SLC Service Action Proposal
Video Link:
Proposal Final Reflection:
I started the semester nervous about how I to find and interview a community partner, none the less create a service project proposal. In the end, I managed to get an interview, make a proposal I am proud of and potentially even line up a future service opportunity for myself. I thought this project was going to be a lot harder than it actually was. However, it is important to note that this assignment was not easy. I had to brainstorm and hit a few roadblocks and moments when I was unsure what I even wanted to propose. Once I had an idea, it was a lot easier to come up with the more complicated planning aspects. This is very significant because I think a lot of people are hesitant to act on their plans because they feel they don’t have the means to do anything about it. My experience, however, has shown me that it is entirely possible to come up with strong ideas, it just takes some work.
I chose to interview and plan a service action proposal for an adult daycare facility called Total Life Centers, which is located throughout NC. My area of service to help the elderly stayed the same throughout the entire project. However, the type of service I pursued changed. I went from wanting to create a Adopt a Grandparent Event to planning an educational/ fundraising event with the intent of enabling senior resource organizations to keep helping the elderly. My top three strengths are Achiever, Harmony, and Input. I feel that these had a great deal of impact on my decisions. I am an Achiever in that I want to accomplish great things and want to make an impact wherever I go. My decision to make an education event based on the problems faced by older adult care facilities is a good way for me to accept a challenge and make the outcome better. I also think this relates to my second strength of Harmony because I want the general public to realize the beauty and specialness of the older generation and choose to help them. That is another large reason why I want the funding aspect to come from senior crafts. I want people to realize they have more in common with the elderly instead of writing them off as someone else’s problem. Additionally, my strength in Harmony has helped me to see places in the project where other senior resource centers besides The Total Life Center, can benefit. I think since this craft fair and fundraiser would be a community event, it will help to generate assistance for multiple centers across the Cary/Raleigh area, should they choose to participate. I feel like a more distant talent theme of Discipline will be challenged because of the sheer scope of this project. It is not that I do not think I am disciplined enough to form this event, but I feel my perfectionist tendencies within my strength of discipline will make this event very hard on me. There are a lot of smaller inner working pieces of plan that will have to come together just right. This means that I am worried if the event turns out any differently, I will have a hard time accepting the outcomes given all the work I put into it. However, besides that strength, I think my other more distant strengths of Input and Individualization compliment the project very well. They will allow me to create a vast and unique goal that hopefully I can fulfill.
The root cause of the issues Total Life Centers faces likely come from lack of funding for senior services in general. Mike Hardy is the Activity Director for all Total Life Centers around the Cary/Raleigh area cited two main problems Transportation issues, and lack of funding, which he made very clear was a state-wide issue. Personally, I think this is such a big issue because of the disparity between the elderly and the young people of today. There is likely less money allocated to senior resources because young people don’t see or don’t care enough to give more. Hopefully through advocacy, the younger generation can learn the importance of these senior programs to the wellbeing of older individuals.
My project will only be successful if it is planned correctly. It has a lot of individual parts that will likely make executing it very tedious unless I have a very specific plan. Currently, I think I have thought through a lot of the different aspects, however, I feel that my project is still a long way from being executed. Additionally, the places where projects like mine can fail is when there is communication trouble. If I can’t get different senior centers to sell their crafts, or if I can’t connect to the right people to advertise, the hole project could come crashing down. This relates quite well to my experiences in ILV. I am in the Community Outreach Committee and in order to plan events and successfully execute them, it takes a lot of planning and stellar communication. Usually this occurs, and events go well, but lack of communication has led to confusion when trying to clean up trash during Adopt a Highway events. Additionally, just because I put in the work to contact everyone and organize everything, does not mean that other people will be willing to work with me. Like in ILV when events are made, but people slack in responding. Even with some of these difficulties, ILV has been successful in making an impact on my college experience. That being said, there is no guarantee that complications will not occur, but despite that, I am still very passionate about my service proposal and hope that it can be executed in the coming months.