The smell of syrup and sizzling batter wafts through the morning air as students from the Dignity Moves Club serve pancakes to residents of a Rohnert Park housing site. It’s early, but students from the Dignity Moves Club are already setting up tables and chatting with regulars.
Beyond these morning breakfasts is a student-led effort to address homelessness. The club partners with the larger nonprofit DignityMoves, which creates temporary housing and support systems for people experiencing homelessness. Focused on treating everyone with dignity, the organization operates throughout California and works to make unsheltered homelessness a solvable issue. After volunteering with DignityMoves last summer, the club’s co-founder, junior Sydney Middleton, quickly saw an opportunity to expand.
“We started the Sunday breakfasts in the summer, and then we brought DignityMoves to Redwood because we wanted to reach out to more people,” Middleton said. “Having more people to help us out was the main motivation [to start the club].”
By showing up week after week, students have become a familiar and welcome part of the community.
“Our goal is to be there every Sunday. Now, the residents know we’re going to be there, and they really enjoy [the breakfasts],” Middleton said.
What began as a small effort has grown into a sizable club. Junior Ava Brown helps to lead this effort, building a hands-on approach where students take charge of every aspect.
“Since we plan a lot of activities, we try to give each member the chance to plan something. It’s really fun because everyone gets to create something and participate,” Brown said.
What sets the Dignity Moves Club apart from other community service opportunities is the leadership roles students take on.
“When I first went, my expectation was that it was going to be like any other community service where an adult [was] running it and you [didn’t see] the people you [were] helping. But [with the Dignity Moves club], we are running it, interacting with people, making plates and talking with [regulars]. We know a lot of them now, and they know us,” Middleton said.
Part of the club’s mission is to give students a clearer view of the lives of others in their community.
“I think a lot of people in Marin aren’t exposed to [homelessness], so it’s very eye-opening to hear [people’s stories],” Brown said. “One thing that shocked me was [that one resident I met] told me he was in college. I was surprised to hear that; it made me realize that your life can go [in any direction].”
As the club has grown, so too have its partnerships. Collaborations with other organizations have helped the students expand their reach and bring more resources to the housing sites.
“We’ve started working with the National Charity League (NCL), so most weeks a mom and daughter from NCL will come and help [with projects],” Middleton said.
Looking ahead, the club aims to continue hosting their breakfasts, book drives and board game drives while also launching clothing drives and providing residents with essential supplies. The members have already begun brainstorming ways to provide digital access to residents.
“One of our farther-out goals is we want to be able to give [residents] email accounts, phone numbers and similar technology, so they’re able to connect with businesses or try and get jobs,” Middleton said.
For now, their presence each Sunday is already making a difference. The Dignity Moves Club offers a reminder that small efforts can lead to change.
“We’ve made a lot of [relationships],” Middleton said. “There’s no other environment where I would have had the chance to make these connections.”
