Service Hours Reflection
Service Hours Reflection
I completed service hours in the under served section at the Bartlett House. The Bartlett house was founded in 1985 as a nonprofit organization. The Bartlett house, a homeless shelter that has been located on University Avenue since 1990, serves Monongalia County and surrounding areas. It is open seven days a week and 365 days a year. It can house 34 men, women, and children.
Homelessness has increased the past several years in the state of West Virginia and it’s hard to tell who will be hit next. There are two types of homelessness: Chronic homelessness or Crisis related. high-priced housing, mental illness, disability, or substance abuse can cause chronic homelessness. rapid interference both in emergency needs and long-term issues is most helpful in allowing them to be self-sufficient. …show more content…
The Bartlett house recently closed on a property located on West Run Road.
The property was purchased to be long-term housing for homeless. The project could cost up to three million dollars with 1.5 million spent on the property itself. There will be four transitional two-bedroom units for homeless families. The families will be permitted to stay there for two years. The Building still needs renovated to meet disability needs and an elevator tower installed. Construction could begin on this project as early as November. The bottom floors would be 16 permanent housing one-bedroom units for homeless who at least have a part-time job but need help staying on track. These housing units would be on the top two floors of the four story building while the bottom two would be made into residential program but only when funding becomes available. Once the residential program is moved, it will be able to serve more people. The Bartlett House plans on beginning a capital campaign to fund the renovation of the first two floors this
spring.
After the somewhat long walk to the Bartlett house in the heat with two of my classmates, we finally arrived at the Bartlett house fairly nervous as to what activities we were going to be performing for our hours. After arriving, we were relieved at the kindness of the worker at the front desk. He told us that volunteer numbers had been very high during the past week due to the service learning hours being due within the next week. He made sure to tell us that this was definitely not a complaint that it made his job much easier. We were told that most jobs were completed but he would find us something to do.
We were taken back into the kitchen, which was filled dishes that were washed that needed put away. We were instructed to put all the dishes in the appropriate cabinet and mop and sweep the floors and our service would be completed because there were no other tasks that needed completed. First we began to put away the dishes, a task that we completed fairly quickly as there were four of us. We were joined by a boy who had to complete 20 service hours due to getting in trouble in the dorms. This put our three service hours in perspective and showed us that it really wasn’t that many to complete.
We then began mopping and sweeping the floor. I found this task slightly challenging, as I am not used to performing tasks such as this. We developed a system to complete our task fairly quickly. After we finished the floors I felt very accomplished. We reported to our supervisor that we had finished the tasks. He told us that because of the spike in volunteers that he had no other tasks for us to complete and thanked us for our help. Although I left my dorm on that Saturday morning dreading going to volunteer, I was very happy I had done so afterwards. It made me want to devote more of my time to volunteering.
As we were standing at the window waiting for our hours to be signed off on, a little girl and her mother that were staying at the house entered. The little girl looked so happy to be back and ran to the play room. The girl was adorable and completely oblivious to the fact that she had very few possessions. She was just happy to be alive and to have her mother. Seeing this really put my life into perspective. Sometimes, I get very stressed out and unhappy with my life, and I forget to be thankful for all the things I have. The stupid things I worry about are nothing compared to the problem of not having a house, or food to eat.
Although I was dreading completed my hours, I left with very strong feelings of accomplishment and a new lease on life. While at the beginning I felt as though I would only do the hours because I had to for class, I left feeling as though I got something myself. Not only did I help a wonderful cause and do something good for my college community, it completely put my life into perspective.
I completed service hours in the under served section at the Bartlett House. The Bartlett house was founded in 1985 as a nonprofit organization. The Bartlett house, a homeless shelter that has been located on University Avenue since 1990, serves Monongalia County and surrounding areas. It is open seven days a week and 365 days a year. It can house 34 men, women, and children.
Homelessness has increased the past several years in the state of West Virginia and it’s hard to tell who will be hit next. There are two types of homelessness: Chronic homelessness or Crisis related. high-priced housing, mental illness, disability, or substance abuse can cause chronic homelessness. rapid interference both in emergency needs and long-term issues is most helpful in allowing them to be self-sufficient. …show more content…
The Bartlett house recently closed on a property located on West Run Road.
The property was purchased to be long-term housing for homeless. The project could cost up to three million dollars with 1.5 million spent on the property itself. There will be four transitional two-bedroom units for homeless families. The families will be permitted to stay there for two years. The Building still needs renovated to meet disability needs and an elevator tower installed. Construction could begin on this project as early as November. The bottom floors would be 16 permanent housing one-bedroom units for homeless who at least have a part-time job but need help staying on track. These housing units would be on the top two floors of the four story building while the bottom two would be made into residential program but only when funding becomes available. Once the residential program is moved, it will be able to serve more people. The Bartlett House plans on beginning a capital campaign to fund the renovation of the first two floors this
spring.
After the somewhat long walk to the Bartlett house in the heat with two of my classmates, we finally arrived at the Bartlett house fairly nervous as to what activities we were going to be performing for our hours. After arriving, we were relieved at the kindness of the worker at the front desk. He told us that volunteer numbers had been very high during the past week due to the service learning hours being due within the next week. He made sure to tell us that this was definitely not a complaint that it made his job much easier. We were told that most jobs were completed but he would find us something to do.
We were taken back into the kitchen, which was filled dishes that were washed that needed put away. We were instructed to put all the dishes in the appropriate cabinet and mop and sweep the floors and our service would be completed because there were no other tasks that needed completed. First we began to put away the dishes, a task that we completed fairly quickly as there were four of us. We were joined by a boy who had to complete 20 service hours due to getting in trouble in the dorms. This put our three service hours in perspective and showed us that it really wasn’t that many to complete.
We then began mopping and sweeping the floor. I found this task slightly challenging, as I am not used to performing tasks such as this. We developed a system to complete our task fairly quickly. After we finished the floors I felt very accomplished. We reported to our supervisor that we had finished the tasks. He told us that because of the spike in volunteers that he had no other tasks for us to complete and thanked us for our help. Although I left my dorm on that Saturday morning dreading going to volunteer, I was very happy I had done so afterwards. It made me want to devote more of my time to volunteering.
As we were standing at the window waiting for our hours to be signed off on, a little girl and her mother that were staying at the house entered. The little girl looked so happy to be back and ran to the play room. The girl was adorable and completely oblivious to the fact that she had very few possessions. She was just happy to be alive and to have her mother. Seeing this really put my life into perspective. Sometimes, I get very stressed out and unhappy with my life, and I forget to be thankful for all the things I have. The stupid things I worry about are nothing compared to the problem of not having a house, or food to eat.
Although I was dreading completed my hours, I left with very strong feelings of accomplishment and a new lease on life. While at the beginning I felt as though I would only do the hours because I had to for class, I left feeling as though I got something myself. Not only did I help a wonderful cause and do something good for my college community, it completely put my life into perspective.