A Portfolio Reflecting on Voluntary Work at Calgary Drop-In Centre

This portfolio details a voluntary work experience at the Calgary Drop-In Centre in Calgary, an organization dedicated to alleviating poverty. The author worked as a corporate assistant for four months, coaching clients on personal conduct and official applications, interacting with diverse individuals, lawyers, and government officers, and networking with the head of the organization. Observations included the high expectations placed on social workers, the limited capacity of the Drop-In Centre, and the importance of being tough yet compassionate in social work. The author learned the need for balancing client needs with organizational constraints and the fulfillment derived from volunteering. The portfolio concludes with a reflection on addressing homelessness through government support and collaboration with social organizations, emphasizing the ongoing challenge and the potential for impactful intervention. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: PORTFOLIO ON VOLUNTARY WORK AT CALGARY DROPIN 1
Portfolio on Voluntary Work at Calgary DropIn
Name
Institution

PORTFOLIO ON VOLUNTARY WORK AT CALGARY DROPIN 2
Portfolio on Voluntary Work at Calgary DropIn
Calgary DropIn is a social organization which was created with the main aim of
alleviating poverty among the people living in Calgary. The firm has about 220 employees, most
of whom are volunteering to do the work, and also accepts other volunteers who are not
considered as the employees. The voluntary work ensures makes it possible for the organization
to offer its services to the affected members without having to struggle for finances obtained
from donors and well-wishers (Calgary DropIn, 2018).
Calgary DropIn accepts members of the society who are experiencing different kinds of
problems including food, permanent residential, medical care, counselling, finding how they can
get a job for them to be economically stable and help to access government services. The most
people who they help include those who have experienced neglect and isolation from family
members or physical and emotional abuse. The firm believes that it is the voice of those
members who are marginalized, disenfranchised and who are homeless and yet are the dwellers
in the city.
My voluntary work at the Calvary DropIn started by working all day, five days a week as
a corporate assistant for four months. I was tasked with coaching some of the clients in doing
tasks that ranged from their personal conduct and official applications of documents. During the
work process, I met several people, including the clients in who were from a range of
backgrounds and sometimes sharing with them could give me more understanding of
perspectives that were not very clear. I also met lawyers and government officers and created
networks with them. Moreover, I met the head of Calgary DropIn, an aspect which I believe
boosted my social work experience.

PORTFOLIO ON VOLUNTARY WORK AT CALGARY DROPIN 3
In the course of my voluntary work with Calgary DropIn, I observed a lot. I saw that the
workers in a social organization are often under a lot of expectation. They meet clients from
different backgrounds and all of them sometimes desire their own issues to be resolved ahead of
others. This weakens their work output. I also observed that Calgary DropIn does not have
enough capacity to hold all the clients who come to its facilities. Moreover, the company does
not get a lot of cash that may help meet all its requirements.
However, the most important lesson I picked from my voluntary work with the
organization is that in social work, the social worker has to be tough. Being compassionate is key
in responding to the needs of the clients, but not all the needs can be met at the same time to all
the clients. Therefore, those who are being taken care of by the organization should consider
operating within the dictates of the organization. More so, volunteering to work in a social
organization is both fulfilling and healthy for my life (Binder, 2015).
Homelessness is a problems that has been in the region for some time now, and ending it
may be a difficult goals to achieve, especially due to the fact that the number of people affect
increases with time. However, I can address the problem with the help of the government which
can provide settling schemes and work with the social organizations to settle the homeless
individuals.

PORTFOLIO ON VOLUNTARY WORK AT CALGARY DROPIN 4
References
Binder, M. (2015). Volunteering and life satisfaction: a closer look at the hypothesis that
volunteering more strongly benefits the unhappy. Applied Economics Letters, 22(11),
874-885.
Calgary DropIn. (2018). WHO WE ARE. Retrieved November 2, 2018, from Calgary DropIn:
https://www.calgarydropin.ca/