Students Serve and Learn at Target Dayton
Kettering College believes in the power of serving others, so much so that service-learning activities are built into our curriculum. There is no better way to experience service than to be a part of it, so that is exactly what our Campus Ministries group does every month.
Steve Carlson, Campus Ministries Director, explains Kettering College has an ongoing relationship with Target Dayton (TG), so we take a group there every month. TG is an organization in downtown Dayton that offers church services and meals to people who are experiencing homelessness in the area. They run buses to area shelters and provide transportation to lower-income housing to assist in getting people there.
“We want to encourage students to make service a regular part of their lives.”
-Steve Carlson
Carlson says, “Target Dayton doesn’t just sit back and say, ‘We’re here if you need us.’ They instead operate from a much more hands-on approach that tells guests they’re going to come find them and bring them to where they can get these services.” They do it several times each week with multiple services a day, bringing in hundreds of guests—There were nearly 300 when Kettering College visited last time.
TG informs all volunteers that anyone who attends a service and dinner is to be treated as a guest, and the TG volunteers are the hosts. Volunteers are reminded most of the guests have had almost no one show them dignity or interest in so long and showing them this is the top priority.
Before sharing a meal, guests and volunteers first attend a church service to remind them of God’s love for them. As the guests continue to their table, each volunteer serves their guests, cleans up after them, and spends quality time with them in conversation as they share a meal. If guests are open to prayer, students are encouraged to pray with them.
Carlson says, “Yes, the goal is to serve them food and talk to them about Jesus, but they also need to know they are important and cared for, and that we want to know their stories. We want to provide emotional and spiritual support and make them feel seen.”
Service-learning projects such as this help students to look outward. Carlson said it’s powerful to witness the impact service has on students. He says, “Students serve others in our own area and realize how different their experiences are from theirs. It pushes students to have more awareness and to see there are people in need everywhere.”
Caring for others takes confidence and a vulnerability that students might not have encountered in their daily lives. Carlson points out that this is what students will experience as they step into a patient’s room. They’ll meet people who are different from them and find themselves not agreeing with choices that person has made, but as healthcare professionals, they will need to find the courage to be present with each patient without judgment, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Carlson says, “When our students become healthcare providers, they’ll need to show patients they care what they’re going through. We need our students to learn the skills of having patients know they’re not alone, which is the same compassion and empathy we’re hoping to create with this serving opportunity.”
Kettering College helps students answer the call of serving others through healthcare, and Carlson says fulfilling that as our mission means we must do the work to back that up. He says, “If our mission is to help students make service a life calling, we need to remind them life is now—it doesn’t suddenly start after graduation.”
“If we lay down the groundwork now, students can get in that mindset through college, so one day serving their patients and communities with empathy becomes second nature.”
-Steve Carlson
When students step outside of their normal routines to serve those who are different from them, they begin to put the idea of being healthcare professionals into action. They get an opportunity to gain confidence in their communication skills and gain an understanding of the importance of having human connection and empathy.
Students say they enjoy serving at Target Dayton, finding it so rewarding they often return on their own time, once they witness firsthand the positive effects of lifting others up and reminding them they are worthy of God’s love and ours.
(All Photos Courtesy of Steve Carlson)
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