It has been almost three weeks since we hosted the "Block Gone Wild". This time has given me the time to reflect on the project. The time has also given me the chance to talk to my classmates about the project. I expected a positive feedback because of how well my experience at Parkwin homes had gone, but I was surprised by how much everyone I spoke to absolutely loved the project. I know a lot of my classmates were nervous about the project. Some feared that no one would show up while some feared for their safety. I believe that my classmate Sarah Beth Cobb illustrated the feelings of the class when she told me "That was way more lit than I expected". I had to agree with her. I was in disbelief as I left Parkwin homes. "I was nervous about …show more content…
I do believe that this experience will influence my classmates as well as other JSU students to do community service. I know I have been changed by this experience. I already have plans to help with toy donations over Christmas break. I think that before the class went to Parkwin homes we were expecting to be doing them a big favor, but to me it seems like we gained more than they did. They did get a day of fun obviously, but so did we. This experience also taught us how rewarding service projects could be. The most important lesson I learned is how you should never judge someone based on where they come from because if you do, you will miss out on some of the greatest people you can meet. I also learned that public housing isn't nearly as bad as I thought. The article "Public Housing Myths" may clear up some of these misconceptions for those who have never visited a public housing Facility. Now that this project is at an end and our class ends this week I can look back and see how much I have learned. I did not just learn about how to write or analyze. I learned about how I could apply myself to a good cause. I am going to miss all of my classmates they are some of the closest classmates I have come to know. To those reading who have never taken part in a service project I highly recommend it. This is by far the most rewarding "Schoolwork" I have ever
There were quite many relations made between my service learning experiences and themes addressed in the course. Some of the connections were about human self-respect, unity, and fairness. The social ties hold people together and can support the people who do not have the power to help each other. It was interesting for me to employ my skills and knowledge I learned in the classroom to serve those who need help.
Tracy Miller’s article comes from The Center for Vision and Values, which is affiliated with the Grove City College. The center focuses on a learning community that teaches people about faith and freedom as American citizens. They write about the raw truth of difficult circumstances, including homelessness. Miller has different opinions then others when it comes to the government helping the homeless. This article talks about how the government is actually making the homeless population worse. He talks about the past and gives statistics about housing that the government has funded and how it has not helped. They are making it worse by allowing people to live in government-funded housing. Miller says this allows the homeless to continue their
The service projects that I am most passionate about typically involve mentoring and/or tutoring. My involvement in these activities allows me to exemplify the five pillars mentioned above. As an example, when I volunteer for the "Introduce a Girl to Engineering" day camp, I mentor young women from local high schools. The mentees from the program often have an idea of their worth, but I make sure to let them know that, although the statistics are not in our favor, they can still push to have an impact in any field. Mentoring, when you become a leader, is as important as leading
In these cases, providing free or low-cost housing will make no difference. Therefore, the other citizens who use the sidewalks must view the unhoused as advantageous to the sidewalks, thus “bettering” the street. Consequently, those citizens, the higher status members of society, must understand the unhoused or, at least, benefit from their presence. In order to bring awareness to the homeless and to the cause of it, I would promote a series of public service announcements and advertisements, depicting the unhoused as people just like the housed, but who prefer not to live in houses. With this, I will be attempting to eliminate the stereotype that all homeless people are lazy, drug-addicted degenerates who refuse to put any effort into making their lives comfortable. Of course, there will be citizens who do not care whether the homeless like being homeless or not. In those circumstances, I will demonstrate the advantages to having people out on the sidewalks. Most importantly, I will present the city with statistics and facts that exhibit situations in which the unhoused prevented or reduced crime, which will prove the worth of having extra “eyes on the street.” Ultimately, the goal is to educate the housed population about the unhoused and their function in order to make the sidewalk been seen as a more appealing
My favorite service project was my silver award for girl scouts. Before Jamie Lince, Faith Brown, and I did the silver award the hoophouse by the elementary school was very rundown. There were holes in the plastic, weeds in the beds, and the wood chips in the aisles were worn down. The hoophouse couldn’t be used. We wanted to fix that problem. First we applied for grants. I never knew how many steps or how much time this would take. It really taught me how to handle deadlines so things get turned in on time. It also taught me that there are people that want to support you, and you just need to find them. The two grants that we received were a Lowes grant for fifteen-hundred dollars and a seed grant from Van Atta’s. The second step was to get people to help weed out the beds so we could plant the seeds we got from the grant. This took a few hours and a lot of people from the community showed up to help. The Lowes grant was used for the plastic that goes on the outside of the hoophouse and new wood chips for the aisles in the hoophouse. We had to have the help of Mr. Montry who makes hoop house...
There are over 3.5 million homeless people in the United States alone (National Student Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness). Within this amount of people there are challenges beyond not having a home that the majority of citizens with a home do not face. These include: thinking about appearance, quality and source of food, living space, and source of money. Those mentioned are just a few things that non-homeless people may overlook when thinking about the challenges of homelessness. As a nation the way we perceive others around us comes into play here. Intentionally or not, homeless people are often judged based on their situation, rather than who they are. This may exist due to the communication barrier between the homeless and non-homeless. In order to move away from judgment and stereotypes, education on the subject of homelessness is vital.
I have participated in various community service projects; for example one in which as a class
( “Homeless Facts”, n.d.) When a community ensures that housing within reasonable price ranges exists, offers its members living-wage jobs, provides quality schooling to develop individuals’ capacity to hold good jobs, and offers other supports for families and individuals, people can maintain stable housing. ( “Homeless Facts”, n.d.)
Most people aren’t familiar with ways our government is trying to lower health care costs of the homeless by putting them in houses, here is their chance to learn. “Housing First” approaches are aimed at reducing the number of homeless people in metropolitan cities, especially in USA and Canada. In Tulsa, the Mental Health Association operates housing models that are successful using the Housing First approach, but only with a success rate of around nine percent. These programs are able to help people achieve self-sufficiency. Special consideration is given to people who have mental illnesses. The main advantage of the approach is it makes an efficient use of the existing systems and services, and then eliminates the need for new ones. The approach has been said to lead to better quality of life, less alcohol and substance use among the beneficiaries, and less use of emergency services by the beneficiaries. Despite all of the advantages and purposes, the program has many challenges that make one think it’s not as successful as first projected. This could lead to program loss or the challenges being dealt with appropriately. If the government wants to use money to help end homelessness, they should put it towards resources and organizations that can, not towards homes where the homeless go to be ignored.
What I once thought was an impossible job, organizing so many books, people helped me understand the work process which made me gain self-confidence that I was able to produce in my work. Part of that confidence was also a sense of pride because I was responsible for placing books onto the shelves that many people come to read. Now that I have done my volunteer work, when I apply for scholarships and colleges, I can mention my volunteer experience and the hours I did. Although many students would rather spend four hours of their lives doing something else, those who do community service work will learn to use important characteristics such as, confidence, sense of responsibility, and scholarships, that will help them be successful not only in school, but also in future careers and
I went out to collect cans for the food shelter, I helped out at the bowling special olympics, and in December I volunteered to help set up a 5k races Autism, and the thing I took out of my volunteering experiences so far is that everyone has a story and to take the time to listen to others and connect with the world around you. In my experiences you can learn more serving people for an hour than you can learn in a week of classes. My only regret in my freshman year of college is that I didn’t figure out this sooner than I did.
Throughout the fall semester I did community service at a thrift shop and soup kitchen in Lawrence. There I experienced things I have never encountered before in my life. These experiences have taught me a lot, and have truly made me look at America's underprivileged, in a new light.
I think this entire experience has been amazing and everyone should volunteer at least once in their life. It might even change their major! I had already planned on working with my community, specifically in the behavioral/mental health area, so this experience just opened my eyes to how much of a difference I can make by such simple gestures. This class was a way for me to get out of my comfort zone and now I will continue to volunteering even after this class ends. I will be moving to Lexington soon and will find even more volunteer opportunities there! I realize that each community has needs as should everyone else, volunteering can really open your eyes to
This year my honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, and I participated in the Martin Luther King Day of Service Project. This project offered awards to organizations that positively impact the community. In addition, the project honored Dr. King’s legacies of non-violent activism, racial equality, service to others and social uplift. This was a 10-week project in which we served our community for eight weeks. Although I’ve participated in this project for
These experiences have afforded me opportunities to demonstrate my gifts and talents that had previously gone undiscovered. Through different community service opportunities, I either learned something new about myself or I was reassured something. These qualities include that I am creative, reliable, open-minded, passionate, and an effective team player. Community service changed my life by developing my character through enhancing my transferable skills, which allowed me to see the world differently. Everyone, from all walks of life, needs to in some way, shape, or form give back to the community because it will not only benefit the less fortunate but it will benefit the volunteers as well. Additionally, I learned about the wide variety of resources available to help the community. There are so many resources out there that people are ignorant to like certain shelters and food banks. Ultimately, community service taught me the greatest gift I could ever receive, how to be