Patricia Hall Project Link

 

 

1.)    I spent my volunteer hours at a local shelter for homeless women and children and women who have been victims of domestic violence, the Center for Women in Transition.

2.)    In that time I was able to identify the diversity of that particular population and the various causes of their circumstances and specific needs of them and their family. There is no singular cause of their conditions. Most were single mothers and lacked support from their children’s father or family members. Some had lived in poverty their entire lifetime, others lived near poverty and had a loss of job or illness that caused their need for services. Some were victims of domestic violence and had to leave their homes for safety reasons. One woman lost her home in a house fire and was now on social security disability and could not recover without support. Another important thing to note is the need to be understanding, open-minded, non-judgmental and have the ability to meet a client where they are. A perfect example is during a house check I met a 21 year old woman who lives at the shelter with her daughter. She was in her room cleaning but her 2 year old daughter was not with her. The staff asked where the little girl was and the woman replied “oh, she’s taking a bath”. The child was in the bath tub, unsupervised, in water up to the middle of her chest. The staff immediately went to the mother and informed her that she must be with the child and supervise her throughout the whole bath time. The mother was very unaware that she had placed her child at risk by leaving her alone. Some people may have felt that she was inadequate in her parenting but what I recognized is this was her first child, she was very young, and she lacked support from an older family member to help in the process of learning how to care for a child. This was a learning experience for her and an opportunity for the staff at the shelter to help and even determine some needs of that family.

3.)    During my time I met some of the staff that answered hot line calls and took care of the daily operations of the houses and the occupants, as well as one of the case managers that worked directly with the women living at the shelter. The experience has made me aware of some of the resources available to women and children in my community as well as given me an understanding of the process for which a woman would go through to access this resource. This information will be beneficial if I should ever have a client that is in need of shelter.

4.)    This organization is the only shelter in our community for homeless women and women who are domestic violence victims. It has a major impact on the community and stays at full capacity year round. However, the shelter has a waiting list almost a year long. This may be due to the ability for the current residents to stay for two years but it is also due to lack of space and resources. This is a wonderful resource for the community but the community needs more.

5.)    Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. Meeting all the women and hearing a little bit about their lives and experiences made me aware that those in need are just like everyone else. I also enjoyed talking with people whose passion is to help.