Remember to play after every storm

Buckeye Adolescent Center

The below was written by Eileen Turain, Community Relations Director at Sojourner Recovery Center. Eileen volunteered along side the Miami Hamilton Student volunteers this summer the at Buckeye Adolescent Center.  The Sojourner Sustained Service Scholars and Coordinator, Rachael Lange, would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Eileen for allowing us to set up this program and for being with us every step of the way! We would also like to thank Sojourner for providing all of the games, toys and materials to make our program successful!! 

WOW!!  What a summer!  THANK YOU MUH!!  Thank you to; Amada, Rachel, Jamie, Robynne and Rachael and Sarah!  Thank you MUH for including Sojourner as part of your Sustained Service Scholars (SSS) program!!  The Sustained Service Scholars program was NEW and UNIQUE to our organization.  MUH reached out to us to make a difference in the lives of our Adolescent Residential clients.  That they did!!  THANK YOU!!

Sojourner has offered Behavioral Health Services to the Butler County area since 1984.  Our MUH volunteers spent priceless time this summer with one of our many programs; our Adolescent Residential Program, where teens live in a safe and secure environment, to focus on their changes of life to reach sobriety and maintain it when they return to their community.  We started our summer work with our MUH SSS volunteers around a classroom table; 3 of our Sojourner staff, our SSS volunteer group, and MUH’s incredible AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, Rachael.  Who would have guessed that after three months, we (staff, volunteers, and clients) would get to serve side by side with each other, create lasting memories, learn new skills, and make new friends?!? 

This summer, we were able to observe growth, understanding, friendship, care, compassion, wit and the real joy of witnessing teens learn new skills and have fun.  To many of our clients, the mere concept of, “going outside to play,” may be extremely new.

This project solidified our understanding of community interests in helping create positive opportunities for our clients; opportunities for their own unique personal growth.  We played games like kickball and foursquare, wiffleball, and badminton.  We also played stationary games like UNO, Jenga, Catch Phrase, etc.  Some of our most amazing moments happened during those “around the table” games, where we heard intellectual thoughts and true wit become part of a game of Catch Phrase or cards.  We were part of multiple priceless moments when, a teen would start off a bit standoffish or apprehensive about joining in a game, and then find themselves laughing and engaging in a game or activity on their own accord.  We all were given a gift by being part of these moments.

We started this summer project more structured by planning out activities and games.  It was noteworthy watching the summer unfold and the volunteer focus change from planned games to the MUH volunteers offering our Sojourner teens the openness to decide, create, change directions, and just play.  Our MUH volunteers were brilliant in being engaged at all times, while giving each of our clients the freedom to, “just be kids.”

We learned we can see beauty all around us; in playing a game of wiffleball, seeing the broad smile on the face of a young person who may not have smiled in quite some time, to hear one teen say to another, “good job,” to experience a group of people from many different walks of life and ages, come together to play games and enjoy a summer day.

This project was unique.  We started with a seed of an idea and saw it bloom into something bigger than the sum of its parts.  Each person contributed and committed to the process; clients, volunteers, staff.  The MUH volunteers opened opportunities to be part of this process in a way that was welcoming for all. This was more than playing kickball or UNO or Catchphrase, or Four Square.  This was about being human together.  Our vehicle was simply “play.”
Something very unique and intentional is blossoming out of this project.  Our volunteers suggested creating a “KINDNESS WALL” by sharing our clients’ artistic talents and their positive words of encouragement.  The idea is coming to fruition with the help of Miami University and others dedicated to the project.  We hope to share the KINDNESS WALL in various locations around Hamilton, where passersby can read kind messages and share their own messages of LIFE*HOPE*COMMUNITY!

We at Sojourner look forward to our continued relationship with Miami University volunteers!  THANK YOU MUH SSS!!!

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." 
                                                                                                                                      -Plato