[NABS-L] finding vollunteer opportunities

[andrew edgcumbe]

I just get very discourraged  and start to feel like I will never be
able to do anything and  I find sometimes that  sometimes the area has
been kind of hard on  on people with disabilities.

I have had support workers  that have tried to help with things in the
past and tried to help me with vollunteer stuff but  I have had met
people with poor attitudes to point when i have asked about friendly
visiting in nursing homes it pretty much got thrown out and at that
point i was speciffic and i got told i shouldn't be doing anything in
a nursing home by a chaplin and she went to one i was applying to.

I have been trying my hardest and  still it gets very hard

On 2/18/24, andrew edgcumbe <rollercoasterman86 at gmail.com> wrote:
> mind you it would not be practical to go that particular animal
> shelter  because 45 minutes away i know you were using that as an
> example.
>
> Just that my mind doesn't work the way I want it and  I am not the
> most creative and to be honest i find it very hard to communicate what
> I want and very hard to very hard to communicate what i want to do
> even in the simple.
> I just find that i get easily frusterated very easily  about something
> then i tend to back down.
>
> The hard part for me is trying to find any counciling serves that can
> council blind people as  sometimes i hope it can lead to something
> that can help me with even my daily life and i had even difficaulty
> when it comes to hobbies and  stuff and just feeling part of things
> even when it comes to hobbies.
> i will use card games for example  I find that people  or i been in
> cases where people have not given me my turn at a bord game or card
> game and stuff like that.
>
>
> in fact I had been in a day program just to get out of the house but
> basically they were not giving me turns at like crockinal and they
> never gave me chance to play yuker or whatever and sometimes  come
> across people quite often that seem very un interested in showing me
> the game or seems that way and  i guess i just struggle with just
> being able to be included in games and stuff like that i know that is
> a different thing then  vollunteering but i never gotten exposure to
> many games.
>
> On 2/18/24, Brian Buhrow <buhrow at nfbcal.org> wrote:
>> 	hello Andrew.  Okay, so you like animals.  I'll use that as an example.
>> Perhaps there is
>> an animal shelter near to you.  Most animal shelters that I'm aware of
>> have
>> a great need for
>> volunteers.  Now, I know you said they say they don't take blind
>> volunteers,
>> but maybe if you
>> go in there and you say something like, I'd really like to help out.
>> Maybe
>> I could help clean
>> the aquariums, or take out the garbage, or answer the phones and help
>> field
>> calls.  Maybe that
>> shelter has a community day where the community is invited to come and
>> visit
>> the shelter and
>> learn about it. You could go and talk with the folks who work there and
>> find
>> out what they do
>> and, maybe, how they do it. Then, you can think about the jobs you learn
>> about and decide on
>> one that you think you could do.  Then, you could go back to that shelter
>> and tell them you'd
>> like to help with that specific job.  It needs to be a simple thing, at
>> least in the beginning,
>> so they can get to know you and to know how you work.  If they say no,
>> then
>> you might ask if
>> they have a related job that needs doing.  If they still say no, you
>> might
>> ask if they know of
>> any other animal care facilities that you might talk with.  The point I'm
>> trying to make here is
>> that persistence  and creativity is key here.  If you ask enough people
>> in
>> enough ways the same
>> question, eventually, you get the answer you want.  It is possible to be
>> polite and persistent
>> at the same time.
>>
>> 	I'm not sure what to tell you about your dark feelings except encourage
>> you
>> to find a
>> counsellor who can help you work through them.  I know that can be very
>> difficult, but I think
>> it is very important you work on that aspect of yourself, first.  I'm not
>> a
>> resident of Canada,
>> so can't really speak to what professional assistance might be available.
>>
>> Hope that helps.
>> -Brian
>>
>>
>