Monday, September 24, 2012

My First Mentor Training - Money Matters

Being a mentor with Orangewood, I am required to attend training quarterly.  I attended my first training session tonight.

I feel it was geared more toward the youth, and my mentee was not with me.  She is scheduled to be in school on Monday nights... working towards her GED

The training was led by a social worker, who is 25  years old.  I really didnt care for his arrogance, or attitude at some times, but thats neither here nor there.  I also didnt think the training was extremely realistic - HOWEVER it had many good points to it, and the youth seemed to have learned a few things, so thats great.

There is a website they went through, that I thought was pretty awesome.  
www.californiarealitycheck.com

It was not 100% accurate of course, but it gives teens a good idea of what it will cost to live in the real word, and the importance of education, and many other things.

One example he went through, with a 20 year old girl was what if she gets pregnant... and it added about $7,000+ to her expenses per year.  The kids all gasped at that.  One boy asked, "Well, then how much does it cost to get an abortion?"  I couldnt help it, I uncontrollably gasped and shook my head.  The instructor said thats not something he is there to discuss and its not up to a boy to make that decision and he needs to know he is never to pressure a girl to make that decision.  He said if he really needs the answer to that question he can look it up himself online - and then they talked a little bit about the importance of a boy stepping up and taking responsibility and making sure they knew no matter what, they WILL pay child support, in or out of that childs life.  It was a little intense... I dont think I was prepared for that, but it was an eye opener.

I didnt care for the topic of the training, especially without my mentee there, but some of the future topics looked important and I hope I can attend some of them with her.  I suggested a topic on the form I filled out at the end, that I know my mentee would benefit from, but I wont share that... as its personal.  I hope if it is a training session she is able to attend with me.

I saw a few of the other mentors from my Training Academy - one was there with his mentee, a few others were there alone.  I really hope I get to see mine Saturday, I am ready to start this journey!


2012 Foster Care Auxillary Picnic

I volunteered yesterday for the second year in a row at the Foster Care Auxillary Picnic. 
I was assigned to a game again this year, and chose a football toss game... along the same lines as last year but it was footballs instead of beanbags, and footballs hitting your face, arms and legs... hurt.
This year seemed a little different than last year... it was less crowded, for one - and just had a different vibe to it a little bit.
I think perhaps it had something to do with it being over 90 degrees and everything was in the sun.  It made everyone a little more tired, run a little slower, etc.
Today, I feel like a very old lady... from bending down for four hours straight to pick up footballs, I almost cant move today at all.  
But it was worth it.  It was fun watching some of the youth make the footballs in, when they said, "I suck so bad at this"... and then making it... repeatedly.  We had a lot of kids play our game over and over again - same thing happened last year.  We know how to pick the best game ;)

I worked the game with "Wiseman" again - and he is the leader of the Meetup group So Cal Volunteers United - which is where I have found many of the volunteer opportunities I am involved with.  He is amazing at posting opportunities, and I am super thankful he does it.  We had a chance to catch up and talk, it was cool.

They had someone dressed up as The Queen of Hearts who I believe made balloon toys for the kids, lots of games, rafts in the little water area, a bounce house and slide, cotton candy, hair and make up for the girls... Each youth got a pillow case when they arrived to collect their loot in.  Each game gave them tickets that they could redeem for prizes.  It looked like they got a cool lanyard from Disneyland with a pin on it as well... and Im sure other things I didnt get to see.  They had pizza, sodas and water for everyone as well.  Great day all around - the kids looked like they had a great time.  They had a Zumba dancer and a performer as well - but I cant remember her name - an up and coming artist :)

Here are a few pictures:

 Me and Wiseman in our game tent
 Me and Rosie - she is from the Meetup group also, she was there for Set up so I only chatted with her for a few, but she was very sweet.
Wiseman and Me again - by the pirate ship at Kiwanis Island, I dont think this was used for the picnic.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Random Acts of Kindness in October

I have decided to make the month of October "Random Act of Kindness" month for me.

I have spent a lot of time this week coming up with things I can do... and I am close to 31, if not past it.  I have spent my evenings starting to get everything ready.  It has been so much fun. Putting together little bags, making labels for some items, gluing my Random Acts of Kindness notes on everything... shopping for a few things... I really am excited for this!

Ive also decided I am going to blog daily about the RAOK that I did that day.  I think it will be fun to have and go back and look at.
I will make a blog post, and post pictures hopefully each day.  Mostly it will just be a picture of the item, since most of them I plan to do anonymously... but there are a few that I will own up to, which includes a special gift for a friend, a trip to a local firehouse and a couple others.  The rest I want to do for strangers, and the best part is not being around to receive a thank you, or get anything in return.  I am doing it strictly to make someones day better, hopefully.

I have paid for someones food behind me a few times in the drive thru... and I have had it done to me one time - and Im not kidding you, I immediately started crying and felt so humbled, I almost lost my appetite to where I couldnt eat... it was so nice to have it done and such an amazing, random happy feeling - to know I have made someone else feel like that - was incredible.  That is why I want to take the entire month of October to just put a smile on someones face, somewhere.  
I will probably involve a few coworkers but they will be those who are not on my Facebook so they hopefully dont know where the items came from.  :)

Come on October... I am SO ready to start this project! 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Let the mentoring begin....

I met my mentee today.  Her name is Desiree and she is 18.
She recently moved about an hour and a half away - which the caseworker did not know... so I may only see her once a month or so.  She is down in Orange County for school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday... I work 8-5 and she has school 5-8... bummer.  Hopefully it will work out where we can hang out on a weekend - like I said, once a month or so.  She drives, so thats good - if she isnt coming down here, perhaps we can meet in the middle.

She is very nice, very easy to talk to... seems we have some of the same interests - so I am really looking forward to starting this fun adventure.  We both have a lot going on this weekend, she is celebrating her fiances birthday, and I will be sleeping after my tooth surgery... and she has a lot of appointments next week - but hopefully we can get something set up in the next couple weeks.  I am trying to think of something fun we can do for our first meeting... to get to know each other.  I was thinking maybe a picnic in the park... not sure yet.