Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

“I feel like we’ve created a culture of helplessness.” This remark came from a person who works at a non-profit organization largely supported by volunteers from low-income communities.  The person meant this as both a joke and a reflection of her own tendency to “micro-manage,” but she raises an interesting point about one of the many professional limitations for impoverished people. When a person’s voice is constantly undervalued or silenced, it is difficult if not impossible to develop the skills and confidence needed to work independently.

We work with many volunteers at the food pantry who struggle regularly with financial and food insecurity. The most interesting and unsettling trend I’ve noticed among these volunteers is an anxious need for decisions to be “approved” by someone they see as “higher up.” A handful of times, I’ve told a volunteer to just trust their own judgment when approaching an unexpected task, and I am almost always met with confusion and frustration.

Unfortunately, many people write off this discomfort with working independently as a sign of laziness and stupidity. But, what reason should a person fighting in poverty have to value independent initiative in the workplace? Can you name a common, minimum wage job where creativity and personalized approach is valued or encouraged? What happens when a person at the bottom of the ladder makes decisions without first checking in with their boss? What happens when a person in poverty challenges a system or government that traps them in poverty but also acts as a gatekeeper of the resources they need to survive?

The hard truth is that there is little (if any) room in poverty to deviate from the norm. When ensuring your family will eat tonight with the lights on is a constant balancing act of working, scrimping, accessing assistance, etc., stakes are much higher. The smallest professional risk could backfire and cause the whole act to topple over. Aligning as seamlessly as possible with set expectations is the safest and sole choice for most people in poverty.

Realizing that many of our volunteers cannot recognize the worth of their own voice or insight has helped me understand the significance of and need for arts based programs for disadvantaged youth. Often, these programs are defended as institutions that help “keeps kids off the streets.” This is true but a very vague description of the real influence of these programs. Valuing and making room for personal creativity allows kids a safe space to test their voice, their intuition, their decision -making skills, and their independence while risks are still relatively low. Celebration artistic expression instills the self-confidence kids need to grow into independent thinkers.

Trust in personal instinct is what allows people to be adaptable in new situations. It’s why we value independent thinking in higher-paying jobs. But, if a person is constantly and rigidly told what to do, what reason will they have to trust their own decision making skills? Society will tell a woman in poverty to stick to the program but then cites her lack of initiative as the reason she remain at the bottom of the ladder. It’s just another one of the dangerous catch-22s that keeps people trapped in the cycle of poverty. If we want people to comfortably access their own instincts in the workplace and apply them independently, we need to value their voice first.

The craziest thing about working at a camp is that it is essentially the same every day and every week.  It starts with morning sign-in and name tag drama (“I can’t find mine!” “Mine won’t stick!”), then a flurry of morning classes where paint, fluff, and clay fly, then everyone’s favorite part of the day (bar the complaints that we are having pretzels, not goldfish)…snack! Then lunches are consumed at the speed of light, and all the lunchtime toys and games are dispersed to all four corners of the room. Then, in the afternoon, I coerce everyone to clean up, and then we repeat it all over again, ending with a speedy but efficient clean-up of our classroom spaces and set-up to get ready for the next day.  In that sense, I’ve plateaued a bit – I know what I am doing on a daily basis, I am generally prepared for the projects that are going on, and I can kind of go on auto-pilot through the day.

But in another sense, each day is totally unique and brings its own set of challenges and adventures. Each week the campers and teen volunteers change the personality of camp.  Last week, both the teens and the campers were pretty energetic and really loud.  Great kids, but they definitely wore me out.  This week, we have a quieter, more focused group with great creative energy.  I got to teach this week, helping the campers make pillows that looked their dream houses, and I really enjoyed getting to see their creative minds in action and see their focus and dedication to their projects.  But each week brings its own crises as well, like the water bottle that spilled over a whole shelf of art, or the supplies that were supposed to last two days only lasting one, or a type of clay not working as expected.

It’s these type of challenges that keep me on my toes and keep it interesting each and every day.  We are officially at the half way point of our Young Masters Camp series (2.5 sessions down, 2.5 sessions to go!), and we have no camp next week, so it’s a great chance to recharge our batteries before the final haul. I know I’m looking forward to a quiet week!

The shed broke. All of that time spent putting up a shed last week to have a weekend of rain and the structure is toast! Granted we didn’t have the roof on because it required more expertise and time but still, I am a little bummed. I drove into work yesterday in a torrential storm with the sheds walls flimsily hyperextended, only 5 screws holding in each piece of it. I think it will be more of a long-term project than a quick task now.

Other than the shed mishap, the job is going really well. I am staying busy and interested in what I do and that is key for my happiness in a job. I am now inputting some of the data collected from the surveys that I did at the produce markets. It is really interesting to see the results. The surveys ask questions about what resources the clients would want to receive information on at each site. Ideally we would be able to have a general idea for each location what that specific population wants and needs in terms of services and information on resources that they can access. I recently was listening to an NPR story yesterday about a young woman in New York City who has a child and it living day to day on poverty. The article was about cognitive bandwidth and explained the taxing mental stress that being in poverty has on your brain. It actually inhibits you from being able to think long term or remember things well. What this woman says is her biggest regret is going on welfare when she first well into the situation because she didn’t take the time to look into all of the options she had in terms of what services she should apply for, what the stipulations were for each one etc. She ended up applying for cash assistance but this program requires you attend job training every day. This merely added to her stress and hurt her ability to get out of the poverty she was in in the first place because she would have to sacrifice school and a job to attend these sessions daily just to get a $142 check twice a month, much needed supplemental income.

Not having information or knowing all of the options is especially dangerous for people in poverty because they are so mentally and physically stressed. It is harder to think long term when you have to survive day to day. These resources I am hoping to provide information on are extremely important because the odds that clients will find them on their own is very unlikely and we have the contacts of great social workers at the foodbank that can help them navigate the complicated welfare and social services system. I am hoping that the data I collect and analyze will lead to a better use and efficiency of the services provided.

Story on NPR below:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/07/14/330434597/this-is-your-stressed-out-brain-on-scarcity

This was the first week I drove the van, and boy did I drive it a lot! The Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus (BGCC) has a summer site at Pheasant Run in Pickerington, OH. It is about a 25 minute drive from downtown Columbus. I had not been to the site yet, and I definitely wanted to make it out there before the summer was over…needless to say, I looked forward to visiting it. On Monday morning I was asked to pick up the teens at the Pickerington site and take them to Bank of America’s office location near Polaris. Although the task was daunting, I looked forward to the trip! I drove 30 minutes to Pickerington, another 30 minutes to Polaris, 30 minutes back to Pickerington, and 30 minutes back to our Westside location! After driving the van, navigating my little Saturn was a breeze! The trip to Bank of America was part of a 4 part career preparation program operated by the Boys and Girls Clubs. The official name is “Career Launch” and the program aims to prepare club members for professional careers and life after high school/college. BGCC partnered with the Attoney General’s Office to bring in personnel to give resume and cover letter workshops. Participating in these workshops was a prerequisite to attend the “field trips”. During the visit to Bank of America , club members had the opportunity to meet with senior executives as well as participate in mock interviews with full time staff-members ranging from mid-level to senior-level employees. The other two events will be held at Nationwide, Chase, and Huntington.
Later in the week I also got to drive the van to COSI, and help pick-up BGCC members at the Southside location for the weekly basketball league game!

I can hardly believe my time is more than half-way over! I continue to be amazed at the wonderful events I can partake in as well as the skills I am always learning or developing. Since my main job this summer was and still is the Brain Gain Coordinator, I am preparing a summary of the program to present to the Board next week! It will be a good review of my summer thus far and provide practice for my presentation to the Columbus Foundation at the end of the Fellowship!

Summer Brain Gain Read books for the elementary school members!

Looks like I have some organizing to do!
-BG supplies

Kayaks on the River

On Saturday FLOW partnered with HERO USA to do a kayak/canoe paddle on a 3.5 mile stretch of the Olentangy River. HERO USA is a fellow non-profit that was “formed to provide access to sports training and educational resources for children facing social, physical and economic obstacles” and they provide kayaks and canoes for our canoe floats. FLOW does a second Saturday float each month and this month it was a wildlife based float with a macro invertebrate display at the Kenny Park riffle and a fish shocking near the end of the river float.

The morning started by meeting at Northmoor Park which is where the float would end. After signing a waiver and picking up a life bus we all boarded a school bus and were bused up river to Broad Meadows Park where we would get in the river. For quite a few of us this was the first time on a school bus in a while. After a brief lesson on kayaking we were allowed in the river with our group. 

The river had some shallow areas where it seemed like we were gliding through the waterway with only six inches of water beneath us. Other parts we got stuck and needed to be pushed through to make it over some large rocks or shallow areas.  

Searching for Macro Invertibrates

Picking from the net

The macro invertebrate stop was a hands on stop where we were given nets and could go and kick around some rocks in the river. The person with the net stands downstream and the person kicking is upstream. The kicking helps pick up macro invertebrates that are living on the river bottom. The net is then taken over to shore and you try to identify what was kicked up. 

Several people were able to find crayfish, damselflies, various water worms and other bugs. Ohio EPA and water quality researchers can determine the quality of the water based upon what they find in the testing. A three tiered system is used which indicates that some tolerate poor water quality, good water quality, and excellent water quality. Also at this spot a freshwater mussel that was estimated to be more than 20 years old was found and put back into the river. 

Does this mussel and I share a birthday?

When we reached Northmoor Park we got out of the river and then walked to the river’s edge to see what fish the division of wildlife had shocked for us to see. In their shocking tank they had over 12 species of fish, including various species of carpsuckers, a few grass carp, smallmouth bass, and different varieties of sunfish. Carpsuckers look just like carp, except are native and have a mouth which is made for sucking insects off the bottom of the river. 

Holding the catch

A species of Carpsucker

This was a fun and education filled day, the more people that get on the river, the more they will appreciate its beauty and will care what happens to it. 

Finally backpack stuffings have arrived!  I have spent the past weeks, maybe even month, sorting, analyzing, and imagining every possible aspect of backpack stuffing events.  As I mentioned before Backpack Distributions are a big part of the services we provide for the families living in Homeport communities.  In the three or four weeks I have not only been scrutinizing every step of the process, but actually creating and forming many of the processes myself.  One essential step in the process is stuffing the backpacks so they are ready to be distributed to children.  Since no current employees have been involved in the backpack stuffings or distribution events in past years my boss and I have been completely in the dark about what to expect.  We have been calculating and guessing along the way to plan out each backpack process, most specifically the backpack stuffings.

This past week our first backpack stuffing event arrived, after tireless preparation and calculation.  I had planned every aspect of the night: where everything should be setup, how backpacks should be passed through an assembly line, how many volunteers we would have at each station, etc.  I had no idea what to expect, so my solution to preparing for unknown outcomes was to plan as thoroughly as possible.  The preparation paid off in some ways, but, as with any great volunteer event, the night was full of surprises.  We were expecting 10-12 volunteers to show up from the Chase Adelante volunteer group; two hours before the event we found out there were 30 people coming.  I had created backpack checklists for each backpack, but when it came time to print them off, my computer would not allow me to sign-in (apparently summer fellows aren’t expected to want access to their computers after hours…)  The evening went on like this.  I had planned how backpacks would be stuffed and how the evening would run, but of course nothing went exactly according to plan.  Luckily We had an amazing group of Chase employees and their families who were flexible and adapted to the evening’s task to ultimately stuff almost 250 backpacks, helping to put us well on our way to reaching our goal of stuffing 1,500 backpacks.  As the checklist station was having trouble keeping up with the pace of the assembly line, everyone pulled together to join the checklist people and get every backpack checked and ready to be distributed.  It was amazing to see everyone adapt to get the job done and it was so fun to see the event that I planned so thoroughly come together in surprising ways.  I can’t wait to take what we learned from last week’s event into the upcoming backpack stuffing events!

Our wonderful Chase Adelante volunteers!

My first volunteer orientation explaining the backpack stuffing process

My first and least favorite job was a position as a sales associate in a golf clothing store. I was a great employee; I was awarded employee of the month four times in the one year I worked there. But my one – well, biggest – flaw, the one thing I didn’t do, the one thing I wouldn’t do, was suggestive selling. Our socks were $5 a pair. There was no way I was going to casually persuade customers to buy a $5 pair of socks. I worked for every dollar I had, and I assumed everyone else did the same. Pressuring people into parting with those dollars was not something I was comfortable doing.
That’s when I decided I wanted to work for a nonprofit! And Red, White, and Boom was a reminder of that.

Children’s Hunger Alliance was a sponsor of Boom 2014. We had a make-your-own trail mix table- of course M&Ms went the fastest- activity books, and a cookbook cover coloring contest for kids. Our main attraction, though, was dinner. We had 500 meals to serve to kids for free, and if we didn’t serve them, we had to toss them, per USDA regulations.
To attract 500 kids to come to our tent between 4-6pm we had to do a lot of walking and talking, spreading the word and encouraging families and groups of adolescences to take advantage of our offer. As I walked up to parents, their smiles froze and their eyes showed an inner battle between wanting to be polite and really not wanting to be solicited to. They were so uncomfortable for 45 seconds; they thought I was selling something.

But as I finished my little speech about a free meal with a weak, “…just so you know!” and they realized there wasn’t a “all you have to do is…” they relaxed, and they began to see me as a human being instead of a robotic salesperson.

I walked away so happy every time I upturned their expectations. It’s a great feeling to be able to connect with and help people without having profit as an end goal.