unlike most chefs.

Photo by Billy Yang, via Spice Kitchen Incubator, used with permission.

Originally from Sierra Leone, Stevens spent nine years of her life in a refugee camp in Ghana. It was there that she spent many of her days cooking delicious dishes and satisfying the stomachs of those around her.

In fact, her food was so good that Stevens was placed in the part of camp with fellow cooks, where it would be easier for them to prepare food for all the people.

Stevens' love for cooking and spreading joy runs deep.

"My passion for food comes from a very long way. My mom loves cooking, so she shared that with me. And with the help we had at the refugee camp — all that!" she joyously told Upworthy. "From there, I noticed that my passion for food is real because I was just willing to cook for people and love making them happy and love the feedback I get from it. It made a lot of difference to us in the refugee camp."

Now, Stevens is using her cooking chops to fuel her American dream.

When she relocated to Salt Lake City, she heard about Spice Kitchen Incubator.

Photo by Billy Yang, via Spice Kitchen Incubator, used with permission.

Founded three years ago, it's a program of the International Rescue Committee, in partnership with Salt Lake County, that provides opportunities for refugees, immigrants, and people with low-to-moderate income to start their own food business. It helps them support themselves and their families and use their existing culinary skills to start new lives.

Grace Henley, program director at Spice Kitchen Incubator, told Upworthy: "We know that so many refugees have strong, beautiful, diverse culinary backgrounds and that food is one of the ways that they’re able to offer their own skills in the communities where they're resettled."

Spice Kitchen is a truly incredible program that operates in three phases:

1. Preincubation

This is where they help develop their client's food idea and put a business plan in place. Here, they make sure to address every detail before launching — overall goals, branding and marketing, menu development, recipe costing, financial literacy, focus groups, permits and licensing, you name it!

It's a comprehensive plan that typically lasts four to six months and is designed to give each client the proper foundation needed to take their food dreams to the next level.

2. Incubation

This is it! The client is finally cooking up food for a living and able to start growing their business — of course, with a little help from their friends at Spice.

They provide access to a full commercial kitchen space, one that clients may rent at below market rate. They give hands-on technical assistance at any time and even help grow their clients' customer base in order to reach their ultimate goal.

There's one catch though. Clients can only stay in incubation for up to five years. From that point, they should have all the skills needed to be an independent business owner.

3. Graduation

They grow up so fast, don't they? This is when the clients have finally made it and are now ready to contribute to the U.S. economy doing what they love. But it's not like they're completely on their own.

They can still receive technical assistance when needed and are now part of the alumni network. This gives them the opportunity to give back and provide mentorship to incoming entrepreneurs.

Programs such as this have done so much to help refugees like Stevens achieve their goals.

Image via Spice Kitchen Incubator, used with permission.

"They have made [my passion] even more stronger and appreciate what I have to offer and give us the opportunity to share with people," says Stevens. "They try as much as possible to give me their help and resources to put my food out there."

When there's a system in place to help refugees succeed, they're able to share their incredible talents and wonderful culture with the rest of the country.

We can't wait to see what they cook up next.