Haley Crimmins

Brewster

Sociology 2000

Sociology Volunteering Journals

February 2, 2017 4:30-6:30pm: Tutoring at the Childrens Center

For my first two hours of volunteering, I went to the Childrens Center. It is very close to

campus so it was very convenient. Ive volunteered there before for their Christmas Present shop

around the holidays, but this was my first time going to one of their regularly scheduled

volunteering events. I went with my fellow Circle K members, since the Childrens Center is one

of our long-term service projects. On Mondays and Wednesdays they offer tutoring for the

families that they serve. The Childrens Center caters to children with developmental,

behavioral, emotional, educational and trauma-induced difficulties. Volunteers like me come in

and work with the children on homework, or if they dont have homework, we play educational

games. I met the supervisor, Cindy, who was great with the kids and a real inspiration. I cant

imagine how much work she puts into her work at the Center and how she probably doesnt get

paid much. I was assigned to a first-grader named Kaitlyn*. We sat at a desk a little away from

the rest of the kids and her grandmother showed me what she was assigned from a packet of

worksheets. For the next two hours, I was tasked with keeping a six-year-old interested in

adding, reading and answering multiple choice questions, after she had already been in school for

seven hours. Kaitlyn was very sweet, but not surprisingly, she was difficult to keep focused. I

wish I couldve worked with her on a day she didnt have homework, since she was a clever and

funny girl, who just didnt want to work on homework anymore. From my experiences with
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homework I didnt want to do, I could relate. After a long two hours, Kaitlyn and I finally made

it to her last task, studying for her spelling test that week. As she slowly but surely picked up her

words, I thought about how disinterested and unfocused Kaitlyn was in her studies. I called her

smart and told her good work, and she seemed almost surprised. It made me think about how

often she was given one-on-one attention and praise on schoolwork. I hoped that I made her day

a little better and that some of my encouragement would stay with her. I was very glad she was

connected with the Childrens Center so they can give her the extra support her grandmother and

the school may not be able to give.

After finishing my first visit to the Childrens Center, the sociological concept I was

thinking about most was the idea of social institutions, or the way that society organizes

itself to meet its basic needs (Revel). Civic organizations like the Childrens Center are not

the most essential of social institutions, but the manner in which our society has progress

has made them necessary. The government, also a social institution, in a perfect world,

would fully fund the Childrens Center and its efforts. Unfortunately, civic institutions have

shifted to a donor-based strategy after the government moved away from funding them as much.

This limits the scope and scale of the Childrens Center and other organizations like it. In the

new political climate, it will be unfortunate to see how such organizations will suffer from a

further lack of supportive funding. Luckily, the Childrens Center has a huge amount of donors

so it is able to continue to function.

I am looking forward to volunteering at the Childrens Center again. All of the staff and

other volunteers seem very genuine and committed to the well-being of the children. They seem
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to really make a difference in the Detroit community, and I am excited to be make a difference

myself, no matter how small.

*Name has been changed

February 14th, 2017 4:30-7pm: Art Adventures at the Childrens Center

For my next two and a half hours of volunteering, I went to the Childrens Center again.

Today was Valentines Day and one of their Art Adventures programs, so Cindy went all out.

There were multiple crafts for the kids to make, like beaded necklaces, a painting project, and

Valentines posters with any craft supply you could think of to decorate them. Pewabic Pottery

was there, making ceramics with the kids, as well as a baker with cookies to decorate. Two

women had brought supplies for crepes, so they were making them for both the parents and their

children. Halfway through, a man came in with six large pizzas, so the families were being fed

dinner as well. I worked with the baker to help the kids decorate and frost their cookies.

I really enjoyed working at the Art Adventures. Even though I didnt get to interact with

the kids as directly as on the tutoring day, they all looked like they were having so much fun. I

cant imagine what they are all dealing with, so seeing them able to express themselves and try

new things was great. Understandably, more than half of them had never had a crepe before, so it

was interesting to see them try the new food. They were able to escape what worries plague them

on a daily basis, whether it be learning difficulties or family troubles, and just be kids for a

while. The parents were able to relax a bit as well; they didnt have to worry about feeding their

kids or entertaining them for the night. I specifically remember offering a mom a cookie to

decorate, and she laughed and smiling, took me up on my offer. Im sure that the parents there

arent able to do things for themselves much, so seeing that bit of happiness made my night. The
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parents could also interact with other adults going through similar difficulties. Both the kids and

the parents could enjoy the safe environment the Childrens Center cultivates.

This particular visit made me think about socialization. The kids that the Childrens

Center works with have a variety of unique situations, or social environments, they are dealing

with, so that surely effects their socialization. Since the some of the major agents of

socialization are family and school, its interesting to think about the differences these

children would experience, being from a foster family, or going to a school that cannot

cater to their needs. Family establishes a childs initial beliefs and values, determining their

basic sense of self. Since a lot of the kids are from foster families, their whole process of

socialization is overhauled every time they are places with new caretakers. This being said, it is

fantastic that the Childrens Center is able to create a place for kids to have quality interactions

with adults other than their foster parents, to expand their ideas of the world. The concept of the

school as an agent of socialization is also important to consider when thinking about the clients

of the Childrens Center. The large majority of kids go to schools in Detroit, many of them at

Detroit Public Schools, which are struggling due to a lack of proper management at the present

time. While they are still able to learn corridor curriculum, like seixsm, racism, and

superiority, they lack the quality teaching and safe space the majority of kids get within the

U.S. public school system. The children with behavioral issues or learning difficulties require

extra support that the school system is not able to provide with their current resources. The

Childrens Center is able to pick up a little of that slack with the services they offer, like support

groups and parents training programs. Some other agents of socialization that surely play into

the childrens lives are peer groups and their neighborhood. Many neighborhoods in the
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city are run down and not very safe, so they are influenced by the negative activities that

take place there, such as drug use, arson, or gun violence. These same neighborhoods are

considered poor, so those socialized there are also more likely to get in trouble with the

law, get pregnant, drop out, and have worse mental health (Revel). Peer groups also play

into this, since a child can conform or reject the activities of those around them, good or

bad. The Childrens Center creates a safe domain for children to be socialized in a positive

manner, away from an unstable school and home environment and the culture of the streets.

They are able to interact with adults that are fully committed to their well-being and happiness,

without any outside, interfering factors.

The Childrens Centers positive influence on this specifically vulnerable population of

youth is one of the reasons I love being there. The fact that they are also able to provide a degree

of support for the parents is amazing as well. I am excited because Ive signed up to become a

regular volunteer there. So after a background check and volunteer orientation, I will be able to

help when I want, not just when Circle K schedules for the group to participate.

March 13th, 2017 1-5pm Back Alley Bikes with ASBD

This week, I went on the Alternative Spring Break Detroit put on by the university. It

consisted of five days of volunteering and learning about the issues in our city, including safety,

food, and education. The whole group was fifty people, but we were split up into groups of ten,

so we could all go to different sites to volunteer. On the first day, my group and I went to Back

Alley Bikes. Back Alley Bikes is a non-profit that provides bikes and cycling education to

underserved kids and the community as a whole. It is in the upstair portion of The Hub of Detroit

bike shop, which is located on Cass Ave. They have classes on bike repair for both adults and
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kids. They also have a program that lets kids earn a bike by coming into the shop and learning

how to fix and do upkeep on their bikes. This service was a part of ASBDs safety day. Our

volunteering connected to the days theme because kids are able to stay off the streets and learn

worthwhile skills from earning their bikes, therefore in the long run keeping them safer. My

group and I learned how to process and strip the donated bikes that came into the shop.

Processing means preparing newly acquired bikes for storage until they are ready to be worked

on or sold. We had to take off the pedals, fill the tires, and turn the handlebars. Stripping means

taking a bike that is not fit for sale and removing the reusable parts from it, keeping the

remaining parts for scrap metal. Stripping is a longer process because it consists of taking the

whole bike apart. We were split into pairs and we each worked on a bike. My first bike we

processed, but the second we stripped. It was my first real experience working with tools, so it

was definitely a learning curve. By the end, I was getting the hang of it, but I would definitely

have to volunteer a couple more times to get good at the process. The four hours flew by, since

we were able to talk, listen to music and learn something new as we worked. Overall, it was

really fun and rewarding. The only thing it was lacking was the direct interaction with the

population you were serving, but the rest of the week ended up catering to that interest of mine.

Back Alley Bikes has a lot to do the topics of culture, socialization and Elijah

Andersons article in the May 1994 issue of The Atlantic, The Code of the Streets. The

majority of Detroit kids come to understand the culture of living in the inner-city. The

know the difference between decent and street and the judgement that comes with it.

They know that their neighborhood is not safe if you dont conform to their values of

respect by intimidation and violence. The neighborhood one lives in and the peers one
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interacts with are major agents of socialization for a child. Back Alley Bikes knows this

fact; part of their mission is foster a community spirit through their childrens

programming. Kids can come to Back Alley Bikes to escape the dangerous of their

neighborhood and be around influential adults and kids just like them. They can work on

their own project, building something that can, quite literally, take them places. The kids

can stay off the streets and can earn valuable intangible skills like perseverance and

patience. They can stay away from the toxic environment described in The Code of the

Streets. Because of these benefits, I hope that Back Alley Bikes stays open for many years to

come and is able to help more and more children.

March 14th, 2017 1-5pm: Detroit Rescue Mission & Capuchin Soup Kitchen with ASBD

Today was the food-centered day of ASBD. My group went to two different places:

Detroit Rescue Mission in Midtown and Capuchin Soup Kitchen on the East Side. Both provided

an eye-opening experience into the world of the impoverished and homeless population of

Detroit. We also got to see behind-the-scenes of two successful nonprofits that have become

institutions in the city.

We started our afternoon of volunteering at the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. After

arriving, we were led to through the cafeteria, with a couple men still lingering after lunch, to the

kitchen. There, we met the chef, a young woman who could not be more excited and enthusiastic

about her job and helping the men who come in needing sustenance. We were assigned to clean

out their pantry, which was full to the brim with donations. We sorted through boxes and threw

out expired perishable food, and stacked canned food in an organized manner on the shelves of

the pantry. It was so amazing and inspiring to see how much food was donated to the Mission. It
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took us about an hour and a half to get through the whole thing. Afterwards, the director of the

Mission took us on a tour of the facility. The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries is a larger

organization that consists of several homeless shelters and addiction treatment centers. This

particular place housed over a hundred men and fed almost as many. At the time we visited, it

was also being used as a warming station, because it was bitterly cold outside.

After that, we traveled to the East Side of Detroit to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. When

we got there, we watched a short video which explained the history of the Capuchins and their

mission as an organization. We then were assigned each a station on an assembly line of sorts,

where we put together trays for the patrons. This particular day they were serving corned beef,

sauerkraut, sweet potatoes, wheat bread, salad, a cookie, and a choice between juice or milk. We

assembled the trays a few at a time, so that those who came in would not have to wait for us to

scoop out the food onto the trays. Personally, I was in charge of giving the trays to the patrons as

they came in. It was a new experience for me to be so up and close with the people we were

serving. Many of them were homeless, so they did not look their best. Instead of averting my

eyes like I usually would when I pass them on the street, I tried to look them right in the eye and

give a genuine smile. All the people who came in were extremely polite and friendly. The Soup

Kitchen caters to all, whether it be the homeless or those who just cant afford food that day,

whether it be from paying rent or an emergency fee. It was eye-opening to see the variance of

people who came in. We served everyone dinner, until 6pm, when we had to head to our own

dinner plans.

Both of these experiences were the most profound of the week. I was able to see the

effects of food insecurity firsthand. I had never been so up and personal before with those
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affected by a lack of access to the necessities of life. As a group, we reflected on the concept of

the treatment of the poor. It has become a societal norm to avert your eyes and ignore the person

sitting on the corner, asking for money. As a group, we decided that our experience at the

homeless shelter and the soup kitchen changed our perception of such behavior. Now that we

have personally interacted with impoverished people, we see that all they want is the respect and

courtesy granted to the average person. A simple hello, how are you can help. Though it may

not seem like a lot, we decided that most people would appreciate the friendliness when the

world has put them in such an unfortunate situation.

The Capuchin Soup Kitchen and DRMM relates to our discussion of poverty. Based

on what we learned in class, the majority of the people who came in were probably not in

poverty a year ago. Poverty can come in many forms. The people I encountered fell under

relative poverty. The Soup Kitchen and DRMM did not require people to be in official

poverty, and no one appeared to biologically impoverished.

Prior to this experience, I hadnt interacted with the poor on a personal level. I was

a part of the general population who saw the poor as faceless, since they are often reduced

to numbers and statistics in the media, like annual changes in poverty rates or the

unemployment rate. I knew the poor existed, but other than seeing them on the side on the

freeway ramps or on the street corners, I only saw them as a faceless, nameless group of

people. This also relates to the essence of the American experience of poverty (Lecture

notes), which includes doing without, stress, and stunted growth. The DRMM shelter and

Capuchin Soup Kitchen try to ameliorate these issues. DRMM provides a safe and decent

living environment to hundreds of men as well as access to health care by way of their
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addiction program. The Soup Kitchen provides an adequate diet and solves the heat or eat

dilemma, since people are able to come and get food no matter their circumstances. They

dont have to be a certain amount of poor, so if they couldnt afford groceries because of a

heat bill, they wont be turned away from the soup kitchen. The children who are helped

by the soup kitchen will also be able to learn and focus better in school if they have regular

meals as well as avoid illness.

The DRMM particularly relates to the misconception that the poor are undeserving

of help. They help a lot of men who are suffering from addiction, whether it be drugs or

alcohol. This particular subsection of the poor are considered undeserving of help, since it

is the individuals fault they are out of money and a home. In reality, many societal pressures

and the stress that comes with being impoverished or on the brink of poverty push people to be

addicts. In many cases, it is not the individuals fault, but societys. The DRMM also relates to

the idea of the socialization agent of religion. Since it is a Christian organization, religion is

a large part of their healing process for the addicts seeking recovery. According to the

Revel reading, religious ideas provide a foundation for morality. The teachings of

Christianity and other religions can help resocialize addicts to look at life as worthwhile without

substances intervening. It can reshape their perception of culture as well; since the life of a clean

person definitely has different values and beliefs than that of a person addicted to something.

Overall, the work with DRMM and Capuchin was very rewarding. It felt great to help

those who help others. I would definitely volunteer with either of them again.

March 17th, 2017 7:30am-1:30pm: Helping at Holly Elementary

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Today I went to work with my mom. Shes a teacher at an elementary school about three

miles from my house. Its a Title I school, so it caters to a majority student population who is

impoverished or on the brink of poverty. Title I is a part of the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act (ESEA) by the Department of Education, and calls for federal funds to

supplement the the state funds already allocated to the school, due to a high population of

low-income families. Due to this, my moms school has a special position for a teacher to help

those students who need the most. Despite this extra support, Holly Elementary has a lot of

similar problems to public schools around the country. They have huge classes in all grade

levels. For example, my mom has 28 kindergarteners, which results in less one-on-one attention.

The school cant afford to hire another teacher to make the classes smaller. Another problem is

that Holly Elementary feels a lot of competition for students from the local kindergarten-8th

charter school, Holly Academy. Since the schools funding is per student, they want as many as

they can. Holly Elementary can also provide more comprehensive services to families compared

to the Academy. Despite these challenges, Holly Elementary is a great example of a

community-building school. They participate in a rigorous, school-wide leadership program.

They provide both breakfast and lunch to kids who qualify. They have a great staff who

genuinely love and care about the children they work with. I always love volunteering there

because its such a positive place to be.

This particular day, I was a teachers assistant to my mom. I did odd jobs around the

classroom that she doesnt always have time to complete in the school day, so she ends up

coming into work early, or staying after the school day ends. I refilled glue bottles, stuffed

folders, and sorted the students assignments into their cubbies. I also watched the kids while
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they were in the computer lab, allowing my mom to work on some testing with individual

students. It was St. Patricks Day, so the kids were very excited for that. When youre in an

elementary school, all holidays are very exciting, especially for the kindergarteners. My mom

always pretends that a leprechaun came during the night, leaving footprints throughout the

classroom, so all the kids were buzzing about the leprechaun coming to their classroom,

discussing plans on how to trap it and such. They also got a special St. Patricks Day treat, mint

Oreos and food-colored green milk, as well as a sorting activity using Lucky Charms cereal.

They were so excited, it was funny to watch.

After I volunteered at the elementary school, I reflected on the difference between the

kids I interacted with there and those I worked with at the Childrens Center. The kids at the

childrens center deal with a lot of similar problems to those in Holly. They face grown-up issues

like unstable housing and a lack of food security. School provides two meals and a safe

environment for eight hours of the day, but after that, it's hard to determine what these kids go

through. For kids in the city, they can go to the Childrens Center, but for those in Holly, such a

place is not available. Since Holly is a rural town, they dont have access to such helpful

non-profit institutions. That is why it is so important for the school to be a place for the

community, not solely for the children who attend.

During my time at the elementary school, I was reminded of many sociological topics we

covered in class. The main one was stratification and social class. We discussed this topic

very intensely in class, so it was interesting to apply the ideas to a real-life situation. Holly is

a middle and lower class town, so the majority of people live modest lives. People in Holly

usually stay in Holly, or move to a similar small, rural town. A lot of the population falls into
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the classifications for being poor: White, kids and undereducated. That is why it is great

that the schools provide such support through services like being a Title I school or the free

breakfast and lunch programs.

Another concept I examined after my time at the school was that of wealth, power

and prestige. My mom has an occupation that does not often get recognized as important or

worthwhile. It does not pay much. I know Im a little biased, but it is true that teachers

dont get paid a lot-- the mean salary for elementary school educators is around $50,000. It

ranks 55 on the occupational prestige chart we looked at in lecture (Power Elite

powerpoint). There is not much power involved, compared to a business person or lawyer,

for example. Despite these facts, my moms job is very important. She teaches kids to read, a

basic skill that is imperative to living in our society. She teaches kids how to get along with each

other and how to interact in social settings. Its unfortunate that teachers dont get the recognition

and respect that they deserve for educating the next generation. For the amount of work they put

in, in and out of the classroom, including time and supplies paid for themselves, that is not a

huge sum.

March 28th, 2017 4:30-6:30pm: Art Adventures at the Childrens Center

Tonight I volunteered with the Childrens Center again, for their art program. Compared

to the last two times I volunteered, this instance was a little bit more subdued. There were a lot

less kids and a lot more volunteers, so the whole process, set up, the crafts, and clean up, went

very smoothly. This time, it was spring and Easter themed crafts. There were visors to decorate,

bunnies to make out of paper plates, and tissue paper butterflies to color and construct. It was

great because there was almost a volunteer for every kid, so we were able to spend quality time
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with them. There were a few drop ins, but the majority of the children were from a support

group, so they all knew each other. The volunteers and counselors who regularly worked with

them were there as well, so you could really feel the support and comfort the environment

provided.

A specific interaction I had was with a girl named Madison*. She was in the third grade,

and told me all about what was going on between her friends at school. I had met her mom and

little sister, who looked about four and seemed to only speak a little English, speaking the

majority of the time in Spanish to her mother and sister. I can imagine that Madison does not get

a lot of time at home to talk about school troubles, so I was glad to be a person for her to talk to.

She told me all about the popular girls in school, and how she wanted to be nice and not

popular. I told her that was a good idea, and couldnt help but think about the big problems to a

third-grader compared to when youre older. Im glad she was worried about that rather than

being hungry or without a steady housing situation. She was able to have normal kid problems,

which lots of children who come to the Childrens Center arent as fortunate to have. They have

to grow up too fast, faced with trauma and family difficulties.

This time, I connected my experience to the sociological concept of language. Since

Madison and her family were Hispanic, and her and her sisters first language appeared to be

Spanish, they probably have a different perception of society. Language is a nonmaterial

component of culture, a very important symbolic part of it. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

shows just how important language is; it states that everyone sees reality through a

linguistic veil (Lecture notes). For example, naming something gives it meaning to us. This

made me think about children who live in bilingual households have a different perception of
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society compared to a child in a solely English speaking household. They see the world through

a different linguistic veil for the first part of their lives, and then learn English, which alters

their perception of society. I can only imagine what their experiences are like, but perhaps they

feel like the world is restricted in a way, since only their family and other Spanish-speakers can

converse with them. Once they learn English, they can understand the society theyve been living

in since birth. With the United States becoming a more and more bilingual nation, it would be

interesting for more sociological research to be done into this topic.

*Name has been changed