Post-Service Reflection

Everett's Post-Service Reflection

"The Stephens Center is a key part of life for people with disabilities in the Carlisle area. The center is a safe haven for these members. Outside of the center, people treat the members like freaks and pass judgments on them. The center allows for the members to be themselves in an environment where they were not being judged. The center teaches the members basic skills that they needed in order to hold a job. When I first arrived, Stephanie asked us to teach the members how to broom, mop and clean up. She also told us that the center was a place for the members to come but that Stephanie’s main goal was to try to help them be able to go out and function on their own. The most important thing the center does is connect the people with disabilities with the rest of the people considered the “norm” of society."

“My impact was not one of monumental proportions. I tried to talk to the members when they seemed to want to talk and listened when they wanted me to listen. The amount that the members wanted to talk was actually quite limited as I was more of a blockbuster rental guy than anything. A member named peanut would ask me to bring in new and scary movies each week to watch because they had gone through all the movies there. We would all sit down and watch the movies and Peanut would say things and then apologize for the rest of the movie. I had an impact of helping to provide another outlet for the members to relax and enjoy themselves.”