Today our class visited Catholic Charities for our first site visit, here are some of my thoughts after our discussion with Vanessa.
My first impression of the facility was a positive one. Although I am no interior designer, I have to say that the place seemed well put together. On top of that, it was very spacious and seemingly well kept. Although the site we visited was not one where the majority of kids talk to councilors, it can still tell us a lot about the type of people who work at Catholic Charities. The fact that it was clean and organized made me feel that the people who worked there take what they do very seriously. Also, the receptionist and Vanessa were both very kind individuals, more positives that I liked. Following my first impressions came our conversation downstairs.
I quite enjoyed speaking with Vanessa, I felt that she was both passionate and informative. There were several things she said that I was quite surprised to hear. For example, how big of a difference our donation would make. Going in, I thought that Catholic Charities was a relatively big organization, at least compared to some of the other organizations we have discussed as a class. With that being said, I was unsure if $7,500 could make a substantial difference to Catholic Charities. However, the program that we discussed seemed as if they could do a lot with our money. It would help pay the salaries of some social workers that help the kids who need it. This could be huge given another surprising thing that I heard while there, that at least 80 kids are waiting for service. This was extremely surprising, especially as someone pointed out, since Oasis had stopped functioning because it had a lack of kids to serve. To me, it seems apparent that our money could do a lot of good at Catholic Charities.
I was also surprised when I listened to the type of counseling that Catholic Charities gives these kids. Listening to Vanessa talk about counseling the youth reminded me of a theme we discussed several weeks ago. That theme being the interconnectedness of charity as a whole. (What good is giving someone food if they don't have a job to sustain them self? How can someone acquire a job if they're hungry?). In this case, it seems that youth outreach and mental health go hand in hand. For example, the suicidal teen is fits both criteria of being a youth and in need of mental assistance. The question for me arises, is this connection a good thing? As a class we overwhelmingly voted to focus on youth and education. Conversely, mental health had very little support. With that in mind, is this program doing the type of work that we initially wanted to be done? Or we can ask, is this program essentially killing two birds with one stone? You tell me.
One final thing I noticed during our visit, was the duration of treatment for these children. When I first heard six weeks I was a bit surprised. I did not think that six weeks could truly suffice for a kid who was seeking counseling. However, Vanessa's explanation that every case was situational really cleared that up for me. Some kids only need one or two sessions for their problems, others need more and can receive them or a referral through Catholic Charities.
All in all, I think that the site visit went very well. It was smooth and informative and I am glad we were able to go. I think that their is a very good case to give to Catholic Charities. That being said, I am scared because this was only the first site visit, and I am sure that every other charity will make a compelling case as well.
Here are some questions you may want to answer:
1. What were your first impressions from the site visit?
2. Do you think that Catholic Charities would be a good organization to give a grant to?
3. Is the fact that their program focuses on mental health a good or a bad thing?
I was unable to attend the site visit so I appreciate your summary of how it went and some of the information they provided. It sounds like those running the organization were organized and professional which is of course a great thing to hear. Additionally, the appearance of the location itself is important and it seems as though they take care of the space that they have; this is of course fantastic because it shows a commitment to professionalism and preserving the resources that they have.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely surprised about the wait-list of 80 children and agree that this is probably a good sign. To me, this shows a true need for their services and the potential that their impact can make. Due to this I think our money can definitely be put to great use here. With our money this program can stay running smoothly so that all of the children eventually have an opportunity to be a part of it and learn valuable skills. I would be curious, however, to know whether or not it would be a possibility to hire more social workers to get more children in the program at a time.
As far as the relation between mental health and education goes, I believe they are closely related as are many other areas people may need assistance in. This is part of the reason our class chose to focus on education—it is the root of many other problem areas and can lead people to become educated on how to cope with mental illness, basic life skills, regular school subjects that may lead to jobs eventually, and more. With this being said, I am thrilled that this organization does help children cope with their psychological needs which may then improve their school performance and teach them basic coping skills that can be used throughout their lives and careers. Overall, Catholic Charities seems like they would be a great option for our class to donate to and I, too, am curious to see how the other site visits go.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. I was impressed with the office and its cleanliness. On the other hand it seemed that they had some items that they did not need and that could have been used to help the children, such as, the media equipment and how large the space was. This does not mean that they are misusing funds, but it made me curious. Why was there conference room so large, do they really have staff meetings of that size? I was also surprised at the help our program grant would affect the ccc program. Vanessa made a compelling case and it seems that the kids are getting a lot out of the aid they are receiving. This organization appears to be doing good for the community. I liked how the students did not have to get adult permission. Kids still know when they need help and their parents probably think they know whats best, but that is not always the case. I think that them focusing on mental health is a positive because that is an issue that affects our problem area of education and a clear mind can help kids in school. I think that this organization would be a good place to give a grant to, but there might be better ones and I am excited to find out.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Bill! Like many of us probably were, I was also taken aback from the tastefulness of the interior design of the building. It was so beautiful, but was it necessary? I tried to reserve my first impressions when Vanessa was talking about the statistics and information about both Gateway and of course CCC. Some information that stuck out to me was the waitlist of 80 kids, 95% satisfaction with the program, the fact that they may or may not get their usual annual funding from another donor, and the most important for me, the roughly 70% of people whose "outcome was reached" even after a period of time. Having all of this in my head, I tried to imagine what the Catholic Charities building would look like if I based it on what I heard, rather than what I actually saw. In my imagination, was there a huge flat screen TV? No. A nice granite countertop reception desk? No. In my head, the Catholic Charities building would've a lot more modest based on the fact that they would have to scale down the scope of their program if they don't receive our grant. But like Mike said, is this necessarily a misuse of funds? No, not necessarily. But, I still have some reservations with the Catholic Charities. I'd like to focus on how the program is looking more towards mental health. Not at the fault of Catholic Charities, health care is very difficult. As well as no longer being as private for kids as before, the care that the children receive will have to be billed through insurance. This is a problem because these people might not even have insurance. Even if people do have insurance, the remainder is a copay that the receiver might not be able to pay or the organization has to figure out a way to pay it. This is a lose-lose situation, because either a kid coming from a family in poverty or Catholic Charities will be indebted. Is that debt really worth it if 70% of people who even get to use the program (remember, only a small number of people get to be seen, and that number will decrease if they don't get the other grant they usually get) seem to be getting the long term benefits of it? That being said, although mental health does tie in with our issue area of child outreach, does it parallel our desire to make an effective donation? We will see upon our evaluation of the other site visits we take! As for now, I think our first site visit was a successful one and I can't wait to see the other contenders!
ReplyDeleteI think that you bring up a lot of feelings that I, and many of our classmates, also had during our site visit. I was impressed by Catholic Charities' office as well, and Vanessa's passion was impressive to me. Despite having a cold, she still made time to meet with us, and I believe that this speaks a lot about her character. However, I do like the point that Mike made about the sheer size of the conference room, and whether or not it necessarily needed to be that large. I can imagine that the space is used a lot in meetings and presentations with potential donors, but I do think that it is wise to question whether such a space is necessary, and whether our funds would go to such, possibly unnecessary, expenses.
ReplyDeleteAll of this in mind, I do think that the Community Connections program is worthy of our program grant. Yes, it may be more geared towards mental health than eduction. However, without proper counseling, some of the at-risk students in Binghamton won't even be able to prioritize school and preform well in class. Community connections will give those students, who may be seen as a nuisance in the classroom, the counseling that will allow them to focus and preform at the same level as their classmates. Again this ties into the interconnectedness of issue areas, because without a focus on mental health, it is hard to focus on education. I think that it would be impossible to find a good organization that's core focus is only education, but I look forward to future presentations and site visits to see if the other organizations that we are considering come closer to only focusing on education.
I left the site visit with an overall good impression of Catholic Charities and I think that this site visit and our other site visits going forward will provide us with a lot of insight into the organizations, their leadership, their programs, their need, and where we could make a difference with our grant money. Our visit to Catholic Charities cleared up most of the questions we had, as Vanessa clarified how the counseling program works, how many kids are in the program, and how our money could go a long way towards sustaining or hopefully broadening the program to serve more children. Also, I thought that we got the sense that Vanessa was very knowledgeable and passionate about keeping the program going in the future. As far as if the program fits into our chosen issue area of education, I think that the Community Connections program makes a good case for our grant and that it is a good example of how interconnected issues like mental health and education are. Even though we decided not to focus specifically on mental health, it is a major barrier to education for a lot of children and our grant has the potential to help many children lower this barrier and be more successful in school, positively impacting our issue area of education/youth services.
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