A Heroes Journey – The beginnings of a Communications Assistant

Like so many others, I just recently arrived home after 8 long months of challenging learning. I am a student, and on my 4-month holiday from the difficulties and stress of school, ironically, I don’t quite get to relax on the beach. Summer students abroad flock home every May and fight for jobs in their communities. Some look for jobs that offer great pay while others search for jobs in their career path or interests. Me, I searched for a job that had purpose & meaning. I was searching for something challenging, and something worthwhile.

I traveled 4 long hours from the beautiful Saint Thomas University campus in Fredericton to come home, back to New Glasgow, where my memories flow fluent. I love Pictou County, and I knew that herein lay many opportunities for me to shine. Luckily, I decided to start my search with Dodie, at the United Way of Pictou County. Emails and interviews ensued, and my search ended.

8:30 am, Monday morning, May 26th. I felt confident and sure. I walked into the office for my first day of what I felt would be a spectacular 10-week experience. At 4:30, the office closed, and I was ready to quit.

In my interview I shared what a Professor had taught in my English class, and now pertained to my life: The heroes journey. Imagine a circle, and at the top of the circle stands you, in your comfort zone, familiar, happy, and sure of the waters you tread. Then you slip, all the way down the left side of the circle into the unknown. You are cast into a place that is so far from what you’ve known, what you’ve lived. Nothing seems right, and quite frankly, you’re frightened! The only way out is to climb your way back up the other side. And hopefully, the journey would not have been in vain, and you would have come up a changed and better person.

The importance of communications within an organization and its community is unbelievable. I’ve adapted and grown to enjoy the new culture, atmosphere, and roles I am now responsible for. I was overwhelmed, frustrated, and confused at first. I persevered however, and now I know I have come up the other side better than when I had slipped down.

The journeys of life are sometimes overbearing and occur constantly, but the United Way fits my needs and interests – I now know we work for communities. It is helping me create partnerships - we work to establish them too! It is allowing me to recognize a change and make impact - our own purpose, is to do the same. I realize, that maybe this is the place for me!

I believe in Possibility!



Brandon Gero
Student Communications Assistant
United Way of Pictou County

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I’m new to this

By Richard Langille, NSCC Human Services Student

Pictou County Unites! & United Way volunteer

    

I am a volunteer working with the Transportation Committee of Pictou County Unites!  Sitting in on meetings, I learnt about the lack of choices we actually have when it comes to “getting ourselves where we need to go”.  No survey had been done at NSCC.  This week, along with my fellow classmates from the Human Services Program (who I can’t thank enough), a few staff volunteers and other students from OIT, we are conducting a transit survey at the NSCC Pictou Campus.  These results are important. 

How did I become a volunteer with the United Way?  In October 2006, I was laid off from Trenton Works and realized I wouldn’t get back to work until the spring.  I wanted to do something with my time and thought I’d try volunteering but didn’t have a clue how to go about it.  The only place that came to mind was the United Way. 

One day, I got up the nerve, and walked into the United Way office, introduced myself to Dodie Goodwin.  She was delighted to see a new volunteer, but I was nervous.  I really didn’t know what I could do to help.  I didn’t have any skills except as a welder from Trenton Works.  Wanting to learn how to use a computer, I was lucky to have Ian Smith get me started.

Over the next 5 months, Ian’s tutoring gave me the confidence I needed.  I began to think about going back to school.  I went back to Trenton Works in the spring but it ended shortly after. 

And now – I am a Human Services student at NSCC. 

Through the NSCC program, we were assigned a Social Action project - get involved in the community and give our time and energies to a project of our choice.  As a group of 5, we struggled.  I dropped into the United Way for ideas and was introduced to Pictou County Unites! and public transit.  As this project seemed too large for our deadlines, our group decided on something else BUT I went back.  I had used the buses regularly growing up in the county, so I thought it would be worthwhile to invest some time and energy into making this happen. 

By writing about my experiences I want to emphasize that volunteering can start from simple beginnings.  I really didn’t know what to expect, or if I had anything to offer.  The only thing that I was certain of was that I was tired of being a spectator, sitting on the sidelines watching.  Volunteering makes a person feel good about themselves, and you get to meet others from your community.  It’s our community; we all can make a difference together.  So if you’re a bit nervous, don’t know where to start, just drop on by the United Way.  You just never know how much you have to give, until you give it a try.

 

Youth Volunteers!
Several groups came together on Monday, November 24th to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism at the 2008 Pictou County Volunteer Expo. The event was focused on networking and training for volunteer based organisations, as well as on recognition and awareness of volunteer opportunities for the public. Several youth volunteers from the Trenton Youth Centre who were recognised for their contribution of time and energy to the United Way's Volunteer Development initiative. Jon Linthorne, volunteer manager for Trenton Youth Centre, Dave Anderson, Megan Chisholm, Joseph Fraser, Kaitlyn Thomas, and TYC volunteer staff Duane Champion were thanked for all their hard work.

A COMMUNITY WITHIN A COMMUNITY

 

By:  Nicola Richards and Sarah Jenkins

Human Service Students and United Way volunteers

 

The United Way achieves it mission of improving lives and building community by people getting involved and becoming the leaders to make things better.  By listening to each other, the United Way is helping to build a way to make change – building capacity in our community.  Thanks to each and every one of you who take leadership, no matter how small you think it is.

 

A community can be defined, in a brief sense, as a place where people are connected to one another through location and common social interests and goals.  A community comes together to exist as a small piece of a bigger society and world.  As students of the Nova Scotia Community College, we have come to learn and experience that our small post-secondary school is a lot like a community in itself. 

 

In only our first year as Human Service students at the college, we have been introduced to a variety of opportunities to come together as students and make a difference. The Nova Scotia Community College has connected us to our communities in Pictou County through getting involved at community events and also through volunteering explorations.

 

We have been involved with many helping acts including Nova Scotia Community College’s Reach Out to Nova Scotia event.  For this event, in one day, we, as students, along with the teaching staff, devoted our time to giving back to the community by volunteering at various organizations and locations in Pictou County that needed an extra hand.  We have also participated in the Terry Fox Run and helped low-income families during the holiday season through the Student Santa project.

 

In the Human Services program we took part in several social action projects.  Through our sociology course we were encouraged to get involved in our communities on a more personal level.  It was through the Human Services program that we became familiar with non-profit organizations in Pictou County, primarily the United Way.  Once again we are immersed in a volunteer type project through a Beginning Helper course in our program.  This led us back to the United Way, where we are now volunteering our time once a week.

 

From our volunteer time spent at the United Way, we have gained a greater sense of community and learned how the people and organizations within Pictou County come together to form a unified influence.  Without the involvement and passion of volunteering citizens, the United Way could not connect and assert change in our community.  The people are the United Way.

 

It is from our volunteering experience at the United Way, that we have realized our community college is a lot like a community within itself.  Students come together to work towards their personal goals while also helping each other along the way.  Without the connecting, unified effort of the student body and staff, we would be unaware and unable to support the many organizations in our larger community of Pictou County that need a helping hand.

 

Bikes for Kids is back in 2008 

My name is Richard Langille and I am the coordinator for Bikes for Kids 2008. I would like to give a brief history on how I became involved with the program. I was employed with Trenton Works Ltd. for thirteen and a half years. I was laid off in October of 2006, and with the plants future uncertain, I decided to enroll in the Human Services program at the NSCC .It was also during this period when I became familiar with the United Way. Through volunteering with the Pictou County Unites! Transit committee, I started to have more community involvement. It was through the United Way that I learned about the Bikes for kids program. The official start date for the program is May 26^th, but I was lucky enough have some time to go out into the community and meet the people who really make this program come to life. I have met with Clint Snell, owner and operator of Pictou County Cycle, whose enthusiasm for Bikesforkids is contagious. He has given me a greater understanding of what the program is all about and how it will give me a sense of fulfillment at the end the day. I have spoken with Frank Proudfoot, who has offered Proudfoot Storage as a place to store and work on the bikes that have been donated. I met with Marina Le Blanc, a member of UCT, who gave me some great advice on how to go forward with the program. East Coast FM has been great in allowing me to get the message out about Bikesforkids, and I am looking forward to doing more interviews in the future. It is my goal to see that children of Pictou County have a great summer, which means that they should have a bike of their own to enjoy. The coordinators before me who worked on the Bikesforkids program have done excellent work, I hope to continue this and add my own personal touch.Bikesforkids has a way of bringing the community together, without your help, the program wouldn’t be possible. Since I am entering Community Services as my second year of concentration at NSCC, I feel that I can learn even more about community involvement through Bikesforkids. I would also like to thank the New Glasgow Kinsmen, the Advocate and The News for their continued support.

Bikes can be dropped off at the following locations during business hours: Pictou County Cycle, Pictou County YMCA New Glasgow and in Pictou. For more information on where to pick up applications for bikes, or on how you can help, please call Richard Langille, Bikesforkids Coordinator at 755-1677, or e-mail at bikesforkids@ns.sympatico.ca. 

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Co-op Education Works
By Michael Heighton, Student Campaign Assistant
United Way of Pictou County

To anyone who may not know, cooperative education is a practice that is being increasingly adopted by many universities around Canada. The basic principle is that students take a certain period of time away from their studies, to gather real world experience in their chosen field. In my case, the amount of time has been a year, and my most recent work term has been a four-month stint with the United Way of Pictou County.

Since September of 2005 I have been a student in the Business program at Saint Francis Xavier University. Over the summer of 2008 the Antigonish Highland Society employed me for my first co-op work term. The experience of working with a non-profit organization was a very positive one for me, as I greatly enjoyed the level of freedom and growth that comes from working with a group of eager, and enthusiastic volunteers. With this in mind, it came as no surprise to anyone when I accepted an offer to work for the United Way of Pictou County this fall.

Immediately I noticed about the United Way is the sheer variety of people who are a part of it. One familiar face I recognized was the owner of a convenience store that I frequented when I was younger. Additionally, the co-chairs of the Annual Fall Campaign Committee happened to be parents of two former classmates of mine. It was experiences such as this, as well as the overall openness of all the volunteers that allowed me to feel welcome in this new occupation.

Upon settling in, I set to work immediately. One of my key duties was to be the contact person for the local workplace campaigns that the United Way runs every fall. In this capacity much of my time was spent meeting and forging relationships with various businesses people in Pictou County. I was always greeted warmly, a fact that helped reaffirm my belief that the people in this community care deeply about its development and success.

One of my favorite aspects of working with the United Way was the level of freedom and development that the experience allowed. Even on my first day of work I was encouraged to find areas of interest within the organization, and to get myself involved. It was through this independence that I joined the Pictou County Youth Homelessness Committee. Some of my fondest memories from my entire work experience will be sharing with young teenagers some of the dangers of youth homelessness, an issue I was not fully aware of until I began my term with the United Way.

All in all, I would say that working with the co-op program, and the United Way in particular, has been a very positive experience for me, and I would highly recommend either path for anyone. I have greatly improved my interpersonal skills in areas such as public speaking and time management, and these are talents that I will carry with me back to St. FX, and eventually, the workforce.
Many thanks to Michael for all his work here in and for Pictou County. We wish you well in your studies and career decisions.

Submitted December 17, 2008 by

Dodie Goodwin
Executive Director
United Way of Pictou County
PO Box 75
New Glasgow, NS B2H 5E1
755-1754
dodie@pictoucountyunitedway.ca

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Dear Editor:

Please, take a moment to consider your daily morning routine. It may resemble this description: You are awakened from a comfortable slumber and you wish you could pull up the warm covers over your head. Instead, you wipe your eyes, gather your clean clothes and slowly make your way to the shower. As you indulge yourself with a few extra minutes under the hot, steaming water, you think of the things you need to do: make breakfast, check your email, give your dog a quick belly scratch and throw a load of laundry in the washer; all before you go to work or school. Now, consider doing these things without having the physical structure of a house around you. Consider doing these things in someone else’s house. Such thoughts as insecurity, anxiety, danger and self-exposure might come to mind. When you suddenly imagine yourself without a place to call “home,” you suddenly begin to realize how easily we can take for granted our basic needs such as safety, independence, warmth and comfort. 

On Wednesday, July 30th, members of the Pictou County Youth Homelessness Committee decided to publicly give appearance and voice to homeless youth in Pictou County, by simply sitting on a couch in downtown New Glasgow. “I am staying at a friend’s house,” the claim often used by homeless youth, directed the Committee Members’ goal to explain to onlookers the experience of “Couch Surfing.” Sleeping on friends’ couches, using their showers and basically finding temporary shelter all fall under this experience. “Couch Surfing” allows for the invisibility of homeless youth in Pictou County. The Youth Homelessness Committee was attempting to show that homelessness for youth, as an identity, is unstable, sometimes temporary, and mostly invisible. The number of people who self-identified was a huge surprise to the volunteers in attendance.

Now that you have been made aware, now that you have the power of knowledge; will you take on the responsibility to make a change? Change in the lives of homeless youth in Pictou County will come when our community works together to establish one voice; one really loud, collective voice. To get involved and to find out more information, contact the Youth Homelessness Committee c/o The United Way at 755-1754. 

Allison MacDonald
Volunteer
Communications Committee
United Way of Pictou County