Browner 1

Ziah Browner

Dr. Kaninjing

KINS 4306

12 July 2022

Reflection Paper

Introduction

My name is Ziah Browner. For my Summer 2022 Internship in Public Health, I have

been at The Ninth District Opportunity in Gainesville, Georgia. The Ninth District Opportunity

is a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist low-income individuals financially to

promote self-development, self-reliance, and self-determination. The Ninth District Opportunity

was founded in 1967 and has gone through many changes, yet their purpose has not changed.

This organization strives to assist low-income households financially. By assisting these

households, the Ninth District encourages clients to take the time to get back on their feet, build

financial stability, and progress forward with the hope of not needing assistance immediately

afterwards.

The changes that occurred at the Ninth District pertains to the staff and the programs

fundings. The Ninth District started with two individuals yet has expanded to around 600 people.

When is comes to changes in fundings for the programs, I mean to say that the amount of money

for each of the grants may changes each year. For the Energy Assistance Program, clients may be

able to receive from $300 to $450 based on what they are eligible for. Yet, now from the

applications I have completed clients have been able to receive from $350 to $500.
 Browner 2

The Ninth District offers various programs and services such as Head Start, Georgia Pre-

K, Community Services, , Water Assistance, Energy Assistance, Emergency Food and Shelter,

Program, Housing Programs, and Weatherization. Within the 27 counties that the Ninth District

serves, the programs available in each county is determined by the population and need within

the county. Thirteen of the Northeast Georgia counties offer all of the programs, which are

Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns,

Union, and White County. Barrow, Elbert, Jackson, Madison, Oconee, and Oglethorpe County

are the six counties that have the Energy Assistance Program and Housing Programs. The four

counties, Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, and Pickens, only have Head Start/ Georgia Pre-K and

Housing Programs offered. For the other four counties, they only have one. Clarke County is

offered the Energy Assistance program. Cobb, Douglas, and Gwinnett County are offered our

Head Start/Pre-K Program.

Description of Experiences

My role as an intern pertained to filing, shredding, completing paperwork as well as data

entry. At the Hall County office, I was responsible for filing old documents from clients and

completed applications and Crisis Assessments. I also had to complete paperwork. This consisted

of getting the appropriate documents from my supervisor or coworker for a client and filling in

the necessary information on the applications. The applications I filled out were for Cooling

Assistance, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Water Assistance. A

few times I was to go with my supervisor and coworker to Energy Assistance Program

appointments, I went to the appointments we had in Barrow County, Hall County, and Clarke

County. At these appointments, clients would bring in their documents and we would fill out

Cooling applications and or Water applications based on the documents they would bring in for
 Browner 3

us. I was also tasked with entering the payments of all the applications I completed into the Ninth

Districts’ database. At the central office, I was given tasks that included typing purchase orders

for clients that could be for energy assistance, water assistance, rehousing, hotel/motel vouchers,

or prevention. I also would make copy of documents/paperwork, fill out water applications and

enter any new client and payments as I did at the Hall Office. I took it upon myself to enter the

funds from country reports into the Excel sheet on our server.

The most rewarding part of my internship has been the praise I have received from my

coworkers and supervisors. To hear them gloat about how well, how neat, and how quick I have

been able to do the tasks given to me has made me feel so amazing. I did not think I would have

been able to grasp the tasks I was given so quick and easily. I thought that it would take a little

longer than it did to remember the information I was told because that is how it has been for me

in my course for the past year and a half. I have been able to memorize the information I needed

for filling out applications and purchase orders after a few days of doing them. Being referenced

to not only other coworkers, but also the director and assistant director as being hardworking,

and a good worker is so rewarding to hear.

The most challenging part on my internship was memorizing vendor codes, county codes,

expenditure codes for purchase orders, income level ranges, payment amounts based on age and

income level, what documents are needed for applications, and the order information is supposed

to be on purchase orders. Each county has a certain code used when filling out application and

another number for when purchase orders are being filled out. It took some time before I could

memorize I this information. Now, I am able to know what county is being referenced on a

document without having to check as often. I have now memorized the income levels for the

Energy Assistance Program and Water Assistance Program, the payment amount for each
 Browner 4

program the beginning of expenditure codes for the Energy Assistance Program and Water

Assistance Program, and the expenditure codes for our Community Service Block Grant CARES

program.

Overall, I can say that I have learned a lot in my experience of interning at the Ninth

District Opportunity. There is not anything that I did more or less than I already did. I learned to

prioritize my tasks as they were given to me and did not struggle with getting distracted as I

originally thought I would for which I am incredibly grateful.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship

Before my internship began, I did not know what to expect besides the fact that I would

be doing paperwork and data entry. I would say that my expectations for working with the Ninth

District Opportunity have been meet. I expected do learn about the Ninth District and how their

programs work given that before deciding where I would do my internship, I had no idea the

Ninth District existed. I am glad that I did my internship here because I was able to learn so

much about the organization and have developed and improved some skills as well.

The Ninth District was open to my ideas when I talked to my supervisor about the things

I needed to do and include in my electronic portfolio. When I discussed my project with my

supervisor and coworkers, they said that my idea of making a booklet that could be handed to

clients would be very useless. I also put together two binders for the Crisis Assessments at the

Hall office and those became extremely helpful because it kept them organized and made then

easier to find and look through. The tracking board I drew on the whiteboard in the office

became helpful to keep track of the which client a caseworker was working with and how much
 Browner 5

money is being spent. When I told my coworker about updating the contact list for the field

offices, she told me that it would be so helpful and wrote down the staff changes for me.

Both of the supervisors I have been great at supervising me. When teaching me to do a

new task, they were sure to be there beside me to answer any questions or remind me of anything

they told me. After they saw me get the hang of doing a task, they allowed me to be alone, but I

could come to them at any point to ask questions or clarify anything I may have forgotten. They

gave me the resources I needed when it came to looking up income levels, payments, vendor

codes, agency codes, and expenditure program codes.

Overall, I do not know how my experience at the Ninth District could have been any

better besides one. I wish the situation I encountered had been handled slightly differently. As

recommending a future intern to work in an office setting, I would recommend it to those who

would like to be in this setting. Any future interns that like and are comfortable with filling out

paperwork and doing data entry would like to work in an office as I started to like it a little as

well. I My mom just told me recently that I should find an office job since I have gotten good at

doing office work and I catch onto task very quickly. I would not mind an office job as I have

learned to prioritize my work and get it do not quickly as to not have an overflow of work to do

and to not overwhelm myself. However, if I do so, I would find one where I could dress as I do

now or even slightly more casual because I prefer to be comfortable at all times and will do be in

clothing that I do not feel comfortable in at any point.

Internship Preparedness

Academically, I would say I prepared to work at the Ninth District. I felt confident in my

ability to do data entry and fill out paperwork. I was not as confident to answering phones as I
 Browner 6

knew there would be questions asked by the clients that I would not be able to answer. The

thought of myself having to constantly ask my coworker or supervisor for answers and putting

the client on hold every time seemed nonproductive. There are too many calls coming into the

Ninth District, so if I had to do that, we would not be able to answer as many calls as we would

need to.

There were not specific courses that were helpful for my internship, instead there were

certain concepts and aspects that were. They were how to use Excel from Biology and the

knowledge of a Needs Assessment, vulnerable populations, and cultural competency from

Community Health. Learning about these concepts helped me understand and be aware of why

certain counties do not receive certain programs or why come clients will avoid/not given certain

information when getting assistance. The School of Health and Human Performance should not

have course that seen so much narrower than they really are. Public Health is not a narrow field,

yet all the course leads students to think professors are preparing everyone to be researchers and

to work with big organizations like the CDC when that is not what many of us want. The school

should make students aware that while there are a lot of concepts to learn, they will always have

to use all of them. Professors should stop saying we will use everything we are taught because

not everyone in the Public Health major wants to because a researcher.

Internship Performance

From my internship, I have acquired the skill of time management. I also have learned

how to use a typewriter of sorts and have gathered so much information on the Ninth District

Opportunity. I am satisfied with my ability to do and turn in my assignments on time, but I did

not see the point in doing a project and presentation besides to show that there was something to

we took time to produce for the class. I have done particularly good with my work, despite how
 Browner 7

tired

I was when doing it. I do work during the day just to come back home and do more for a grade.

The skills I could get better with are my social skills. I have never been a social person so talking

to people I do not know makes me uncomfortable most of the time, but it would be better for me

to improve that so that I can learn to deal with customers and clients better.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits

Personally, and professionally, my internship has shown me that while I want to go into

the veterinary field, I could be successful in an office setting as well. This is because I could

learn a task quickly and be able to get so much work done during a day. My internship

experience has shown me that I learn better through experience instead of through homework

assignments, papers, projects, and tests. I am able to grasp concepts better when various ones are

not thrown at me at once. It has opened my eyes to the fact that despite being in various classes

and taking all of those tests, that I only have retained and remembered the information I feel was

relevant to me. This experience has given me confidence that I could work in an office. I have

developed time management skills and have developed a technique that allows me to get more

work done in a short period of time.

Some insights that I have gathered for my experience is that there are individuals who

come to the Ninth District asking for assistance yet could pay for themselves if they learned to

budget their finances properly. There is a reason the Ninth District askes for current financial

information when doing Crisis Assessments and getting documents because there have been

plenty of times where there were clients that could easily pay their own bills like they learned

how to properly distribute their money towards bills and their personal life.