Service Reflection

http://www.secondharvestmadison.org/ 

Over Easter break, I choose to volunteer at the Second Harvest Food-Bank of Southern Wisconsin. Their facility is located in Madison, WI, only about 10 miles from my house. Second Harvest is a charity that supplies food to the food pantries of Southern Wisconsin. On their website, it states that their mission is "To end hunger in southwestern Wisconsin through community partnerships". Their website also states that "one in eight people in Southern Wisconsin faces hunger because of their financial situation". Over 100 million meals have been provided to hungry people since Second Harvest opened their doors in 1986.

On April 4th, I gave six hours of my time to prepare food for delivery to food pantries and other distribution centers in the area. During the first three hours, my duties included sorting edible food from products that had been reached their sell-by-date and were brought in from local grocery stores. I stood at a table and worked with two other people to put the acceptable food in to bags and sort them into allocated bins. There were about five other tables surrounded by people that were doing the same job as I was. While working I met several nice people. Many during my first session were from local church groups. My supervisor, Jamie, is a very nice man who has devoted himself to helping those in need and he runs most of the floor operations at Second Harvest's facility. He was very interesting to meet and he does his job very well. I learned a lot about the logistics and operations of food pantries from him. Though I did not see the people we were preparing the food for (I wasn't at a distribution center), I still feel that I help a bunch of people that day by sorting that food.

During the remaining three hours I volunteered, I packed cheese into bags and assisted another person vacuum-packing them. The other 20 or so volunteers cut pieces of cheese into two pound blocks and packed them into bags for distribution later that week. The person I was worked with and I worked as a team to get our allotment of cheese packaged. I cut large blocks of cheese into single pound blocks which we then put into small bags and the person with me then put them through a vacuum sealer and subsequently boxed them up for distribution later in the month. When we were finished, I was told that I had packaged around 600 pounds of cheese. In a way, I have helped over 100 less fortunate people get food that I normally take for granted. I also noticed that many of the volunteers during the second session were from Epic Systems, a company located not to far from my home. I guess their company has a service requirement sort of like College Writing 2 at Lewis.

At Second Harvest, I learned that I can help a lot of people get something as simple as food by just giving a few hours of service at the facility. I feel happy that I helped out those in need by volunteering at Second Harvest. I would do it again. I'm not sure when I'll be able to, though. I'm usually busy and the logistics of me getting there considering that I'm at Lewis for 3/4 of the year causes some problems. If I am able to go there again, I'll be sure to bring a family member there with me so that they can help those in need too.

Making Sources Speak

Original Quotes:

1. "The results of this study suggest that the VHA should consider changing its current guidelines for vocational services and provide IPS as a commonly available alternative intervention--and perhaps a preferred intervention--for all unemployed veterans with PTSD. IPS supported employment is patient centered in that it comprehensively addresses individual vocational needs, potentially enhancing clinical recovery and quality of life for veterans with PTSD" (Davis)

2. "Our findings support the ongoing efforts of the VA to expand employment rehabilitation and  placement programs to overcome the post-recession economy for certain subgroups of disadvantaged
veterans. The efforts of the federal government to proactively focus on transition planning, increased educational and vocational training opportunities, efforts to align military training with civilian certifications, and permanent supportive housing may assist in insulating this vulnerable population
against further economic fluctuations" (O'Connor 4).

Paraphrasing:

1. I. Changes need to be made to the Veterans Affair's employment program. The solution to veterans' unemployment is to fix the current program by adding IPS support.The competitive work structure of IPS better fits the needs of veterans affected by PTSD (Davis)
II. IPS augmentation needs to be applied to the VA's programs for employment among veterans. Many occupational improvements are available to veterans with PTSD if IPS is implemented (Davis).
III. Large improvements in the VA's system for employment among veterans can be made by implementing IPS. The current system is not sufficient to cover veterans' needs if they have PTSD (Davis).

2. I. The VA's current programs regarding unemployment among particular veterans need some changes. Several areas in particular need to be improved so that the VA will be able to ensure success for the veterans in the current economy (O'Connor 4).
II. In the current economic situation, the Veterans Affair's efforts to get veterans employed can be improved in a couple of ways. The transition from military life to civilian life can be solved by education programs suited towards the state of the economy (O'Connor 4).
III. The VA's efforts to bring veterans from a military style life to a civilian style life need to be improved. By focusing on getting the veterans employed through better education and adaption programs, success can be guaranteed to them in the current economy.

Paragraph:

               The Department of Veterans Affairs has several programs for veterans to take part in to become employed once they return to civilian life. However these programs are not without fault. From a psychological stand point, changes need to be made to the Veterans Affair's employment program. The solution to veterans' unemployment is to fix the current program by adding IPS support. The competitive work structure of IPS better fits the needs of veterans affected by PTSD (Davis). Another deficiency in the VA's program is that it does not factor in recent changes in the economy. In the current economic situation, the Veterans Affair's efforts to get veterans employed can be improved in a couple of ways. The transition from military life to civilian life can be solved by education programs suited towards the state of the economy and how veterans can properly adapt to it(O'Connor 4). Both the psychological and economic aspects need to be addressed when helping veterans with employment. Davis and O'Connor provide different perspectives on a similar problem. Both outline fixes that can be applied to the VA's programs to help a wide variety of veterans.

Connecting Sources

Lori Davis’s article, A Randomized Controlled Trial of Supported Employment Among Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder agrees with my other four articles on a similar topic. All of them agree that PTSD is very detrimental to a person’s job performance and more programs should be formed to prevent this. Nothing from Davis’s article conflicts with anything in my other four articles. They all agree on several statements. Davis's article is unique as it provides evidence of an alternative program’s effectiveness for recovery from PTSD. The other four sources do not cover any studies done, only research programs. None of them cover employment problems from a psychiatric point of view either. This article does though. In my essay, I will introduce this article as insight from an important study done regarding PTSD recovery programs and how they can be improved from a psychiatric point of view. 

Annontated Bibliography & Project Proposal

Cohen, Sara. “Clinical and demographic factors associated with employment status in US military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.” Work 44.2 (2013) : 213-219. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.  

            The journal, Work, focuses on employment related issues in the United States. Sara Cohen, a psychiatric professional, details in Work about a study done to determine if the high unemployment rate among returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was due to the psychiatric effects of the wars. Cohen made sure to give informative descriptions of how veterans are affected by depression and PTSD in her article to allow the reader to better understand the situation. The parameters of the study are also clearly outlined. The study revealed that over 40% of the around 200 veterans surveyed were unemployed. The national average at the time of the survey was around 9%. The majority of those who were unemployed were also diagnosed with depression. Depression was not found to be prevalent in the employed veterans surveyed. Cohen then stated that many of those with depression had suffered a traumatic brain injury while overseas. This fact will be very useful in my essay as I will be able use it as an example of how many veterans are unable to hold a job because of the adverse effects of their service. These kinds of injuries are especially common in the recent wars compared to previous wars. Medical advances allowed more veterans to survive their injuries. As Cohen mentions, the effects of the injury never completely go away. Cohen concluded to the reader that there is indeed a connection between unemployment and psychiatric problems with veterans. I will use this part of the article to show that veterans’ ability to be employed is severely hampered by the side effects of modern medicine. Four medical professionals were the masterminds behind this article. Each of them represent a different sector of medical science relating to the psychiatric effects of war on veterans.

Davis, Lori. “A Randomized Controlled Trial of Supported Employment Among Veterans With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.” Psychiatric Services 63.5 (2012) : 464-470. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

               Lori Davis documents a study focused on how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has affected unemployed veterans of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the journal, Psychiatric Services. 100 previously unemployed veterans were continuously interviewed about their employment status. During their post-military careers, they all had joined a reemployment program. Half of the veterans had received standard job consoling from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The other half joined a rehabilitation group called Individual Placement and Support. IPS was specifically catered toward veterans affected by PTSD. The VA’s program was stated by Davis to be largely deficient to those suffering from PTSD. The program did not promote jobs which had a competitive nature. These jobs in particular were found to be the best jobs for veterans with PTSD to get. The VA’s program did not promote these jobs while IPS did. The results of the study concluded that those involved with IPS were significantly more likely to get a better job than those in the VA’s program. This journal article is credible as those involved have all received formal educations in the medical field and work was done closely with the VA. The results of the article are clearly outlined to make the point of the study apparent to the reader. Davis also made sure to provide concise descriptions throughout the article to enhance its rhetoric power. The implications of what the study could conclude and reasons why it is important to veterans are present in the article to convey to the reader why the VA’s program needs to be brought up to the standard of the IPS. In my research paper, I will be able to use this article to describe PTSD’s effect on veterans trying to be employed. IPS will be useful in showing that veterans have hope with being employed even if they have PTSD. By talking about the deficiencies of the VA, I can enlighten the reader to the struggles that veterans face when trying to get employed and how the process can be fixed.

Faberman, R. Jason. “Unemployment among recent veterans during the Great Recession.” Economic Perspectives 37.1 (2013) : 1-13. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.

           R. Jason Faberman and Taft Foster detail in the journal Economic Perspectives about the factors affecting veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars regarding unemployment during the recent recession. Faberman and Foster state several reasons why veterans face a higher unemployment rate now. Each of these are explained in depth so that the reader will get a full understanding of each and will not forget them. Many graphs and charts are also used to help illustrate facts to the reader. One of those factors is the age demographic that many veterans fall into. Another factor is that the skills veterans develop during their military service are not very applicable to life outside of the military. Next, Faber and Foster suggested that the time of exit from the military at a time of economic downturn made it difficult to get a job. Lastly, they explained the several physical and mental injuries that can be sustained in combat and how they can severely impair a person’s ability to work. All of these factors will be very helpful to use in my essay. As it will be centralized on how veterans’ employment abilities are affected by combat, my main points will get support from this article. Examples relating to the recent economic recession will be useful too. Both Faberman and Foster work for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as Senior Economists. Their backgrounds add to the credibility of this article as most of it focuses on the economic effects that returning veterans face.

O’Connor, Kathryn. “Unemployment and Co-occurring Disorders Among Homeless Veterans.” Journal of Dual Diagnosis 9.2 (2013) : 134-138. Web. 24 Mar. 2015

          Kathryn O’Connor documents in the Journal of Dual Diagnosis about the prevalence of unemployment among homeless veterans. Like my other sources, this article also focuses on veterans who have served since September 2001. O’Connor analyzed how effective government led programs to rehabilitate veterans who were both unemployed and homeless were. Her findings concluded that the programs were doing their job, albeit at a slow pace. Graphs are located in the article to help the reader visualize the effect of being both a veteran and unemployed relating to job prospects. Clear descriptions and easy to follow data analysis are present throughout the article as well. This is so the reader does not get lost or confused. The demographics of the veterans involved were noted in her study, but O’Connor determined that they had a negligible effect in this case. Credibility is not a question with this article. A total on nine medical professionals contributed their knowledge to the article. In my essay, I will use this article to show how homeless, unemployed veterans are being helped by the government. Their detailed effects will be helpful in my essay when I am describing how effective the programs are.

 

Xenakis, Stephen. “Understanding PTSD.” The Wilson Quarterly 36.1 (2012) : 8-9. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

In the journal The Wilson Quarterly, Stephen Xenakis and Mathew Friedman provide an account on what PTSD is and how better therapies can be formed from our increasing knowledge of the disorder. Xenakis specifically states that efforts to help veterans with PTSD should be focused on getting them employed in fulfilling careers. He then tries to clear up some misconceptions of PTSD. Friedman focuses on how our knowledge of the disorder had been continuously improving throughout the years. Both of these journal entries are primarily criticizing an article from Katherine Boone about PTSD. This serves as a method for both of them to enlighten the reader on what PTSD actually is and how those affected can be helped. Detailed descriptions are present to better engage the reader with the conversation going on. The two authors also relate personal experiences to the subject matter to capture the reader’s attention. I will be able to provide background information about PTSD with this article. The descriptions of the causes and effects of the disorder will be helpful to me when I describe how important it is that we focus our efforts on helping veterans in my essay. Xenakis is a retired Brigadier General of the US Army while Friedman is the Executive Director of the National Center for PTSD. Their professional input is very helpful in their discussions and adds credibility.

Project Proposal

Of those who have given service, one of the largest groups is the United States military. They sacrifice more than any other volunteer group and have an immeasurable duty. It is for these reasons that I have decided to write my research paper about veterans of the US military. As data would be easier to find and more relevant to today, I have chosen to focus on veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that took place during the last 14 years. I was curious of the problems that they faced when they returned stateside. My paper will specifically be focused on how veterans are affected by unemployment. My three questions cover several different aspects of unemployment relating to veterans. My working thesis is: Many veterans of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer struggles related to unemployment and psychiatric disorders obtained during the war, several programs have been put into place in the United States to help these veterans gain successful employment.

My first question is: how does Post Traumatic Stress Disorder affect a veteran’s ability to hold employment? I have found several articles that specifically cover PTSD and unemployment among veterans relating to it. I will outline the symptoms of the disorder and how they are detrimental to worker performance.

My second question is: What programs have been put into action to help veteran with psychiatric disorders get employment? The articles I have chosen define several organizations that are aimed at helping veterans and their effectiveness at doing so.

My third question is: How has the current time period affected veterans’ job outlooks versus older conflicts? Some of my chosen articles detail medical advances that allow more veterans to survive potentially fatal injuries but consequently come home with permanent injuries. They also cover the effects of the recent recession on returning veterans’ employment opportunities.