Day 9 Part I

Today is our last day of volunteering and our Service Learning Project has come to an end. Our ending of our time has come in time with Ms. Cherie's retirement. Her last day is November 24th and since next week is Thanksgiving, we decided that today would be our last day. As a gift of our appreciation, Elizabeth, Amy, and I put together a little thank you gift. We gave her a pamper me bath set, that included lotions, scrubs, fragrances, etc.. We gave her the gift at the beginning of our time and she absolutely loved it. She had said that she never buys things like that for herself and she's excited to try out the new products. We took some pictures and talked a little about what she was going to do after retirement. She did inform us that her position had been filled by a lady, Nicole Harris. After that, she did put us to work on our last day. Ms. Cherie had printed out thank you cards for the volunteers in the spirit of Thanksgiving. In which she hand-wrote a little note on about 85 cards. To assist, we folded the cards, labeled envelopes, and stamped them! Thankfully we didn't have to seal them! I think Amy and I folded and stamped our own cards...but we both agreed we liked receiving mail. Her little, but time consuming effort of handwriting each of the cards just shows how much she cares about her volunteers and that also means a lot. She really did make us feel appreciated and I hope we made Ms. Cherie feel appreciated as well. I guess.."time does fly by when you're having fun" and our time quickly came to an end! This is just another chapter ending in my service at HHH, but just as the semester ends. I informed Ms. Cherie to keep me on file for the new volunteer coordinator so I could work out a time for next semester!
Until..next time!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 9 Part 2

This is a sweet email from Ms. Cherie..and thought I'd share.

Dear Aileen and Amy,

Thank you for sending the pictures and the link to your blogs. I really appreciated getting to read about your experience with HHH. I’m glad you could see beyond the actual work that you did (most of the time), filing-- to the bigger significance—one, how much help it is to the staff and clinic volunteers to have the files kept in order so that they are easier to use; two, to have some connection with our patients through bits of conversation or seeing snippets of their files; and three, to have some interaction with our paid and volunteer staff to see the care and dedication that brings them here every week. I think you really “got it” and that pleases me greatly. That is my greatest aim for our volunteers.

I love the pictures you sent (well, some of me, not so much), but to have us all together. Thank you so very much for bringing me a gift in the first place—so sweet and thoughtful—and for its being such a lovely bath set. I love it and will enjoy it so much (it’s still wrapped up and looking pretty until I can show it to my husband this Wednesday).

It has been such a pleasure having you volunteer with us and getting to know you. I know very good and special things lie ahead for you.

Love,

Cherie

Day 8

Another day at HHH, today we started just organizing out the files (our babies), they just don't seem to hold up without us! They do seem to hold up alphabetically, but they get so disorganized very fast. After that, we were able to talk to Ms. Cherie for awhile, she informed us that they narrowed down about 80 resumes to 2 great, qualifying individuals for her position as Volunteer Coordinator. They were actually interviewing one candidate that afternoon. There were really no projects set up for us to do...so we joined Elizabeth (also a student at UST) at the sign-in desk. She volunteers weekly as well and runs the sign in desk. She explained to us her job and what her roles were...once the patient signs in, you ask if they have an appointment or not, whether this is their first time, and what they are there for. Either for the health clinic or to see a case manager. There are two case managers, and what they do is evaluate each individuals case and determine what kind of services they are eligible to have. Today was interesting, since we actually received the chance to interact a little with the homeless individuals. When talking to Liz, why some people react certain ways, such as really impatient and to a sense a little rude. Liz explained it as they are people and they feel they deserve the treatment right away. In asking why they don't get jobs..that they are not used to or don't like to be told what to do. It was hard hearing some of their statements, it was raining pretty heavily that day, and I don't remember exactly what was said, but something along the lines that "some of us just don't have shelter for days like these." Just an eye opener that we take the simplest things for granted as such a roof over our head. I hope we get to do more interaction with the homeless people in the future...

Ms. Cherie's last day is approaching, she doesn't have a set date yet. She said she may still have to do the training for whoever fills her position..hopefully she stays until the semester! Liz, Amy and I, are going to get a little gift of thanks for her! Since she's always been so thoughtful... one picture is a picture of a little sign that says "We are Thankful for You." You can't quite see it, but our names are on there under Thursday! :) The other photo is Amy and I sitting at the sign in desk.

Until next time...

Day 7

Today, we got to do something a little more interesting since we are done with the files! So, Ms. Cherie informed us that she will be retiring soon, soon as in before the semester even ends!!! She said that her last day was scheduled for November 26th. A job listing was posted for her spot as Volunteer Coordinator and more than 50 people had already sent in applications and resumes. Our job, to look through the resumes and look for: whether they addressed the job, if they had volunteer coordinator experience, volunteer experience themselves, whether or not there were typos, and finally any other information that stood out. This experience was pretty interesting, by reading over the resumes I learned some tips on the Do's and Don'ts of resume and application sending. Some applicants didn't address the job they were signing up for, which to me seemed like they couldn't take the time to make the change, or that they weren't completely interested in the job. Some wrote pages and pages (which was a turn off), and I couldn't even get through them. On the good note, I did find a few couple resumes that did stand out, they had volunteer experience, volunteer coordinator experience, and had even worked with the homeless services. I also noticed that, the majority of the resumes were female, I only saw about to male applicants from the stack I read. I'm not really sure exactly why this was so, but Ms. Cherie said she noticed that in the past as well.
From this experience, I definitely learned some tips on what and how to write a resume, which I will probably be doing soon. We got through about half of the resumes before our time was up. I wish we could be a part of the interview process as well!!! But probably not, o well, today was a fun day..until next time!!

Day 6

We weren't able to go this week because of the HOSA meeting!! But..until next week, hope our files our holding up without us!

Day 5

Today was a good day!! We finally finished alphabetizing all the folders!! 6 weeks later and they are finally all done!! What a good feeling we have...it seemed like an endless task, but we are finally done! And of course, the praise of how wonderful they look , makes us feel great! We even had time to organize all the stored office supplies! I felt like we accomplished a lot today. and I can't wait for our next assigned project. Ms. Cherie wasn't able to see our finished product..but of course, we received an email from her.
"Your files look absolutely wonderful. Thank youf for that project."- Ms. Cherie


Until Next Time!

Day 4

One more week has passed by and back to Healthcare for the Homeless we go. Today, we finally got to see Ms. Cherie and of course she was happy to see Amy and I. She showed us a frame where she put our pictures we sent her for the Helping Hands Volunteers and she keeps it in her office. Once we said hi, we continued with alphabetizing the files. We finished one whole side and on to the next side...slowly but surely we are going to get this done! Looking at the shelves, Amy and I want to organize not only the files but all the binders and loose papers that have been sitting around. These files probably have not been touched in awhile..and we saw proof. We found a Chick Fil-A coupon..I said, I wonder if this is still good...but no, it expired. When? July 3, of 2003!! That coupon had been there for 7 years...so the files probably haven't been touched since then. I also realized that this project can be a dangerous job...this week's injuries: a big bruise on my knee and a paper cut. Today..Elizabeth came in today and told us that what we do really helps and it is much easier to find the files. As little as a job as it seems...her comment makes it feel that we make a difference. Until next time...hopefully we can finish the files!!

Day 3

Back to HHH! Nothing too exciting going on today...we are just back to alphabetizing files! We are getting closer and closer to finishing...which means we'll get a new project to take on. We missed Ms. Cherie again today, she said she was out running errands. But of course we got an email from her saying she missed us. :) She also asked for some photos of Amy and I to put on a volunteer display that she will be using at the volunteer fair at UST. She said she was proud of all her volunteers. She is so sweet! I sent her some photos of us and some from El Salvador...her response was that "the photos were great, but she really wants to use the term adorable." She makes me smile and happy we are volunteering for her! Until next time....

Day 2

Back to HHH we go---we signed in to volunteer and it is back to business as usual with our good friends the "files." Amy and I just continued where we left off and began alphabetizing...as not exciting as it is, it helps to have a good friend make the time go by. "Time flies when you're having fun..." Several staff workers visited us through out our time asking for files and asking us to re-file some that they had taken out. As simple as it is, it helps cut down little jobs they would normally have to do and they can focus more on the patients. Time went by, nothing too exciting going on, Elizabeth from St. Thomas who I volunteered with last year came by to say hi. She is usually the clinic host on Thursday afternoons and Ms. Cherie said that one day we could sit out with her if we'd like. Our files are looking better and better after each visit and we have finished almost 1 and half sides of the file holders..which doesn't seem like a lot, but it is! That is what we accomplished today...until next time!!

Also in the mail..I received a nice card from Ms. Cherie thanking me for returning and how glad she is to have me back! :) She is always so thoughtful and makes us feel really appreciated!!

-AJ

Day 1

Today was our first day to start our Service Learning Project. It was so good to see everyone that I had worked with the previous project. They were all so welcoming and happy to have Amy and I, and Amy got a little tour of the place and met Ms. Cherie, our volunteer coordinator, whom everyone loves as soon as they meet her. Ms. Cherie gave us our volunteer badges, made us official volunteers, and explained that we would be organizing and alphabetizing the patient files. Last year, my group sorted out the expired files and re-tabbed the up to date files with stickers...and so we are continuing the organizing by alphabetizing the files. Although it seems tedious, I know we will be helping out the staff and that is what this project is about. Ms. Cherie also told us that Diana, another staff worker is thinking of projects for us to do! So hopefully... we will have more projects soon!

Expectations for this Project

Today I was able to contact Ms. Cherie Wyatt- Director of Volunteers at the Healthcare for the Homeless in Houston (HHH). Last year I was also required to do a Service Learning Project, and did it at HHH, so I contacted Ms. Cherie to see if there was still openings for a friend and I to continue there. She was so delighted and happy to have me and a new addition to the volunteers! From this project, I hope to gain an insight of what the staff does and how they provide healthcare for the homeless people in Houston. I also hope to be of service to the staff and under served people, even if it means filing or shredding papers. One less task the staff has to do, the more time they can dedicate their time to the patients. I was able to help during the Vision Fair over the summer which helped over 100 homeless people receive a vision exam and if needed a pair of glasses! I hope to be able to do more events like this and have the sense of fulfillment of being able to help others by doing this Service Learning Project!

--AJ