Social Work Reflection

At church, in addition to my participation in the worship services, I volunteered at our church’s soup kitchen, medical camps and elementary school for underprivileged children. These experiences opened my eyes to the deprivation of love and care in the world and a dire need of God’s grace for people at large so they could receive forgiveness, healing and restoration in their lives.

As a teen, I had the opportunity to volunteer on a summer mission trip that focused on serving the homeless population in San Francisco. Stricken by poverty and drug addictions the Tenderloin District was unlike anything I had ever seen. Instead of passing judgment or feeling intimidated, I chose to serve these people with compassion and respect. What I experienced during this time was transformational and helped to direct me on a pathway towards service.

I volunteered at the Little Lights Urban Ministries. I had the pleasure of working with adults and kids but, majority were adults in a low income community. Little lights was founded in 1995 by Steven Park. Little Lights is located in Potomac Gardens public housing apartments in Washington DC. It all started off with Steven tutoring one child in an uptown neighborhood. Then he met his wife Mary and things started expanded. They started allowing 15 kids come over after school to do homework and bible study. Sometimes they would order pizza or buy chicken to feed the kids if they stayed over late. A couple of years later they was blessed with the main building and somebody donated a van for transportation. Steven then start his nonprofit and

I completed my first sixteen hours of service learning at the Hope Haven summer camp for the special needs children. This was a great experience and definitely one of my favorite places to volunteer. I was able to contribute to the organization by keeping an extra eye on the children in their various activities. This included ensuring the children were having fun and not getting into mischief. I also helped set up and take down activities they had planned for the children. I did everything they asked of me and made sure to help kids who needed me.

My most impactful service experience happened this last summer. I have been lucky to have been a part of various youth groups throughout my adolescence. With Memorial Baptist Church, I was happy to attend PASSPORT Camps. Like other camps I have participated in, PASSPORT is a camp where youth spend a week in the summer to enthusiastically worship and serve the community surrounding their site. PASSPORT sent us to Danville, Virginia, and despite being on Averett University’s cozy campus, we were surrounded by a dying, deprived community. Social exposure is exponentially increased when your mission groups are melting pot assignments from various churches. PASSPORT did not hold back in showing us the poorest of the community, and the sheer lack

At New Hope Ministries I had an opportunity to Work in the food pantry, where I sorted and packed food for donation. At New Hope Ministries, I learned about the procedures for sorting, storage, and prioritizing donation food with regard to its durability. Apart from the new experience I gained, I had a chance to serve others, who were in need. This was a gratifying moment for me because I have

I spent time during the last five summers at Catholic Heart Work Camp. It is a mission program that restores homes and hearts in neighborhoods that are poverty stricken, dilapidated and full of people who need our help. We work in and about the homes painting, cleaning, landscaping, or doing light construction work; anything we can do to make it better for the home owners. During the work day, we get to know the families who live there; we develop relationships; we become friends.

My service ministry was Kentucky Refugee ministry. I mentored a refugee family who are from Cuba and helped teach their daughter, named Maria, English. I also helped teach them cultural aspects of America, like how we shake hands when we meet someone new, and we wave to people we know. Through my work I have meet one of the kindest, funniest, most generous families I have ever met. They have little to nothing but they are always offering to help. Maria is learning English quickly and is able to communicate with complete sentences. They are always eager to learn and work hard for their children and families.

This semester I chose to do my service learning at Volunteers of America, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing and other assistance services to low-income citizens. Within this organization I took care of the elderly, both the one’s with disabilities and the one’s without; I helped the staff with daily activities necessary to the organization which affect the residents’ health. Not only did I help with the organizations’ responsibilities but I also decorated the facility for different celebrations and shared time with the residents in the foundation. Some activities included table games, physical exercises, beauty treatments and reading.

Project Horizon had challenged me to grow my knowledge, my skills as a nurse and communicator, and to enrich my values and attitude in a personal, professional and social manner to help those in need in my community. The whole experience opened my eyes to a part of my community that I was not familiar with. I heard before about shelters and people in need, but was never involved that close to experience how hard it is for the homeless to survive, and the challenges that they have to overcome. My rotation was at IMMACARE Shelter, a non-profit organization which purpose is to help the homeless population at the Hartford area. The shelter serves 75 homeless males from the area, especially veterans and those with HIV/AIDS, criminal histories,

I chose to work with the Healing Through Christ addiction recovery agency for my volunteer project. This organization offers support, help and healing to all persons involved with addiction. They work towards further understanding and life long sobriety through a Christ based workbook that is used to teach in all support group settings. There are weekly meetings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as, frequent call-in meetings. I worked in these reoccurring meetings as a group leader, facilitator and active participant. As a volunteer, I was expected to come early to set up and greet individuals, as well as, guide discussions and create relationships with the women there.

I am learning as I go but I currently am a student conduct hearing officer, speaking with students who have violated policy and disciplining if found responsible with sanctions. Through conduct hearings, I am able to process an array of issues that arise in the residence halls including roommate conflict, alcohol, controlled drug substances, sexual assault, and mental health. I am also learning to delegate tasks and inspire others to stay on track and focused on their goals. I also have felt validated in pursuing my masters in social work, especially in Dr. Norwards Generalist Practice class, during the self-care exercise. I am fascinated how the social work profession validates the social worker and the emotional history they bring to the table. Self-awareness and self-reflection have always been pillars that I wish to incorporate in my everyday and having a program validate this is inspiring. The self-care plan was so transformative for me that I brought them to my staff meeting that I hold weekly for my staff. It was amazing to hear their responses and gain a better understanding of what their going through but also how I can help them manage self-care.

You can imagine my shock because as far as I knew when you are applying for any sort of help from any agency, you usually need documentation or proof of who you are. This opened up my eyes to a different world than what I was used to, and it began to slowly change my perspective on the social services available to those who are underprivileged. It also made me wonder what it was like for my mother who at some point used social services, when she was pregnant with me at the age of fifteen. I immediately thought of my own uncle who was once a drug addict. I couldn’t help, but think about how I would have liked for people to have treated him fairly like they did at UAII, especially when he was roaming the streets. I think seeing this changed my perspective throughout the internship because I couldn’t help, but relate to a man who came in for what appeared to be his first meal of the day. I related to someone whom I did not know, because in one way or another I was reminded of a family member close to me. I couldn’t help, but be reminded of how some problems like drug addiction, and helplessness crossover races and borders because they are issues that unfortunately every community faces. UAII is a community organization that decided they would address the issues and try to fix these problems. It was a beautiful experience to share the resilience of the staff, who helped everyone regardless of the situation the person coming into their community center.

After finding a ministry that I felt would both be challenging a rewarding I signed up to volunteer at the Franciscan Outreach Association, an emergency

This semester I completed my service learning experience with Succeeding at Work. I was originally doing my hours at a new site but was redirected because of the duties of the assignment given. Succeeding at Work’s mission is to foster ethical, social, and professional development within the community. The focus is to train, educate, motivate and empower clients to excel in the workplace. This organization has many different programs to which the vision is to support the client’s personal growth and character development to enhance knowledge within the workplace. The programs are designed in a comprehensive learning environment which targets clients of all ages. All the classes are hands on with different modules, that have strategies that help guide clients to the next level. Succeeding at work focuses on the demands of the human resource market.