When I first came on Impact Boston, I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. I thought that the community service days would be long, hard and boring. After the first half day of being there, I thought I might be right. I was almost sleeping through all of it and it was really hard to concentrate. I sat there, eating my lunch, hoping that things would get better. After lunch, we went down to go start working with the clients (consumers). When I started, they were very hard to communicate with them. Once I broke some ground though, my entire mindset changed.
Although the consumers were pretty hard to communicate with, working with them and seeing those few smiles on their faces was a feeling that I had never felt before. The day began to fly by, and at 2:30 PM, when we left, my mind was completely changed. I was in love with what I was doing, a feeling I only wish that everyone could experience.
On days 2-4 on site, we went to the organization’s Sovereign Bank location where we met a group of consumers whose disabilities were very mild and were much easier to communicate with. Instanly, we bonded with them, talked to them, heard some of their stories, played games with them, made art projects with them and even played some sports with them, and again, seeing their glowing smiles at the fact that we were their was one of the most wholesome and happy experiences that I have ever had.
On our last service day on site, we went to People First’s final location at Woodland Road, and again, we made connections, saw and appreciated challenges that they had and did some activities with them. Again, the warm feeling that we felt going in was amazing. We felt like we really having an impact on the lives of the wonderful individuals who we worked with; little did we know the impact the work would have on us.
Aside from the tremendous connection we developed with the consumers, there was also a strong bond between the People First volunteers themselves. We became like a family. We helped each other out, shared personal stories and experiences and were together through thick and thin. It was not an easy job but it was so easy because of the enjoyment I was able to derive from it. Thank you, People First, for really changing my life.