Written by: Lyndsey Bowers
For the 2016 fall semester, I had the privilege of partnering with local community organization, Mon County Habitat for Humanity (MCHFH). The organization was founded on the belief that everyone deserves a safe, durable place to live. Since its establishment, MCHFH has completed 42 homes, providing housing for over 180 individuals. Since I was participating in a service learning class in the Reed College of Media, I worked with a partner to implement our objectives for MCHFH. Most of our interactions with the organization were with executive director, Shawnda Cook. Despite some initial obstacles, the service learning experience was incredibly positive and allowed my partner and me to develop both professionally and personally.
Although the situation was not ideal during the first few weeks, it served as an educational experience for us. We learned that it is important to always remain in touch with clients, and get as much regular feedback as possible. We were also forced to set our own objectives and work independently during this period. This was an important lesson for us because as college students, we seek constant validation and communication with professors. However, we proved to ourselves that we could produce high quality work with little direction. This experience also taught us the need to take responsibility for our own learning. In order to excel we had to initiate contact with the community partners and persist despite the obstacles.
Answering to a real client taught us the importance of punctuality, presentation and adhering to deadlines. Partnering with MCHFH also allowed us to gain insight into the operations and needs of non-profit organizations. For example, we learned that MCHFH runs entirely on volunteer work. This means that labor is focused in areas with the most need, such as specific building sites rather than public relations or social media. Similarly, the partnership was an important experience for us to complete prior to entering the workforce because it allowed us to see that public relations and advertising work can be rewarding and helpful to those who are less fortunate. It is often easy for students to aspire to high income careers with big establishments such as fast food companies or fashion labels, however, it was important to see that the skills we have acquired in college can be used to help the less fortunate and nonprofit organizations.
The most rewarding part of our journey with MCHFH was sharing our work with Shawnda Cook. Her face lit up when we presented it to her, and she even requested copies to put into use. The idea that the assignments we had completed were going beyond the classroom, and would be beneficial to the organization was amazing to us. Ultimately regardless of several ups and downs over the semester, our partnership with Mon County Habitat for Humanity was an incredibly rewarding learning experience that we will value throughout our future endeavors.