Odezza Larida

Working with Grandma's House of Hope this summer has been a very memorable experience for me. Since my first day working at Grandma's House of Hope, I knew I was going to enjoy the next two months of summer. I thought it was great that we all got along right away. To me, it felt like I had been working with everyone for a long time. I really enjoyed the first two weeks of orientation and training. Being able to tour sites and learn about all of the programs that Grandma's House of Hope offers gave me a great background of the organization. This was my first time working for a non profit organization, so I did not have any expectations or comparisons.

I am very thankful to have been given the opportunity

 to work as a summer associate for the Nana's Kidz summer program. I started this position not knowing exactly how I was going to run the program. Even though I have experience working with children, I was always working as an assistant, not a leader. However after coordinating and running Nana's Kidz program this summer, I have gained the confidence to work with children in a leadership position. Nana's Kidz Club summer program was a success because children were always present, they enjoyed the fun learning activities we offered, and they each learned something new.

Overall, I learned a lot about the needs of specific low-income communities in Orange County. I think it is amazing that Grandma's House of Hope provides services for homeless children living in local motels. This experience has increased my interest in working with the community and helping people in need. I would love to continue working for other non-profit organizations. Thank you to Grandma's House of Hope and everyone involved for helping underserved communities and letting me be able to help this summer and be a part of that.