It is 12:10 p.m. Tuesday and College sophomore Sharon Orbach has left the confines of Penn's campus and entered the depths of West Philadelphia. By 12:30 p.m., she has arrived at the Center for Human Advancement, home of West Philadelphia's branch of National Student Partnerships. At 12:45 p.m., a walk-in client appears at the door.
Immediately, the room empties of other volunteers and Orbach remains with the client and her 5-year-old daughter. Though the client is initially reserved, Orbach continually reassures her and by 1:15 p.m. they have outlined a plan to provide the client with transitional housing, schooling for her child and eventually a General Education Development Diploma and employment.
Orbach and fellow Penn volunteers encounter such situations almost daily as members of NSP, a rapidly growing volunteer service organization in which students provide community members with the resources they need to succeed independently. Established nationally in 1998 and at Penn in 2003, the organization currently boasts a Washington, D.C. base and 15 satellite offices, including three affiliated with universities in Philadelphia.
NSP distinguishes itself from other organizations in that student volunteers interact directly with clients and strive to cultivate an unprecedented degree of trust.
"We are different from other social services because we're not a bureaucracy," says Orbach, a local director for the West Philadelphia office. "We don't make you fill out paperwork, and we don't talk to a million people a day. We try to genuinely get to know the client and work with them."
Though Penn's chapter only became Student Activities Council-sponsored last semester and recently changed office locations, it has already worked to help community members achieve vocational-, fiscal- and housing-related goals.
The organizational staff includes local directors Orbach, College juniors Sarah Bertozzi and Marybeth Griffin, AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America and NSP Philadelphia West Site Coordinator Richard Amoako, as well as additional Penn student volunteers.
Though many volunteers work to develop personal relationships with the clients, they still abide by specific protocol.
"It is social work," Orbach says. "You need to know how to handle clients and use resources and handle different situations."
Currently, the group is concentrating on establishing itself in the community and building a client base. It hopes to aid at least 70 to 100 community members this year.
"I help get the word out about our organization by putting ads in newspapers, flyering in the community and attending organizations where business leaders and community activists get together," Griffin says.
Clients approach the NSP for a variety of reasons, and the organization has compiled a bank of resources to address any possible issue.
"If they need employment, we'll do job searches on the Internet or keep a list of job opportunities that we've seen," Griffin says. "If we see a 'help wanted' sign in a window, we'll write down the address and pick up some applications for our clients."
However, if the NSP does not have the immediate capabilities to assist a client, Griffin says volunteers may resort to the network of contacts they maintain.
"If they come in for free legal services or free health care, we will set up appointments because we obviously can't provide that," she says. "A lot of times people don't know the resources available and that is the role we play."
The organization also receives support from several partnership organizations and the two other Philadelphia offices.
Josh Noble, AmeriCorps*VISTA and NSP program coordinator for Philadelphia, says the three offices sufficiently cover the city's client base, but should look to collaborate more.
"Right now, three offices is solid in Philadelphia," he says. "We would like to further our partnerships between the offices."
Orbach agrees, and as a result she has helped to launch Philly Alliance, an effort which brings together the three Philadelphia offices, which have had little contact in the past year. The Philly Alliance plans to combine resources and sponsor a citywide fundraiser this year.
Aside from benefiting the community, volunteers say they have grown personally as a result of the experience.
"Becoming involved in the West Philadelphia community shattered a lot of my apprehensions about the people who live there," Orbach says. "They are people just like you and me; it is just that they are down on their luck. They were born poor and grew up poor and don't know how to get out of that. And a lot of them are exceptionally nice people."
For Bertozzi and Griffin, both urban studies majors, working with the NSP has provided real-life applications to the academic material.
"I read every day about these issues and I study them," Bertozzi says. "The NSP personifies it."
Caitlin King, AmeriCorps*VISTA and communications assistant in the national office, says the NSP looks to increase its client base and publicity on a more national scale in the near future.
"Our events and advertising are publicity in themselves," King says. "We hope our clients are spreading the word if they find success in the NSP."
