Introduction

My name is Jennifer Norris and throughout the 2019 spring semester, I have had the

opportunity to serve the individuals at the Life Enrichment Center in Milledgeville, GA,

alongside four other interns. Established in 1967 by a group of mothers in the basement of a local

church, the Life Enrichment Center is a private nonprofit program for adults with Intellectual and

Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) living in and around the Baldwin area. The Center consists of

over twenty staff members, who constantly show empathy and concern for the development and

welfare of the individuals. On the Administrative team we have Barbra Coleman, Executive

Director, Renee Lassetter, Business Operations Director, Jennifer Banker, Business Office

Manager, Deborah Bush, Administrative Assistant, and Shirley Forrest, Quality Assurance

Coordinator/DDP. The Personal and Social Service team consists of Janice Daniels, Consumer

Rights Representative, Marcilla McCormick, Day Hab Program Coordinator, and Robert

Sanford, Activity Center Program Coordinator. Paige Ellington, Visual Arts Coordinator, and

Sara Whitten, Performing Arts Coordinator who head the Creative Expressions Studio up. In the

Day Habilitation Program (Day Hab) there are nine staff members who work directly with the

individuals, Carolyn leads Charles, Ronnie, Nate, Spencer, KeKe, Quitta, Sharonica, and Shante.

However, in the Activities Center there are only five staff members who consist of Jarcilla,

Heather, Mike, Joe, Terry, and are lead by Sheryl. The mission of the Life Enrichment Center is

to “support and maximize the quality of life for adults with Intellectual and Developmental

Disabilities through person-centered, community-based programs and services.” They envision a

day when the community embraces individuals with developmental disabilities for their

commonalities, not differences. While the purpose behind the Life Enrichment Center is to

provide adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities the opportunity to engage in
meaningful life experiences within their community that embraces personal dreams and desires.

All of the services provided by the Life Enrichment Center promote safety, health, and wellness,

person-centered approaches for desired goals and outcomes, and a focus on quality of life. All

services are in compliance with federal and state regulations, Medicaid waiver guidelines, and

our accrediting organizations requirements.

Description of Experiences

Throughout the course of my time at the Life Enrichment Center, my role as a Public

Health intern has seen a variety of experiences. Coming into my internship, I had no idea what

this upcoming semester was going to have in store for me, but it has been a whirlwind of

knowledge gained, connections made, and experiences realized. In the beginning Skylar, the

other Public Health intern at the Life Enrichment Center, and I came into the internship believing

that we would be creating personalized communication boards for the individuals in the Day

Hab. After discussing over our plans with Barbra and the Day Hab staff, we decided to go even

bigger and turn the entire Day Hab room into a sort of communication board. Our vision for the

future of the Day Hab room was insisted of implementing sensory stimulation activities located

throughout the room to facilitate impromptu activities by the individuals. The most rewarding

part of my internship thus far has been the relationships made with the Life Enrichment Center

individuals. Even if I have nothing else to take away from this internship, knowing that I have

these relationships with the individuals at the Center solidifies everything that I have done thus

far. The most challenging aspect of my internship would have to be the communication aspect of

it all. It felt as if whenever we would inform staff of anything that would be going on it would go

unheard. I feel as if the communication at the Center needs to get a huge improvement if they

want to succeed even more so. If I could have done this internship all over again I wish that I
could have spent more time with the individuals in Day Hab and less time working on the extra

projects that the staff at the Center has had us doing that is not related to our project. I know that

every thing that we have done is for a great cause, but it’s a bit frustrating when we are

constantly asked to stop working on our project to do something that doesn’t relate.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship

My internship at the Life Enrichment Center has far surpassed my personal expectations

that I had going into it. I never expected coming into this internship that I would be ale to make a

lasting change on such deserving individuals. Coming into the internship I believed that I would

be working with the individuals in Day Hab everyday, instead most of my time is spent tediously

working on our project. Upon meeting with Barbra, our site supervisor, she pushed us past our

wildest expectations of what we would be able to do for the Day Hab program. Before starting

my internship in January, I never imagined that I would have neither the opportunity nor the

resources to renovate a room designed specifically for the needs and wants of the individuals and

staff. Making sure that the staff in Day Hab understood that we weren’t just coming in to make a

quick fix at the beginning was a huge commitment. We spent the first couple of weeks at the site

discussing with them ideas that they had for the room and things that were needed to help the

Day Hab program further succeed. I believe that my experience could have been improved if I

would have been reassured throughout the semester on the job that I was doing. Skylar and I

have discussed this problem throughout our internship and there are times when we feel as if the

staff takes advantage of us for the needs that they need. Upon completion on some of the smaller

projects that we have done, I feel as if there is never assurance of the job that we did. Even

though there have been small bumps along the way and things that I wish could have been

different, I would most definitely recommend this setting to future interns. The point of this
internship was to leave an impact on the individuals, but I never knew coming into it just how

big of an impact that I was going to leave. I would not consider a career in a setting such as this,

just because I have always wanted to work with children within my career. I have loved every

moment with these individuals, however; I see myself working with children in the future but

what is not to say that they are not with or without disabilities.

Internship Preparedness

My academics prepared me well for my placement at the Life Enrichment Center. The

areas that I felt most prepared and confident in was the implementation of Skylar and I’s project.

From majority of my major classes, I knew that I had the knowledge necessary for successfully

implementing our ideas. I was least prepared and confident for working with the individuals’

hands on. In the past I had never worked with individuals with I/DD, so I had no idea what to

expect or if I was going to be the right person for the “job.” The courses that I found to be the

most helpful during my time at the Life Enrichment Center has to have been Health Promotion

Program Planning and Methods of Health Promotion. Through both of these courses we learned

how to implement a program correctly, and during my time at the Center that has been all we

have been doing. From the beginning step all the way to the final step, we have utilized the

knowledge that we gained from our major courses over the past couple of years and implemented

them into our project. I believe that GCSU/School of Health and Human Performance can better

prepare Public Health students for real life application of public health concepts by giving them

the hands-on experiences. Before my time at the Life Enrichment Center the only two courses to

give me those experiences were Health Promotion Program Planning and Community Health.
Internship Performance

Before I was even able to work with the individuals at the Life Enrichment Center I had

to become certified in HIPPA Privacy, Client/Patient Rights, and Abuse and Neglect of

Individuals with I/DD. Along with becoming certified, I had to become trained in reporting

critical incidents, accidents/injury, common psychotropic medications and their side effects, and

seizure management procedures. Over the course of my time at the Life Enrichment Center I

have been very satisfied with my performance on the assignments that I have turned in thus far,

the project that has been worked on continuously throughout the semester, and the presentation

that I have been preparing for. In honestly rating the overall quality of my work over the course

of this semester I would give myself a nine out of ten. I never knew that I could give so much to

this internship. I have fallen in love with the individuals at the Life Enrichment Center and in

love with what the Center does for the individuals. Along the way mistakes have been made, but

I have learned from them and grown from them. I need to sharpen, hone, and develop my time

management skills to be as successful as possible after graduation. However, being at an

internship full-time as helped me stay on top of my assignments and has helped prepare me for

my future career.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits

This internship has impacted my personal/professional/academic goals in more ways than

I could have ever imagined. It has shown me that I am capable of more than I believe, that I was

meant to be in the healthcare field, and that even the smallest of actions can have the biggest

impact. My experience at the Life Enrichment Center has impacted my personal growth by

giving me the confidence to stand up for what I believe in, the skills that I need to succeed in my

future endeavors, and the love for my future career. The insights that I have gained through the
Center and the population that I have worked with over the course of this semester have shown

me that these individuals are far “More Alike Than Different.”