I had a lot of reservations about volunteering at the Howell Center when I first heard that we were adding the center to our volunteer opportunities. The first thought in my head was, “That’s not for me”. I didn’t think I could handle seeing and working with children with so many disabilities.
When the Halloween party was announced, a different thought ran through my head…”Hey, maybe I SHOULD get out there and see what it’s all about, and maybe I NEED to as well.” It was a three hour time slot, and I knew I could handle anything for three hours. I kept thinking about the employees of the center, and all that they do to help these children every single day, and that I could certainly get out there and try to make a difference for a few hours.
I got to the center the day of the party, and immediately began asking Crystal, the Director of Social Work, a million questions about their center, her role, the children, their daily living situations, and their families. She made me feel more at ease, and answered every question I threw her way. Some children were there because of birth/genetic defects, some because of horrible accidents, and some because of abuse/neglect. Walking through the center, I was able to peak in some of the rooms at the children. That helped me prepare myself for when they all came in for the party.
As the children started in, all decked out in their Halloween costumes, it was awkward at first learning how aggressive to be with them, and how interactive they would actually be. Crystal made it clear that something as small as an eye twitch from some of the children was a good response. As more rolled in, we all learned how to interact and what to do. Every child was ‘hand over hand’, which means that you literally use your hands on theirs to get them to touch and pick up things. I don’t want it to sound as if it was ‘hard’ to work with them, because it was actually the opposite. Many of the children could make eye contact and showed interest, and a lot of them were handing out smiles by the dozen.
There were as many nurses and teachers in there to assist with the children as there were children. You could tell that these people REALLY loved these kids. One teacher referred to herself as “Aunt” to them all and said she had 30 children, right here. She humored me as I began asking her tons of questions as well. About individual goals of each child, where they go from here, etc, and also told me that they do a lot outside of the center, like go to the aquarium, the park, and the county fair. She informed me that one of the sweet four year old’s goal in her classroom was just to sit up unassisted. He was literally the size of a four month old. His mother didn’t approve of Halloween activities so he wasn’t allowed in the room for the party, but I went into his classroom and sat with him for a while. Every single time I spoke to him, a HUGE grin broke out on his face.
It has been a few weeks since the party, and I still think almost daily about the children there that really touched my heart. Timothy, the cute little frog, had a smile on his face for the entire three hours. Madison, 14 years old, has a great sense of humor, and used sign language to communicate with me. She was quick to tell me that she loved the color aqua, and that purple and gold, were, “Just ok”. I think everyone there fell in love with Shanyjah and Patience, the cute little ladybug and pumpkin. Michelle had a tragic accident when she was three, I believe. She swallowed a marble and was poisoned, which caused her to be in the state that she is now in. She’s a teenager, has an older brother, a younger brother, and a three month old brother. It was very heartwarming, and a little nerve wracking, to see her hold her baby brother. But the tiny smile on her face was priceless. Crystal told me that her mother and brothers were the only family coming to the party. Her mother comes to visit almost every day.
In the end, I had a WONDERFUL time that day, and am grateful for the opportunity to visit the children at the center. Each child has their own personality and likes and dislikes, and it was fun getting to know some of them. I will definitely be going back to volunteer there. Coming out of the experience, I am even more grateful for the blessings in my life, and have certainly learned to not take so much for granted. We are guaranteed nothing, and our lives could change in a split second…just ask Michelle.
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Traci Anderson
JWA member
