About me and my volunteer work with the Men's Residential Center
My name is Crystal Sosa and I am a senior enrolled at Portland State University. For my Senior Capstone Project I am volunteering with the Volunteers of America Men's Residential Center here in Portland, Oregon. I chose this type of volunteer work as my project because it aligns with my goals of becoming a therapist and supporting people in my community to overcome whatever obstacles they face in their journey of healing and growth. The Men's Residential Center is an inpatient substance use treatment facility that serves clients coming out of the local and federal criminal justice system. The Men's Residential Center offers a variety of treatment services that are designed to motivate and inspire clients to engage in the recovery process. My intention in volunteering here is to contribute to the overall compassionate and therapeutic environment that exists at the Men's Residential Center and to help in whatever way is needed. My intention is to be a support for the clients and staff at the Men's Residential Center so that it may continue to serve as a community of warm hospitality and inspired transformation.
My name is Crystal Sosa and I am a senior enrolled at Portland State University. For my Senior Capstone Project I am volunteering with the Volunteers of America Men's Residential Center here in Portland, Oregon. I chose this type of volunteer work as my project because it aligns with my goals of becoming a therapist and supporting people in my community to overcome whatever obstacles they face in their journey of healing and growth. The Men's Residential Center is an inpatient substance use treatment facility that serves clients coming out of the local and federal criminal justice system. The Men's Residential Center offers a variety of treatment services that are designed to motivate and inspire clients to engage in the recovery process. My intention in volunteering here is to contribute to the overall compassionate and therapeutic environment that exists at the Men's Residential Center and to help in whatever way is needed. My intention is to be a support for the clients and staff at the Men's Residential Center so that it may continue to serve as a community of warm hospitality and inspired transformation.
A brief history of Volunteers of America
This information and more can be found at https://www.voa.org/our-history#:~:text=Volunteers%20of%20America%20was%20founded,and%20uplifting%E2%80%9D%20the%20American%20people.
Visit Volunteers of America Oregon at https://www.voaor.org/
- Founded in 1896 by Ballington and Maude Booth
- Dedicated to "Reaching and uplifting the American people" and to "Go wherever we are needed and do whatever comes to hand"
- Early 1900s volunteers moved into tenement districts to care for impoverished, organized day nurseries & summer camps, established the nation's first system of halfway houses for released prisoners
- During the Great Depression volunteers mobilized to assist unemployed, hungry & homeless, created employment bureaus, wood yards, soup kitchens and penny pantries
- During wartime volunteers operated canteens, overnight lodging & Sunday breakfasts for sailors and soldiers on leave, provided affordable housing & child care for defense industry workers, and spearheaded community salvage drives to collect materials for the war effort
- In the 1960s volunteers took part in numerous federal housing programs and began developing affordable housing complexes
- In the 1970s volunteers emerged as a provider of professional long-term nursing care and today owns and operates several nursing, assisted, and independent living residences as well as offering home health care services
- Today Volunteers of America is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive human services organizations, reaching 1.5 million people each year in hundreds of communities across the United States
This information and more can be found at https://www.voa.org/our-history#:~:text=Volunteers%20of%20America%20was%20founded,and%20uplifting%E2%80%9D%20the%20American%20people.
Visit Volunteers of America Oregon at https://www.voaor.org/
Volunteers of America Oregon Men's Residential Center
Program director Greg Stone with clients in front of the Men's Residential Center (Picture Courtesy of Volunteers of America Oregon)
2318 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97212
A 52-bed substance use disorder and cognitive restructuring program serving Multnomah County and Federal criminal justice systems
Clients engage with the program for 14-17 weeks, utilizing various forms of rehabilitative services:
- Alcohol and drug education/counseling and relapse prevention
- Cognitive restructuring
- Mental health services
- Living skills groups
- Recreation/Health
- Community service work
- 12-step meetings and self-help groups
- Family education and support
- Speaker's bureau
Speakers bureau at Grant High School 2017 (Picture courtesy of Volunteers of America Oregon)
The goal of treatment services is to utilize a therapeutic community and compassionate accountability to motivate and inspire clients to make the choices to engage in recovery from both their substance abuse disorder and a criminal lifestyle and harmful thought patterns.
Moving through the program at the Men's Residential Center...
- Clients entering the program receive a counselor and access to all treatment and support services
- Clients are allowed social passes to visit family and loved ones, or to do whatever they'd like while being sober
- Clients move through the program in phases, gaining more and more privileges along the way
- Clients are supported in attending court dates and meetings with parole officers
- Clients participate in social activities on and off the premises
- Clients live in a dormatory setting
- Clients mentor each other and receive mentorship from alumni and other outside sources
- Clients maintain the center collectively by taking responsibility for their own cleanliness as well as house chores
Graduating from the Men's Residential Center
- Clients must find work and safe housing prior to graduating treatment
- Clients who do not have safe housing in place may move to the Sacramento House next door rent free for 2 months
- Clients are welcome to return to the Men's Residential Treatment at any time for services or as alumni
Read a Men's Residential Center success story at https://www.voaor.org/from-handcuffs-to-msw/
The Al Forthan Memorial Scholarship
Al Forthan was a counselor at the Men's Residential Center who had previously been a client and alumni. Al deeply touched the lives of many and was the ultimate role model of recovery. The Al Forthan Scholarship honors his legacy and the work that he has done for this community. The scholarship is intended to help break the cycle of addiction by supporting high school students whose families have been impacted by addicition and poverty. Since the establishment of this scholarship in 2006, $790,000 has been awarded to 469 Oregon high school students.
Find out how you can help the Al Forthan Scholarship at www.alforthanscholarship.com
Find out how you can help the Al Forthan Scholarship at www.alforthanscholarship.com
Reflection
While my volunteer work at the Men's residential Center revolves mostly around getting clients forms that they need, signing them in and out for various activities, receiving and distributing mail and messages, and assisting clients with their medications, the work really goes so much deeper than that. There is a quiet strength in the air there that shows up as kindness, cooperation, and forgiveness. I see people working together to get things accomplished. I see people talking and listening compassionately to solve problems that arise. I feel an energy in the space that feels like hope and possibility. The staff and volunteers hold that space of compassion and healthy accountability for everyone, every day, knowing that the program will work for some, and not for others. Many of the people who work there have been there for many years, and I believe that is a testament to what a wonderful and rewarding place it is to be. Many clients who have gone through the program come back to be mentors, and I believe that is a testament to how meaningful and impactful this work is. The Men's Residential Center is an inspiring place to volunteer and I admire the values that it holds. As a future therapist, I hope to carry some of these values into the work that I do with my clients.
While my volunteer work at the Men's residential Center revolves mostly around getting clients forms that they need, signing them in and out for various activities, receiving and distributing mail and messages, and assisting clients with their medications, the work really goes so much deeper than that. There is a quiet strength in the air there that shows up as kindness, cooperation, and forgiveness. I see people working together to get things accomplished. I see people talking and listening compassionately to solve problems that arise. I feel an energy in the space that feels like hope and possibility. The staff and volunteers hold that space of compassion and healthy accountability for everyone, every day, knowing that the program will work for some, and not for others. Many of the people who work there have been there for many years, and I believe that is a testament to what a wonderful and rewarding place it is to be. Many clients who have gone through the program come back to be mentors, and I believe that is a testament to how meaningful and impactful this work is. The Men's Residential Center is an inspiring place to volunteer and I admire the values that it holds. As a future therapist, I hope to carry some of these values into the work that I do with my clients.