The Joys Of The Hanna House

For the beginning of the year, I have been working as a volunteer for the Hanna House. The location works perfectly as the place is in my neighborhood. For two months, I have been learning about the aspects and purpose of the Hanna House and how many people are served there weekly. It is welcomed to contributions from the USDA, food and clothing donations and volunteers whenever they come.

The Hanna House was founded here in Florence in 1986 by several men and women with religious backgrounds. The first ever meal was served on July 4, 1987, opening the doors for those who do not have much. Its mission is to serve people who are homeless or in need of donations. The agency fulfills the mission by welcoming those people, giving them clothes, personal healthcare items and different types of food. They would come to receive breakfast which is already prepared early from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Later, they would come back for lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. a half hour before closing time.

The types of clients that are served are usually the elderly, citizens who are experiencing financial situations, working class people, some who do not have a home or those in crisis. A person becomes a client by applying and having a file placed for them in alphabetical order and background. They might lose client status if they stop showing up. Usually some clients are served canned goods once a month and sign their names and the date when they received their goods.

The structure of the agency is having a coordinated way of feeding the homeless in the Florence community. Hunger is still continuing to plague the neighborhoods, which is why the people there are dedicated to feeding them and providing them with what they need to survive. Each component there has a fair share of working with different people in the early morning to around noon. There are two chefs who cook breakfast and lunch for the people who arrived there. Also, a much older man does some cleaning, like mopping the kitchen and break room floors including the employee and regular bathrooms. He also helps bring in boxes of donations filled with food or brought in from the USDA. The communication between the components is mostly good as they work together along with helping many of the clients.

The type of communication between the individuals in my area and my supervisor could be mixed. Most clients who come in for a donation go to her to receive their goods from her. She would quickly gather the exact canned goods, dried and frozen goods and give it to them. Then she would go to the file of a client, ask for an identification card and have them sign on a piece of paper where they would always sign and she would put down the date on when the goods were received. As the clients are standing outside to get their food, my supervisor, Ms. Jessie talks to them and discusses life situations as they are waiting. Whenever she is working with a volunteer, like me, she would instruct us on how to pack a bag of goods, give out donations, approach clients and bring in donations from an outside group.

There is usually good communication between the workers and Ms. Jessie as they discuss when clients and volunteers come in and how to help them and each other. Some clients would join in to help her with donations, organizing canned goods and putting them in the right area. She would often remind us about where the canned and dried goods usually go. The main issue with that was due to those areas not having signs until I helped typed, printed and laminated them with her instructions. Sometimes, the volunteers and I would need clarification on the directions given out on how to handle certain situations and we go to her for advice.

One time there was bad communication and I was not involved but heard most of the conversation. One of the workers there was giving a fellow volunteer orders and told him to carry packages out of a delivery truck that stops by every Thursday. The problem was he was in the middle of organizing canned goods for Ms. Jessie and she was distraught about the situation. She went to the worker and told him that he should have not gotten the volunteer without her knowing or taking him away from his work. This meant that less work would be done as much as many donations needed to be put away. A typical day would involve helping Ms. Jessie in the pantry with putting away any goods or donations and bringing in any boxes from outside donations or the USDA. Most times, I would work in the breakroom, washing trays used during the breakfast and lunch hours, sweeping the floor and vacuuming the rugs.

The internship met my expectations by showing me the ways of working in an agency and with people. It helped me realize the importance of serving people who are not as fortunate as others and the value of hard work, although I had learned that before. One of the significant insights I had about myself as a human service professional is how I interacted with the workers and the volunteers and how we work together taking turns with assignments. Another significant insight is getting help whenever I am struggling with the assignment I am given. Some of the outstanding events that happened is when my supervisor and I had help for the first time from a volunteer which made the work easier. Another event that I considered the best is when I helped arrange clothes in different categories that were to be donated.

The progress I feel I made on the goals and objectives was doing the tasks and receiving feedback on how I did for the day. My personal strength would be helping out the workers and the fellow volunteers with any other tasks. My personal weakness would be sometimes having a hard focus due to being preoccupied with other things around the agency. I believe that it is seen as a working progress that I still need to focus on. The personal growth I experienced in my internship is learning about the aspects of the workplace and being a better worker. The area I feel that I need to work on focusing more on the assignments. Overall I enjoyed the experience working at the Hanna House.