The ECHO Volunteer Experience

I volunteered over night with my friend, Lauren, at the ECHO homeless shelter in Atascadero. Many students had negative comments on their volunteer experience, claiming that it was very boring and they felt as if they had not actually helped. Lauren and I took it upon ourselves to bring ice cream and water melon slices to pass out to the residents so we could introduce ourselves and establish a connection to hopefully avoid being bystanders like my other classmates. I was prepared to help the shelter workers and do small tasks like serving food and monitoring rooms, but after orientation the workers handed us a master key and informed us that we would be the sole regulators at the shelter. Having such a large amount of trust instilled upon only Lauren and me, we were able to exceed the volunteer duties and play a bigger role.
The kids were the first to start opening up by first shyly asking for help on there homework then eventually showing us their toys and cool gymnastic tricks until we agreed to play with them. After …show more content…
Not until he delved into his past was he able to break away from my original impression of him and the other residents. George grew up in foster care his whole life after being abandoned by his mother and sisters at the age of two. After being released from a juvenile correction center for protecting his foster sister from his foster father, he dedicated his life to joining the Airforce. He was appointed to the prestigious role of being a member of special forces but unfortunately faced injury in combat and was released from the Airforce. He fell back into past drug habits but is now clean, living at the homeless shelter with his wife, working at McDonalds in the mornings and attending classes in the evening with the hope to one day enter the Airforce