About This Project - by Jill Kronstadt, Associate Professor, English

In Fall 2011, at Montgomery College's Germantown campus, my Basic Writing II class had a theme of homelessness and community engagement. As part of this project, we read Jeannette Walls' memoir The Glass Castle; volunteered for service learning project related to homelessness in Montgomery County, Maryland; and wrote essays that connected our reading and service learning.

This fall, with the help of Germantown's Service Learning Coordinator, Kris Borcherding, our class volunteered for service projects that would help shed light on the memoir. Most of the class participated in Montgomery County's first-ever Homeless Resource Day, with a few other students volunteering to tutor children in math, serve Thanksgiving dinner to families in poverty, or bag nonperishable foods for kids who would otherwise go hungry over the weekends.

On October 19, 2011, Montgomery County bussed homeless people from shelters and encampments to a central location in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Students who volunteered at the Homeless Resource Day guided these homeless guests through a maze of medical, dental, mental health, personal care, and social services that had gathered in one location for one-stop access to resources. The day was a huge success, with MC students earning particular kudos for their dedication, enthusiasm, and generosity.

The essays that follow are based on the reading and volunteering we completed during the semester and were written, revised, and edited entirely by the students. Not all the students elected to have their essays published on this website, but the ones that did show growth in both writing and awareness of the issue of homelessness.

Enjoy!

Jill Kronstadt
Associate Professor, English
Montgomery College
Germantown, MD



Saturday, December 10, 2011

Service Learning Project by Daniel Martinez

When Volunteer work is brought up it immediately sparks up a reaction, it can be excitement, curiosity or agony.  The volunteer work can be directly from the heart of the volunteer or in most cases mandatory.  As part of a class requirement, I am going to participate in a service learning project called Homeless Resource Day at Bohrer Park Activity Center.  On this day, I will assist with the set up, clean up and a greeter.  It is important that I bring my best qualities that are needed in a volunteer such as cooperation, courteous, and a positive attitude.

Cooperation is a quality that I posses and is what makes me a great volunteer.  This quality is important because the service learning project will be done as a class, therefore it is a team effort.  Cooperation is essential if a team wants to do well, by participating and helping each other it makes all the difference for the event to run smoother. Following the rules is a part of cooperating. If all volunteers pitch in and cooperate in an event of a problem the matter can resolved much quicker than from just an individual effort.  My cooperation comes into play when I am asked to complete training for the event.  In this training I will pay attention and learn it to my best so, when I am asked to exercise it I am able to attend to the guests better.

Another important quality that I plan to bring with me to my project is being courteous.  Being courteous to the guests, other volunteers and program directors that way it is easier to be approachable if help is needed.  The guests should feel welcomed because I am there to assist.  In past volunteer experiences I have practiced being courteous and saw the huge difference it made.  For example, when I was a greeter I made sure that I was being as polite as possible to the guests and I noticed that I made myself more approachable and people didn’t hesitate to ask me any questions because they knew I would have been more than glad to answer.  In that situation I was able to see the positive effect that I had on our guests.

In this service learning project a quality that I intend to bring to make me a great volunteer is a positive attitude.  I believe that without this quality none of the others are possible.  A positive attitude from each volunteer will just make everything fall right into place.  A positive attitude will contribute to the atmosphere.  The positive energy that one must bring should be so obvious that can rub off on others and give that little extra boost.  For example, I am not a morning person I struggle in having high spirits so early.  When I had a co worker that every morning was always so jolly, enthusiastic, and energetic I fed off him to get me through the day.  My co worker helped me without even knowing which made me realize that the right attitude can go a long way. 

In conclusion I am fully embracing this experience of being a volunteer for this service learning project and look forward to bring my volunteer qualities.  I am hoping that I am the beneficiary that I can develop new skills, help build a better community, and do my part to try to end homelessness.  Although, the number of homeless families is at a staggering rate, by contributing I hope it inspires other to do so and we can begin helping together one family at a time.
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