Journal Week 12

March 27-31

Monday, I planned to go to campus to participate in Sex-Ed Fest with the Women’s

Center and Pride Alliance, however, after I was on campus, the event was canceled.

Additionally, the office was closed, because Shelley would have been the only person in the

office, and she had to stay home with her daughter, because her day-care closed early due to the

storms. Therefore, I spent my day on campus, gathering more materials and solidifying my plan

for the next day. I also watched and participated in a webinar about harm reduction in

relationship with mass violence. It is not directly related to the work of The Bright House, but it

was very interesting to watch and learn from.

Tuesday was my first official day of tabling, and I was very excited, however, I was

nervous, because I didn’t have as many volunteers sign up to table with me as I had hoped. My

first complication was that I didn’t have a good hook to draw people in, as my table was more

educational and resource driven than getting people to sign up for something or to donate like the

other tables are for. Additionally, very few people were on campus, because their classes were

canceled because of the storms yesterday. However, I still managed to attract 23 people to the

table and had 4 total people volunteer with me.

A couple notable people who came to the table today were Axel Hawkins, a member of

SGA with whom I am close, and she took a some of each of the tabling materials to take to the

SGA office, so people can access the resources when I am no longer tabling. Later in the day, a

women’s studies student who is interested in social work came up and asked about what it is like
to intern / volunteer at The Bright House. I told her about what we do on a daily basis as well as

how to apply to become an intern.

That afternoon, after tabling, I went into the office until 5:00PM, and when I arrived,

there were two girls there to receive medical exams and have forensic interviews performed. I

arrived at the end of the girls’ visit, however, we still spent time playing together in the lobby,

first with the youngest girl, then with both of them. The two really enjoyed being at The Bright

House, and I know we have done our work well when the clients do not want to leave, even after

they have gone through the trauma of an interview and/or medical exam.

Wednesday was a quiet day in the office, so I spent the time working on my semester

project and preparing for a job interview I am going to next week. Additionally, Camden,

Shelley, and I were playing phone tag with a potential client who was calling about receiving

counseling here. Shelley then taught us how to fill out the counseling client intake form, so we

could call her and fill out the files on our own. I then called her back, and left a message, telling

her to call us as soon as possible. Then, when she did call back, I was able to complete all the

paperwork. The process was a bit difficult because she is already in counseling, so she needs to

drop her counselor before she can meet with us, however, the process went well, and I feel a lot

more confident in making and receiving such phone calls in the future.

Thursday, I was tabling again, this time, there were a lot more people on campus, and I

felt a lot more comfortable with the table. I set up at 10:00 and by 2:00 41 people had come up to

the table. I was also a lot more comfortable going up to people. I offered them my quarter page

flyers, asking if they wanted resources to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

At that point, most people were perceptive to what I was giving them. Additionally, I noticed a

lot of people were particularly interested in the crisis line pens we have on the table. I know that
they didn’t receive all the resources and information we could have provided, however, it still

gave people an item they will be unlikely to lose that has our name and crisis line number on it,

so they will have it on hand if they need it.

Some notable guests at the table were a volunteer at the American Red Cross table who

was interested in what volunteering opportunities The Bright House provides, so I also told him

about what we do on a daily basis. I also talked with the regional director of the American Red

Cross who was out at the table, and he talked about how he was the vice president of an

organization against child abuse in Illinois. I also talked with one of the creators of a new ride

share app who was advertising it at the table across from me, and I recommended that he provide

an option for people to choose a gender preference in drivers or riders, so that people, especially

women, can feel safe driving/riding at night.

When I came back into the office, there were no clients, but I did spend the last hour and

a half of the day organizing the office. Earlier in the day, the food pantry a couple doors down

from us delivered a bunch of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and menstrual products.

However, we already have more than enough menstrual products, so I collected the unopened

packages of pads and tampons and offered to take them to Milly Free Fridge. I messaged their

Instagram to ask if they would like me to deliver the entire packages or to break them down into

period packs, but I still have not gotten a response. Since I did not receive a response by the time

I left Friday, I dropped off the whole packages to the Free Fridge.

On Friday, I spent the first hour I was in the office compiling all of the data I received

from tabling, and I put that on my PowerPoint for my presentation. Then, as soon as I finished,

Ashleigh, our forensic interviewer, asked me to complete some paperwork for her. She needed

me to transfer some physical case updates onto a digital platform, so it can be shared with all of
the Southern Crescent offices and most likely law enforcement as well. She showed me how to

do it, and I completed two of the three months of files before I had to leave, because I was going

to Atlanta for my brother’s wedding.

 Date In Lunch Out Hours Worked
Monday WORKING
9:00 AM 5:00PM 8
March 27 LUNCH
Tuesday WORKING
9:00 AM 5:00PM 8
March 28 LUNCH
Wednesday WORKING
9:00AM 5:00PM 8
March 29 LUNCH
Thursday WORKING
9:30AM 5:00PM 8
March 30 LUNCH
Friday
9:00AM 1:30PM 4.5
March 31
Weekly Hours 36.5
Total Hours to 360
Date