In my first semester of sophomore year I needed to pick a volunteer placement for my social work program. After looking around I came across Journey Home’s webpage. Journey Home, located in Hartford, has changed the way I look at the homeless population. Journey Home has a wide variety of programs that are offered for volunteers. The two programs I was a part of were the pickups and deliveries to the warehouse and weekend move-in days. The first day I met Alison Sjoberg, the lead coordinator, she welcomed me in and told me everything I needed to know about the programs. After observing the environment at Journey Home and meeting other volunteers it was clear that everyone was so friendly and uplifting. After volunteering at Journey Home for a few months I believe that their main goal is to give people that are homeless the goods and services they need to be successful in life.
After meeting many of the clients I soon became very attached to the program and wanted to help out the most I possibly could. Whenever a client would arrive Alison would welcome them in and tell them to take whatever it is they needed. The smiles that lit up on the clients faces were priceless. As clients would walk around the warehouse they were shocked to see all the items available to take. In addition, I enjoyed making kitchen sets in the warehouse on Fridays, but nothing beats the feeling of the move in days on the weekends. Most college students would hate waking up early on a Saturday, but I loved it. I loved it because I knew I was about to go make someone’s day ten times better. The programs offered are so amazing and helpful to the people in need of assistance.
Although, unfortunately, I need to pick a different volunteer placement next semester I will never forget my time at Journey Home. I will definitely be back to volunteer when I have free time. I suggest any college student or just anybody in general to volunteer at Journey Home. What they are doing for the homeless population is incredible. If my experience at Journey Home was asked to be rated on a scale from one to ten, I would say a ten all the way! Seeing what the homeless population has to endure has opened up my eyes. Therefore, It is such a good feeling to know that people that were once homeless will be able to lay their heads on a pillow all thanks to Journey Home.