Blog 25: Mentorship

• Literal
• Mentorship Log
• Sandra Perez / Kele Stahl of the Pomona Community Crisis Center, 9096231588
• Interpretive
• The most important thing my mentorship gave me was the first hand experience working with drug and alcohol addicts. I was able to observe their habits & behaviors first hand & I got to see how counselors reacted on certain occasions. An example of this would be when a client came up with a dirty drug test after being sober for a certain amount of time. I was able to see the steps the counselor took in modifying or helping the client get back on track to sobriety. Being able to work with my mentor & work with the clients so closely was a big advantage.
• Applied
• My nine month experience at the Pomona Community Crisis Center helped me answer my EQ because of my experiences. I was able to learn something new each day but still be able to identify the consistencies that took place each day, such as the counselor's main goal, which was use the best of their abilities & resources to help an addict reach their goal of sobriety.

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1. Pomona Community Crisis Center.

2. Either Sandra or Kele, (909)623-1588.

3. 83.7 hours.

4. During my hours of service, I have been helping with the office work, such as inputting new clients into the database & also discharging clients. I help answer phones & I help clients to the best of my abilities, usually answering simple questions & recording their payments. I have also been sitting in the substance abuse classes on Tuesdays & Thursdays along side of the counselor.  

Blog I: Summer Mentorship Component

Literal (Know):

• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AstFXND37V9NdFBIMnZ6MnU4bVQzaXFuUng0UEZqRFE

Literal (Need To Know):

• What is the best way to gain a person's trust? 
• What is the best way to help someone who is in time of need?
• What is the most appropriate way to behave in a foster home/shelter setting?

Interpretive:

• From this experience, I learned how to be more patient & utilize that into gaining trust & understanding, Although packaging food wasn't my ideal way to work at a foster home, it allowed me to realize that every little thing counts. Despite not being able to work with the foster kids face to face, I was able to provide them with some food to eat throughout the day, in case they can't buy food. So I made myself realize that although I didn't get to help them by talking to them or by spending time with them, I still helped them in some way & that was satisfying enough. By working at the shelter, I was able to utilize some patience into gaining trust with the dogs & cats that were skittish with human contact. I got to teach myself how to be more open minded with why a living thing acts a certain way & I got to teach myself how to alter the way I interact with certain living things to accommodate to their behaviors. By doing all this, I gained the trust & comfort of all the dogs & cats of the shelter.

Applied:

• This all helped me realize that I want to help people. I enjoyed making all the animals at the shelter feel comfortable & loved, but I don't feel as satisfied helping them as I would helping a child or teenager. Also because I know that every little thing helps, I know that I want to do whatever I can, do every little thing to help someone that needs someone else to be there for them. I loved being there for the animals & I loved knowing that packing those snack bags for the foster kids was being there for them in some way. I want to be able to be there for anyone who needs someone. In conclusion, I'm hoping to do my senior project on clinical social work & therapy.