Tag: SELF Inc.

Praxis Course: AFST234: Advancing Racial Justice

Semester: Fall 2025

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Dr. Darlyne Bailey & Sarah Spath

Community Partner: The Outley House with Self Incorporated

Praxis Site Supervisor: Troy Mouzon

Praxis Poster:

3 Autumn _Kelley_Advancing Racial Justice Poster_REVISED

 

Further Context:

Group Reflection:

– For this fall semester, we had the opportunity in our Advancing Racial Justice Class to partner up with various social impact organizations throughout Philadelphia. Committed to counteracting societal presumptions about the unhoused/homeless, we decided to work with site director Troy Mouzon and the Outley House (through the Self Incorporated organization), a shelter dedicated to housing and providing aid for unhoused adult men throughout Philly. Our work with Troy and at Outley has not been perfect, but nonetheless incredibly enriching and memorable. In our initial meetings with Troy, we discussed what he had learned during his time at Outley and how we could best assist him, the case workers, and the residents there.

– After this, we devised several different activities we would do during our 5 or so visits to Outley. This included a creative writing workshop, a teach-in on legal rights (interactions with the police), and a session on navigating academic and legal jargon and how to parse through more elitist language. While these events were more structured and planned in advance, some of the other, less formal work we did at Outley included one-on-one interviews with the residents (although it should be noted that these were often more like informal conversations rather than proper interviews) and helping where needed, such as organizing the various clothing rooms at Outley.

– The events we hosted at Outley were well-received, and we deeply enjoyed our time volunteering at and getting to know everyone there. In-person interactions with the system enriched our previous academic understanding of institutional inequality and the necessity for economic and racial justice. This experience provided both the framework and the confidence to be used in further civic action projects.

Jai’s Personal/Additional Thoughts:

I, Jai, was excited but nervous to start my work at the Outley house. I’m someone who has complained at length about the problem of academia in general, and Bryn Mawr in particular, separating itself from the communities it is stationed in and claims to serve. I was an exemplary case of this, however, as I had no prior experience working in homeless services, and was concerned that the presence of a somewhat sheltered college student would be more irritating than engaging for the residents I set out to serve. I underestimated myself and them, finding that the interest in sharing and connection was immediate and meaningful. The services Autumn and I provided were based on conversations we had had with residents, our site supervisor, and each other about what would be beneficial for this population. While we sometimes struggled in recruiting participants, those who attended were quickly engaged, spoke freely and earnestly, and tried, even when doing something they’d never done before, to get something out of it. This experience was a growing one, and I feel more prepared now to enter the communities I inhabit, talk to people, and not let assumptions, mine or theirs, get in the way of connection or care.

Autumn’s Personal/Additional Thoughts:

Similar to Jai, I was also very nervous but very excited to start volunteering at the Outley House. While diving headfirst into new and unfamiliar environments for me can sometimes feel uncomfortable and/or awkward, I knew, with the social biases towards the homeless in mind, that this work would be important. We discussed in class that community aid is not supposed to be easy, and although easier said than done, to embrace any feelings of discomfort and worry without putting yourself into too much strain. I had many worries about my ability to step up to the task of working at Outley, and to be honest, I still carry some of those concerns. However, now, I feel that my time at Outley has given me the skills to better manage any doubts I may have and how to channel them into the work I do— whether it was through the more formalized interviews with residents or getting to hear them share their various life experiences during creative writing sessions. Going forward, I want to make sure that my time at Outley doesn’t remain a one-off experience. Be it at Outley again or another organization, I want to continue to push myself out of my comfort zone and do more mutual aid and social justice work. I am really grateful for my time at Outley House and the wonderful community there. I feel that my time here, again like Jai, has given me the tools needed to continue doing more community work and helping others.

 

Praxis Course: AFST234: Advancing Racial Justice

CEL Site Supervisor: Kristopher Pittman

Professors: Darlyne Bailey and Sarah Spath

Praxis Poster:

2 Adara Alexander, Margeaux Thompson, Sav_revised

 

Further Context:

SELF Inc. is a Philadelphia-based organization focused on helping unhoused individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and secure permanent housing. They offer a range of housing services, including shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing, all of which provide mental health support programming. Ife Wellness Center is one of SELF Inc.’s five emergency housing shelters in Philadelphia. Ife specializes in serving those struggling with addiction and mental health challenges. It’s a long-term housing facility that aims to secure stable housing for residents before they leave. They offer a few emergency overnight beds. It is co-ed and for adults, but also has a small youth program for teens and young adults. Ife is rare in that it allows residents to rejoin the sober living community after relapsing if they are able to make a plan with their care team. 

After discussing with our CEL Site Supervisor and each other, our group landed on utilizing Ife’s existing framework of group activities and therapies as the basis of our project. We each chose to focus on a different theme for our group based on our interests, majors, and ideas expressed by residents and employees at Ife. We decided that each week, we could come on Fridays to Ife and gather interested residents in the cafeteria at several large, close tables to encourage an open, collaborative, social environment. We would then take turns introducing an activity, each within the focus of our own group, united under an overarching weekly theme. In practice, participants came in and out throughout our time present each week, so rather than having highly structured activities, we instead laid out all of the activities on the table and explained to each person as they came in what we each had to offer. Participants could then select whatever activity or activities appealed to them and work as a group. Throughout this time, we listened to music, chatted about the activities and their purposes as well as life generally, and often formed relationships with participants.  

Adara’s group, Mind and Meaning, attempted to foster an environment for participants to articulate emotions and experience through creativity, and to empower participants by providing tools to strengthen emotional regulation and self-agency.  Each week, Adara designed artistic activities with therapeutic or mental health-focused elements. By chatting while working on these projects, the group was able to integrate mental health discussions through community conversations and reflective dialogue.  

Sav’s group, Creative Voices, included a multi-week “poetry club” packet in which participants could read a series of quotes about the importance of poetry and creative self-expression, read about a specific poetic theme each week that aligned with the overarching weekly activity theme, read examples of poems in this theme, and then complete a series of poetry prompts. These prompts varied in length, complexity, and tone, and they helped to inspire those who were already interested in writing poetry and to introduce poetry to those with less experience. This group aimed to encourage storytelling as a tool for self-discovery and empowerment. Residents generally responded very positively and were often inclined to share their own previous writings or writings they created during the group with students and other residents aloud. Residents were generally very supportive of each other’s share-outs and often encouraged the CEL Site Supervisor to participate.  

Margeaux’s group, Community Threads and Self Care, focused on creating two-part activities with a creation element and a self-reflection/group discussion element. Activities emphasized the development or strengthening of self-care skills and reflection on building community. Another goal of the group was to gain an understanding of participants’ experience with social work and social workers to inform and improve future career endeavors and social work experiences.