[siegel]

I spent time volunteering at a community service organization in San Jose, California, specifically focusing my time on their rental assistance program for local low income residents. The gist of the program was providing assistance with one month's rent to people who encountered some sort of emergency that would otherwise have left them homeless. My responsibilities included meeting with applicants for the program, understanding their emergency, working through a monthly budget with them to ensure they could pay their rent going forward, and verifying their story.

Having grown up in an upper-middle class family, I gained a whole different perspective on the struggles people face making ends meet. I've always been politically liberal, but my ability to empathize was categorically different after spending time volunteering at this organization.

Equally important, though related, was getting a better understanding of the needs of people in my local community.

I raise this issue here because many people on this site are transplants to tech hubs throughout the U.S. and worldwide and we often live in our little bubbles in our respective communities. I cannot stress enough the importance for all of us to learn about the communities in which we live, outside of our little bubbles, and offer our talents to improve the lives of residents of our local areas and make these communities better places to live.