1) The individual has a passion for helping others since a young age and has pursued degrees in medicine and healthcare administration. 2) They believe these educational experiences have prepared them to understand community needs and implement effective change. 3) The individual is interested in working with a nonprofit organization to address health disparities and barriers to receiving help.

1. Assignment: Helping an Individual Organization COMM
Assignment: Helping an Individual Organization COMM ON Assignment: Helping an
Individual Organization COMMReminder: Be sure to your posting and responses with
specific references to the Learning Resources and/or current literature. Use APAParraWeek
1Main Discussion PostFrom a very young age I often expressed the interest of wanting to
make a difference in the world by helping others. My main interest is helping others by
focusing on and improving population health. My love of wanting to help others led me to
complete medical school and practice as a physician internationally. In moving to the United
States I took an active role in helping members in my community by volunteering in a
nonprofit organization. My interest in the nonprofit sector and community health led me to
recently complete a Masters in Healthcare Administration with Walden University. I believe
that these degrees accompanied by an understanding in human and social services will
allow me to effectively understanding the needs of my community and it will give me insight
on how to successfully implement change. My initial interest in community health and
nonprofit organizations came from realizing that health disparities played a major role in
the high amount of preventable illnesses that affected my community. Reid Mandell and
Schram (2012) explain that people that find it difficult to receive help in any area typically
have internal and external barriers that prevent them from receiving help. I believe that
focusing on the external barriers to decrease health disparities and being mindful of any
internal barriers one might have will have a positive effect on the surrounding population
and the community as a whole. Assignment: Helping an Individual Organization COMMIn
reviewing the timeline it is apparent that all of the developments have had a profound
impact on Human Services in general. In my opinion one of the most influential
developments in history was the creation of the Charity Organization Society. According to
Laureate Education (2011) the Charity Organization Society focused on poverty and was
created in the hopes of improving the living conditions of the poor. I believe that this was an
important moment in human services because it placed emphasis on the most vulnerable
members of society. This organization also focused on aiding the poor on improving their
condition in order to establish members that were stable and not completely dependent on
assistance (Laureate Education, 2011). This organization played an important role in the
development of human services because it focused on empowering the less fortunate to
grow and essentially work towards gaining stability.I believe that this was a notable part in
the development of human services because it tried to gain an understanding of why
individuals were poor and worked towards finding a solution. There were negative aspects

2. of this organization; Hasenfeld and Garrow (2012) explain that this organization was not
completely effective is providing self-efficiency and many members felt that it threatened
their autonomy. Although there were negative aspects of the Charitable Organization
Society, I believe that the underlying mission of empowering the poor to become self-
efficient is one that is frequently utilized in society now. Many organizations focus on
empowering individuals by providing teaching tools and emphasizing the importance of
being knowledgeable of their daily activities. This will play a role in my work as a human
services professional because it will allow me to focus on educating those around me and
helping them become self-efficient. My interest in community health is based on ensuring
that patients are knowledgeable over their own health in order to maintain a healthy
lifestyle and the idea of using education to promote self-efficiency will be beneficial.
Assignment: Helping an Individual Organization COMMReferencesHasenfeld, Y., & Garrow,
E. E. (2012). Nonprofit human-service organizations, social rights, and advocacy in a
neoliberal welfare state. Social Service Review, 86(2), 295-322. Retrieved
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/666391?origin=…Laureate Education
(Producer). (2011). Historical Timeline [Interactive Media]. Retrieved
from https://class.waldenu.eduReid Mandell, B., & Schram, B. (2012). An introduction to
human services: Policy and practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.PennellRE:
Week 1 – DiscussionCOLLAPSEMain Discussion PostMy area of interest within human
services is mostly focused on children. Specifically, children in foster care and adoption who
have suffered from abuse and/or neglect. Fostering and adoption has its rewards, but it also
comes with its challenges. I would like to work with these children to better help them
transition into their new homes, with better guidance and more assistance on their
emotional needs.This area is of most interest to me because of my two children. When my
daughter was only three years old and my son was six months old, my husband and I
adopted them from a home where there was abuse (both physical and sexual), neglect, drug
exposure, and trauma. After fighting for my children in court, I realized that this was an area
I was passionate about. I’ve seen my daughter suffer from her traumatic past with
emotional outbursts, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and personality disorders
and I want to be someone who is there for my kids and other children to offer
understanding. I would like to prevent things like this from happening, but I understand
that’s not always possible. That’s why I want to work with these children to make sure they
are placed in the proper homes and that they receive the proper treatments.After reading
the historical timeline media, I believe that the Post-Depression from the 1930’s-1950’s is
the most significant change in human services (Laureate Education, 2011). It was during
this time that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. This act
“established federal benefits for the elderly and enabled the states to make more adequate
provisions for laws regarding children, the disabled, public health, and unemployment
compensation” (History, 2015). I believe these changes were significant because they not
only helped these individuals, but they increased the expectations and outcomes in human
services. This significant change can inform my work as a human services professional
because it opened up a gate to the laws regarding children, many of which we still use
today. I know that I will be using these while focusing on my specific area of interest.

3. Assignment: Helping an Individual Organization COMMHistory. (2015). HISTORY. American
Public Human Services Association. Retrieved on Aug. 29, 2017
from http://www.aphsa.org/content/APHSA/en/the-associat…Laureate Education
(Producer). (2011). Historical timeline [Interactive media]. Retrieved on Aug. 29, 2017
from https://class.walden.edu