Initial Reflection

Initial Reflection -- Step By Step

Volunteering has always held a special place in my heart. Volunteering that involves children makes it even more dear. Maybe it's the added pressure of knowing that you're influencing those children with everything you do or that you're impacting them so heavily, but it just adds to the depth of the service for me. Working with children also just provides this light, no matter if you're performing a service or if you're just passing through a park, that provides this energy and love and warmth throughout the body.

I came in to CIS a little wary. English classes have never been my strong suit. However, my opinion was instantly changed upon hearing that we would be participating in service-learning. My excitement grew even further seeing that some of the organizations we were working with involved children, and I was lucky enough to get my first choice with Step By Step.

Step By Step is a wonderful organization that currently helps out around 120 single mothers and over 300 children. They meet every other Thursday night and, while volunteers like myself watch the children, the single mothers are put into groups and counseled and loved on. Step By Step provides guidance and helps these women empower themselves by giving them a foot forward and a helping hand where they previously didn't have one. So, contrary to my prior belief, Step By Step is a program more so for the mother's than for the children. And what a successful program it is. 

I went to my first meeting two Thursdays ago and it met every positive expectation I'd had and then some. That particular time, I was so pumped to have the privilege to work with the smallest of the children. That's right: babies. One even fell asleep in my arms for a solid half hour. How much more therapeutic can you get? Talking to the moms both before and afterwards was also a lovely experience. You could tell just from their demeanor and something about their eyes that they had been through a lot, but the love for their child shone through the most, and it was heartwarming. 

I can't wait to go back this week and see what Step By Step has in store for everyone. I'm hoping as we go along that I can maybe make some better connections with the mothers or just get to talk with them more and know some of their stories. Either way, I know that I'm going to benefit largely from this service, and from more than just getting to hold babies for two and a half hours (but c'mon... taking care of babies is still pretty awesome).