To end the summer, the CPC team spent its Q3 volunteer day
at Vogel Alcove, an early childhood
education center for homeless children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old, in Dallas.
Vogel Alcove is the only comprehensive early childhood education program in the
city of Dallas whose primary focus is to provide free childcare and case
management for children and their families referred by 21 local emergency
shelters, domestic violence shelters, housing programs and organizations that
serve homeless families.
We spent the first half of the day sorting clothes in the
resource center, which teachers utilize when a child has an accident during the
day. Most children are sent to school with an extra pair of clothes, but
unfortunately, the kids attending Vogel Alcove don’t have that small luxury. The
resource center organizes clothing by gender and age, making it easy for
teachers to pick out a clean outfit.
The second half of our day, and my favorite part, was spent
in the classrooms interacting with the children. My particular classroom had a
birthday that day. Companies or individuals sign up as “Birthday Buddies” and
donate cupcakes and a few toys for a child to open on their birthday. Most of
the kids have never had a birthday celebration before, so this is a special
treat that Vogel Alcove provides.
Watching the kids eat cupcakes, sing “Happy Birthday” and
dance to music, you would never know that they are different from other
children their age. Even though they don’t have homes or may be recovering from
a traumatic life experience, they still deserve every opportunity that children
growing up in traditional homes receive. Vogel Alcove works to give them those
opportunities by ensuring they are up-to-speed with children their age when
entering kindergarten and giving them a safe haven away from the homeless
shelters, while their parents obtain resources or look for jobs.
Volunteering with Vogel Alcove was a wonderful experience
for our team and we hope to go back soon!
 |
| Showing off our hair accessories found in the Vogel Alcove Resource Center. |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment