Interview Questions & Answers

Antquan Smith from Sea Haven answered the following questions: 1.) How do you determine who can attend Sea Haven? Sea Haven Street Outreach program have Federal procedures that we follow which only allow youth from the ages of 17 to 21 to access our facility resources, but if we have any referrals were the youth is to young we follow our Safe Place procedures. 2.) Do you think mentoring at Sea Haven will improve their behavior and social skills? I believe that it will improve their behavior and social skills because they are interacting with youth from different backgrounds. 3.) How did Sea Haven get discovered? • Sea Haven was incorporated in 1980 and is registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit agency. • Sea Haven Inc is a member of the Youth and Family Services Network. YFSN provides training, consultation, funding, and advocacy support for members. The Sea Haven Executive Director is currently the South Carolina state representative for the YFSN Board. Information about the network is available at www.yfsn.org 4.) Do you usually see an increase in behavior in the kids when people mentor? We do see an increase in behavior because the mentees are usually in the same age range as our clients. 5.) Are there many behavior issues with the children? There are different behavior issues with each client that comes into our facility. Each client comes from diverse background when it comes to family issues. 6.) How often do you get applications for children to attend Sea Haven? The drop in center is non-residential and most of our clients are referred to our program from other agencies or word of mouth. 7.) Do you think there is enough awareness about Sea Haven? Sea Haven does a great job with awareness about the organization and is always seeking different ways to raise awareness about Sea haven and also the youth that we serve. 8.) Are there usually many volunteers that help at Sea Haven? We have a lot of support with volunteers, but the one issue we run into is the volunteers outside schedule which sometimes conflict with what we are doing 9.) Is Sea Haven a private organization? Sea haven is not a private organization

Reflection One

What new knowledge have you gained about your topic through research for the proposal and problem/solution papers? I have gained a lot of new knowledge since I have conducted research on my topic. I have learned that over time the children that people mentor being to develop a sense of trust for their mentor. When they develop this trust they begin to count on you to be there for them, to be their friend. The children begin to rely on their mentor and see them as a role model. Children will also develop better social skills. Where are you going to volunteer? I am volunteering at Sea Haven for Kids. Have you already made contact with the organization where you would like to volunteer? If so, who is your contact person? If not, how can you contact them? Yes, I have already made contact with the Sea Haven officials. My contact person is Antquan Smith. Mr.Smith will be supervising me throughout this project. What kinds of activities will you be participating in when you volunteer? On the days that I volunteer I will be participating in the reading program. This program allows the children to pick out a book and have the opportunity to read to me and/or gives me the opportunity to read to them. I will also play a variety of games as well as arts and crafts. What is one good thing that has happened since beginning this project? One good thing that has happened since beginning this project is that I have gained a better insight on how childrens' life's are affected by their parents. I have had three different children become attached to be and have became more comfortable around me. When I see those children's face light up when I walk in the room it gives me a warm sensational feeling. What is one improvement you need to make? One improvement I need to make is logging the amount of time each time I go.