Local Research Assignment

The Young Men’s Christian Association, more commonly known as the YMCA, was founded in London, England, on June 6, 1844. Its’ reason to being created was to help and improve the social conditions rising towards the end of the Industrial Revolution. The Long Island City YMCA, which is one of 22 branches found in New York City, was established in 1919 and didn’t have their first building constructed until 1999. From the Long Island City YMCA I interviewed Roxana Hernandez who is the Youth and Family Admin Assistant. In the interview Roxana felt that the YMCA focuses in community and families. They offer programs that can help an individual learn a new skill and have the confidence to become better at the learned skill. Roxana states “As an organization we are diverse and do not turn anyone away.” This says a lot about their organization, they are there to support anyone and everyone that is in need of assistance.  Some of the few activities they hold are: sports, daycare, dance, group exercise classes, and swimming. At the moment the programs that are most successful would have to be swimming and day camp. Swimming which is a skill that serves all ages and day camp which engages with children and gives them a place to spend time during the summer as well as after school. However, there are some obstacles the YMCA is still trying to overcome such as increasing space so that more programs can be available as well as increasing staff members to keep the programs running properly. Every year the YMCA holds an annual campaign which is to help families and individuals to participate in a program even though they may not have the financial funds to attend the program. The funds that they collect are given to the individuals in the community which include, family membership, summer camp, and swimming. As well as a variety of free programs such as after school, and community event that are open to the public. Through this interview I was able to learn and understand how an organization like the YMCA has and is still continuing to may an impact on my community.

I reached out to Kelly by phone, and I was able to interview her quickly. I interviewed Kelly Robinson who works at a Commercial Lending Banking Group in Manhattan, New York City. I asked Kelly a total of 5 questions (besides her name and where she is from), which consisted of:

• What is the position you work for, and the name of the group you work for?
• Why did you choose this job, and what is your career interest?
• What everyday activities take place at the job?
• What are the goals and expectations with the group at this job?
• What are the people like at the job who you work with?

From these questions, I was able to gather information about the organization and the job position Kelly holds. Kelly works for a Commercial Lending Banking Group, and her position she holds at the job is AVP (Assistant vice President), Loan Documentation. She chose this job because of her career interest which she thought made the job just right for her, and her career interest is Commercial Real Estate. There is a lot of everyday activities that take place at the job, some of which Kelly told me were, “everyone, including me, is responsible for providing a variety of service functions including the preparation and review of commercial loan documentation, providing essential administrative, operational and service support, and working with the lending, credit and internal and external legal teams during the loan closing process.” These activities are done throughout the week and are based on your knowledge of the job, and depend on your position, so everyone at the job with that position will likely have to encounter these activities and take part of them. There is basic goals and expectations at the banking group, which are to “ensure that all loan documentation is properly obtained and completed and all collateral is properly granted, perfected and maintained in proper physical and electronic files in accordance to bank policies.” Kelly enjoys the people who she works with, as her colleagues and herself are all committed to providing the bank with excellence, and doing whatever is necessary to ensure that they are achieving as much as they possibly can throughout the work day. Kelly mentions that she really enjoys her job because she feels like she can, “complete her everyday work tasks while still having the ability to rely on her colleagues because they have the same mindset as her, and the rest of the banking group.”

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