Most of the people that the organization I'm interning for deals with are recovering drug addicts who are on parole or probation or in community corrections and are finding it hard to get their lives back on track in society. Most of them cannot get jobs or enroll into schools to complete their education because of the criminal records they carry. This is really daunting for them because they have families to take care of. Others are parents with little children in need of their care and attention. Others have senior family members who depend on them for sustenance. So with the trauma that comes from being rejected by society and the guilt they feel from not being able to provide for their families, these people suffer mentally and emotionally.
This organization has licensed mental health and substance abuse counselors and specialists who do a great job with individual counseling and therapy sessions. The victims feel supported and as a result maintain their overall health and wellbeing and are even more determined to get a life. Majority of these victims are Black females and I wonder why. However, I see a connection between all this and a poverty class I took where we read a book called "Living on less than $2 a day." In this book, many people (especially Black women) tell their stories of how they are barely surviving on less than $2 a day because they cannot get jobs or education due to the same reasons as the victims of my internship.
This experience is prompting me to take a psychology and sociology class because I now want to learn and further understand how to help not only such individuals, but any one I encounter who is dealing with with mental and emotional problems.