As the course is coming to an end my interest for hunger and homeless is beginning to grow even stronger. There was so much information and knowledge I received from this course with the readings that were assigned, guest/professional speakers, and I think the most important and valuable, the internship.

Although my time in participating in my internship for this course has finished I will continue on being a volunteer. I was fortunate enough to be part of two internships, seeing two different styles of organizations. With class discussions and the readings assigned I was able to really observe and see both the strengths and the flaws within these organizations.

The first internship I volunteered at was not what I had expected all. There was a different feel to everything there. They lacked staff members, volunteers, and communication amongst each other. I was never greeted by any sort of staff but was taken in by one of the individuals that lived there. I really wanted to know more about them, how they got there, the programs they are committing too but nothing was shown or said. The website for this shelter said they had a lot of programs yet I never saw any activities of that sort. Perhaps the programs were not simply given the days I went. It seemed to me that the goal there was to fix and mold, to make the individuals grow up. As we discussed in class, many shelters think that fixing is what they need to do. I believe the individuals need a hand and a present example of a person with stability not someone who wants to fix them because they are all wrong an unacceptable of some sort. It was hard to see the way in which these individuals were demanded to do some stuff by one of the two directors. It seemed completely unprofessional the way in which the directors went about certain things. Something I found to be different and perhaps better in a sense is the idea of not enabling. Most of the other shelters consisted of serving food, volunteer catering to the individuals but it was not like that in this shelter. The individuals taken were assigned different chores and jobs around the lot. For example if someone was cooking they cooked for the rest of the individuals in the household. They were a very small network, they acted as a family in the way that each person take initiative to complete a task to maintain a clean household.

The second internship I went to was better organized. This organization focused on the youth in Redlands. They had a variety of staff members, donations, and volunteers. The way they are structured and even the process in becoming a volunteer seemed to be very legitimate. They take precaution in everything they do with the youth that come. They are very accepting of any youth, some of those kids come there frequently or once a month, simply depending on them. They are not forced to go to any treatment. Basically the main goal of this organization is to give care and support to the youth. One thing that they are currently lacking is resources because they are there to also provide educational resources. One of the main reasons why they are lacking that at the moment is because they are under reconstruction.

Regardless of what these shelters/ organizations are lacking they are doing something towards helping decrease hunger and homelessness. They are dedicating time and effort on the lives of others and that is admirable.