Reflect on the presentations of at least two other groups. What did you learn about their sites and the issues their sites work to address? How did bonding with your group and other sites help prepare you for your trip?
Blog posts must be 200-400 words.
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The two other groups’ presentation that stood out the most to me were Amicus and Give Kids the World. Amicus addresses the issue of the United States prison system. Their mission is to help give inmates a way to get jobs and places to live after being in prison. This is an important issue because the prison system in the United States right now is not the best and many times when prisoners leave prison they don’t have places to stay and have hard times finding jobs because they have the label of being in prison. The mission for Give Kids the World is to fulfill the wishes of children with life-threating illnesses and their families from around the world to experience a memorable, joyful, cost-free visit to the Central Florida attractions. They addresses the issue that many parents are not able to afford to give their sick children everything they want because they have to pay medical bills and living costs. This is an important issue because many parents would like to give their children that have life-threating illnesses everything but unfortunately they are unable to.
ReplyDeleteBonding with my group as well as with another group made me realize how much I have in common with other people. Typically I am not a person to go right out and say who I am, what I like, what I do, but through this activity, it made me realize that if I started to do that with people, then I will meet more people with things that I have in common. This helped me to prepare for my trip because it made me closer to my group mates. By finding out what we all have in common has made us bond over it and to get to know each other better. This is helpful because when we go on the alternative break this summer it will not feel as if we are with strangers but instead fell like we are with friends.
The two presentations that stood out the most to me were Alzheimer’s Day Services and the Catalina Island Conservancy/ Home Away from Homelessness. As someone with a grandparent who has struggled with dementia for over a decade, I understand first hand how horrible Alzheimer’s is. I have seen not only what it can do to an individual, but also to his or her family. Alzheimer’s Day Services provides a service like nothing I have heard of before, a supportive and enriching community for people struggling with the disease. However, it isn’t a place of permanent residence for these people. This sounds like a great model for Alzheimer’s care that will hopefully be replicated around the country.
ReplyDeleteThe next presentation that sparked my interest was from Catalina. This group is going to two different sites. The first is Catalina, at which the volunteers will be assisting in invasive species removal, trail maintenance, and beach cleanup. This is a very important issue that is only growing ever more so and it is great that they are going to help the cause, but the second site is what really caught my attention. Home Away form Homelessness provides after school care to children of homeless families. This sounds like a fantastic program that hopes to provide better opportunities to kids who have to live on the street. For me it’s hard to even imagine what it would be like to be homeless, but it sounds like one major problem for the children is that they don’t feel normal, they aren’t living in a house like the other kids they go to school with. Home Away form Homelessness tries to restore a feeling of normalcy in the kids’ lives and helps keep them off of the streets for as much of the day as possible.
Bonding with my group and other groups was a good experience. The yarn activity was fun and helped me get to know people from another group. I have also noticed that during the activity and in-group time my group is much closer than we were just a few weeks ago. I know that this is an important step in preparing for a break, and I can tell that the members in my group are trying to find common ground and make friendships. If this trend continues, I am confident that we will have a close-knit group and a great break.
Two groups I was particularly interested in were Best Friends Animal Shelter and Give Kids the World. Best Friends stood out to me because of the background of the shelter. It was really interesting that the shelter started from just a group of young adults wanting to help animals without homes. It is very impressive how much the shelter has grown, even growing enough to have other locations in different cities. This site also stood out to me because the shelter is a no kill shelter, which is amazing because it can be very hard to find homes for older animals. This one also stood out because of the celebrities that have come out in support of this organization. It is amazing that something that started among a group of friends has become so successful. Give Kids the World also stood out to me because the mission of this organization is to fulfill the wishes of all children with life-threatening illnesses. From the description that the group gave it sounds like an organization that is able to accomplish really wonderful things for children who need it the most. This one also stood out because the volunteers will get to work in different parts of the parks which would be a really fun way to volunteer. The group activity we did this week helped us to bond with our group members as well as members from other sites. The activity helped to show the many similarities with had with people we didn’t know that well. This activity was also very cool because at the end we were able to actually visualize all of the similarities among us because the string showed different connections among group members.
ReplyDeleteThe two groups that really stood out for me were AMICUS and Best Friends Animal Shelter. AMICUS is a non-profit organization that helps inmates and ex-offenders rebuild their lives through different programs. I found this group to be really interesting because the issues they address is something I’ve never taught about. Listening to their presentation made me aware of the problems inmates and ex-offenders face and how organizations like AMICUS are important to prevent these people from going back to prison. Most times, ex-offenders have trouble readjusting to society after being in prison. In prison, these people are in survival mode and the skills they learned to survive make adjusting to society very difficult. These people need help to form positive relationships with people and to reshape their lives. AMICUS provides that support to make their transitioning a little easier.
ReplyDeleteBest Friends Animal Shelter is also an organization that I found to be really interesting. I volunteer at the Lawrence Humane Society and animal welfare issues are really important to me. I really admired that it was a no-kill shelter. All animals deserve a home and shelters such as these really emphasize the importance of adopting animals. I really enjoyed the presentations because I learned a lot about other groups and it brought awareness to a lot of different issues our society is facing.
The most notable group for me was Amicus. Tending to a population of inmates and former offenders sticks out to me because of my background interacting with youth within the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex. Their presentation reinforced my beliefs about the prison industrial complex and how it negatively profiles people of color within the system and how the cycle is perpetuated. It is far more likely for a former inmate to return to prison than another member of the population because of how probation and other programs are organized within the system. The system is used against inmates because they are seen as lesser compared to another citizen of the population. Specifically, former felons are not allowed to vote in elections, for some reason. According to that national law, their citizenship is worth less than someone who hasn’t committed a crime.
ReplyDeleteAnother group that stuck out to me was City of Light that’s going to Atlanta. Again, I focused on this group because of my own background within the LGBT+ community. They aim to create a safer space within the community for LGBT+ people, specifically youth, within that community. They aim to foster inclusion and support of all sorts from their volunteering in Georgia.
The string activity helped me learn more about my group members and members of other groups. We all had similar interests and commonalities that allowed us to get to know each other better in order to prepare for a ten day long journey of volunteering with them. It built upon the excitement I already have for volunteering with Playworks at the end of May.
The two groups that stuck out most to me were Give Kids the World and Amicus. Give Kids the World is going to Florida to work at a village that exists to help children with life-threatening illnesses go to theme parks and have fun with their families at no cost. They will work with the children and the employees in a variety of capacities to help keep the village running. Give Kids the World addresses the interesting social problem of ill children. Families face great healthcare costs and exhaustive personal effort when a child has a life-threatening illness, and the work that Give Kids the World does really helps relieve stress in the parents’ lives and create wonderful memories for the child and the whole family. It allows families to bond and spend time together at the attractions in Florida without the daunting cost that usually comes with those attractions. Amicus is going to Minnesota to help inmates adjust to society after release. They will work with offenders to build skills that will help them succeed in the job market, so that they can return as productive members of society. This social issue is very important because the Prison Industrial Complex makes profits off of people who are in and out of prisons. To stop the cycle and the stereotype of the “worthless convict”, Amicus arms ex-convicts with the tools they need to succeed in the world after a conviction.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the bonding I did with my group and with other groups. The bonding with my group will contribute to my break because we all know each other much better, and we can get along far better if we know each other. Additionally, it is good to have a strong group dynamic prior to leaving for the break, because we will have to travel so far together. Bonding with the other groups was great, because I got to know the other people in my alternative breaks class.