As stated in class, I had not yet been able to work at my assigned non-profit agency because my internship didn’t start until today (Tuesday 3/8).  However, after today it became clear to me that this agency was serious about what they do.  The mission of the non-profit agency is to alleviate poverty, encourage self-sufficiency, and promote the dignity of all.  They provide numerous services; a few of which are classes for basic life skills, clothing, food, and housing assistance.  In order to access such resources at this agency, a person must be assigned to a case manager.  The case manager helps the individual with bills, housing, budgeting, time management, etc.  Clients are also to come in for appointments that follow up on their progress and make sure that they are staying up to date and on the right track.  Case managers really work with helping those towards self-sufficiency.

My job was to work in case management.  However, when I got there, the volunteer coordinator was not available to greet me and tell me where to go.  In fact, I was told to arrive at 8:00 in the morning but the agency did not open until 9:00.  I was a little bothered by this since it was my first day but luckily I met with the program director who was able to show me around the entire agency.  Afterwards, we finally got a hold on the volunteer coordinator and he put me to work at the front desk of the main lobby.  Here I shadowed an older woman who has been working there for over thirty years.

To begin, I watched how the woman at the front desk handed out numbers to everyone who came to the front desk.  Since it was very busy, people had to wait for their number to be called in order to be helped.  I thought that this was a nice system.  Then I started to help the woman sign people in.  For example, if a person needed food they needed to sign in and get a food ticket.  If a person needed clothing however (and most of them did), then they needed to sign in and I needed to write down their information on their recording sheet.  What I recorded included their name, case number, number of family members, their gender, ethnicity, and ages.  After that was on file, then that person could receive their clothing ticket.  The woman from the front desk explained that every detail needs to be recorded for government purposes since their funding comes from government money.

During my time working at the front desk, I was expected to just do whatever task the woman I was shadowing wanted.  I felt very disorganized since I was not told where anything was or what anything really meant.  I was very much thrown into my job.  It was also hectic because of the multiple things I was trying to do while making sure each person who came in got what they needed.  However, I am curious to see what this job has in store for me and what I continue to get out of it!