Category Archives: Organizations

Non-profit: final internship report

Local organizations

My internship is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2009. They help “build confidence and promote self-sufficiency for homeless, runaway, and under served youth ages fourteen to twenty-four by providing trust, hope, support, and education”. Their mission is to be a “support system for these youth so that they may grow to be health, successful adults that exit street life”. Many of these youth are from by local communities and a lot of these teens attend the local high schools in Redlands, including Redlands East Valley High school, Redlands High school, and Citrus Valley High School. There will sometimes be a few that come all the way from San Bernardino or Colton. However, not too many because they have to provide their own transportation and with these teens many just walk from wherever they are. This program will provide bus passes but only to be used for school and they have to prove themselves that they are attending school with homework, assignments, etc. This program is used as a place for teens to come and hang out during the day. This is not a shelter for teens to stay at overnight but a community to be surrounded with support during the day. Because of their transition into the new facility, they are only open during Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday between the hours of 2:30pm to 6:30pm. This gives students an opportunity to have a place to hang out with others in the same situation after school. They can come here and work on homework together and build relationships all while getting a few items they may need. For example, the day I went to observe, it was raining and a girl needed a new pair of dry socks and she was thankful to know that the director just brought in donated clothes so she was able to receive a new pair of socks and even a new beanie! Snacks and hot chocolate was also provided until dinner was served. They always provide dinner when the facility is open and is usually served around 4:00pm. The dinner is always donated by another organization. Majority of the time, the food will be donated or prepared by churches in Redlands. The day I was there, it was a day for a Redlands church to provide dinner so at the church they will make home cooked food to give to the homeless teens. The shelter will have to go pick it up from the location but other than that the food has already been prepared and cooked. If it is another church’s time to donate (hence they all have set schedules when it is their time to provide dinner) and they may not have enough time to prep food, they will just order a bunch of pizzas or something easy to donate. I feel that this is a wonderful opportunity for teens all over the are.

By obtaining statistics from this nonproft, they recently surveyed 276 of the youth attendees: 29% were homeless and living on the streets, 34% were abused as youth children, 19% were in the foster care system, 37% have parents with drug or alcohol substance abuse problems, 76% were classified as low-income, 3,204 homeless children were registered in Kindergarten to 12th grade, and 1,414 homeless youth were registered in 7th-12th grade in the Redlands Unified School District in the 2010-2011 school year.

Internship Report #2

Homelessness, Hunger, Local organizations, Organizations, Poverty, Solutions to Homelessness, Solutions to Hunger, Solutions to Poverty

I have been volunteering at a local organization which provides services to low income and homeless families across the valley. Throughout the past couple months, I have worked in several different areas of service and have observed both positive and negative aspects of the organization. The organization runs on minimal and ever-shrinking government funding, donations from the community, a small staff, and volunteer work. Because the organization gets most of its funds from the contributions of community members, the amount of money it has to work with is inconsistent from year to year.

The staff and volunteers must deal with the unpredictability of low funds and whatever donations happen come their way each day. This uncertainty and instability creates a chaotic environment at times. If one of the fourteen permanent staff members is gone, another staff member may have to juggle two different jobs that day. The association does a relatively good job at maintaining order and organization despite these complications. The staff is flexible and is able to work in any section of the facility. Almost every person involved works hard to help each individual who seeks services. The organization’s infrastructure allows for the staff to bend the rules at times in order to provide the best service possible for each client. If the organization is not able to provide services to a person who is seeking its help, the staff members make sure to refer the person to another place that may be able to help. They do the best they can with what they have.

The organization was founded (over a hundred years ago) with the concept of helping the “worthy poor” and some traces of this idea can still be observed in the intentions of the association today. The association provides free educational programs for individuals including basic life skills, parenting classes, money management, employment readiness, computer classes, counseling, and anger management. Providing these types of classes indicates that the clients need to be “fixed” in a sense. Though it does focus somewhat on fixing the problems of the individual, this organization clearly recognizes that homelessness is structural problem. In fact, one of the brochures about the organization describes the causes of family homelessness as “the combined effects of lack of affordable housing, extreme poverty, decreasing government supports, changing demographics of the family, the challenges of raising children alone, domestic violence, and fractured social supports.” The fact that the organization even acknowledges that homelessness is a structural problem sets it apart from other agencies of its kind.

In my time at this agency, I feel that I have not been as helpful as I have the potential to be. I believe this is because, when a volunteer becomes involved in the organization, they are asked which area(s) they would most prefer to work in but are not asked specifically what skills they can contribute to the organization. I am sure that many of the regular volunteers who have worked at the agency for an extended period of time have found their niche in the organization, but the temporary volunteers, who only work for a few months and then leave, do not make as much of an impact as they have the potential to make. I talked to one of the staff members and he said that one of the hardest issues that the organization faces is the fact that many of the volunteers it receives only work during the school year (September through May) because of affiliations with high schools and the university. This leads to very sparse pools of volunteers during the summer months, which is problematic for the organization. It makes do with what it receives, but it cannot help clients as thoroughly as it would like when there is not an adequate supply of volunteers.

Final Internship Report

Local organizations, Religion

After volunteering at this religiously affiliated non-profit organization for a little over twenty hours now I have learned a lot about the organization and its mission. This organization receives food and clothing donations to give out to clients who cannot afford these amenities. The clients can come in to receive these services up to three times per month. They also provide medical services, dental services, and job trainings. This organization requires hard work and dedication in order to keep it running. With this hard work and dedication they are constantly restoring hope in the community by giving them benefits.

With the small community of volunteers at my internship, there are opportunities to really get to know the other volunteers. There are no criteria to follow to volunteer at this religiously affiliated organization, so there is a broad spectrum with all types of people volunteering. One general theme that I have caught onto is that everyone volunteering here believes in God and discusses their beliefs and how they came about them. While working with other volunteers we have the chance to interact and to get to know each other better. The volunteers of this organization are what make this organization function. While the jobs vary the exposure to clients varies as well. Depending what station you are working at you will get more or less exposure with the clients. While this organization is attempting to operate as smooth and efficient as possible, it lacks having relationships with its clients.

This organization claims to be accepting of all Christian beliefs and that they do not only represent one church. Their hope is to serve as a combination of churches and beliefs systems so that everyone can express themselves in one place together. Everyone is coming together, no matter from what background, for the common cause of serving others. It is apparent to me that this non-profit center has given hope not only to the clients but to the volunteers too, who sometimes were or are clients themselves.

The volunteers are accepting and non-judgmental of anyone that comes to receive services and they do not put the blame on them. This is a reflection on this organization that they understand that these situations are not typically the individuals fault. However, they are not doing anything to challenge the structural issues that are causing hunger. While this organization is doing a lot of work it is on a very small scale.

My volunteer work at this organization has given me an in into how the organization functions and how it effects lives positively. From what I have seen they are helping families in need by carrying out their mission. I have volunteered enough to understand how this organization operates and who it operates with, including other volunteers and the people receiving services. I feel that with my volunteering at this ministry I have not only observed the organization but I have also assisted them. While there are always ways to improve this organization’s services, they are working efficiently together to carry out their mission.

Internship Report 2

Organizations

My internship at a domestic violence shelter has been a great experience and I am very glad I got the opportunity to do it, but there are definitely some critiques of the organization I have found, along with the positive things going on.  The organization is broken into three sectors: legal, shelter, and administration.  During this semester, the administrative sector has been completely reconstructed, the shelter has flooded and needed to have most of the structure replaced, and the legal sector has lost employees.  Needless to say, it has been hectic.

There was a dire need for an Executive Director of the organization because there was no one really in charge.  There were two people leading the administration and a supervisor at the legal and shelter sectors, but there was not any staff at the top.  This was the first change to be made.  An Executive Director was brought in to fix some of the things going on in the organization.  The main concern was getting the budget back on track.  This has been accomplished very well and within a short couple months, she has gotten payroll on track and gotten more grants awarded to the organization.  She also has put an evaluation process into play which will really help the staff better understand what is expected of them.  I have a lot of faith that this position will really help in a variety of ways.  Without a leader, there is just so much disorganization.

The legal sector does great work and I am very proud of their part of the organization.  They help people who need to get restraining orders on their partner due to domestic violence.  They help anyone who comes into their office and don’t discriminate.  I had the least experience working with this sector other than helping with their data entry, but I think they are the most on track.  They have a system and it works, and so I don’t see why they would mess with that system.

The shelter sector is where I have spent most of my time.  This is also where I see the most problems.  The shelter is run very poorly and there is a lot of disorganization.  The staff doesn’t know what exactly is expected of them, and the supervisor of the staff is very disorganized herself.  The more educated staff and interns are not used well, and are asked to do things such as cleaning and laundry instead of completing tasks they are very capable of. Instead older, uneducated staff is put in charge of the main responsibilities.  Education is not the only factor into making a good employee, but it is very important as an advocate for victims of domestic violence.  There is a lot of victim blaming and criticizing.  I blame this on a lack of training and knowledge on these staff and supervisor’s part.

Overall, I do think the organization does do good work, but in my opinion the shelter sector has a lot of work to do.  The number one thing to be done is more training and education for the supervisor because with lack of an educated authority the whole structure falls apart.  After educating and training the supervisor, the other staff needs to be better trained.  The legal and administrative sectors seem to be on their way, and I believe they will be on track very soon.

Global Awareness

Homelessness, International, Organizations, Poverty

Throughout the course of the semester we have learned a lot about homelessness within the United States. But last week, we had a speaker who broke down that wall and opened our eyes to poverty on a worldwide scale. ABC’s and Rice is an organization that raises global awareness of poverty. They are based in Cambodia where they educate young children and give them a bags of rice at the end of each week to help feed their families.

Children around the world are not as priveledged as many children that we see around us. Something that really stuck out to me was that children in other countries often do not go to work becuase their parents cannot afford it. This sounds like a common reason but it was not for the reasons I initially thought. These children do not go to school because their parents need them to work or else their family cannot survive. So if these children were to go to school, not only would their parents not be able to afford it, they would also not be able to afford food which they survive on.

Our guest speaker, Tammy Durrand told us that this was her main objective when starting this organization. She wanted to be able to feed and educate young children to make a lasting impact in their lives. This really opened my eyes because this is often something that we do not think about. Tammy opened our eyes to child poverty on a global scale and this is something that really stuck with me. My plan is to become a teacher, so hearing about the struggles these chidren are enduring on a daily basis was very hard. The goal of the organization is to raise awareness so this is something that we all can do to help. We may not be able to go to Cambodia or start our own organization but we can help existing ones by spreading awareness and encouraging people to give to those who need it most.

To make a donation to ABC’s and Rice or explore their website, click the link below:

DSC00529http://abcsandrice.webs.com/donate.htm

On the Other Side of the Spoon

Local organizations

This weekend I embarked on my third street retreat through the organization Faithful Fools, located in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, a place where many homeless reside. I spent the day on my own observing the homeless community. I carried no belongings- no watch, phone, water bottle, or money. It was raining the entire day and I coped with being soaked. I ended up spending time at the public library and saw and smelt a number of homeless people doing the same. I noticed that the homeless people developed strategies to stay much dryer than I was.

I had lunch at the soup kitchen Glide, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. All of the homeless people at the soup kitchen new what to do. I felt silly for asking where the line started, and was afraid of cutting in front of someone. I stood in line in a room called, “Freedom Hall.” The ratio of women to men was approximately 1:13. The meal was served in the churches basement. Kind volunteers with smiles served me a tray that food had been thrown on. After receiving my food I nervously looked for a table to sit. I had a conversation with one man, although it was very hard to hear what he was saying due to the very loud atmosphere. The feeling is quickly eat your food and go so the next person can do the same. I could tell volunteers were confused by my presence- who was I, why was I here?

I reflected on what it felt like to be on the other side of the spoon. I have served many meals at homeless shelters. I have been that young girl who smiles and hands the homeless their tray of food. Yet, when you are on the other side of the spoon the feelings are different.

http://www.faithfulfools.org

Preparing Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow

Organizations

An example of an organization that Kenan Heise holds up to in his book “The Book of the Poor: Who they are, What they say, and How to end their poverty” is the Chamber of Commerce. A chamber of Commerce is a type of organization whose main goal is to increase the interests of businesses. Heise wrote about this in Chapter 46 during his thirds section called “Preparing Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow”. Heise discusses how he wants to make sure that all workers are capable of getting the higher training or education that homeless individuals need in order to have access to “middle-skill” jobs that will allow them to pay for the family with an accurate wage.

One of the organizations Heise listed in this chapter, was the Chamber of Commerce that is located in Los Angeles. By using the “Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce website” (http://www.lachamber.com/webpage-directory/about/about-aboutchamber/), they are said to the voice of business in their region. Their mission is “By being the voice of business, helping its members grow and promoting collaboration, the Los Angeles Area of Chamber of Commerce seeks full prosperity for the Los Angeles region”.

Stats:

The L.A. Area Chamber represents:

  • over 1,600 members
  • over 650,000 employees
  • small, medium, and large sized companies
  • businesses from more than 35 industry sectors
  • businesses from across Los Angeles County

Current issues the Chamber of Commerce is working on:

  • Education
  • Energy and Water Sustainability
  • Global Initiatives- Free and Fair Trade
  • Health Care
  • Homelessness
  • Jobs and Business Growth
  • Land Use, Housing, and Construction
  • Transportation and Goods Movement

The Chamber of Commerce helps create jobs, a thriving economy, and protect the current future welfare of the greater Los Angeles Area. One of their current main issues is on reducing homelessness since Los Angeles has more than 88,000 homeless individuals. Currently, the Chamber of Commerce has decided to work with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles to build the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force for Homelessness. They are working on finding the best outreach, housing plan, and action plan to reduce homelessness. Finding a better Los Angeles is the Chamber of Commerce’s business.

Complaining goes a long way

Government programs, Homelessness, News link, Organizations, Reflections on our Reading

In an article posted yesterday by USA Today, benefits from the VA was re instated for those who had “less than honorable discharges.” After recently revisiting their eligibility statements, they quietly removed this category of recipients away.  Additionally, this past December, the VA cut finances to their support program as well as cutting transitional housing for those who served less than 24 months as well as less than honorable discharge. More often than not, the veterans that fall into this category  do not receive VA benefits therefore making them unable to receive benefits from homeless programs, or so the VA decided.

Once people heard of this change, they saw it quite contradicting to the goals that Obama had set in his State of the Union address earlier this year.  Senators, advocates, support groups, social welfare organizations and more all saw the heartlessness  in the VA’s actions. In response, the VA said a law has to be created to change rules. On Friday, Senator Murray, who sits on the Budget Committee, from Washington, created and presented legislation on this topic. “In the meantime, Robert Petzel, the VA’s undersecretary for health, restored support for all homeless veterans who had previously been receiving it.” About 1 in 10 veterans who live on the street have “less than honorable discharges” and almost 60,000 veterans in general are homeless. Not all veterans are immediate homeless; due to post dramatic stress syndrome, abuse, and life events, some become homeless after years of being back from their tour.

This article touched me because it is amazing to see what can happen when people feel like there has been injustice. Especially when a group that was subject to these changes does not have the strength to fight back, it is amazing what the power of voices can do to help make a positive change. From our reading of Book of the Poor, we saw many organizations are out there to aid people and offer them the best well-being they can. In this case, many people and organizations are out there to support veterans everywhere.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/29/homeless-veterans-va-denied-support-ptsd-discharge/7013129/

Paying Alcoholics in Beer? Good or Bad Idea?

About being poor, Government programs, Homelessness, News link, Organizations, People, Poverty, Solutions to Homelessness, Solutions to Hunger

Tonight, I was talking to my dad about this class, and he told me about a program he’d heard of in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This article from BBC News does a very good job of explaining the program. Basically, a company (The Rainbow Group) partially funded by the Dutch government have started a program to help homeless alcoholics in Amsterdam. The article describes how the program works: “They arrive at 09:00 and work until 15:00. They take extended breaks for beer, cigarettes and a hot lunch, all provided free of charge.” The aim of the program is not to fix these people, but to give them a better quality of life, while bettering the neighborhoods at the same time. Though this is a very controversial program that I imagine most Americans would not take seriously, I think it’s a very intriguing idea. The program seems to be helping to keep violence to a minimum and has been fairly cost effective. The people involved in the program are given a sense of dignity because they can work for their beer instead of begging for money. One of the men stated that “‘They used to treat us like garbage – and now we are picking up their garbage, we are not the garbage anymore.'” Rather than trying to change the “unchangeable reality” of alcoholism, this project is aimed at creating a better environment for alcoholics to live in.

I’m not sure about this program and its effectiveness, but I think that the change of thinking about these types of things is a good start to changing society. As the article states, why not “abandon ‘old-fashioned political correctness'” and try something “crazy” like this?

What do you think about this type of program? Do you think it would work in America? Is it making a significant difference?

Problematic Discourse

About being poor, How we should treat each other, Local organizations, Organizations, People, Poverty, Reflections on our Reading

On Saturday I worked at my internship organization’s weekly food bank and observed discourse about poverty.

At my organization, there are “food box runners” who carry out the boxes to the clients’ cars or wherever they wish. These runners are usually male volunteers who can lift a decent amount. I recognized the some of the same people doing it as last week, but there were new volunteers doing this job. One of the senior volunteers (or one of the pastors, I’m not exactly sure) within the organization was explaining what these runners needed to do. I overheard parts of the explanation, and there were one huge red flag. The volunteer, Bob*, said what I expected him to say, smile and be respectful,  but then I heard him say “These people come here with low self-esteem and depression. They don’t want to be taking these boxes but they have to.” Bob already had preconceived notions about these people, and it made me think about the discourses of Lyon-Callo’s book Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance and other discourses that we’ve been discussing in class. My organization proclaims to be giving people a sense of dignity, but this struck me as problematic because you don’t give dignity to people by assuming that they have low self-esteem and depression; it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I think it skews the way you view the clients. Those runners likely behaved differently toward the clients than if they hadn’t been told that. If I had been in Bob’s position, I would have just told the runners to be respectful and kind like I would tell any other person working at my organization. I wouldn’t add the problematic discourse additionally.