Project Complete!

My project is now complete! (Other than the reports, of course.) It feels good to know that I have accomplished so much in such a small amount of time. The booklet we created of participants’ quotes looks phenomenal. My original idea was simply a booklet for the participants to have as a token of appreciation, but my supervisor now wants to use it as a promotional piece because it came out so well. I worked with HIPPY Canada’s Information Management Specialist to design it, and she did an amazing job. I am so glad that it has become much more than a simple “thank you” booklet.

Front cover of the booklet we created.

A huge success was the group meeting/reception for the participants last Saturday morning. I was worried no one was going to come, I wasn’t going to make enough food, no one would want to talk or share-all kinds of worries. Luckily, everything turned out amazingly. I was even complimented on my breakfast casserole-making abilities! All of the women loved the booklets and seemed totally comfortable with getting to know the other participants. Some of the women knew each other, but others who participated in HIPPY years ago did not know many of the others. I had all of the women introduce themselves and where they immigrated from to Canada. It immediately seemed to spark conversation. The most stunning part for me was the women sharing how meeting others and reading parts of their story helped make them feel like they are not alone; that their experiences are shared experiences and they can all relate to one another. It got a bit emotional and really made me feel like I did something during this project. At the very least, I brought these women together to talk and support one another.

Inside pages of the booklet.

I am happy with the conclusion of the data collection phase of my project. There were some ups and downs, but largely I am content with the way everything went. I never expected the group meeting to go so well, and I am very happy with it- all but one participant came, several with their children. During the sharing part, one of the mothers told us about how her home visitor helped her and her family find somewhere to live after they found out they were being evicted. They had one week to find somewhere to stay or they would have to go to a shelter or be on the street. The home visitor went through several people to find a way to help the family, and they were able to move into another home. What makes this story so moving to me is that the home visitor was Beatrice, the woman who has been helping me with the project. So there they were, sitting across the table from each other, recounting this story from years ago. They both teared up and every single person in that room could feel the bond they had together. It showed me how far many of the HIPPY home visitors would go to help their families (the term they use for the families they home visit). I had been told about the impact of HIPPY outside of strictly children’s education, I had sat and listened to these same women tell me similar stories for the past month, but in that moment, it was utterly clear to me how much the existence of one little program can change an entire family’s lives.

(I pulled several sections from my recent project update for this blog post.)