Write a journal-style reflection connecting your internship experiences to broader social issues. Why is there a need for your organization to exist, and for your specific project to happen? What are the multiple causes of the issues you’re addressing? Is your organization addressing one or many causes, and why are they focused on the causes and solutions they are? How do you see strategies from Getting to Maybe being enacted? Or, which strategies do you think should the organization enact, and why? After unpacking the issues and your organization’s response, explain how this month has shaped your interest in future civic involvement, either as a volunteer, political advocate, or as a career. Post this to Moodle under the designated thread.
Then, read and comment on at least two other posts. In what way does each post help you understand social issues and ways of enacting change?
Community Care Development Network is an essential organization for under-privileged individuals and families in Birmingham as a whole. There are many needs that the non-profit serves from food scarcity, to job searching, to student tutoring. My internship specifically helps with the latter need. Children that come to tutoring at CCDN are often found to be greatly behind in core subjects such as math and reading. The issues are due to the overwhelming ratio of students to teachers, lack of resources for children who fall behind, and an absence of early intervention practices to identify children with special needs. I believe the strategy from Getting to Maybe that involves taking a step back to view potential channels of influence and reflecting on the wants and needs of students could be very beneficial. My internship is greatly focused on reflecting and analyzing where weaknesses are in the Birmingham City and Jefferson County school systems. Another approach that could be beneficial can be taken from the major theme of the book: looking at problems from a complex aspect rather than a complicated or simple point of view. There is no one answer for why the school system is failing children. This month has given me so much more direction in situations that call for critical thinking and problem solving. Non-profit work can be incredibly intimidating, but breaking it down in our weekly discussions and having Getting to Maybe as a guide has helped to shape a whole new, fresh perspective to non-profit work. Pre-pandemic I volunteered at the Exceptional Foundation here in Birmingham and have always had a passion for being a friend to our exceptional, special peers. But my work with CCDN has left me with a different passion for learning how to be an aid to underprivileged individuals in Birmingham. I love this city so dearly and want to broaden the range of ages, races, abilities, and socioeconomic statuses that I can have an impact on.
This post helps me understand the social issues of knowing that some children are not getting the right resources for their learning disabilities. I think by researching this topic, the CCDN will be able to help find better resources for the children.