SACIS and The Lighthouse Mission

I volunteered at a couple different places. One of them was SACIS. SACIS is located here on campus, and they provide counseling and information for victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or harassment.  They offer individual or group counseling, medical and criminal justice advocacy,  information and referral, institutional advocacy, public education, and professional training.  Jane Davis, was just an awesome person to work with. She was very thankful to have volunteers and she was so helpful. She always let us know if we needed anything to let her know and she always kept us busy the whole time! On the first day, a couple other volunteers and I had worked on the bulletin board. We went to the ITC lab first to make letters and numbers that were needed, and worked on decorating the board once we got back. On the second day, we had looked up statistics and finished the bulletin board. Abuse can happen to anyone, whether a young child, or a male. It's NEVER the victim's fault!!!!  I very much enjoyed  volunteering for SACIS. I hope to continue to volunteer for them next year. I had left Jane my e mail and number and let her know she could contact me if she ever needed any help!
The other place I had volunteered for was the Lighthouse Mission. The lighthouse mission is a homeless shelter in Terre Haute. I have had the priveleage to volunteer there a couple different times throught out my college experience. Each time, it just amazes me and humbles me. I'm very grateful that I can be of service! My RA  had a floor project of making quilts to donate some place. So once we got them done for our faculty fellow to put them together, we donated them to the lighthouse mission and got to help serve lunch. They have a time when they serve for the residents, and then afterwards people from the streets can come in and be served a meal. It really opens up my eyes to the fact that homelessness isn't always something you can see. There was residents there that I would have never though had been struggling, but they were and they had a child with them that was probably 2 years old. It was so humbling when a guy from the street came in and his attitude just made me smile!! He was just so grateful and kept saying God Bless all of you for serving. After I graduate, I would love to be able to get employment at the Lighthouse Mission. Volunteering is always a great reward as long as you are doing it for the right reasons.

Amanda Short