Project Homeless Connect is about a week away now! Now that we have discussed in class some of the more difficult aspects of being a volunteer at PCH, what are some anticipations/fears you have for the day of? There are multiple different jobs for volunteers to do day-of including client-services, child care, check-in/check-out, keeping records for the numbers of homeless served at each booth, etc. If you had an option to work in another area of PCH besides client services, what area do you think you would bemost interested in or are you happy to be in client services? To go back to the reading, how do you think you are going to balance being an active volunteer and an active student researcher? Is there anything you would have like to see in training, if you have done training, that you still do not feel fully prepared for?
-Margy & Rebecca
9 comments:
I think my main anticipation/fear for Friday is if that I can be of assistance and be able to help the clients that will be stopping by on Friday. I just want the people I work with to leave feeling like they were able to get a lot accomplished and that I was able to help them. Other than client services, I would have been interesting in helping with registration. Because everyone has to register, I think that would have been a good opportunity for contact with the clients and being able to be the first to greet them and give them a good impression. But I am also excited to be in client services because I look forward to spending one on one time with the clients.
I think being an active volunteer and student researching will tie into each other by just truly trying to help the client first. My main priority is not going to be focusing on what I can write for my paper, but on being able to be of assistance and help my clients, and I think through this, ideas and feelings for my research will come through.
I still do not feel fully prepared but I do not think it is possible for every volunteer to feel completely ready. It is unsure what Friday is going to be like in terms of clients and services that need to be completed and I think that is what makes me feel more uneasy because I don't really like the uncertainity. I think the best prepartion for events like PHC is experience and next year I will probably feel more prepared to volunteer because I would have been through it before.
As of now, I am anxious for PHC, but in a good way. I am nervous about the one on one time with my client, but I am looking forward to helping out in this incredible event. My biggest fear is saying the wrong thing to my client and creating an awkward situation. I am hoping both my client and I will be open with one another and we will be able to connect during our time together. If I was not working with a client, I think I would like to next work in child care. I love kids and I feel I would enjoy spending time with them and helping them get their minds off the life situations that they must face at such a young age.
I think that through my volunteer work, I will gather the necessary information needed to be an active student researcher. Everything I hear and observe will help me become more aware of the issue of homelessness and this will enhance my research on the issue.
The only issue I thought training could have covered a little more of was filling out the main form for your client. Some of the information I was still somewhat unsure about what exactly was needed. Also, the issue of housing was somewhat unclear. Still, overall I think training was beneficial in learning more about the actual day of PHC and the city’s plan to end homelessness. I am really looking forward to PHC and I hope in will be able to help someone in need.
I am really excited for Project Homeless Connect on Friday because I have never done anything like this before! I feel that what we are doing for these people is truly beneficial to them, and to our society at large.
I am very nervous for this experience because I have never worked hands on, alone, with a homeless person before. I have a fear that I will get paired with someone who has no interest whatsoever in talking to me, and who may feel that I am "belittling" them in some way, as I am a college student, and they are most likely going to be older than I am.
My main priority is to always have a smile on my face and not get impatient. I absolutely hate crowds and lines, so this whole thing will be a bit hard for me. However, I am going to try my best to keep the mindset that what I am doing for these people could potentially be life changing. I am going to try and focus while I'm there on what I can do for them, and reflect on paper questions later on. That way I can be fully engaged in the whole effort.
I don't think I am fully prepared for this project, but I also think that that may be a good thing. To be fully prepared could potentially make the client feel that I'm a "know it all" and know everything that I am doing. To be new at this process along with the person I am helping will give us something to have in common and to bond over. I think that I will feel a bit more comfortable going into next year's PHC simply because I will have experienced it first hand already. I am really excited to see what effect this project has on both the local and wider Denver community!
Because I volunteered at PHC5 in the fall, I am not so worried about structure or the logistics of what will happen that day, but more about my own responses to my clients. It is hard to know what to expect from the people that I help, but what I am most worried about is saying something that may offend someone. Though I’ve done this before, I myself have never been homeless, and thus I don’t really have a good sense of what is appropriate. Along the same lines, I don’t want to come across as callous or detached from my client just because I am trying hard not to offend them. I think this feeling is pretty normal anytime you’re in a situation where you feel like you stand out or that you don’t belong. I know that the day will be very emotional, and as long as I stay focused on the person I am trying to help, I will be fine. I can’t see myself working in any other area than Client Services. After the raw emotion that consumed me after PHC5, I want to experience it again, this time more aware of the magnitude of what is being done.
On Friday I will keep in mind that I am meant to be researching as well as helping, however my main priority is to serve. I think because I’m going in with the mindset that I am not there just to conduct research so I can write a paper so I can get a grade, I will be able to observe the event in a more honest way. I think it is especially important that I don’t have a thesis or a real “purpose” to my paper yet. This way, my observations will be a better representation of what happens than if I were trying to provide evidence for a claim.
If I was going to be truly honest, I am genuinely worried about Friday’s PHC. I am nervous about saying something that could offend someone, I would absolutely hate that. I hate making people uncomfortable. But who really likes to do that anyway? I just keeping telling myself that it is people helping people and it is great. I have nothing to be nervous about, I just treat the people we will be helping as people, not homeless, not less fortune, not charity cases, just people. I will be as open and honest as they will let me and hopefully I won’t do anything to offend someone. In addition, I have a little apprehension about asking someone if they can afford $500 for permanent, I mean there is no way to phrase that question so it doesn’t sound awkward. I hope my client understands I am just trying to help them to the best of my abilities. I think that I would like to work at the medical booth because my mom is in school for nursing and I find that kind of thing interesting. Or I think I would like to pass out the care packages. I think I am mainly going to try and focus on helping my client and worry about the research portion second. I feel confident that I can absorb enough information about the day that way, other than being an active researcher. I don’t want to jeopardize my client getting the services they need because I am too busy worrying about the research. I feel the training prepared be the best that it could, I just have to go into Friday with a positive attitude and ready to help people.
Overall, I am not going to lie, I am pretty scared about Prject Homeless Connect this Friday. I am expecting, and basically know, that I am going to say something stupid, or make the situation awkward, or just do something that will make me feel bad. I am excited though, because I think that this experience is going to be rewarding and worthwhile, and I am glad to be able to help out. Another worry that I have is that I will not do a good job. What if I take them to the wrong place? Or take them somewhere that wastes their time? I know that these situations are unlikely, but I still get a little worried about it anyway.
I think that I would probably help out at the check-in/check-out line if I wasn't working with client services. I think this job would be less stressful for me, and I would be able to avoid some of the potentially awkward situations that I fear. I think that overall, it will be pretty easy for me to be a volunteer and an observer. I spend most of my time people-watching, and taking note of my surroundings. What I am more worried about is being able to properly recall all of the information and interactions I had throughout the day. I am worried that I will not be able to accurately represent the people that I work with. I am going to try my best to remember some exact quotes and specific situations so that what I write down after the experience is an accurate depiction of the day and the people I was with. I will need all the luck I can get.
I was a little afraid of Friday, just because I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea who my client would be, where they were coming from, or if they would even respond to me at all. If I did not do the client support, I think I would have participated in check-in check-out, because that way, I could interact with them, if even for a short period of time. I do think that I would be happy working in client service because I will be able to be one on one with my client, and be able to help them.
I think that it will be pretty easy to balance being an active volunteer and an active researcher, because in order to do either, you somewhat need the other. My client's needs will the first priority, and I think that during the day, I will observe a number of things.
First I guess that I would really enjoy specializing in one area. In particular I think that I could be a part of the haircut crew. Those people were, how shall I put this…. Not good. I think that I could do a great job in that area. But I was happy to see many of these folks get legal help, it is one thing that I think they needed the most. I think this is great experience for anyone who intends on writing about this topic. It is great to be able to see a different side of the homeless in Denver (or anywhere for that matter).
I think we get a picture or idea of a homeless person in our head and it may not necessarily be the right one. More often I think that we associate the worst aspects of some of the homeless with all of them and after attending and helping out at an event like this we see that it is clearly a generalization and the qualities of some are not necessarily qualities of all. I think the training was overall a good experience, I don’t really have any suggestions on things they could have done differently.
You really just have to get in there and get your hands dirty. However I will say it should have lasted long and it should have taken place on a Saturday. For obvious reasons, some homeless people do work and many more things could be accomplished it we had until, say, six. But the training was great, and I’ll definitely see if I can get one of those cool purple shirts next year.
I am not actually participating in Project Homeless Connect because I will be out of town. To be honest, I am very disappointed about this. I definitely have believed stereotypes about the homeless in the past and I think that this would be a great experience to help diminish those beliefs. While sitting in class and discussing the various fears that people have about doing this kind of volunteer work, I was thinking what I would be fearful of myself. I guess my greatest fear is that people of lesser privilege coming to a very privileged campus would have a negative perception of who I am as a person. I know that this is a fear that has very little logical root, but is common. I experienced this when I first started working with a previous volunteer effort, and it made me feel really bad.
As for what I would want to work, I think client services would be the optimal position. I love kids and working with kids, but for the experience, I would want to work one on one with a homeless person and really try to get a better understanding of where they are coming from. I find that I have much more sympathy for the homeless than many people do, but I would love to know one homeless persons story first hand so that I could reiterate my belief that these people are very deserving of help.
I am bummed that I am going to miss this experience, but I am very happy that I at least got to be in this class, so I could spend the quarter working with and studying about the disadvantaged in our country.
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