Final reflection

During my take action project I was not sure what to expect. My volunteer work is going to benefit women and children indirectly. I volunteered at the YWCA and assisted with the Christmas store. The whole floor dedicated to this concept. People send donations in from many different locations. It is all compiled into one place which requires volunteers and other staff member to organize. I completed my four hours all at once. While I was there I was able to accomplish a few things. I was able to walk out of the store and know that my time organizing the worst room, was well spent.

            By taking time to organize the Christmas store I helped many families. Any of the women and children living in the shelters have this Christmas store to look forward to. The children can go first to pick out the treasures for their mother. Then their mother can come in and pick out something special. The concept of this store being implemented so that even families in a tough situation have something for Christmas. They not only get various objects from the store, but they also get to experience the excitement of Christmas shopping.

            One of the women, who works at the YWCA, was able to give me a brief interview about being a legal advocate. She is mainly in charge of providing people with Personal Protection Orders. These Personal Protection Orders hold a detailed description of an incident that occurred. The legal Advocate can assist the victim in deciding what actions need to be written down. From there the case is handed off to a judge who will decide what preventative actions need to be taken to ensure the victims safety. My interview also touched on the negative aspect of PPO’s. Sometimes the judge will not give them all of the protection the women requires. Then the victim feels absolutely horrible that nothing more can be done. Another action that she is involved with is being on call. Each week someone from the organization takes the phone for a week. They may or may not receive calls from the hospital asking for someone to come and sit with a patient. My interviewee told me she never likes getting a call at two in the morning. However, when she leaves the patient she never regrets that lost sleep.

At first, volunteer work can be difficult. Trying to help during a busy schedule can feel

impossible. At first it felt like a lot of hassle for little reward. But what I found was volunteer work for only four hours did not seem like enough. I could not complete putting everything in its proper place in the Christmas store. I left feeling like I did not accomplish enough. While at the same time I felt something that is impossible to put into words.