Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Just to give a little update on what I have been up to. I am receiving RSVP’s to my Food Insecurity and Community Gardens Workshop that I will also, now that I remember, send to the Summer Fellows list serve. We are getting a great response of academics, volunteers, civic organizations, and public and private companies. People seem to be forwarding on the flier which is promoting the event even more. I am in the process of the logistics and gathering information on different aspects of food security as well as organizing that information and some resources for those who attend the workshop to get involved in alleviating food insecurity in whatever capacity they so desire.

The garden is doing well too. My eggplants are finally sprouting fruit and I found out that when the soil is too hot for broccoli they actually start to bolt which means they flower. That is right. The little buds on broccoli that we eat are actually baby flowers. I had no idea. I thinned out the carrots because they were too cluttered and we got a donation of about 12 pallets worth of different peppers, tomatoes, and herbs to plant. I took some for our garden but the agencies and pantries that come to our warehouse were able to take what they wanted and plant them back at their locations too. I have gypsy peppers, Hungarian, hot peppers, banana peppers (sweet and spicy), and then many other varieties that I can’t recall. My favorite name so far is the hillbilly tomato. The picture looks like it will be multicolored and huge so I am very excited to see those fruit.

We recently changed our pantry rules and operations, expanding the access to many more clients. This new system just started Tuesday this week and we had at least a 3 hour wait for the clients to shop in our pantry. We almost doubled the amount of families we normally serve. It is a HUGE adjustment but I think that we are accessing more people in need of the food and services we provide so in all it is a positive.

For this weeks Tuesday volunteer shift we received a kit to make a new storage shed that the volunteers and I started on. We had a great turn out so it went pretty quickly. We also harvested the onions which had to have been about 100 pounds worth. They are gorgeous and many different colors. I also thought it necessary to post a picture of the mammoth of what I am sure now is a weed growing in my carrot bed. It is absurd and so huge that I am intimidated to try and cut it down. That is all of the updates for this week. I am remaining very busy and productive so needless to say I am really enjoying the work!

Not even a third of the onions

the monster

It’s official! We’re more than half-way through our full but fleeting summer with the Columbus Foundation. However, I have very little time for nostalgia as there is still so much ahead!  One of the most exciting aspects of the non-profit sector is that there is always more work to be done. True, some days that realization is overwhelming, but most days it is a worthwhile challenge. But, finding fulfilment in non-profit work isn’t as simple as most people probably believe.

When I tell others about my work at the pantry this summer and my interest in the non-profit sector, I am often met with a chorus of “Wow! You must feel so good about the work you do!” I think many experienced professionals in the non-profit field would respond affirmatively, but like any other job, it takes finding your niche to truly feel like your efforts make a difference.

If you are interested in exploring the non-profit world, there are a lot of “would you rather” scenarios to consider to find your fit. Do you want to reach out to large groups of people and help create positive but small changes in their lives? Or, would you rather work closely with just a few people but significantly alter their experience in the world? Would you find fulfilment in working with young people and sustain hope that the seeds you plant with them grow and thrive after you’re gone? Or, would you rest easier working with more mature individuals who may have more liberty and wisdom in their position but shorter, narrower futures ahead? Would you rather work directly with people or with policies? Would you rather change a physical space or an emotional one? How will you feel like what you do actually matters?

One of the hardest lessons I seem to learn over and over in life is that you’re not going to win every battle, even if you’re one of the good guys. This is more apparent than ever when working with disadvantaged communities. Before you enter that battlefield, really understand which victories would mean the most to you. It helps you feel like you are working, improving, changing, growing, supporting, etc. rather than just fighting.

A short week is both a blessing and a curse! While I was greatly looking forward to the fourth of July, I had a lot of work I needed and wanted to complete before I headed northward to spend the holiday in Michigan.

I can’t believe five weeks has already passed.  We are all now half-way through our summer fellowship and I have no idea where the time has gone.  It feels like I just arrived yesterday and yet when I pause to reflect on everything I’ve done and experienced so far I can’t help but be amazed.  I have participated in mass produce distributions, I have volunteered building coffee tables, and I have inventoried and sorted over 800 backpacks.  I have attended meetings, created supply budgets, and learned which fork to use at an etiquette lunch at the Columbus Foundation.  I have done and experienced so many things so far, and yet the summer is only half over.  In this mid-point reflection I am realizing that my summer is simultaneously already and only half over.

This week I find myself knee deep in my overall project for the summer as well as preparation for Homeport’s Backpack Drives in August.  I have spent countless hours writing and revising, and then revising again, a large document outlining the Business Process Management (an newer model for Standard Operating Procedures) of the major Homeport Volunteer Initiatives.  So far I have completed about thirty pages of process description, photos, and diagrams for our monthly summer produce distributions.  I am also about 20 pages into the process description and spreadsheets for our backpack drives.  Realizing that this is my half-way point reminds me of where I’m headed.  Before this summer is over I will have created probably at least an 80 page document that can be referenced by any employee to understand major processes in the Volunteer Engagement department.

Writing about the Backpack drive has been a challenge.  Each year Homeport provides over 1500 backpacks stuffed with school supplies for students in each of our communities.  Unlike the produce fairs, backpack drives are held once a year and require a lot of preparation.  As such I have not experienced any of the events surrounding the backpack distribution, nor has my boss, who started in the position in January.  This has allowed me to get a lot more involved in the strategizing and planning for this particular volunteer initiative.  I have inventoried backpacks, helped create supply budgets, helped plan our backpack stuffing events, and now find myself buried in boxes of school supplies and backpacks.  There is not a hallway in the office that is not lined with backpacks or school supplies.  This coming week we will hold our first backpack stuffing event and I will get to help plan and coordinate this effort.    More importantly I’ll have another five pages to add to my business process management document.  This summer is both already halfway over and only halfway over, so bring on the second half!

The past week has been pretty much business as usual. I taught my cultural orientation class to the newly arrived Bhutanese/Nepali clients on Monday and Wednesday and both days went very well. What I have enjoyed most about the cultural orientation classes are the feedback I get from the case workers who translate while I teach the class. The case workers spend the most time with the clients and are a testament to what information in the cultural orientation are relevant to their clients and what needs to be better tailored to their cultural group. Each group of refugees comes with their own experiences from their home countries, possessing their own cultural values, living standards, regulations on renting apartments, and using public transpiration. Each time I teach the class I try to orient the class towards each cultural groups experiences and needs. The case workers prove to be a valuable resources as their personal knowledge with their own cultural groups gives me a better idea about how to structure my class, and their interaction with Franklin county and landlords gives them the most up-to-date information about policies and concerns so that I may refine the information I present in class.

Overall the climate in the office has been that of tiredness and adjustment. Many of the staff and clients are practicing Muslims and so the adjustment for the fast of the month of Ramadan proves challenging for most, especially the clients who are attending English and employability classes. I cannot imagine sitting in a class for 8 hours, learning new skills and a new language on an empty stomach. I was told by a coworker that the first week of Ramadan is the hardest for adjusting to daily fasting, but after that it becomes a standard routine. Working at CRIS has given me a new respect for my coworkers who choose to fast and continue to work at the same level of intensity and determination of those not fasting.

Busily sculpting her amazing dragon!

For Week 5 of this fellowship, the teenagers came back to the museum for one more session of in depth workshops, learning new art techniques, and lots of fun!   For this round of workshops, we hosted teachers who taught “The Art of Fashion,” “Sew Fun: Pajamas,” “Fantastic Figures,” and “Fantastic Places: Sculpted Spaces.”  Throughout the week, sewing machines were whirring, fabric was flying, polymer clay was sculpted, molded, pinched, and folded, paints of all colors were deployed, and foam was shaved and carved into mountains, caves, beaches, and fields.  The teens in the “Fantastic Figures” and “Fantastic Places: Sculpted Spaces” had AMAZING imaginations – they created unique and fanciful creatures and then made intricate worlds for them to live in.  Look at these creations!

An elegant elephant and its circus tent

This intricate habitat had all sorts of little accessories, like food dishes and toys, for the panda fairy creature who lives here

Showing off their handmade PJs and sewing projects

It was so great to see these campers really stretch themselves and see their imaginations in full swing.  It is such a great reminder of why I decided to make the arts my career-field, and reminds me why I went back to school.  Like any schooling, sometimes grad school is just killer, and I ask myself why I am putting myself through this torture. “Is it really going to make any difference?” I ask myself.  “Why did I give up a full-time job for this madness?” But watching these campers dive into their passions, try new things, and flex their creative muscles helps me remember my end goal of grad school: to have a meaningful career in a field and a place I that I truly feel strongly about, and to have my work make a difference in the lives of those with whom I interact. I’m so glad I am getting that reminder through this summer fellowship before I start my last year of school in the fall – it’s a big help and a great refresher to be around people, both at the Ohio Craft Museum and the Columbus Foundation, who love what they do and encourage others to live their passions as well.

My fellowship is a bit different than some of the others I’ve been reading about this summer. A lot of my work is administrative, and the people I work with day to day are the other people who work in administration rather than clients or members of the public. This is a bit different than most of the past work I’ve done too, and correspondingly I’m learning some new lessons.

I think one of the things I’m learning quite a bit about is the importance of compromise. I’ve spent a lot of time planning, and since I’ve put so much work into figuring out what the best options are for overhauling our loan closet, I’m now pretty invested in the results. That doesn’t mean that others will always like what I propose even if it’s what makes the most sense to me. People might resist because they perceive something to take extra work (and in the nonprofit world everyone already has plenty), or because they’re attached to the old way of doing things and not ready to give it up yet.

Some aspects of that, to be honest, have been very frustrating. But especially after talking it over with some of my other coworkers, I’ve accepted that some personalities will be more resistant to change and that compromising with them is still important. I think in some ways it jives with me because, as a Buddhist, I’ve thought a lot about letting go of all sorts of attachment. My ideas of the way a thing should work or should be or would be best are all part of that, and even if I’m convinced I’m right sometimes the best solution is to let it go and find something that works for everyone, even if it’s not the best possible scenario.

I’m lucky I have good support from the person I generally take direction from, who I see as something like my boss in the office. She’s been an excellent sounding board and has had a lot to teach me, not only in terms of the logistics of the nonprofit but also in terms of working with others. When I started, I would have said working with others was already a strength of mine, but one aspect of this work is that it always challenges us to be better.