Blog Assignment #4

Crisis Nursery

The Crisis Nursery is a wonderful organization to volunteer for. I found out about it through my friend who already volunteers there. She always tells me about the kids she works with and they sound so cute and fun. When we got assigned this project I decided this would be the perfect place to volunteer for.

The Crisis Nursery’s mission is “to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect; it is a mission founded on learning about and responding to the needs of the children and families we help” (http://www.crisisnurseryphx.com/mission.html). Their goals are “to deliver critical services to children and families most in need, to develop and adapt programs that promote child well-being and family involvement, to expand capacity and services through collaboration and innovative practices, to build a diversified and expanded funding base that meets current and projected needs, and to continually improve Crisis Nursery through shared leadership and staff, board and volunteer development” (http://www.crisisnurseryphx.com/mission.html). Also, at the Crisis Nursery they have a foster home system for children. “The goal of our foster/resource care program is to place children, as quickly as possible, into a positive and nurturing temporary home, until they can return to their birth families or can be adopted into a loving family” (http://www.crisisnurseryphx.com/family_fostercare.php). I chose this organization to volunteer for because children are extremely important to me and it fills me with joy to be around them. It is an amazing thought to know I will be making a difference in these kid's lives. Children need the right kind of attention, care, and love, so they will grow up being happy and so they can live a good life.

There are numerous steps and requirements I have to follow now that I have decided to volunteer for the Crisis Nursery. The requirements are that I must be at least sixteen years old, and be willing to work under the supervision of the staff at the nursery. Then, first off I had to fill out an application, which I did on Thursday the 17, that asked questions like my name, address, availability, previous experiences I have had with children, and any talents I have to help entertain the children with or teach them about. I also have to decide which age group of children I would like to work with. I got a call from the organization on Tuesday the 22 asking me when I could go interview with them. Between their available times for interviews and my school and work schedule, I can not go to the interview until Friday the 25. After that, I have to attend a volunteer orientation class, but the soonest one is not until May 21. If they decide to hire me on as a volunteer, I have to go get fingerprinted and they will do a background check on me. Furthermore, I will have to attend a four hour training class on all the specific rules about volunteering at the nursery.

The best way I can describe this volunteer opportunity as going along with what I have learned in this class is by explaining how women do things that are gender orientated; like taking care of children. “The parent-child unit is allegedly self-sufficient and, given the gender division of labor, the responsibility for child care falls heavily on individual women” (Anderson, 189-190). She explains that mothers have all the responsibility of child care; “the arrangements for childcare are usually made by the mother, and it is other women who do the work” (Anderson 190). In addition, the Crisis Nursery is a free service for parents to use because the families that use it are extremely poor. This is particularly important because “The affordably of child care is a serious problem for many families-both for low and middle income-and can consume a large portion of a family budget” (Anderson 191). A majority of the money the nursery uses is from donations and from fundraisers. I find it amazing that an organization runs such an awesome daycare program that is free to families. This makes me even more excited to help out these children, and families, in need.