Background
I volunteered to work with Goodwill Easter Seals of the Gulfcoast. This organization was founded in 1902 by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, an early social innovator and Methodist minister. Helms used to collect clothing and household goods from affluent parts of the city, then proceeded to hire people who could mend the goods. After that, the goods were resold or given to individuals who repaired them. This system became successful and resulted in the Goodwill philosophy which stated that “a hand up, not a hand out”. Dr. Helm’s vision set the precedent for the $4 billion non-profit organization that exists today. Meanwhile in Ohio, Edgar Allen launched a fund-raising campaign following the death of his son in a streetcar accident. In 1919, Allen moved on to start the National Society for Crippled Children. The organization’s first Easter “seals” campaign was launched in the spring of 1934 with the aim of raising money for its services. Goodwill and Easter Seals later merged in 1999 to create a conglomerate dedicated to community service: Goodwill Easter Seals of the Gulf Coast (GESGC).
Organizational Mission and Vision
The mission of GESGC is to provide comprehensive support to families in need of jobs, literacy skills or general educational development (GED). Moreover, GESGC provides parenting support to children with special needs or accommodation to guardians/parents who cannot stay home alone. Besides, GESGC assists families in getting their children ready for school or getting expensive medical equipment for free. The vision of GESGC is to ensure that all people with varied abilities and challenges can achieve their optimum potential and realize their dreams. Additionally, GESGC wants to safeguard the earnings of low-income families to secure a brighter financial future. The organization also wants to make sure that the youth, in particular, are taking the right steps towards a positive future through learning of new skills and building of confidence. Finally, GESGC envisions a world where people with disabilities will enjoy recreational activities and live in happiness in spite of the tremendous challenges that they face.
GESGC is made up of a workforce of around 300 personnel who are strongly motivated and dedicated to the organization’s mission. This workforce is led by Frank Harkins, the President and CEO of the organization. Harkins is assisted by a talented team of nine other executive members in the running of the organization. The programs and services provided by GESGC are also offered by many other organizations and agencies. These include Learning Disabilities Association (LDA), Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD), National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), Council for Exceptional Children, and the HEATH Center. LDA, for instance, deals with the provision of education and general welfare to children and adults with coordinative, conceptual, and perceptual disabilities. On the other hand, CLD participates in the research and teaching of people with disabilities.
Target Community
The large socioeconomic gaps that exist in our society necessitate the existence of GESGC. Individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds are particularly vulnerable to unemployment, illiteracy, lack of accommodation, and inadequate medical services. Correspondingly, as the world becomes more and more capitalist, socioeconomic gaps will tend to become wider. The programs and services provided by GESGC are, therefore, essential in bridging these gaps to promote more equality within communities. The critical role that GESGC plays in promoting equality means that its relevance in the community is bound to remain for a long time to come. People of low socioeconomic backgrounds and disabilities will continue to need employment, literacy, special education, and accommodation to enhance the quality of their lives.
GESGC serves 12 counties located in the Alabama-Florida Gulf Coast region. Given this vast geographical area, GESGC gets to provide programs and services to thousands of people living in these counties. These programs and services are aimed at assisting individuals and families to overcome difficulties that impact the quality of life, self-sufficiency, and well-being. GESGC employs a large number of social workers to reach out to the community at large. The organization provides several opportunities for community worker to engage in community events, fundraising activities, and special projects. In addition, GESGC usually invites social workers to participate in some of its programs such as Kaleidoscope and Recycling Center. The use of social workers comes with numerous benefits for the organization. Social workers are relatively cheaper to procure and are capable of reaching out to a wide demographical and geographical area.
Personal Experience
During my time at GESGC, I did majority of my 44 hours as a tutor assigned to a 60-year-old man with disabilities. This tutorship primarily involved guidance on the use of learning accommodations such as visual and hearing aids to facilitate the learning process. Apart from learning accommodations, I assisted him with reading and computer training. The hours that I spent working with this man constituted the best moments of my voluntary program. I got to realize that disability should not be viewed as an impediment to successful learning. Apart from tutorship, I also assisted clients who were preparing to take their GED test. I mainly helped them in preparing for reading, english, and math tests. I was also involved in tertiary activities such as the grading of papers.
The experience that I obtained as a volunteer for GESGC changed my life, quite literally. When I chose to participate in community service with GESGC, all I was focused on was providing educational services to the persons with disabilities, end of story. However, what followed was an unforgettable experience filled with adventure, emotions, happiness, and brotherhood. I got to meet professionals and volunteers from different walks of life who were focused on improving the lives of others. During these interactions, I got to build professional relationships that will outlive my time at GESGC. The preconceived expectations that I had before the experience were fully met and exceeded multiple times over. As mentioned earlier, I volunteered for GESGC with the sole intent of providing educational services to the persons with disabilities. This expectation was fully met since I participated actively in the provision of tutorship services and preparation of clients for GED. However, the fact that I got to meet amazing people and share beautiful moments together was definitely beyond my expectations.
My experience as a volunteer for GESGC improved and added to change from an individual point of view. The chance to work as a volunteer for GESGC offered me the much-needed escape from the hullabaloo of social media. As an ardent fan of social media, I used to come across people with disabilities in need of help. However, it never really occurred to me just how desperate the situation was on the ground until I volunteered for GESGC. I came face-to-face with the detrimental effects of disability in learning. This experience brought me out of my small world of utopia and released me to the real world. I came to realize that disability is a serious issue in the education sector. Numerous people out there are riddled with various disabilities which impact negatively on their learning. This experience made me aware of the different types of learning disabilities and my role in making a difference. This single hands-on experience changed me more drastically than the thousands of news feeds that I had read previously on such issues. Experience is surely the best teacher.
Before volunteering for GESGC, I always viewed the organization as too formal where activities ran surgically. As such, I went into the voluntary program expecting nothing but excellence. This made me slightly nervous at first and afraid of failure. However, a few weeks into the program, I came to realize that I was surrounded by charismatic and loving people willing to provide help at every turn. My nervousness was quickly replaced by feeling of belonging and confidence to perform tasks to the best of my ability. I gradually become more and more involved in voluntary efforts. The moments that stood out the most were the numerous hours spent working one-on-one with a 60-year-old man with disabilities for a total of 44 hours. Personally, I felt like I was fighting for a just cause; a cause to improve the learning experience of persons with disabilities.
Therefore, apart from the first few hours, I felt totally in control of myself during the rest of the voluntary program. The lesson that I learned from my experience is that every journey begins with a single step. In other words, the success of our society starts with every individual feeling responsible for those around them. Moreover, we should be willing to volunteer whenever the opportunity presents itself, to fight for a just cause (Community Service Association, 2008). If every person could be his/her brother’s keeper, the world would be a safer place to stay.
References
Community Service Association. (2008). Community service. Bristol: Community Service Association.
GESGC. (2016). The History of GES. Retrieved from: http://www.gesgc.org/the-history-of-ges/.
Teaching LD. (2016). Organizations and Agencies Specializing in Disabilities. Retrieved from: http://teachingld.org/pages/organizations.
