On October 4th, I did my first field work with Jordan Haley and Jaycie Kim. We decided to go to the Orangewood Foundation, which is in Santa Ana. We met up there at 9am and waited to meet with Mike McKenzie who is a program supervisor there. We talked to him in a small conference room for a little over 30 minutes until he gave us a small tour around. Overall, we were there for a bit over an hour. My first impressions of the site were that it was a nice building. It had a welcoming atmosphere. I love the color orange which was present there and I remember their logo, a colorful butterfly, making me happy. When I walked in, I went up to the lady at the front desk to ask if Jordan and Jaycie were there yet and she was very kind to me. I talked to her again later when Jordan and Jaycie arrived and she was eager to help and told us she would tell Mike McKenzie that we were there. While we waited, I saw some young adults walk around but I could not tell if they were any of the “clients” the organization serves. I did not observe any of the staff helping any of their “clients” while I was there. What I noticed about the “helpee/helper” relationship was that the helpers try to act as some sort of mentor for the foster care kids but are also friendly.
This was a positive experience for me. It is always wonderful seeing people dedicating their time towards helping others. Nice to see how much Mike McKenzie cared about foster care kids and how passionate he was. We told us he
After seeing the smiles that seemed almost permanent that week, I realized how important it is to work with and help younger children. I also learned what it’s like knowing that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life. I’ve been a counselor at that same camp for two more years since that first summer, and it gets better every time. Even though it can be difficult and frustrating to work with children sometimes, the reward that you, as well as the children, receive is well worth the effort.
I was ecstatic to be able to be involved with this program. I volunteered to help with the program for 4 years and it was the best experiences I had with children. I did multiple things for the children: I was a chaperone for one of the groups, I made there lunches for them one year, and also made the activities for the children to enjoy.
The first couple days I was pretty upset about the whole thing. First day that I went to Tabitha it was very upsetting to not see anyone in the common ground socializing with others. Also, it was upsetting seeing how some of the nurses in Tabitha treated some of the patients. For example, one guy, wouldn’t even acknowledge that one elderly lady was trying to ask him a question. When he did acknowledge her he didn’t even answer the question and walked away.
I remember it like it was yesterday. There i was a eight year old child, standing there in our front yard when the social worker dropped off our very first foster child. My parents placed the baby in my arms and as i stared down at it, i remember the very first thoughts running through my head; what the heck are we supposed to do with this!/ we are supposed to take care of this thing Well six months later, surprisingly, the baby still lived, but we had all just began a journey that would continue throughout the rest of my life. The one thing conclusion that i have come throughout these past 8 years is that foster system is indeed a problem that needs to be recognized and addressed by EVERYONE. And i hope to persuade you on this by exploring the problem, privileges, and promise for these kids.
My overall response to my experience at the Boys Ranch Town is very positive. It is a faith-based program, which I enjoyed and thought was very positive and uplifting. The fact that their services are free and all that is required of the resident’s guardians is for them to provide health insurance was amazing. I felt that the people there were very accepting and wanted to teach me as much as they could in my short time there. The caseworker I was following was very encouraging in letting me do things on my own and answering questions along the way if I had
6. In what ways does Barbara become “acculturated” to the cold and difficult daily activities of Taarnby?
Everyone loved it, it was my first time playing, but because I’m not in foster care I’m suppose to answer all the questions that apply to my life, if I get one that is specifically about foster care I am to pretend that I’m in foster care and think about how I would feel in those situations. The kids really started to open up about their feelings of frustration, loneliness, abandonment, confusion, and many others, these were just a few that were repeated. At 7:30 p.m. the kids left and we put the room back together. During our meeting we found that the siblings were no longer at the same foster home anymore, one of them had to be moved out. This explained a lot of the behavior that was experienced tonight, one of the girls went off in the Volcano room beating Max, the giant stuffed man, with bats, tying him up with ropes, and making a whip for him. This also can explain the little boy’s attitude toward doing the activity. We came to the conclusion that these kids need Healing Hearts more than they know and we can’t give up on them even when the going gets tough, because it will get tough.
On behalf of Apostle Henry B. Alexander of Shield of Faith Christin Center, Pomona CA, we would like to cordially invite you to attend our upcoming : Foster Care Expo on May 7, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Location: Shield of Faith Christian Center 1750 West Holt Ave Pomona, CA 91768. This upcoming Foster Care Expo is a community event designed to inform families of the steps they can take to become a Foster or Adoptive Parent, Weekend Host, Volunteer or Mentor for Foster Children in the Department of Children & Family Services. The Foster Care system has over 20,651 children in Los Angeles County and over 5,000 in San Bernardino County. These children and teenagers are in need of loving families, who would be willing to bring them into their home,
Being a foster parent is a choice that I made with a lot of support from my family and friends. I
8.18 What explains the shrinking of ocean crust as the crust moves away from volcanoes?
Everyone there is extremely welcoming and kind. All of the volunteers are very cautious of FDA (Food and Drug Administration) policy and keeping everyone safe. Also the people that volunteered were super nice and interactive. I was always talking to someone about how they were doing, and about life, etc. I didn’t meat 1 person that annoyed me, besides maybe Ricky :). I felt really safe at feed my starving children and I only got bored watching those videos like 5 times over and over.
The strength that Stephanie maintained throughout the process was a wonderful motivating factor to ensure that I was working just as hard as she was. Working with a client who is fostering to adopt came with many challenges for me. I am working with the family seeking to adopt, my agency (TBF), CPS, medical providers, therapists, attorneys and so on. Ensuring that everyone involved was receiving what they needed while maintaining the rights and needs of my client (Stephanie) almost required a playbook of sorts. Ensuring the moving parts were where they needed to be and that nothing was overlooked required a focused, organized social worker. The entire process was a challenge that I met with my personal and professional strengths. I was in awe of the resilience and determination that Stephanie maintained throughout the entire
It is sad that two different organizations had to shut their doors due to not having the funding to stay open. Both of the organizations that closed sound like they had a good purpose in mind and were there to help children when they were in need. The Children’s Home society sounds like an amazing organization that would be a great resource to help families. I like that they are dedicated to improving the quality of life for children in need and also offer support to their families. There are many organizations that will offer the support to the families but have limited support for the children.
Paddling your own canoe can have several meanings such as, doing something on your own or being your own person. In my eyes Kendra Graham is a woman who does that. Kendra is my coach for Carolina Day Middle School soccer. She is one of the many people I know that can do actions on her own. She has helped sufficiently and she is her own person. I look up to her because of that. My coach, Kendra Graham, to me is a female who paddles her own canoe, she overcomes obstacles such as, having three kids that go to different schools, having a job in the state capital Raleigh, and being a labor and delivery nurse.
I did my volunteer work at a local daycare in my hometown, Tahlequah. The site is called Tahlequah Early Learning Academy (TELA) and is a side site to Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit. I did not know of this center until I did my volunteer work. I really didn’t even know the building was in use because it use to be the old central for grades 5th and 6th. This building is located a couple of blocks west of Tahlequah High School.