Georgia Barge
Miss Kansas City 2023
Protecting Homeless Mothers and Children
I believe it is part of my duty as a young woman with a voice and platform to exhaust it to defend other women in need of light being shed upon their situation. What I feel compelled to advocate for specifically is aiding homeless mothers and their children seeking help after escaping domestic abuse and addition.
This mission began years ago, when I had been asked to find a community outreach opportunity for school. I had volunteered with organizations such as Harvesters, soup kitchens, and community cleanup missions, but I wanted to find something that hadn’t reached quite as much awareness in my area. Almost as soon as I began searching, I found Sheffield Place, which is a shelter dedicated to housing and protecting homeless women and their children in the Kansas City area. I decided this was what I wanted to introduce to my educational community, and it soon turned into something much bigger. I organized multiple donation drives through my school and through my Clay County 4-H Department. I created informative flyers about the shelter that included information on how to donate either through my drive or directly to the organization, handing them out to all the houses in my neighborhood. It was an amazing experience and since then, I have developed a plan on how to further advocate for this cause. With the advancement of social media, awareness for this issue can be extremely attainable and effective. In recent years, Instagram and Facebook have become great tools in outreach among not only a single community, but across the world.
While my original mission was helping homeless mothers and their children in the Kansas City area, this issue is common among those in every country around the globe. The women that I’ve met through my experience at Sheffield Place have changed my life and given me a whole new perspective on the issue of homelessness, one that I wish more people had the chance to hear. Most of the mothers in the shelter are recovering from addiction or have escaped domestic abuse who then have been forced to leave their families main source of income with barely anything in their pockets. Not only can social media be used to encourage viewers to donate to Sheffield Place and shelters like it, but it can inform those of the growing homelessness rates in America. I have always believed that social media should not be the only form of information that people rely on when understanding social issues such as the homelessness crisis, but it can be one of the most powerful ways to draw attention and jump start readers into conducting their own research.
The Miss Kansas City title will bring this issue farther into the light, using the microphone and stage to do what everyone in their power should: advocating for those in need. To circle back to my beginning statement, it truly is my responsibility to refute misconceptions about this issue and encourage those willing to listen to volunteer, ultimately bridging a gap of understanding between people in vastly different situations.
Miss Missouri 2023
The #MissMissouri delegates were surprised Sunday with a visit from #Missouri #Governor Mike Parson and Mrs. Teresa Parson. The First Lady presented the delegates with the book, "You Can, Too!" This book highlights the journey of 36 Missouri female senators and their journey to the capital. #maomo #service #style #success #scholarship
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We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty – Mother Teresa
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It takes a society to combat homelessness, and a strong nation to fight poverty – Wayne Chirisa
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Most homeless kids are on the streets because they have been forced by circumstances that cause them to think that they are safer there than in any home they once knew. – Jewel
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To save a life is a real and beautiful thing. To make a home for the homeless, yes, it is a thing that must be good; whatever the world may say, it cannot be wrong. – Vincent Van Gogh
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To those who are struggling. To talk about a struggle, you’re likely to forget about it. To be shown a struggle, you’re likely not to forget it. But, to live through a struggle, you’ll understand it. – Valerie Owens
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Freedom is meaningless if people cannot put food in their stomachs, if they can have no shelter, if illiteracy and disease continue to dog them. – Nelson Mandela
Sheffield Place Charity Concert ~ May 25th, 2023
On September 8, 1921 our first Miss America winner was crowned. Margaret Gorman was a sixteen-year-old who won over judges (and the public) with her athletic ability and outgoing personality. “We’ll call her Miss America,” an Atlantic City newspaper said, and so she was.
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