The Goals of My Field Site Placement - Essay Example

14th April Social Work and of my field site placement In my field site placement, I worked as a volunteer in food bank at Utah Community Action for 20 hours . Utah Community Action is based in Provo Utah, the third largest city in United States. Being located 69 km south of Salt Lake City, the city of Utah has a population of approximately 113,000 people. Major programs that are offered by Utah community Action include Emergency food, child nutrition programs Cash assistance, Housing and Education among others. One of the main objectives of the food banks system in Utah is to distribute food to residents through various local organizations. Being part of the Regional Food Bank, our purpose is to work as a team in order to strengthen our network. This is undertaken by ensuring that the people in need of food can easily access the food banks, share the available food resources as well as influencing public policy. Additionally, our goal is to create strong relationship with other members of the community to end hunger in the city of Utah. Mission and goals of the placement The mission of the placement was to enhance exposure of my social skills that are focused at the improving the quality of life of other members of the community. Additionally, the objective of the placement was to put into practice the social skills and policies as well as theories that I have learned in my course work. Through engagement with various organizations that embarks on making differences among the members of the Utah community, the placement aimed at learning on the various duties undertaken by regional food banks in Utah (Popple et al, 2008). In this way, the placement positively enhanced my skills to undertake my future responsibilities in community development and management of public resources. A significant goal of the placement was to expose me to various aspects of social work that are fundamental for social and economic development of any society. What I did for the 20 hours During my volunteer placement for 20 hours, I was sorting and labeling the food donations on the warehouse. Even though it was a challenging task based on the high number of recipients who were waiting to be served by the Utah Community Action, I was motivated by a strong team work under the leadership of Paul Leggett, the CAP Utah executive director (Community Action Services and Food Bank, 2012). Besides the labeling and sorting out the food donations ,I was able to interact with other employees ,who included the quality assurance team, drivers and the engineers. During the interaction my social skills were enhanced since we used to share life experiences with my working mates. In addition, I was in close contact with various families within Utah community. Key issues that I had tackled in my career is entrepreneurship and innovativeness and so with this knowledge, I was able to give the families free training on the steps towards innovativeness, capitalization on the resources on their surroundings and come up with great ideas and later on end up improving their lives. I was also involved in the sporting activities during my free time. Based on my interest in sports and creating social interaction, I was able to come up with team building activities that were essential to the Utah Community Action. In this way, various parties within the community learnt the importance of working out as a team to meet various goals in this community. During the sporting activities, I was able to engage the community, parents, youth and children in sports where the participation of everyone was highly noted. The lessons I learned in furtherance of my professional goals One of the key professional goals I have always desired to achieve is to be a motivational speaker. During my placement, I was able to talk with other employees, families as well as the young people and realized their attitude towards various issues. Conformity to the various ethics and philosophy that I will meet in my future career. Having worked under the supervision of a warehouse manager, I was able to learn the importance of being loyal and obedience to my seniors. In this way, my relationship with future employers will be positive thus giving me an ample opportunity to develop my career. During the placement, my skill of keeping various records and procedures in the management of public resources was streamlined. This placement also ensured that transparency, trustworthy as well as the accountability aspects of my professional goals were achieved and furthered in this community. Another significant lesson I learned that will enhance my professional goals was effective time management. For example, before every day before I stated undertaking my duties, I was allocating adequate time for work, tea break and lunch. In this way, I was able to accomplish daily tasks without getting exhausted. In addition, the placement allowed me to learn about proper management and allocation of duties. Having worked under the supervision of warehouse manager, I admired the way he undertook his duties an aspect that I am focused at achieving in my future career. Lessons I learned from the social work field One of the major lessons I learned is that for one to progress in the social work field, one has to have passion toward what he/she does. Passion should be the driving force in this field. The significance of team works, appreciating others and humbleness were other virtues that I learned from this placement. It was good to note that when one deals with people from all walks of life who are in dire need for help he or she has to be humble in order to relate well with the people . Transparency as a virtue was a great lesson in this placement. I learned that one has to be open so that other people can give assistance when faced with problems. Having a positive attitude especially when undertaking social work was an additional lesson that I learned. Taking into consideration the challenges faced by social workers that include security threats, resistance from political leaders and community philosophies, I was able to learn on how to engage members of the community during decision making process (Popple et al, 2008). Through the placement, I learned that for a society to attain an economic development, it is imperative to put proper mechanisms that are focused at addressing the social problems that include food scarcity and diseases. In addition, I learned on how to plan and organize other employees. For instance, the community managers undertook regular evaluation of the employees an aspect that is vital for the development of employees and achievement of the organizational goals. In order to be successful and achieve its objectives, the field of social work highly requires the support of the members of the public and the government. During my placement, I learned that Utah Community Action has a strong connection with residents and government authority within the city of Utah an aspect that has contributed to the success of its duties. Lessons I learnt about myself in this placement Self –actualization is the main lesson I learned in this placement. I was able to realize who I am and what virtues I uphold in my life that are vital in improving the life of other human beings. Through this placement, I was able to realize that social work is the field I belong to based on my strong passion towards providing humanitarian assistance to others. Talking to people and helping them realize the potential in them was a success to me. Integrity as a virtue was highly apprehended in this field and through this placement I was able to comprehend this virtue. In addition, from the placement I realized that I have the potential to form strong team work that is essential for the success of any organization. This was particularly evident during the sporting and other activities we undertook with my colleagues during our free time. I also that I am keen in meeting the deadlines and my goals (Popple et al, 2008). Having worked for the 20 hours within the warehouses, I was able to complete the task as specified by my seniors. This was a great opportunity that enhanced my skills to achieve a goal or a specified target. In the current world, social problems such as food scarcity and increased crimes have hindered economic development of many countries. During the placement, I realized that I am capable of distributing scarce resources in an equal manner so as to avoid crimes within members of the community. The placement gave me an opportunity to notice my ability to address the various social problems facing members of the society. Through collaboration with other employees, I realized that I eager to seek assistance once in a dilemma especially when dealing with issues affecting members of the society with diversified values. Lessons I learned from the population I served One of the primary lessons I leaned from this population is that is that it was cooperative and focused at improving the welfare of others. This was evident by the way they treated me during the placement. For example, during my initial working hours, managers and the employees provided me with an orientation that made me to be aware of the policies adopted by Utah Community Action . In the same way, I learned that members of Utah Community Action are focused at reducing the social imbalances that are major contributors of increased poverty level within the society. In their efforts to address food shortage within the city of Utah and the surroundings Utah Community Action food programs did not discriminate against color or region. This is an indication that the community has a high value for persons it serves regardless of their back ground. Additionally, the community I served was highly determined to face off the social challenges facing the contemporary society. This is indicated by the large number of programs that are undertaken by the community. Utah Community Action is aimed at implementing adequate and resourceful management styles. In its effort to distribute food donations to the beneficiary, I realized that the process was undertaken in a professional and transparent manner. This was evident by lack of complaints from the beneficiary. Utah Community Action is also focused at engaging other members of the community in its programs. For example, the community invites food donations from residents of Utah and other cities either through mail on in person. In this way, members of the society feel as part and parcel of the community thus enhancing the performance of the community. Works Cited Community Action Services and Food Bank.(2012). Available from http://www.utahcap.org/local-agencies/statewide.php. Retrieved on April 14, 2012 Popple,J., Philip R. and Leslie L. (2008). The Policy-Based Profession: An Introduction to Social Welfare Policy Analysis for Social Workers . Boston: Pearson. Read More