Recue Mission

My last time at Dubuque Rescue Mission was actually last week and it's just taken me a while to post my comments. The last week went much the same as the previous weeks. They served dinner and we got to help and observe the community of people who go there. I have really enjoyed going there and it's just such a fun atmosphere to be in. Everybody is very friendly and so open to us being there and helping out and they are always thanking us for coming. Volunteering at the Rescue Mission has definetely been a highlight of my semester and even though I'm done with my required service hours I'm still planning on going back every week until the end of the semester.

My last night at the Maria House

I was sad tonight would be my last night, but hopefully I will get the chance to visit or maybe even volunteer there again. We ate dinner together and it was nice because the lady and children who had moved out a couple weeks ago came for a visit and I was able to see them again. It is nice to know that they are doing well and the Maria House has again accomplished one of their goals of helping women become self sufficeient.
It was one of the residents birthdays(she turned two)! We sang Happy Birthday and encouraged her to blow out her candles, it was pricesless seeing her smile as she opened a Dora Doll, that the Maria House had given her for her birthday. You can tell that the whole home really is each residents true family at this particular time in their lives.
After the celebration some sisters came and made greeting cards with the mothers. I helped one of the sisters entertain the chidlren iwth coloring pictures.
It was a good night, though sad, I have learned so much from each women that I will carry with me.

I did something I always wanted to do

This week instead of going to see someone from the St. Joesph the Worker parish, I volunteered to take an dog named Muffin to a nursing home for pet therapy. I figured it was a good way to incorporate two things I enjoy together. I love volunteering at the humane society and I like visiting with older people, they have so much knowledge and things to tell you, they never get old. Ha that's kind of Ironic older people never get old. Anyways, Muffin is a cute little dog that never barks and loves to get lots of attention, She's part cockier spaniel and something else that do not remember. I took her to the nursing home and was greeted by a room full of resident's waiting to hold and pet muffin. Some of them wanted Muffin to sit on their laps. Specially this little lady, She insisted that muffin sit on her lap. Well, I was alittle hesitate to put her up on the lady's lap so I just held muffin by her lap. The little old lady took her right out of my hand and gave her a big hug. It was so sweet. I can see my it is called pet therapy, the people's faces just light up when they see a dog walking around the halls. We traveled to every one's room that was on the list. They would tell me about when they are little they had a dog named.. so and so. and it was the greatest dog ever. It's funny they remember their childhood so well. It's just amazing. elderly patients never cease to amaze me.
This was something I have always wanted to do, but the times always conflict with my class schedule, it happens on Friday's at 10am. So the last two Friday's we had off I was able to volunteer. It is very rewarding to do it. The resident's love it and do not want you to leave. It was funny we were walking through the cafeteria area and some ladies were having some coffee and rolls. One lady kept throwing pieces of her roll at Muffin while we were trying to leave. Muffin would just stand there waiting for another piece. It was like a game the never ended.
I took away from these experiences a adoration for the elderly person. They are still have some child left in them after all these years. They have been though a lot and you can tell just by looking at them that they have lived a full life and they deserve to spend their last years enjoying the simple things such as a pet the visits. Some of them had to leave there pets at home when they came to stay at this nursing home. It would be hard to leave such a good companion.

Catholic worker farm

Friday I will be visiting the Catholic worker farm for the last time. I am excited to see what Mary has in store for me to do. I am hoping that I get to switch from doing gardening to something else. I have nothing against gardening but it would be fun to do something else. But whatever I'll be doing will be fine because I am helping out the Mihm family and those at Hope House. I am hoping that I will experience something that I can really reflect on when I come back to do my blog. I am also looking forward to seeing the kids again because they are always amusing and they make work fly by!

Center Grove UMC

This past Sunday I went to church at the site I volunteer, Center Grove UMC. The members of the church discussed the food drive they are holding this month to raise enough food to supply a few families during Thanksgiving.

On Sunday Evening I attended Center Grove UMC and we did something a little different when we gathered together. We all met to discuss the Mass session that the youth are going to lead on the 18th of this month, and we talked about the important things that the youth wanted to report to the congregation of what the youth group has to offer.

Then we discussed what we were going to do that night, and we talked about the night being a "mentor" sunday. What this means is that on one Sunday out of the month the youth go to someone's house to learn something different. This time we went out to a farm and we helped one of the youth's dad change a tire after he showed us how it was done, and he then showed us how to check the oil in a car. The point of doing this was to supply information to the youth just in case they ever get in trouble with their cars. It was interesting and we all had a good time trying to figure out what we needed to do in order to get the tire on right. After the tire was on we then gathered for prayer, and we offered up things we were concerned about, and we then prayed for one another. Then we had dessert and went back to the church to reflect upon our experience that night.

Hope House

I went to the Hope House for the second time today, Nov. 5. Penny was home taking care of her sick son. Tony most likely had a respertory infection. Penny said it was caused from running around outside without a coat....that's what boys do, huh? Everyone was pretty melo and we were watching Home Alone 2. Ab, was a new guest that I had met today. He made a lot of comments and referances to drugs, which upset me a bit. Mostly because Tony is not very old and even though he seems to already know too much about drugs ect. I don't feel that he needs anymore reference in his life. I also met Ron today. He and I had a long conversation about a lot of different aspects of life. He has really gone through alot of hard times. We discussed the health of our families- where sadly cancer was common. We discussed our own health and past history. Ron once had 4 surgeries in one week! So he is glad to be here and well. I was really impressed with him because he does physical labor in order to make money, so for a man who hasn't had the best health it's great news. I helped Penny set the table for dinner. All together there was going to be 16 people for dinner. I think that it is awesome that the Hope House is able to provide that meal for so many people. Penny was in charge while I was there because none of the workers where going to be home until 5 this evening. As I was leaving, others began to show up for dinner. I thought this was funny, so I thought I would share. One gentleman walked in and asked if the clocks were right. Penny nodded, and he disagreed that it was an hour later. For the past two days his clock was wrong- he forgot to set it back. We all had a good laugh.

St. Vincent Depaul

I went to St. Vincent Depaul Warehouse on Friday Nov. 2 and helped set the floor and sorted through an abundant amount of books. I was really suprised when I walked into the back room, only to find a huge amount of donations. I guess I never realized the amount of stuff they recieve. I help unload a few cars the came to drop off donations. It was neat to see how wilingl people were to give away a lot of really nice possessions. All the workers at St. Vincent's were very inviting and fun to work with. We conversed and listened/sang to the radio as we worked. I really enjoyed going through all the books, since I am an a big reader myself. It was fun to point out interesting/bizarre book to one another. I did have a hard time recycling some of the books that were not in the best condition- I have never thrown out a book before! I was told if I found a good series of books, I could put them on a special display. So I decided to put out 5 James Patterson hard cover books I had found, and before I left for the day they were sold! I was kind of excited. Everyone here works as a team. People are placed in certain areas but in any time of need one worker drops what they are doing in order to help. Everyone also tends to joke around a lot, which helps create a positive envirnment. St. Vincent's cares about creating the best surrounding for their customers. I feel that they do that by taking effort in sorting and placing iteams on the floor. Everyone is personal and involved. It was neat to see the behind the scenes of what it takes in order to provide this service to the public.

Service at Sinsinawa Mound

Last Thusday, November 1st, I volunteered again at the Sinsinawa Mound. Sister Sarah greeted us and told us that she had been able to lay down the rocks we had previously washed, so all we had to work on that day was cleaning a new layer of rocks. We worked on that while Sage and I talked to Sister Sarah about her upcoming trip. She told me that she has an upcoming trip to Miami, Florida for a National Treasure Conference. She explained that there would be around 800 people attending and that they were going to be discussing issues dealing with Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. I realized how involed Sister Sarah and many of the sisters at the Mound are with issues involving their community, as well as surounding communities and issues involving people in te United States. I think the issues they are involved in are crucial to our lives, and it's great they do so much to participate. We have volunteered 10 hours at the Mound so to meet our deadline we will be volunteering either one or two more times. And on our last visit, Sister Sarah would like us to eat supper again with her and a few of the other Sisters. It's great knowing that what I am doing is making a difference and helping them, but I also learn so much about other people and other communities.

Dubuque Rescue Mission

On Tuesday of this week was the last time I was required to go to the Rescue Mission for class. This week at the mission they had people there who would be able to help the people who come to the mission with finances and investing. I thought this was a good idea and hope that it helped the people who signed up for it. I have decided to continue to go to the rescue mission even though I have fullfilled all my hours for class. The people there are very nice and always make it a fun time