[humanser] introduction

Mon Dec 30 06:10:39 UTC 2013

Ashley,

For almost ten years I was coordinator of a program that matched, trained, 
placed volunteers in the community with people who were legally blind, or at 
the beginning of sight loss.  My volunteers helped with driving tasks, 
shopping,  writing checks/mail reading, and some helped in the office.  I 
worked there with no Master's.  A part of the job was outreach at community 
agencies and events to publicize our agency, educated those like visiting 
nurses in dealing with blind people, and I was in some groups with a variety 
of others who did similar work for their nonprofits.  I also got to write 
the newsletter, and to plan leisure activities.  Reading this now makes me 
sort of wish I were there now; after all the years I wanted another type of 
work.  When I found what I wanted, a more advanced degree was needed.  Now 
it is not enough experience in general, not experience with a specific 
population of people, or not a more advanced degree.  Does all of this ever 
end?  Maybe it never does end.

 I believe you can for sure be in case work (there is some type of short 
course available that gives a certificate in that field).  Perhaps you can 
try for an Americorps position which gives you training and some income.  I 
did part of an internship where I also served in Americorps.  You do not 
need to be in college, though many Americorps workers are college students.

Hope this is of some help.

Sandy

--------------------------------------------------
From: "JD Townsend" <43210 at Bellsouth.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2013 11:26 PM
To: "Human Services Mailing List" <humanser at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [humanser] introduction

>
> Hello and glad to have you on the list.
>
> Doing volunteer work will put your foot in the door.  A master's degree 
> helps, but much of the work in human services are done by case managers 
> and community organizers, folks with your qualifications.
>
> Your screen reader ought to be able to work in forms mode, a little 
> practice will get you used to  tabbing between fields.
>
> JD
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Ashley Bramlett
> Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2013 7:45 PM
> To: Human Services Mailing List
> Subject: [humanser] introduction
>
> Hi all,
>
> This list has picked up steam in the last month or so. That is great. I’m 
> mostly a lurker, but with some time on my hands I wanted to introduce 
> myself and ask questions.
>
> I  noticed that many human service jobs require drivers licenses so its 
> good that you all are discussing it. I am glad to see some of you have 
> overcome the hurtles and are in your chosen field; we have accessibility 
> to computers issues and also the constant education about what we can do 
> issue.
>
> Well, about myself.
> I am a young visually impaired adult in Virginia. I grew up legally blind 
> as well and received accomodations in public school.  I also use blindness 
> tools where needed such as my white cane and braille and Jaws. I have 
> fairly good central vision.
>
> I am a Graduate of Marymount University with a BA in liberal studies; long 
> story, but I could not decide on a major and was too discouraged with my 
> original major of elementary education; so being a liberal studies major 
> meant that I combined two fields of study to complete my degree; those 
> fields were social science which mainly used my psychology classes, and 
> communication.
>
> I just earned a certificate in writing from our community college this 
> year, Northern virginia community college, nova, for short.
> Currently, I’m trying very hard to get volunteer experience in an office 
> and also assist people. I love the idea of assisting people at work.
>
> My career goal now is actually to just get an entry level office position 
> as a clerical assistant or program assistant.
> Its extremely hard though because everyone wants you to have experience 
> already, but you need a job for that experience. I had internships in the 
> government and at national crime prevention council, but this is not 
> enough experience.
> I’m also exploring careers to decide if I want to pursue something as a 
> professional and therefore go back to get a masters degree.
>
> That is why I’m on this list. If  I were to pursue a human service career, 
> I’d likely need a masters.
> I would go into  either social work, case work, an outreach coordinator, 
> volunteer coordinator, those positions to assist low income people find 
> housing which I’m not sure what its called, or just something in community 
> outreach.
> Other career interests I have are in communications which will not require 
> a masters; I love writing and putting people’s stories down; so I could 
> also see myself in development, event planning, public affairs, 
> journalism, and marketing.
>
> I would like to know who you all are and how you got into the field. Given 
> that I am not crazy about getting a masters as its so much work and 
> research, undergrad was a struggle with access to texts
> , I want to get into something with a BA.
>
> I want to know if you can do something human service driven with a 
> Bachelors.
> If so, what? I see most of you have masters degrees. A few of you have a 
> BSW though.
>
> I realize you may be stuck at a certain level without that lovely masters, 
> but can you get into something with a bachelors? Could I be a coordinator 
> of community programs or do something with case work at a nonprofit?
> Another benefit to working like this, even as assistant to a manager, is 
> you get a feel for if you like the work, before spending a fortune on grad 
> school.
> Thanks for ideas. I have some questions about accomodations too which will 
> assist with any field.
>
> Ashley
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>
> JD Townsend LCSW
> Helping the light dependent to see.
> Daytona Beach, Earth, Sol System
>
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