OBB Conference!

I spend the last two days in Columbus at the OBB conference. It was a really insightful learning experience! All of Wednesday was devoted to public benefits and Thursday was spend on learning about tax clinics. So much fine print! I learned new things about public benefits and will be able to explain certain benefits to my clients in greater detail. Sometimes the information sessions about VITA and other tax-related topics were a bit over my head, but its was good to familiarize myself with the jargon. I found the tax clinic stimulation to be particularly helpful because it helped me understand the flow of various tax clinic sessions.
In addition, I watched a really sad documentary about three struggling families living in Southeast Ohio. I was really struck by the documentary, and was really glad that I am positioned at a Foodbank. The documentary helped me realize the impact that a Foodbank has in the community.I think providing for people's basic needs is the foundation upon which a society can grow. It is something that is often overlooked. In the country of abundance and where obesity is on the rise, it is hard to believe that communities are struggling to find nourishment. I am interested in getting Shared Harvest involved with the paper plate campaign that was featured in the documentary. I thought it was a thoughtful way to send the message to politicians in Washington. As a side note, I thought it was interesting to see one of the people who did not have enough money for food, smoking a cigarette. It made me realize how addicting cigarettes are, and think about the lack of education, or anti-smoking campaigns in the area.
Furthey, the conference was a great way to catch up with my fellow VISTAs. It was great to be able to reconnect with them.

School Delivery

At last, each school district received their school supplies. I think sometimes Murphy's Law can take effect no matter how hard you try and plan ahead of time, and in the end the you come out stronger. For example, there was a huge miscommunication between one of the schools and the delivery company, and as a result they failed to deliver the supplies to that school. I learned how to utilize my resources, track a shipment, and coordinated another delivery.
Also, from talking to some people at the schools, I learned that impact that providing school supplies can have. So many people called to express their gratitude and convey how helpful these supplies are in the lives of students and their families. Hearing that motivates me to want start seeking grants and writing grant proposals!
I have also been trying to find out information about the allocation of these supplies. Each school district is doing it differently. Some schools are leaving it up to the principals to decide,while others schools are handing them to students who request and qualify at orientation. I have learned that the delivery mishap impacts how the supplies are allocated. As a result of the one week delay in the delivery, many schools could not recruit volunteers in time to package the school supplies into kits to be delivered before school starts. I feel sympathetic for the students who were told that there would be supplies available for them, but then don't receive them when school starts. This might ensue in them being ill-prepared for school and increasing the stress on their families because they suddenly need to find ways to pay for their supplies.
Lastly, I am very impressed with the work that Kaitlyn, the previous VISTA, did work this project. I have gained a glimpse of the work required for being the "project manager" for this campaign. I am so glad that she laid out the foundation for what I will be doing. This tells me that I need to get to work!

First Successful Training and School Delivery Mishap

This past Thursday, August 12th was a big day. I had my first training where I felt really comfortable with the material and could explain how the Benefit Bank works with ease. I think after helping my first client, I was better able to answer questions and convey important details. I had a few questions that I did not know the answer to, but as the training progressed, I felt more and more comfortable saying I don't know and that I will get back to them. All of the volunteers were attentive and asked meaningful questions. This definitely helped the training run smoothly. Best of all, there were an adequate amount of efficient computers and which helped speed up the process!
This Thursday was also the Butler County school supply delivery date. However, I found out this morning that the delivery did not materialize. It was disappointing that all of the coordination involved in setting a up a successful delivery resulted in a failure to deliver. Worst of all, the Dayton Daily News showed up to Middletown School district to report on the delivery and work done to raise the school supplies, only to wait and discover the supplies had not be delivered. At this point, I am just hoping that supplies are delivered to the schools before the schools start so that the students can access them so they can focus on their education. I am curious to see how the schools plan on distributing the supplies. Will they provide the students with the kits on the day one, or will the teachers distribute them as supplies run out? Each step along the way, I have questions that I had not previously thought of!

First OBB client and Back to School Event!

Last Tuesday, I assisted my first OBB client. I realized how much I appreciate the question-answer based format of the software; it is so convenient! At first my client thought that I was a social-worker and that I would not only help her apply for benefits, but also guarantee them to her. After I clarified my role, she seemed a confused about the meaning her visit and why she couldn't have applied on her own. This led me to wonder how mislead clients are when they first use the benefit bank. After my client found out how much money for food assistance she was probably eligible for, she asked about the accuracy of the benefit bank indicator. As a counselor, I felt a level of responsibility for the outcome of her benefits, even though I know it is only my role to help her apply. After learning about her situation, I found myself hoping that she would receive benefits as much as she did. It was overall a very rewarding experience, and I am really glad I had gone through the benefits training.
This Saturday, Alex and I went to back to school event at a church in Dayton with our Quick Check working in full function. The church was giving away school supplies ranging from character backpacks to mechanical pencils. I was impressed at how organized the event was! This was my first time using the Quick Check at an outreach event, because it wasn’t working for us at the Smart Money Event. It had such an impact! People would come to our table and tell us that they probably did not qualify for any benefits, did not see the harm in doing a Quick Check. To their surprise, many of them were good candidates for benefits that they thought they weren’t eligible for! It was such a great feeling to know I have helped them move a step in the right direction! We were able to do Quick Check for about 20 people and handed out marketing material to about 25 people. I just hope that people follow through with applying for their application; I hope that they take the initiative to call the OBB site and make an appointment.
As an added bonus, Alex and I got to be onstage while enthusiastic high school students gave an upbeat concert for younger children to motivate them to do their best and reach their goals!

Site Recruitment Success!!

Yesterday I understood the impact that site recruitment can have. Even three or four successful visits out of 12 can make a recruitment feel successful. We performed a site visit in Middletown and my favorite visit was definitely the Life Skills center. The principal and the family advocate immediately jumped on board. We were even able to show them how to use the quick check and the question answer format of the OBB website. Our green VISTA polos were even noticed. The family advocate said, "When you two first walked in, I thought you two were from the girl scouts!" For future site recruitments it might behoove us to bring cookies.

Smart $!

This past Friday was my first resource fair! Even though Alex and I had major issues with her computer and couldn't perform quick checks, I would say it was definitely a success! We still gave them quick check cards and gave directions about how to do a quick check online. We talked to many people who had never previously heard of the Benefit Bank and were very glad that they found about it. They picked up brochures for their elderly parents and children. Many people shared their personal stories with us; for instance, one woman told us that she has lost her job and has to take care of her family, and her mother, who is retired, is having trouble paying for food. She wants to help her mother, but is unable to. She was very relieved when she learned about the potential benefits available for her mother. Talking to people and learning about the personal story is the part that I enjoyed the most. It is amazing how open people are to sharing their situation.

Site Recruitment

Site recruitment is much more exhausting than I thought it would be. There are many impediments in a seemingly simple task. First, it was difficult to find non-existing sites: we looked up the address of a location on its website and drove there to find that the building was a residence. The next challenge we faced when we did located a site was to see if it was open and if there were people present who it would be beneficial for us to talk to. This experience was helpful in understanding the persistence needed to recruit benefit bank sites.
Today, I called people who attended the Health Path event and who are interested in becoming a benefit bank site. It felt so great when I talked with someone who was interested in becoming a benefit bank site!