So, I didn’t post for week five and that was because our entire office was closed for the first week of July. This left me the opportunity of working on data entry and planning for a fundraising event from the comfort of my couch – the true activist agenda.

I can’t believe there’s only a few weeks left in the program when I feel like I’ve just been getting started. Right now it looks like I’ll be organizing two fundraising events in Worthington and Reynoldsburg for the end of July. The event in Worthington will be a wine tasting (exciting!) with a silent auction that I have worked to collect items for. It has been incredible to collaborate with organizations like Planned Parenthood, Dough Mama, and Gateway Theater to get items for the auction. It’s so weird to think I’m actually making something so important happen for an organization that does such great work.

Aside from the fundraisers, I’ve been working on more LGBTQ+ sensitivity training. I was able to teach one part of it at a local drop-in center and from there we decided to make fuller trainings for shelters across Columbus. It’s really exciting to know that organizations really care about how they treat LGBTQ+ individuals. I could really see myself doing work like this long-term. The more this program comes to a close, the more I think about where I want to go next. Doing work towards equality for my community, especially under this political climate, is very important.