Running head: Journal #1-14

Journal #1-14
Vanessa Willie
Wilmington University
AHS 8100
Distance Learning

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Journal #1

This was my first week of my internship. I am completing my practicum experience in

the Institutional Advancement department under the Volunteer Manager at my current place of
employment. After working in the foster care department for almost 4 years it will be good for
me to gain a new experience in something that I am interested in. I hope to improve my
communication skills and also teamwork and time management skills. This internship will be a
good addition to my resume.

This week my task was to research early childhood college programs in the area. The
department is looking volunteers and future employees to work in our Head start educational
program. I will be compiling information on the contact person at each of the colleges so we can
later contact them about our program. Im looking forward to the upcoming weeks in this
department.

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Journal #2

This week I continued my task of researching early childhood education programs in

local colleges. The department is looking volunteers and future employees to work in their Head
Start educational program. I compiled the schools name address and contact person in each
program. As per the Volunteer manager who I am working with, we will be contacting each
program to find out when would be a good time for him to go to each school to recruit and
interns and prospective employees.
This task is something new for me because Ive never worked as a recruiter and Im actually not
very familiar with schools in my local area, being that I went to undergrad out-of-state. This
coming week I would be interested in learning what are the requirements to intern or work in the
Head start educational program and for the interns how long does the internship usually last.

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Journal #3

Although this was a short workweek, it was a long and stressful. It was often difficult to
mange my internship and my current job however I got it done. I see that I need to continue
working on my time management skills to ensure that I am able to complete everything that I set
out to do. Unfortunately I was unable to get my time sheet signed by my supervisor due to our
schedules, but I plan on getting it done this upcoming week.
As far as my internship goes, this week I continue to work on the task of researching early
childhood education programs in local colleges. I began contacting each program to find out
when would be a good time for my program manager to go to each school to recruit and interns
and prospective employees. I did not have much luck in setting up any meetings but left several
voicemails for program directors. I will continue to follow up with that this upcoming week. I am
also working on finding free or low-cost summer camps throughout New York City.

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Journal #4

Taking on the internship position continues to show me that I need to improve my time
management skills. I am still working on a way to mange my internship, work, and my other
online course. I am also noticing that this internship is pushing me to put myself out there and
communicate more. With one of my task of contacting childhood education programs in local
colleges, I was trying to avoid having to call each one and having to speak to them directly so
instead I emailed them. The emails I sent out didnt receive any response so in the end I had to
call. After several tries and being redirected and transferred many times, I finally started to make
progress. As in the integrative processions model, I began to reflect on the situation and decided
I should have stuck with the original plan of phone out reach because it would have saved me a
lot of time.

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Journal #5

This week of my internship I was able to develop my learning contact. One of my main goals is
to learn more about the Institutional Advancement program and how they recruit volunteers.
Working in this department is very new to me but so far I am enjoying it. One thing I am
noticing while completing my current task is that there are not many free summer programs in
my community. This could be part of the reason so many children and young adults find
themselves in unfortunate situations. The programs that I am finding, I was able to incorporate
that in my case planning activities at work. A few of my clients were happy that I provided them
with this information as they did not know or have any summer plans for their children as of yet.

As of late this week, I was informed that I would also have the opportunity to work with the
Family Resource Center. At this time I do not have much information on this new department
but I am curious to see how they operate and what services they provide to the community.

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Journal #6

This week of my internship I was to continue with my research of free and low cost summer
programs and activities for children and youth in our area. I also had the opportunity to speak via
phone with the Program Coordinator of Family Resource Center. From what I understand so far
is that they focus on the prevention of Child abuse and maltreatment in the community. This
program is fairly new to our agency and will make a year in September. Being that the program
is something new from what I understand they are still learning ways to better engage in between
participates in their program. They are also looking for new strategies to engage parents and
families in our community. I am looking forward to the program coordinator this upcoming week
and to also find out in which ways I can best assist them in this program. I am hoping that I am
able to use some of my skills and my knowledge from my current position as a foster care case
planner in their department.

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Journal #7

This week of my internship I had the opportunity to visit the Program Coordinator of
Family Resource Center. This program focuses on the prevention of child abuse and
maltreatment in the community. This program is fairly new to our agency and will make a year
in next January, however they received their funding in September 2014. Being that the program
is new, I was able to observe first hand that this program needs help in engaging parents and
families in our community. This week the program engaged the parents and children to see what
actives the children would like to do this summer and how they can eliminate the barriers. The
parents talked about how they could not afford to send their children to summer camp. These
parents will be referred to a worker who will be able to assist them with their resume so they can
apply for jobs. We also encourage the parents to apply for the Fresh Air Fund, which is a free
summer camp for inner-city children in New York City. Although 6 families showed up this
week, the program is short staff and they were happy to have me there to assist.

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Journal-Reading Week

This week was a short week due to the July 4th holiday. I had the opportunity of speaking
with my site supervisor about my experience with the Program Coordinator of Family Resource
Center. We were both able to identify issues that the family resource center is currently facing.
They are in great need of staff members and volunteers. Over the next couple weeks, my site
supervisor will be working to recruit for volunteers for this program. I believe that the more help
that the Family Resource Center receives, the more they will be able to engage families in the
community. Over the next week I will also be finding out from the Program Coordinator how
best I can assist them with future actives. I may even be able to incorporate this at my current
job. Being that I work with families, I can refer some of my clients to their program for
additional services and support.

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Journal-#8

This week I explored some of the different ways non-profit organizations recruit
volunteers. Majority of the recruitment is done online through their website, social media
accounts, and job boards. Another way our agency recruits is by going out to local colleges and
universities to recruit volunteers. Although volunteers dont get paid, they still have to go
through the same background check as paid employee especially being that many of our
positions are working with children.
I am also in communication with the Program Coordinator of Family Resource Center and will
be meeting with her again next week to assist with her family session. I am looking forward to
seeing what activities they will have to engage the families. One thing I would like to find out is
about their follow up process with families. It seems as if theyre able to recruit a few families
weekly however, they seem to have an issue with actually engaging the families long-term.
I will like to find out how this department follows up with the families. For instance do they call
or email them after the sessions to invite them to another one? Or do they pretty much wait to see
if the family would show up again for another session? Follow up I believe it is crucial in
maintaining the families that they work with long-term.

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Journal- #9

Unfortunately this week I was unable to meet with the Program Coordinator of Family
Resource Center as planned. Due to the weather the family session had to be canceled
because they are held outdoors in the park and their current building is renovations. We
did however, set up a time to meet next week. My plan is to still find out is about their
follow up process with families and to see how I can be of assistance to help them grow.
The cancelled session allowed me time to review my Strength Finder book and think
about my future career plans.

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Journal- #10

After reviewing all my journal entries it seems as if I am missing one. Im not sure how that
happened being that I handed one in every week. In regards to my internship, I was able to speak
with Program Coordinator of the Family Resource Center and speak with her on the progress the
program has been making. She reports the program was able to hire and outreach specialist and
administrative assistant who are able to reach out to more families in the community. The
specialist was able to actually get some of the clients that shes reached out to the consul one of
the weekly workshops. That workshop was one of their biggest successes since the program
started almost a year ago. All the families who attended the workshop filled out intake sheets and
were also asked what services they may be assistance with. The team plans to set each family out
with the necessary services and also follow up with them weekly to see how they are doing. I
believe now that the family resource center has additional workers they will be better able to
carry out their mission in this community.

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Journal- #11

Working with my current site supervisor and the Program Coordinator of Family
Resource Center has taught me patients. I am able to improve my skills and also be able
to be patient with people of different backgrounds and be more willing and open to learn
more about what is unknown to me. I have decided that once my internship course is
over, I am going to volunteer with the family resource center and assist them with their
parent child workshops that they host weekly. It seems as if one of the biggest barriers is
the lack of support that they have. Being that its a small program they do not have a
large amount of staff members who are able to carry out the programs mission and be
successful. In the upcoming weeks, I will be discussing more with the program
coordinator how I can be a better assistance of them post internship.

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Journal- #12

As my internship comes to an end, I was able to do a lot of reflecting. I am

thankful that I was able to complete my internship at my current place of employment
however; Im starting to think its time for me to move on. Experiencing other
opportunities while completing my internship allowed me to see that there are a lot of
other opportunities out there and I do not have to feel as if Im stuck in one place. There
are many other things I can do in the human service felid besides foster care. Im thinking
about continuing in the feel of volunteer services or going into a career of being a career
counselor. Both of which are essential parts of a nonprofit organization. I will be keeping
in contact with my site supervisor to continue to explore these options.

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Journal- #13

This week I was able to compete my internship and my position as the Outreach
Coordinator. Overall I enjoyed this experience. I am hoping that I will be able to use the skills I
have learned as I continue to advance in my career. Being that I completed my internship at my
place of employment, I will be able to keep in contact with my site supervisor. I am also hoping
that my organization opens up a position in Institution Advancement department, as I would like
to continue in this department. I have worked in the foster care department for a few years now
and this internship has allowed me to explore other opportunities that may be a good fit for me.