Thursday: My Sister's House, Final Visit

On Thursday, our group was able to travel back to my personal favorite service site, My Sister's House. Having only seven women on staff, keeping the facilities in working order is a constant battle. They are always accepting and grateful for donations but easily become buried in inventory because they have daily tasks that must be completed before they can take time to organize these new items coming in. This is where our group stepped up! We came in with servant hearts and jumped into organizing and cleaning any room we were pointed to. Areas that needed special attention were the toy room, living area, dining room, and most importantly the supply storage areas.

Over the course of the week, being able to divide and conquer has become our specialty. The toy room at My Sister's House is used as a place for the victim's children to have a safe space to play and be a kid and, as I'm sure you are well aware, children can be a wee-bit messy! A portion of our group cleaned this room top to bottom, pilfered through the toys to pick out the ones that had seen better days and the ones that could still be played with, and disinfected all furniture. This took several hours but the group somehow managed to make their time in the kids toy room enjoyable and fun causing the time to fly by.

While one grouped cleaned the toy room, another took on the task of organizing the storage areas that held everything from canned goods to toiletry items and everything in between. In pairs, we split up to check expiration dates of every single item in the room. Myself and one other analyzed canned goods for expiration dates, arranged them in order of which needed to be consumed the soonest, and feel we have a future in grocery management if we ever have that desire! Another dynamic duo took on a large wall of shelves covered in shower necessities, baby items, more grocery items and various other items that didn't have a place yet. The rest of the group worked on similar tasks such as packing boxes and cabinets full of office supplies, tooth paste, toilet paper, and again, anything that didn't have a place.

Before:

After:

After a quick lunch in the vans, we got right back to work. Using the mountains of various toiletries we unearthed in the morning, and a VOLunteer assembly line, we created incoming care packages for the women and children who will possibly be coming into the shelter without the bare necessities.

Back atour housing site after dinner, we were treated to the sweetest gift: ice cream and all the fixins from our AMAZING hosts Chris and Lindsey Hamil, who are also follow Volunteers and share the volunteer spirit with their amazing servant hearts! Both graduated from UT! Go VOLS! We were able to present them with a small token of our gratitude for all they have done for us over the week!

Friday: Split groups, Low Country Food Bank and People Against Rape

On the fifth and final day of service, we awoke from our slumber with sore hips and stiff backs, but we were nonetheless excited to venture back out into Charleston to help the community for one last day. The groups split up to tackle two different projects: Serving at Lower Country Food Bank and hanging posters for People Against Rape.

Driving all around the streets of Charleston, we distributed fliers that advertised the upcoming events that People Against Rape are hosting including their program "Take Back the Night". We promoted activism against rape culture by spreading their mission, which is providing support for victims of sexual assault. Through our travels, we saw parts of Charleston that gave us insight to the atmosphere and life of the city. From unique coffee shops to a ballroom dancing studio, we made sure that their message was available for all that need to hear it.

The second group spent the morning at the Low County Food Bank, preparing packages of food to deliver to families in need throughout the local area. The LCFB had created a conveyor belt, with each participant adding a different item into each package. A portion of this group immediately joined this system and the remaining members began recycling cardboard. Overall, this group caught a glimpse into the inner-workings of food banks and all of the separate processes that converge to make one single system.

After a half day of service, we got the opportunity to go to Charleston's historic Old Slave Mart Museum. Due to it's convenient placement, Charleston was the first stopping point for almost 300,000 incoming slaves to be sold before slavery was abolished. Still in it's original location, the museum gave us the setting to think about what we had learned on this trip about systematic oppression, and how it still effects so many people to this day.

To send off the trip in style, we went to local eatery, Hominy Grill, and had one last dinner together before heading back to our housing site for the last time to reflect on our experience as a whole.

In summation, our group had a rare opportunity: we were given the chance to view the world through the eyes of a stranger. A stranger who faces systematic oppression that remains silenced and unheard by the mainstream media. These problems exist, but there is no mouthpiece to hear their testimonies; we became that ear to listen, that shoulder to cry on, and that helping hand to offer assistance.

Through our experiences, we reflected upon how we see ourselves in these strangers' stories. They became more than just stories or experiences because they set us into motion. These words we heard will not remain in Charleston, but they will spread and permeate the lives of others through our knowledge and newfound understanding.

Wednesday: Carolina Youth Development Center

Today began just as the rest of our week: breakfast, yawning, drearily climbing into the cold vans, and exciting chatter about what we were doing that day. After passing through some of Charleston's overwhelmingly beautiful views, we arrived to our destination. The Carolina Youth Development Center (CYDC) appeared small, it's aesthetics much to my surprise. Parked in front of a large, brick, somewhat Victorian styled home, our leader led us to meet our supervisor at that site.

Brian was an older man with a kind smile whose joy and love for his job poured into our group as we were educated on the history and development of the CYDC. Since the 1790's, the center has served as an orphanage, and later a center for youth in the foster system to prepare them for adulthood and give them what they need to develop into productive individuals. Resources such as career preparation, homework help, school transportation, and a place to call home are a few of the many things provided for the youth.

Our tasks were divided into different groups for that day. A few of us assisted in the organization and rearrangement of one of Brian's disheveled offices, boxing and sorting technology twenty years our senior (read: floppy disks and things of that era).  Meanwhile, a group of book enthusiasts rearranged the donated books in one of the campus' buildings, which is set to be renovated into another housing facility. Last but not least, a teammate and myself organized the upstairs offices in order to make printing and mailing supplies more accessible to all who worked in that area. Because the resident youth were at school enjoying a half-day, we would have to wait until after lunch to interact and make a few more new friends. 

After lunch and bonding with our group, our fearless leader, Brian, split our group in half and we went to spend time with the youth at two of the residences. Although it was a little chilly, we opted for football and basketball which was well received among our new friends. Showing off my skills, or lack thereof, on the bball court if nothing else, made everyone else feel better. Laughter and comedic competition flowed among our group and our the youth engaging with us. Unknowingly to us, Julia, Taryn, and Tori were killers at basketball and made several free-throw shots in the game Knock Out. If you're reading this and are noting that my sports terminology seems as though I never played the games mentioned, you would be correct. Once our fingers were happily numb, games of Jenga, Uno, and Life ensued with more of the youth who had just arrived home from school. While playing our games, we learned that one of our new friends, a resident at CYDC, had recently been notified of acceptance to Clemson. Overjoyed, we all offered her our best tips for college living...it was such a joy to see a success story unfold right before our eyes. 

Through the cold, the laughter, the sharpening of our organizational skills, and the collective service our team had the privilege of delivering, our group bonded and grew into even more of a cohesive ASB team. If anyone is reading this, I hope you get the idea that ASB is more than service, it's building a community of fellow UT students who love others and want to improve their well-being...

Thank you for reading and continuous support!

-Liz 

Tuesday: My Sister's House First visit

On Tuesday, March 14th, we visited a women's shelter dedicated to helping survivors of domestic violence and assisted them with tasks around the house to help organize and make the families' living space more open and accessible.  If any of the women needed to escape in the middle of the night, this shelter would be a place of refuge and provide them with basic essentials and more to help them get back up on their feet.  We were grateful for this rare opportunity to listen to their mission and assist them so that they could focus on serving the residing families.

Before organizing the clothes closet...

After!

After lunch, we visited the Low Country Food Bank and learned about the logistics behind food donations and delivery in the Charleston area.  In 2016, they distributed 25 million pounds of food to 200,000 families.  We helped them by packaging produce donated to them by local grocery stores and heard about their goal of increasing the amount of healthy, fresh food they distribute.  It was inspiring to work alongside locals from many different backgrounds and hear why they were serving.

Here are some pictures of us serving at the food bank.

After a long day of service, we are excited for some chicken patties and apple pie for Pi day!!

Monday: People Against Rape First Visit

Sunday, 3/12, we arrived at the Church of Sewee Bay and were greeted by the UT alumni that kindly welcomed us into their church. After screaming "Rocky Top" at the top of our lungs we settled into our rooms. Promptly after, we bonded by playing "ice breakers." We then went to bed like the great little bunch that we are.


Monday rolled around, and we woke up at 7 am to head to our first service excursion, People Against Rape (PAR). People Against Rape was founded in 1974 and September 1975, they officially opened their doors as one of the first rape crisis centers in South Carolina.While we were there, we helped create posters and T-shirts for their next awareness event, Take Back the Night.


We had the privilege to work with almost all of their team and learn about the amazing work they do in Charleston for all sexual assault survivors.