Personal Contributions MHAMC

To say that I made groundbreaking contributions with MHAMC would, unfortunately, be a lie. Having been remote all summer, the effect that I was able to have on the organization was fairly limited. I could not help out in the office with phone calls and paperwork. I could not attend school or community events. I could not attend the superior court and strengthen organization-family ties or serve as a translator. I truly wish that the circumstances could have been different and know that had they been, there would have been a lot more for me to do. I was able to contribute to conversations with my team, yet did not feel as though anything I could add would pose more value to the conversations, as I have no proper training in social work cases and how to navigate those. Most of my time on team calls was spent observing and listening to what my team members had to say. I was, however, able to contribute in one tangible way. I was utilized by my supervisor in order to put together goodie bags for children. These goodie bags were made in the attempt to promote children’s mental health awareness, especially in the time of COVID-19, in which many children have struggled with loneliness and social isolation. These goodie bags contain numerous community / on-line resources, artwork, little games, stress balls, etc. And despite the weather cancelling the farm event where these goodie bags were meant to be distributed, I was still able to collect many of these items from organizations such as Second Floor or Art 180 and have brief conversations with their representatives as to the use for their specific contributions. I will be returning to MHAMC HQ before the summer’s end to collect a few more resources from my supervisor, and, ultimately, distribute the bags around the community. It would have been truly rewarding to see these bags distributed at an event with the aim to unite children and provide them with a fun and safe space to meet other children and release energy, but we have been dealing with extenuating circumstances for the majority of this 2020. I do wish that things could have been different and I could have given more to the organization, but am still grateful for this opportunity and to have been a part of such a caring and groundbreaking team of leaders.