Smith Community Service Scrapbook

Community ServiceProject : 

Community ServiceProject Kaitlyn Smith Mr. Cruthers Period 2 May 20, 2008

Foothill Family Shelter : 

Foothill Family Shelter “Our mission is to assure children and adults a future by helping to provide them and their families a means to a home, a job, and self esteem that will endure.” The Foothill Family Shelter provides a range of services to the needy families around our community. “Foothill Family Shelter provides crucial housing and support services to homeless families in San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County.” Housing, counseling, educational and literacy programs , case management, and parenting classes are the services that the shelter provides for families. “Big Steps for Little Feet" - made possible by an investment through First 5 of San Bernardino Parenting classes for parents who are expecting a baby or who have a child between the ages of 0-12 months.  We provide parenting education, resources and referrals, prenatal care and education and health and safety information.” “Big Steps for Little Feet" is the program I contributed to by providing childcare.

Thursday Nights… : 

Thursday Nights… I was dubbed the “Trouble Child” because I could always put the trouble children to sleep or quite them down. This is one night when teething “Big Eyes” (no one knew the baby’s name!) was crying so much, but I rocked him to sleep, thankfully. That night, after I put “Big Eyes” to sleep, Ava Ray and I decided to take a lesson in hygiene and took an inspection of the baby wipes. I have learned through volunteering here at the shelter, that I need to have patience and be able to work with all kinds of people , all sorts of ages as well. I will be working with a lot of people, like I did here, that may not work well with me but I learned that I need to just stay calm and find a compromise.

Slide 4: 

I think that after this program, that I definitely have learned that I can’t sacrifice my values and my self-respect for someone. The children that I took care of have either single parents or very young parents. The girls who attend the educational program, while we watch their children, are from ages 13-21. The baby that I am with in these pictures live with his parents, who had him when they were 16 and 17 years old. It saddens me to see the kids who have kids themselves, but also makes me take a second look at my life and be appreciative of my life and the choices that I have made. I have difficulty with just caring for the kids for that night, and I couldn’t imagine taking care of a child, or more like some of the women, for 18 years at least. This experience will really make me think as I enter college and make me think twice if I want to risk my life, my education, and my future for a choice I can not take back. I will have kids when I am ready, which is definitely not soon.

IMPACT… : 

IMPACT… This program has really taught me to stay true and strong to my values . These girls and couple have a much harder life because they decided to take a risk and they are paying heavily for it. But even though these girls have made mistakes, we are all human and we all make mistakes, some just larger than others. These mistakes don’t define a person though. Sure they now have a new title of mother, but they are still an individual and a human being and should be treated as we would want to be treated. The community has also surprised me that people would be so dedicated to take care of these children just out of the goodness of their hearts, it was truly awesome to see that. There were definitely moments of frustration because I don’t speak “baby” so it was difficult to care for the children but it was all worth it because they are so cute! It makes me so happy to see that I have impacted these kids to have someone around them who is positive and caring for them. The kids will most likely not remember me and that I cared for them but they at least had a night where someone paid them attention and I at least feel that that will make a difference in these children’s life, for them to know that someone cares. My experience at the shelter was a good eye opener to the lives of others. This made me realize how hard it is to raise children. If I were in charge I would give the volunteers and children a better place to stay for the program because we had to watch the children in a small office space where they would always get into things they shouldn’t. It would help out tremendously.

Interview with Ms. Megan : 

Interview with Ms. Megan Q: How is this organization funded? M: “We received state and federal funding, county funding, money from partnering cities, sponsorships, private funding streams, fundraising proceeds and private donations.” Q: How and why was the organization started? M: “Foothill Family Shelter was founded in 1984 through St. Marks Episcopal Church in efforts to help support homeless families with children.” Q: Why do you work here and what is your job? M: “I am the Community Services Director and I work here to support my personal and professional vision. I majored in Sociology knowing I had a passion for helping impoverished individuals.”

Interview Continued… : 

Interview Continued… Q: Why do you think your organization is an important part of the community? M: “Our agency is an important component within our community because we offer supportive services to those less fortunate. We have transitional housing, a court program, parenting programs and we distribute food, clothing, diapers and wipes. All of these services can be accessed by the needy throughout the community.” Q: What’s your favorite part of your job? M: “The most rewarding part of my job is hearing when our clients reach a goal and succeed. For some clients, the staff at Foothill Family Shelter is the only support system they have. I also LOVE working with the children and introducing them to new experiences. So many of them have had such a rough past—and to know we can offer them some stability is very rewarding.” Q: How long have you been working here? M: “I have been at the agency for 4 years. I started off working part time and since then, I have received many promotions and have experienced several different jobs within the agency. I love my job and am very blessed to be a part of Foothill Family Shelter.”

More Interview… : 

More Interview… Q: What values would you say this organization has? M: “We value each and every one of our clients. We strive to remain nonjudgmental and nonbiased-our goal is to provide as many resources as possible, in addition to preparing our clients to become independent, successful adults; upgrading their current living situation in one capacity or another. “Our mission is to assure children and adults a future by helping to provide them and their families a means to a home, a job and self-esteem that will endure.” Q: How long has this organization been running? Do you see it being successful in the future? M: “We have been in existence for over 23 years and have significantly increased our community-based services over the past 3 years. I think Foothill Family Shelter will be around for a long time; more and more people struggle financially and cannot make ends meet. Having said that, the struggle will be sustaining our internal budget; social service funding is always at risk for being cut or limited.”

Critical Thinking and Self Evaluation : 

Critical Thinking and Self Evaluation Critical Thinking: There are many issues that my organization takes care of. The problem that influence my program is that young people just do not have good morals and the will to stand for a better life. There is nothing that can be done for these girls but try to educate them the best way possible and show them that having and raising a child is not a fun nor easy process. Its their own choice and they must live with it. Parental influence in the girls life may also help and possibly prevent the girls from making bad choices. Grade: I think I deserve an “A” on this project. I provided the minimum and more on all the parts and I described my experience with my program in quality detail. This project deserves a good grade because I put a lot of hard work into this and good hard work should receive the credit it deserves.

Slide 10: 

“IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD” —AFRICAN PROVERB