ok, maybe changing the world is a little much, but a person a hope, right?
my job has taken me into the world of social work. it is mostly a new world to me. i have been wanting to get hired on with a non-profit for a while. mostly because i feel like i wasn't making much of a different teaching because i wasn't really getting to teach. getting in with a non-profit isn't easy if you don't have experience. i couldn't get experience if no one would hire me. well, finally, because of my teaching background, someone took a chance on me! :)
so, i work for a non-profit out of austin. our non-profit has partnered with a apartment management company to provide low income housing and social services all in one place. there are 12 other properties similar to mine in texas. in huntsville we have a "regular" complex and a senior complex. we are income restricted, meaning residents can't make over a certain amount of money. the complex i work at was built in 2007, and is pretty nice. the residents have garages and washer/dryer connections. from what i have seen of the insides, they are a nice size.
my job has many facets, some of which i haven't even scraped the surface. i started in june about a week before our after summer program was supposed to start. my first week was spent getting a basic plan with themes and activities and getting parents to sign up their children. i also worked on finding lunches and tried to get volunteers to come teach different things such as art, drama, sports, etc. i reached out to SHSU, but wasn't able to make a lot of progress in a short time. besides the summer program, i also run the after school program. we serve kids 5-17. i'm working on building the program and making it stronger. i want to reach our teen population which has not been receiving services from us.
another part of my job is to plan social activities for the community. i've done breakfasts and potlucks with the seniors. they are a lot of fun to be around. i planned a back to school luau and am working on national night out and a fall festival.
education is another part of my job. i've offered information about immunizations, rental insurance, and budgeting. for all of these i have planned there has been a volunteer guest speaker. coming up i am having a library card drive with a speaker from the public library. residents will receive a prize if they have a library card or get one by the end of september. we are going to have domestic violence awareness and depression screening in october. basically i have looked up all the special months/awareness months and are trying to bring important information to my residents.
i am there to make referrals for social services and help residents "get on their feet". i am working on building relationships in the city of huntsville and walker county. i already have an "in" with the university due to my alumni status and the fact that i reached out to the VP of student services (former dean who i met with as a sig lamb about sorority business). not only can i call people and say i graduated from SHSU in the 90s, but i can say "vice president parker said i should call you about…" how awesome is that?
that's just a little bit of my job. there is a lot of paperwork and documentation that needs to be done. i do a lot of planning so i can have a full, well-rounded calendar. i'm working on getting residents to actually show up to events. that part has not been easy, but i am not giving up.
the kids who attended summer camp, love me! their parents are pleased too. the program was chaos before i got there. things were literally out of control! i put an end to all that on my first day. a lot of the kids went home that first week and said how mean i was. one kid even told me, "one lady can't come in here and change everything." my reply was, "yes she can and she did!"
i really like going to work. there have been some challenges, but i have navigated through all of them. i am learning about budgeting and spending and how to shop smart. i hope that will carry over to my personal life. the only problem is that it pays more emotionally than with money. that is not working for me too much right now. i really hope this is just a rough spot and i'm not on a downward spiral to being totally broke.
anyway… that's my job. i am always looking for volunteers and donations of all kinds. message me if you are interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment