Community Reflection Paper

The program is able to provide support for these student Monday through Friday, barring holidays and school breaks, at no cost to them. If the program did not exist, these students would be unable to receive the same academic support nor a safe environment to play with their peers. Additionally, the students’ parents often come topic up their child after their work day in their uniforms. If the program did not exist, the parents would have to find alternative means of care for their children after school, whether it be they return home on their own from the bus or finding a baby sitter at a costly burden. I connected with these children in this aspect as I was not privy to resources such as these. I neglected my school work that I was unable to finish by the simple inability to ask for help from my family members as they themselves did not know how to assist me with my schoolwork. The program offers a great alternative that would exist if the program was absent in the community. The longevity of the program speaks to the sustainable community relationship that the university students were able to build with the community partners at Lay Park, and the value of the program by the continued support of the Lay Park staff.

For four long years I felt as if my high school was in a different world in of itself. I had spent that time interacting with an extensive amount of groups, or “cliques”, and getting to know what they do. Through my experiences, I had begun to realize what made this “subculture” high school of sorts run like it did. High school is an incredibly dynamic time for people, and I had changed as a person dramatically from my freshman to senior year. Like many, my freshman year was quite awkward, as remnants of my middle school self remained with me. As time went on, how, I talked to more people and grew out of my passive and shy personality. This did not just randomly happen without reason though. I began to learn and realize who I was and whom I enjoyed talking to in school, which explained why I spent so much time socializing with multiple kinds and groups of people. Everyone’s concept of “normal” was different, and high school was where I learned that lesson and will never forget.

On SPARC Day our class went to serve a small private non-profit agency called the Walden Community School. This school ranges from grades kindergarten through eighth. Walden separates themselves from other schools because of how unique their approach is to education. The students have a very personal teacher to student relationship which allow them to receive individualized attention in their studies. One main focus of this school is to teach the students to learn, question, and make connections rather than teach the students how to pass the standardized test. There are other ways in which this separates themselves from others but they help serve the community by fostering a good education. The work that we did on SPARC Day ranged from household

I teach face-to-face classes, but I have students complete assignments and discussion board postings on Blackboard periodically.

There are myriad things a person could use $100,000 for to benefit their community, but one certain situation stuck out to me. Based on research I conducted there are several people that live below the poverty level in Posey County. A 2014 estimate concluded that Posey County has about 25,540 residents and about 10% of those residents live in poverty. That is why, if I had $100,000 I would build another food bank in Posey County. Posey County currently has two food banks. The St. Peter’s Food Bank is located in Wadesville and then there is the Mt. Vernon Food Pantry. I recently took the time to talk to an individual who is associated with the food bank in Wadesville. I was able to learn that they serve 600 to 700 people once a month. Due to government commissions, an individual can only receive food from a pantry once a month. I believe it would be beneficial to open a food bank at a different location on a different day of the month. My church, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, in Poseyville has a storage room that would be beneficial for this type of program.

This positive impact is evident in the assistance I provided to the children of the local community in developing their literacy and social skills. The positive impact I made on the children was also evident through the safe and healthy learning environment I provided to them, as this accomplishment established a safe environment for those who may not have access to one within the community. However, the positive change I brought forth was not only evident in the lives of those I engaged with, but in my own life as well. Volunteering in this program allowed me to further develop my leadership skills, all the while learning how to interact with children in an instruction-heavy environment, both of which will help me in the future. My acts which demonstrated global citizenship demonstrated how I brought a positive change to the lives of those around me, and my

Each year 200,000 children are charged as adults in court according to the Open Society Foundations. Children held in adult prisons have very high recidivism rates, but only if they are not in there life! Children charged as adults do not get the help they need or are not taught what to do better. A couple solutions for this problem could be community based groups, focusing on their mental and physical needs, and lastly, having people to work with and tutor the children. These things could turn the children into productive members of society instead of repeat offenders and criminals.

Sense of community “refers to a perception of belongingness, interdependence, and mutual commitment that links individuals in a collective unity” (Kloos et al., 2012, pg. 27). Within my placement at the Queen Street Commons Café, I see multiple instances of sense of community each day I am there. The café strives to include every person from the community in order to ensure that they feel included and a member of the overall community. Two elements of sense of community that I see most often during my time volunteering are membership and integration and fulfillment of needs. Both are seen through the program at the café called, the Speak English Café. This program serves to integrate immigrants or refugees to Canada into the Kitchener community by helping them practice their English through a welcoming, informal

I have decided to investigate the AFSC nonprofit, which is an organization the was originally created by Quakers. They have offices all over the United States, however, I will only be focusing on the office here in Des Moines and what they do for the community here. I have had my own personal encounter with their services. They offer Legal Aid to refugees and immigrants of Iowa. Being a DACA recipient myself I have attended clinics to apply for immigration status and also have volunteered to help others apply for their immigration status. Knowing them and what their cause in our community is has inspired me to investigate them further.

Upon entering Brookdale South Assisting Living, I had no idea what to expect. My partener, Kendall, and I had scheduled a tour of the living facilities. However, the person that was scheduled to be a tour guide never showed up. Therefore, we had the privilege of having the assistant director, Susan, to give us a tour of the facility. Susan was a nurse for 30 years before retiring and pursuing to help the elderly.

I have never attended a community meeting or any meeting regarding my community therefore, attending this meeting for the first time was a great first experience. I was able to see how a meeting is ran and how the organization works in order to help make improvements in my community. When I went into the office the meeting was being held, I was offered an agenda and other informational forms regarding the meeting. The agenda provided information of how the organization of the meeting would be and who will be going over what topics. The meeting was a timed meeting where Richard Hernandez and Bill Houtt managed on recording to keep data. The issues that were discussed were citizen’s request for city improvements, a short review of the 2016 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) Accomplishments, which is a grant that helps build homes for low income families and was reviewed by Rhonda Haynes a community developer. Lastly, the Sidewalk at Divisadero and Rinaldi, North Visalia citizen report were also discussed by Bill Houtt a member of the committee, and construction issues in N. Visalia discussed by Lt. Brent Abbott.

On July 18, 2017, I attended the City of Gulfport’s City Council Meeting. The council is made up of elected members of the community whose focus is the city’s goals, major projects and infrastructure improvements. The council makes decisions that range from community growth to land use to finances and strategic planning. Competencies demonstrated during the meeting were Competencies 3 and 5. Competency number 3 focuses on Advanced Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice. The meeting demonstrated knowledge of the ideas and concepts related to the notions of social justice, advocacy, leadership, social change, social support, social networks, and social capital consistent with a MSLC perspective. This competency was demonstrated by addressing community concerns by incorporating ideas of citizens and community leaders. Community leaders such as council members and the mayor provided support and clarification of city policies. The citizens advocated for changes in their community by bringing their issues to the city council for resolutions. Competency 5 focuses on Engaging in Policy Practice. This was demonstrated by advanced skills in social work practice including the ability to link theory, policy-practice, and research/ evaluation, and to employ leadership skills to demonstrate and promote such a linkage. This competency was demonstrated by city council members and the citizens of Gulfport, MS. They worked together to ensure

I hope all is well. Yesterday, October6,2017, when I stepped outside of Hennepin Health’s office suite into the hallway my eyes immediately began tearing. When I returned back to my work space my eyes continuously teared. Since, my former manager resignation, I have been reporting to Marilee Moritz, Customer Service Manager. She witnessed the tearing of my eyes and redness. I asked if I could leave and work from home. She replied, "No" one can work from home, and then I asked her if I work in office suite, 222, since that office suite has been empty, around July 8, 2017. If I could work in an enclosed office space with my air purifier I could remain in the building for 8 hours. Marilee, said no, since leadership team is interviewing for the person I can’t occupy that office space.

For the service learning project, I teamed up with three of my classmates to volunteer at a lady’s conference at Imani Restoration Centre church (IRCC) on the 16th of September, 2017. IRCC is a non-profit organization which is a Kenyan community founded that focuses on bringing African immigrants together to support and learn the things of God. Samuel Mwangi, the senior pastor of IRCC, said that through the counseling sessions that he holds at the church every Thursday, he discovered that most ladies go through the same challenges. Therefore, he thought it would be great for him to organize a lady’s conference, so that ladies could come together to share and support each other (Personal communication, September, 16, 2017)

Now that the different facets of the multiverse theory have been explained, what about society’s reaction? My hypothesis is that society will freak out and eventually progress into a nihilistic and existential society. Inevitably, there will also be individuals who react differently. I believe society’s reaction will mirror that of what happened when Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution. Because society went haywire when their view of the world was changed, no doubt society will react in a similar way because their view of the entire universe itself would change. A majority of the population sees our universe as a singular entity that exists on its own. Outside of our universe, there is nothing, since everything we know of is contained within the universe. But the multiverse theory claims that other universes exist outside of our own. Those universes contain other versions of ourselves in different contexts, different jobs, different socioeconomic levels, and with different passions.