A great start to finals week!

Amanda and I finally got to work at Isabel's House on this past Sunday!

It was amazing to finally get to see the center, and take care of two, one-month year old boys.  The two girls we worked with on Sunday showed us around and gave us a lot of good tips for the upcoming semester of working with them.

They told us that there is a big turnover of volunteers at Isabel's House because most people do not realize what they are getting themselves into by working at such a high-security place such as Isabel's House.  Some people can't handle dealing with children who have been through such terrible crisis.  It reminded me of my mother's stories from the hospital, she used to say the hardest patients to deal with emotionally are the abused children that come into the hospital.  I can understand why there is a high turnover of volunteers.
I let them know though, that we will not turn our backs on Isabel's House.  When we get back to school next semester, I am planning on being at Isabel's House at least once a week helping out however I can.

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday!

Em J

Success!

Finally! I got my first interaction with the kids in Isabel's House.Today, there was twin 1 month old boys...they were sooooo tiny and it made me realize how, as a college student, I rarely seen infants around campus! So that in itself was a wonderful experience.

Also, I learned some more information and helpful tips to help us get the most out of this project.
1. they do NOT need a lot of help with donations. There is alway a steady flow coming in....
2. The staff has had trouble keeping people working there because either they do not like the stress that comes with being an employee there or they can not handle the emotional trama of some of the cases that come in.
3. BUT the staff (especially vol. like us) work on a need-to-know basis. For example, the staff has no idea why the twin boys had to come in or thier homelife situation.
4. The job is VERY tedious..EVERY little thing has to be documented...which can wear down the staff. This place is very organized and on LOCK DOWN. also, everything is cleaned with bleach...which is what em and I did today we held the boys and also got to disinfect the carseat collection!!!
5. most of the children are infants or two and under that come in.

This is something I have learned in life and has been reemphasized through this project. Expectations are the devil. I am sure some of my roomates and myself thought we wre going to make this HUGE impact and be very helpful and needed. But the reality is that volunteers can make the staffs life even more stressful sometimes. That is why I do not mind taking up chores like cleaning car seats because that is actually something they need from me to ease thier stress so they can look after the needs of the children better.

Also, I am VERY excited to get back home this summer and work with the kids at camp again! I think for college students and adults alike it is benifical to spend time with children because in our hectic lives it is too easy to forget how much joy you can get out of coloring or dancing.

All in all, Id have to say it was a success....

Merry Christmas see you next semester and STAY WARM

-Amanda

House Work

Summit,

I am proudly glad to announce that I have been able to work at Isabel's House for the past three weeks! It was so nice to volunteer, Thank You Background Check! 

During this season the census is up! My first time volunteering there was 12 kids at the house is was crazy! I really was unsure of what I needed to do but I caught on quickly to the fact that is was play time! I got to play dress up, trucks, and house. The best part of the first experience was eating with the kids, man can they eat. I was able to teach kids how to use their utensils and clean off their plates. After spending time with all the kids it made me realize how luck I am.

The next time I went to volunteer I arrived during lunch and nap time! I felt bad because I had no idea what I  was going to do during nap time but they had a job for me. I got to feed a 3 month old baby and try to give tummy time (Learn how to use arm strength). Tummy time didn't work out to well so I ended up just rocking him back and forth. It was the best thing ever! I had a stressful day and just being in a rocking chair with a little baby was so relaxing.

After volunteering at Isabel's House various times there was always 2 plus kids there until I went to Volunteer this week and all of the kids I worked with in the previous week returned home. It was great news to know there were no children but bad news for me because I didn't know what to do. Isabel's house knew what to do though, the made me organize and clean out the toy closet. The toy closet was every kids dream name any toy and it was in there. It took me about two hours to organize and clean out the closet it was a little overwhelming! After that day they told me to keep calling each day to get volunteer hours and it wasn't until Thursday that they had a new round of young-ins. 

Isabel's is a great place for all of the kids once you start volunteering there it make you be aware of everything going on around you and the importance of volunteering.

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY AND REMEMBER HOW LUCKY YOU ARE!!!!!!!!

Final Days of Fall Semester

I hope you all are following the Zen talks in this troubled, troubled, time of FINALS. So much stress.

On the Isabel's House news front....I am sure EVERYONE (because so many people read our blog...Andrew ;) saw below that Em and I got our background checks in!! OH HAPPY DAY. Now we are ready to go and help out Sunday at noon! I am excited to FINALLY be allowed in after the tramatic experience with the background check people. My opinions on them will be kept from this blog BUT also I have learned that I need to be more assertive and demanding when trying toget things done because people do not like to take college students seriously.

I hope everyone has a good Christmas break and I will report back after volunteering on Sunday!!

HO HO HO

- Amanda

Hark! The harold, angels sing, glory to the criminal records office!

Oh happy day!  

Throughout the semester, Amanda and I have had a considerable amount of frustration over getting our backround checks sent back to us! Those darn criminal records people do not know how to stay organized!  Luckily, we have both received our backround checks this week!!! Whoooooo!!! You have no idea how ecstatic we are! This semester has been difficult, not being able to actually work with the children at Isabel's House. We are so excited to finally work there this Sunday! :) 

Stress-Free Now Update!

This wellness program has been beneficial to all of us, and a great learning experience.  It has been exciting to do something new every week.  Last week was especially constructive!  We learned about acupuncture and the history of chinese medicine, I have never been so enthralled by a subject!   It was a great experience, and it brought out the inner buddha in all of us. 

This week has been a specifically more stressful week for us here in 1311, since its practically the last week of school, so you can bet we are excited to find some relaxation in the massage classes tonight!

Next semester, the Isabel's House Angels are going to kick-butt with a major comeback in volunteering! We are all going to be able to work at Isabel's House with the children, and we are going to plan some great parties for the kids!  Stay tuned for updates!   

Happy Holidays! 

Em J

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This month we have turned in all of our paperwork to Isabel's House. Now we are able to go there and interact with the children, before we weren't aloud to interact with the children just volunteer in other ways. We had planned on decorating the house for Christmas but they double scheduled us with another group so we didn't get to. 

The toughest experiences we have had was getting all of the paperwork turned in. There are a lot of requirements that we have to go through before we can start volunteering. Some of the background checks got lost and what not, but now we are rolling. Even though we had a hard time getting started it was still worth it. Emily and I live here in Springfield, so maybe over Christmas break we will be able to continue volunteering to make up for the time that we lost waiting on background checks.

I think next semester will go a lot smoother. We will have everything turned in and now we will just make a regular schedule of days to go to Isabel's House and work with the kids. We also still have our full budget so we will be able to do a lot for the kids in the Spring. 

I have gained the skill of patience. When living with 3 other girls you have to be patient and understanding. I have also become more organized and cautious about time management. We have all learned to be responsible in many ways: responsible for cleaning up our messes was a big thing we have learned. I have learned a lot about what it will be like when I actually live out by myself. 

 I really enjoyed the Wellness Program. It was fun to experience different relaxation techniques that I wouldn't normally try if I wasn't forced to. I think the main thing I have learned it to just take time out for myself. 

 I can't wait for Christmas Break! Sleep in and sleep in my bed. See my dog Boni and hang out with my family. We are redoing our house so my family is living at our lake house at Tablerock and it is so pretty down there so I am really excited to spend  Christmas at the lake. I am also excited to see my friends from high school when they all come back in town. 

Hanna