This semester, as part of the Leadership in Changing Environments course, I volunteered for the Meals on Wheels program at the Prince Regional Agency William on aging. I completed my community learning volunteer hours at the Woodbridge Senior Center of Prince William Area Agency on Aging, located at 13850 Church Hill Drive, Woodbridge, Virginia. The mission statement of the Prince William Area Agency on Aging is: “To strengthen independence, improve quality of life and enjoy aging by providing a network of support for older adults and their families through the advocacy, education, coordination and implementation of programs and services. for older people in the triterritorial area (“Area Agency on Aging”, nd). The Prince William Regional Agency on Aging offers various programs and services to accomplish its mission with the following initiatives: Meals on Wheels, Personal Care Services, Service Assessment, Care Registry, Telephone Reassurance, Caregiver Support Groups, Assistance legal, Medicare resources, Medicaid resources, adult day care, volunteer opportunities, senior centers, financial assistance, veterans assistance, housing options, disability The Services Council, transitions of care, repair and recovery services home improvement, Bluebird Tours, Commission on Aging are some assistance resources available. As for the challenges the Woodbridge senior faces, there are two: parking and space within the center. Parking has been a problem for some time now and nothing has been done yet. Additionally, space within the center is limited and parking has somewhat hindered the expansion project. It was said that until the parking problem is resolved, there cannot be an expansion of the center, which is sometimes very difficult when there are many programs and activities scheduled and there is no place for members to meet and have to wait for activities. finish before the others start. Finally, what stands out most from observations and interactions with staff, members and volunteers is that customer service is something that the people at Woodbridge Senior Center do particularly well. Every staff member and volunteer makes it their duty to ensure that members' needs are exceeded and will do their best to respond to their request as quickly as possible. After witnessing such treatment of members, I was very happy to have completed community learning volunteer hours at the Woodbridge Senior Center of Prince William Area Agency on Aging for this class. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay For the Meals on Wheels Home Assistance program, I was one of the volunteer delivery drivers. As mentioned, the Prince William Area Agency on Aging administers the home-delivered meals program. Home-delivered lunches are delivered to adults 60 and older who cannot leave their homes to participate in the congregate meal program. A midday meal is delivered to people five days a week, Monday to Friday. Others receive a week's or month's supply of frozen meals. Stable meals are provided to individuals to cover days when volunteers cannot deliver meals due to inclement weather (“Meals on Wheels – Prince William,” nd). Meals are prepared daily (Monday toFriday) at the Woodbridge Senior Center, reviewed by the center's certified dietitian (Nutritionist), collected between 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. and delivered by the various volunteers according to routes and schedules pre-organized by the Prince William Regional Agency on Aging in coordination with the Woodbridge Senior Center site manager. Additionally, the responsibilities of the Prince William Regional Agency on Aging include: maintaining the independence and quality of life of adults and their families and advocating, educating, coordinating and implementing programs and services for seniors.The Agency serves older adults, their families, and caregivers in the tri-areas of Prince William County, the City of Manassas, and Manassas City Park. The Agency is one of more than 670 agencies in the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Area residents are invited to participate in our programs. Some programs are open to people ages 55 and older, others are open to residents ages 60 and older (“Area Agency on Aging,” n.d.). In terms of the work I did, the Woodbridge Senior Center had few such key daily events/activities. volunteer experience that I participated in, such as Meals on Wheels, reception as a receptionist and spending time in the center's kitchen. For Meals on Wheels, I have had several opportunities to deliver meals called “delivery routes.” My first delivery day for Meals on Wheels was 11/13/19 with a partner because no routes were available for me that day. The assistant cook, Kevin, from the Woodbridge Senior Center introduced me to the driver making the delivery and asked (on my behalf) if I could travel as there were no routes available and I needed let this be done for a course. I was studying at George Mason University. To protect the identity of the individuals at the Woodbridge Senior Center and this volunteer experience, I will not refer to any real names throughout this reflection. I met Lisa who was very welcoming and said she was very happy to have a partner and had no problem riding with her and completing the assigned route. The delivery took a little over an hour, Lisa gave me a summary of what is essential when delivering for Meals on Wheels, including not leaving meals at the door for security reasons if the no one responds or is not at the residence. Additionally, I make sure I know and follow any special instructions on the delivery route list in case a certain person requested a juice instead of a milk. For this delivery, we were able to deliver all of the pre-prepared meals to all of its recipients and return to the Woodbridge Senior Center with the empty bags. Before leaving for the day, Lisa took some time and showed me where we keep the bags containing hot and cold meals for this route and where/how to log volunteer hours. That same day, I spent time at the front desk as a receptionist where I was introduced to Tony, who briefly explained the role and what exactly I would be doing while stationed at the reception. The main job was to answer all questions from members or anyone coming to the Woodbridge Senior Center, answer telephone inquiries and direct them to the appropriate parties based on the questions/requests. This mainly included parties such as the site manager, administrative assistant, chef or nutritionist. If calls come in regarding a matter beyond the scope of Woodbridge SeniorCenter, I was advised to transfer calls to the appropriate department or person listed on the transfer call list. Finally, I was lucky enough to be able to spend time helping in the kitchen early in the morning before meals delivered for Meals on Wheels and in the afternoon right after lunch and completing routes. Kevin and I, upon successful completion of my route, prepared meals for future routes and cleaned the kitchen for the day before I arrived and reported to the front desk. This volunteer experience helped me better understand the dynamics of leadership that I was perhaps not yet aware of and which had a profound impact on me, particularly when it comes to interacting with others in the field. professional. For example, I observed on several occasions that the leaders of the Woodbridge Senior Center were always able to stay focused on the goal and the task at hand despite the distractions caused by phone calls, email notifications or people. From change and the prospect of the Social Innovation Plan (SIP), this opportunity to spend my time at the Woodbridge Senior Center this semester has taught me to never be comfortable and to always be ready for a change, because sometimes This may be unexpected and you need to be positive and respectful towards it. Although the SIP is about Title I - Education and our group's goal is to establish a consultative type of board that means teachers have a say in the amount of funds distributed to teachers for their classrooms class. Currently, teachers have to pay for basic teaching materials out of pocket because the allocated budget is simply not enough. Therefore, I learned from this volunteering experience that the outcome of any suggestion or request for change is not always granted or approved, but it is important to stay focused on the principle and that one day, with in time you will succeed. The approach of the staff I worked with at Woodbridge Senior Center was one of servant leadership. The servant leadership approach is a philosophy in which the primary goal of the leader is to serve, and it was first coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 essay, "The Servant as Leader" ( “Servant Leadership – Putting Your Team First, and Yourself Second,” nd). In this part of the reflection, I will mainly talk about Kathy Ambrose, the site manager at the Woodbridge Senior Center. Kathy is truly an example of a servant leader. Everyone on Kathy's team knows she will be there for them. She often checks in with them to see how they are doing and genuinely tries to see situations from others' perspectives. She makes decisions with the best interests of the team in mind and ensures that everyone has the resources and knowledge necessary to achieve their goals. As a result, her team is one of the highest performing in the Prince William Regional Agency on Aging, with low staff turnover and high engagement. The work of the Woodbridge Senior Center at the Prince William Regional Agency on Aging does a lot of things that are, well, it's important and it makes a lasting difference. However, in terms of making changes related to our SIP, the goal of the SIP is different from my community learning experience and relates to Title I - Education and our group's goal is to implement a consultative type board which means teachers have a voice in the amount of funds distributed to teachers for their classrooms. Currently, teachers have to pay for basic teaching materials out of their own pockets because.