Most people want to help. They want to assist those who are in need and bring happiness to the unhappy. If this is you, here are five community-based jobs you can explore.
Law Enforcement Officer
Becoming a law enforcement officer is one of the best, most rewarding career paths a person can take. You can help your community by making it safer, and you can choose several avenues. Examples include working as a regular police officer, engaging in border patrol, or becoming a crime scene investigator or emergency dispatcher.
If you want to work in the private sector, you can also do this. For instance, you can work with independent security and IT companies, helping them install intruder alarm systems to protect homes and commercial facilities.
Regardless of what you choose to do, you will have the satisfaction of knowing people and businesses are safe because of the contribution you are making.
Psychologist or Mental Health Counselor
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than twenty percent of all American adults experience mental illness every year. This represents more than fifty million people nationwide. Yet, less than forty-four percent of them receive treatment. What this means is that more than half are either unable or unwilling to seek help.
Even in the 21st century, mental health continues to be a topic of stigma and shame. People are afraid of admitting to themselves and telling others that they have a problem, are depressed, or lack the motivation to continue with their lives.
But it shouldn’t be the case. These individuals should have a safe platform to express themselves with freedom and without fear of embarrassment. As a psychologist or mental health counselor, you can be a part of creating it.
Family Social Worker
For children, few things are worse than coming from a broken family. If the parents are divorced, the kids are involved in a constant tug-of-war between both sides. It is even worse when they live in a household marred by abuse or neglect.
As a family social worker, there are plenty of things you can do to remedy this situation. First, you can help the child find a better family, one that will value him and treat him with respect. Second, you can assist the parents. You can help them see the error of their ways and decide to change for the better. Finally, you can also work with public and private institutions that aid orphans, homeless children, and single mothers.
When you change a life, you are often changing an entire generation.
Public Health Doctor
One of the main responsibilities of a public health doctor is to plan and carry out initiatives to help the entire community. Let us take the current covid-19 global pandemic as an example.
If you work in public health, you can be an integral part of a wide variety of tasks. One thing you can do is handle the planning and execution of clinical trials to test the efficacy of new vaccines. Another would be to assess infection risks among certain community members or the city as a whole. By doing this, you will be collecting large amounts of data that will later help put in place policies of isolation and social distancing.
Perhaps you will not make as much money as someone working in private practice or a famous hospital. Still, the things you do will be just as important. Besides, You are doing them on an even bigger scale.
School Nutritionist
Many people were afflicted by serious diseases such as Polio, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, and Malaria. Today, many of these illnesses have been completely eradicated, or there is an effective vaccine to keep them at bay. However, there has been a dramatic rise in other ailments, namely those relating to our lifestyles.
Some say stress and the physical and mental issues that come with it are a result of development. Even so, there are ways to deal with them before they become a problem. One of them is to teach kids the importance of doing exercise and having the right nutrition.
If you work as a nutritionist in an educational institution, you can help make lunch and dinner menus for students, conduct lectures and seminars on proper eating, and establish prevention mechanisms against eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, and childhood obesity.
If you are interested in helping the people in your community, you can become a law enforcement officer or mental health counselor. You can also work as a family social worker or public health doctor. Finally, you can lend your expertise in helping kids eat better and be healthier.
No matter which one you choose, you will be helping those around you have happier, healthier, more fulfilling lives.
