Hello everyone! This week has been a busy and exciting week for me at CSB! 

This week I got the privilege of representing CSB by showing up to facilitate the scheduled interviews of our honorees for the 2024 Founder Awards Event. I got to work with Robyn Haines with NBC4; she was the interviewer for each of our honorees, and she was a pleasure to work with. On Tuesday, July 30th, I was scheduled to meet Sherrell Johnson, the CEO and president of Treats 4 the Streets. Treats 4 the Streets is a coalition who holds a weekly food service at the Downtown Metropolitan Library serving restaurant quality foods, baked goods, essential hygiene products, Narcan, and health check-ups from a physician to unhoused individuals. Being there and observing the warm and genuine aura of Sherrell Johnson, I was more than confident in CSB’s decision to recognize her with the Bob Lazarus Unsung Hero Award. I was also grateful for the experience because the people in need of services were treated as family and it was refreshing to see a group of people who care to help and do not see people for their situation, but as human beings. 

On Wednesday, July 31st I met with Timothy Miller at the Crane Group office for his scheduled NBC4 interview, and it was interesting gaining insight from someone who was on the Community Shelter Board’s Board of Trustees for 24 years. He had a lot of educated takes on the state of homelessness and what initiatives Columbus can take to tackle this issue.

Lastly, on Thursday August 1st, I met with Nathan Smith at one of the hotels he’s used to temporarily house residents of Colonial Village who lost their homes due to administrational negligence and substandard living conditions. Nathan was very humble and down to earth; he and his team took up the initiative to rehouse the residents from Colonial Village and have successfully rehoused over 1,300 residents. His work is truly centered around his personal passion for helping others and sitting in on his interview was truly inspirational. 

I had a great week and I’m grateful my supervisor, Sara, trusted me with taking this on.