A day in a Life of a Getting Ahead Coordinator / Client Advocate-Sarah Ochieng I serve as a Getting Ahead Coordinator and part-time Client Advocate at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Client Advocate: As a client advocate, my responsibilities include: participating in programs to support the work of the Social Services Department of SVDP, service delivery for people requesting assistance during walk-in hours and on home visits, and building helping relationships with people in need so that they recognize and utilize their personal strengths and resources in problem-solving. Mondays & Thursdays My time on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. is spent with our neighbors. I assist the social services department by providing …show more content…
basic needs assistance to our neighbors, including providing them with clothing, birth certificates, and state ID vouchers, and public transportation tokens. During this time, I have an opportunity of engaging with our neighbors on a personal level and get a deeper understanding of their living situations and life experiences. On Thursday afternoon, I participate in rent and utility decision meetings.
During these meetings, client advocates, including myself, read through rent and utility applications and choose top applications (based on need and sustainability). The next process includes presenting a client’s case and advocating for them to receive assistance with paying their rent or utilities. Getting Ahead Coordinator: The Getting Ahead 16-week program helps individuals build their own personal plan to get out of poverty and create sustainability. As a Getting Ahead coordinator, I support all program-related needs: coordinating logistics, recruiting participants, facilitating trainings, work with individual participants, train additional facilitators and mentors, create an ongoing relationship with neighbors in need, support the work of our area Conferences, and develop opportunities for SVDP to address systemic change. We currently have two ongoing Getting Ahead workshops; Group 4 and Group 5. Group 4 is held at St. Martin of Tours Church in Cheviot, Ohio and has a total of eight participants while group 5 is held at Mt. Healthy Christian Church in Mt. Healthy, Ohio with a total of eleven participants. Thursday …show more content…
afternoon. I create session outlines for an upcoming Getting Ahead session for both group 4 and group 5 and email it to other facilitators. The session outlines are based on the Getting Ahead in a Just-Getting-By World book by Phillip E. Devol, as it is the main resource for the workshop. I assign each facilitator a topic from the book and it is their responsibility to prepare their presentations to the best of their ability. Friday 1:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m: Host a conference call meeting where three volunteers who help facilitate the Getting Ahead workshop for group 4 attend.
During the conference calls, we discuss the outline for the next getting ahead session, thoughts and concerns regarding a previous Getting Ahead session, and ways to make the workshop more effective. Monday: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m: host a conference call meeting where four volunteers who help facilitate the Getting Ahead workshop for group 5 attend. 2:00 p.m. -4:30 p.m: I use this time to prepare for Tuesday’s Getting Ahead workshop by checking in on participants, re-reading the necessary chapters in the “Getting Ahead” book and putting necessary documents in order. Tuesday and Wednesday: Before 11:00 a.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I travel from our bank street office to St. Martin of Tours church in Cheviot, Ohio and Mt. Healthy Christian Church in Mt. Healthy, Ohio respectively. Once I arrive at the venue, together with other facilitators, we make sure that everything is in order before participants arrive. Tuesdays and Wednesdays : 11:00 a.m- 2:00p.m. Getting Ahead Workshop group 4 &
5 The Getting Ahead class begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at 2:00 p.m. Since the foundation of Getting Ahead is co-investigation, both participants and facilitators are investigators. We investigate poverty and how it affects our communities and look at poverty in different perspectives. We define poverty as the extent to which an individual does without resources. We view People in poverty as not the problem. They are the problem solvers. They are not needy, they are needed. We need them to give us relevant information to fix poverty as they are the experts of their own community. When investigating poverty, aside from the economic factors, we look at all the issues that cause poverty. During this analysis, we find that poverty is not just about the financial issues. It’s much deeper. Among other things, we also talk about bonding capital: those people that we hold closest to us, and analyze how we can use our bonding capital as resources so that we have a support system that can comfort us in times of need. Most importantly, we support and encourage one another. I cherish my role as a Getting Ahead coordinator as it gives me an opportunity to know my neighbors on a personal level and hear their perspectives on ways to improve the communities we live in. I also get to see them improve their situation and take action in their lives, create their future story by setting goals and working toward those goals. I have been able to form strong relationships with the investigators and have shared memories, laughter, and experiences.
The reason why I want to become an Orientation Leader is because I see this as something that I am naturally attracted to. By becoming an orientation, I will possess the opportunity to make a batch of new friends. In the process, some of the relationships that I establish can transform into a lifelong bond. I feel like as an orientation leader, I will become a member of the unique community of orientation staff and create a bond that I can carry with me throughout my time here at Winthrop.
...ions they may have had regarding the workshop. Following that orientation, my focus moved to that of spreading the message that our contractors were now available to perform the workshop and if someone wanted to facilitate the workshop themselves, they were able to. For the remainder of February and into early March, we were in contact with various organizations about advertising with them and collaborating to share our message.
Participants had to meet certain criteria. They set up an interview day with the first hour being the section of the workshop that contained personal results such as scores on lower body strength and problem solving. Next they attended three 30-minute sessions that gave them information on topics such as nutrition and stress management. There were a group of participants that participated in the actual interview. They were taken to a private room where they sat at a table. Questions were asked and the person being interviewed would respond with an answer. The interview started with questions such as how life was living with FM and then questions became more detailed such as how to maintain
...sionary Moments Planning Guide: January 2012.” Cooperative Program: Love in Action. Southern Baptist Convention, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.
After our discussion Rick formed a meeting to begin organizing a lobby group. They created an agenda which included an invite of social service agencies to the meeting to discuss suggestions from them on how to develop a lobby group. They prepared a mission statement believing it will unite the group, as well as provide focus and draw attention to the lobby group. In this meeting the five set up an outline that involved organizing the group to address the needs of people with disabilities and how the inequality and stigma they face creates social barriers. They chose to focus on the challenges that Rick and the initial six members were experiencing which are lack funding by the government in the way of inadequate assistance for housing, personal finances and jobs. In this meeting they decided to recruit members through the local paper, the recreation center and door to door canvassing. One of the members suggested using social media and the United Way offered to help by placing a thread on their web page. The six members share their personal stories via a video on the website. The website would be filled with current information about the effects on society when there is lack of adequate resources in a city and have a discussion forum and sign up tab. They decided to take advantage of the fact an election was imminent in the next 12 months by preparing to lobby the elected representatives in their district.
It is good that the calendar is helpful because when the members of SYG don’t overbook themselves our events will be a success and this helps the group fulfill its goal. Which is to prepare youth to become future leaders of the church and in the world, show them how to be faithful Christians, and it is a support system for the members. In order for the goal of the Franklin Road Senior Youth Group to be accomplished it requires many different aspects, some that are part of John Swales six criteria, therefore making The Senior Youth group a discourse community.
My first visit was a simple observation visit. I met with Gary and Dina at the Kingdom Hall for the 1pm Bible Talk service and the Wa...
Good afternoon, my name is Naijah Robinson. I'm emailing you in regards to the location for your event. I would like to volunteer and attend your volunteer meeting. That will be held on Tuesday night November, 29th at 6:30 PM.
Putting in hundreds of hours of work, I have helped Convoy of Hope, Ozarks Food Harvest, CARE, and the Southwest Humane Society. Through these experiences, I have witnessed the changes that need to be made and how they can be achieved. I also believe that I am a very organized and responsible person. Because of my time management skills, I have been able to stay on top of my busy schedule and meet all demands with much success. Being hardworking and creative, I hope to be able to help SGA in any way that I can and do my best to improve the organization, along with Willard High School, to best benefit the students and
We are so excited to embark on this church-planting journey. We believe that our SIMPLE gatherings will form us as we move towards influencing our communities for the Kingdom. We are committed to connecting with people who have a passion for being in a community where SACRED RHYTHMS will shape the way we live with one another and interact with our city. For those of you who have already expressed interest in being involved, we want to say thank you. Thank you for your support and partnership in this calling. For those interested in joining us, please consider this your
This meeting is designed not to add another item to your plate, but to take a critical look at what your chapter has accomplished over the year, where it struggled, and where you want it to go in the upcoming year.
I have the fortunate position of being able to say that my career, for the most part, has allowed me to invest my time in the places that both interest me and have had a beneficial impact on underserved and low-income communities. Through my work I have been able to respond to societal needs in healthcare and, my passion, community development. At the same time I realize that to have the greatest impact in the community development field requires me to further my formal education, deepen my policy expertise, develop my leadership skills, enhance my management ability and learn from the leaders in the field.
Service user empowerment has recently been at the heart of the UK government’s vision for Health and Social Care, thus shying away from the traditionally paternalistic model in mental health care provision. Leadbetter (2002, p.201) highlighted the complexity in defining the concepts of advocacy and empowerment by stating that ‘empowerment and advocacy are both concerned with a shift of power or emphasis towards meeting the needs and rights of people who otherwise would be marginalised or oppressed. Beyond this generalisation, the concepts of empowerment and advocacy are not simple and as such are almost impossible to define’. Where the term ‘empowerment’ is used, it often covers a whole range of activities from consulting with service users to involvement in service planning. Using the term ‘service user’ was however perceived to stigmatise and label individuals, thus eradicating the notion of empowerment (Rai-Aitkins, Jama and Wright 2002). Due to the complexity in defining the concept of advocacy, this essay will however be best served by Dunning’s understanding of what advocacy entails. Dunn...
client, and what lead them to you. Once they are in your office you as their case
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their