Service Learning Experience

Myhiesha Calmes Service Learning Essay BUS X203 04/20/2011

Time spent at Inner Voice My service learning experience was much different from any other I've ever had. It wasn't at all like an ordinary reading or writing assignment. It was an ongoing project that dealt with real life. I did my service learning at a women’s shelter in Chicago Illinois, called Inner Voice Homeless Shelter. Service Learning is an opportunity that only few fortunate students are able to participate in. I am very thankful that I have taken advantage of this opportunity. This whole experience has opened my eyes in many ways. Though I had been to orphanages before with my family and friends, it was my first visit to the women’s
I went to the homeless shelter with some girls from my modeling team. When we arrived the supervisor Heaven Alexander greeted us. She took us around the building for a tour and she explained to us about the homeless shelter and what their mission was. She told us that the program at the homeless shelter was designed to help the women find jobs and get back on their feet; she said they also give the women counseling to the women. As we walked through the building there were a bunch of little scream “there’s models here”, they were so happy to see us. As soon as the women in the shelter noticed us, they all glimpsed at us, but did not show any welcoming expression. I had the impression that they were surprised and did not like the visit of strangers coming their rooms. They looked diffident. The supervisor of the home, told us that there were about four more women inside and she would ask them to come outside their rooms so that we could see the remaining
They appeared with a frown on their face. “They are very shy of visitors. So, they are hesitant to come outside” the supervisor said to us. Since we lacked the skill and experience to evoke their response, we felt awkward for sometime. Hoping that the women would feel comfortable to talk to us, we diverted our attention to the children and talked to them. We didn’t want to really just come out and be in the women’s personal life and asked how did they end up there, but they openly came out and told us what has caused them to be in there. A lot the women there was around my age range, and said that they were in there because they wanted to be grown to early and didn’t want to live under their mother’s rules. All the women there had children and their children were either in foster care, living with relative, or living in the shelter with them. None of the women in the shelter had graduated from high and I found that to be very