Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Do you ever have those weeks that seem to last FOREVER? I hope I’m not the only one, but I’ll confess that this week was one of those for me. Could it be that fifteen minutes of writer’s block feels like five hours? Or that  spending hours at a time trying to make sense of information, present it in to a meaningful way,  and oh yeah, figure out how to cram into two pages, takes a lot out of you? Exhausting to say the least. But either way, the first thing I felt this morning was gratitude- it was Friday!

This thankfulness for Friday could also have to do with the fact that I have some personally exciting events coming up,  a few of which start this weekend. Tomorrow I’ll be moving some of my stuff into my new place (out of my parent’s house at last!), and this summer I  have the pleasure of being a bride’s maid for the first time, with the bachelorette party tonight :-)!  I’ll also be starting a new job at the end of the month; I can already feel the anticipation and anxiety growing inside of me.

But getting back to the work week, I do want to point out how wonderful this experience has been overall. All jobs have hills and valleys, and while I would not by any means consider this last week a low point, I would say it was  a challenge and at times less than riveting (try spending 40 hours writing, editing, rewriting, editing, and trying to overcome writers block). I’m sure a lot of people LOVE writing all the time. And I enjoy my fair share, but after working on the same document for six hours straight, I can start to feel my eyes crossing.

Despite the challenges and pesky writer’s block I’m proud to say that I reached my goal of having the first drafts of all five case stories written, allowing me to start on my four-page executive summary today, and hopefully spend next week finishing that up, making final edits to the case stories, and start the fun stuff: report design. I want to try and work on the design and layout of the report, so that I feel ownership and also because I want to stretch my creativity skills a bit.

Reflecting on the challenging week I’ve had this past week, I immediately think of the Olympics since I have watched it every night and is on the forefront of my mind. Now, granted, I do not consider typing to be a sport by any means, but I think of the mental concentration required for winning gold medals, and this week I definitely worked out my ‘concentration muscle’. I think keeping my eyes on the prize, and knowing that as I work through this challenge, concentrate, and keep practicing my skills, I can achieve ‘gold’ by having a valuable finished product at the end of my fellowship.

So while I am thankful it is Friday, I’m also thankful for the opportunity to pursue a goal, and preserver through the challenges of data analysis and report writing. It will make me stronger, and a better ‘competitor’ in the future. And if I win, you could say I’ll have a ‘gold medal’ of a report to show for it.

I had a Coalition membership meeting at Salvation Army this week.  While all the stakeholders (i.e. Faith Mission, faith-based communities, Community Shelter Board, Salvation Army, Open Shelter, etc.) present wanted to help solve the waitlist for individuals seeking shelter, they wanted to do it in different ways.  Some stakeholders believe we need to house the individuals first while others believe we need to change the political climate of homelessness/meet their other needs first.  This difference in opinions created for a meeting where people were unable to create concrete solutions to the issue.

A woman who wrote an editorial entitled “Homeless Folks Spoil Santa Maria Visit” in the Columbus Dispatch received a lot of criticism from Columbus organizations addressing homelessness.  The article discussed how the writer was upset that there were homeless people sleeping in front of the Santa Maria boat when she was on an outing with her grandchildren.  As an advocacy group for homeless issues we felt it was imperative to respond to this woman’s editorial.  On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, an intern and I traveled down to the Santa Maria and talked with two homeless individuals.  We talked to one individual who was half-asleep on the cement.  He told us about his recent brain injury and how no shelters have been able to address his health care needs.  I would recommend the writer talk to more individuals down at the Santa Maria like this man.  This will show her that homelessness is not as easy as, in her words, “direct the homeless to the shelters that are available for sleeping.”

Today I had a humbling experience when I went through the “Sandwich Line,” a church that provides free vending machine food (sandwiches, salads) and bread/desserts.  They provide food to everyone regardless of state ID/income level every weekday.  Walking through the line and taking free food made me really appreciate my food security.   

David

Hello all!

It is a nice change to finally have a week that isn’t full to bursting of tasks, events, and meetings!  Just to include a little update, we had our jury come through our submissions for Art for Life and determine the entries in the live and silent auctions.  It’s really exciting to know which pieces will be sold, but also really surprising.  I am by no means an artist, but some pieces that I loved and some that I did not love were rejected and selected, respectively.  It was an interesting process none-the-less!

This week I am focusing on my email campaign for AIDS Walk, including making a schedule of emails, determining the subject matter, selecting the audience, etc. etc.  It’s a surprising amount of work!  For many people, these emails may be the only chance we at AIDS Resource Center Ohio have to interact with them and cause excitement for AIDS Walk, so every email counts.  Additionally, these emails need to be drafted by the time my fellowship ends, so I have my work cut out for me.

However, I have really enjoyed writing them in many respects.  For example, I like to include small updates about the infection rate, new breakthroughs, and other current events surrounding HIV/AIDS.  It has been an enlightening exercise to be sure!  It also has me researching and brainstorming all types of fundraising tips, events, and incentives to pass along to team captains and team members.  Many of these pieces of information and ideas are just generally useful for development and fundraising and have left my brain pumping with all sorts of great ideas.

I have also learned how to navigate our Blackbaud/Convio software that allows us to manage email campaigns and other aspects of our fundraising events online.  There is a lot of work that goes into configuring these emails–I will probably think twice before just deleting emails from now on!  The software is pretty helpful and user friendly though, which is great for me :)!

Look for more posts to come this week–I will do my best to update you all on the weeks I missed posting because I was drowning in art work!

–Katie

Recently in one of our Summer Fellowship meetings at the Columbus Foundation, we discussed how many of us were unaware of the vibrant Columbus community until we were out of school and involved in the working world. I couldn’t agree enough with this statement. Even though I am a Columbus (Dublin) native and grew up going to the Short North with friends on weekends, I still had no idea what this city was like until I graduated from OSU and became involved in the under-workings of our city’s culture.  Since I have started working at the King Arts Complex, I have become acutely aware of how unaware I am of the vast cultural opportunities available here.
I think the first time that I realized this was during my a tour of the building where I work. I saw a picture of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, an American jazz instrumentalist who mastered circular breathing and could solo on multiple wind instruments at once! I remember in high school watching his videos online when I was aspiring to be a jazz bassoonist, and I was amazed and inspired by his unique contribution to the jazz community. I discovered on my first day at the KAC that not only was he a Columbus native, but he performed at the KAC! Creative sparks were flying in my brain after that. I was introduced to the artwork of Aminah Robinson and Elijah Pierce, and now without fail I see their names all over the city! On my way to the North Market last week, I noticed signs about Elijah Pierce posted on High Street. I also just recently participated in the Urban Dare Race, where I was able to visit the statue of Elijah Pierce at Columbus State Community College. Here is a picture of me and my mother next to the statue:

On our way to CSCC, we also passed one of Aminah Robinson’s paintings on E. Broad St:

Photo credit: http://tgsmuralproject.blogspot.com/2009/01/aminah-robinson.html

Now that I recognize her work, I see it everywhere I go! She has work displayed at The Columbus Foundation, The King Arts Complex, and the Columbus Public Library! Those are just the places I have seen, I can’t imagine that exhausts the list.

As the KAC summer camp is preparing for a big dance performance this Wednesday, I have been thinking a lot about the role that my generation and the generation below me has to play in the Columbus art scene. Our city has the potential to be a huge artistic haven, and I think past generations have proven that it is! It is now becoming important to me to not only maintain but expand upon the rich artistic culture that is here in Columbus. I haven’t painted in quite some time, but I am certainly inspired by everything that is going on around me, and I can’t wait to pick up the brushes again!

-Jamie

Last week was the week of shadowing. I had the opportunity to leave the office every morning to shadow a different Local Matters program. The most hands-on experience, by far, was shadowing the Growing Matters program on Thursday.

Growing Matters’ mission is to help people grow food themselves and thereby increase the supply of local food. The program has multiple avenues by which it achieves this goal, but on Thursday morning we installed raised bed gardens in peoples’ front yards.  Growing Matters has helped to install countless yard gardens in the Weinland Park and Near East Side areas of Columbus. The residents receiving the garden help with the installation, and they receive education on how to care for the garden long-term. This way, residents can increase the likelihood of a steady food supply and perhaps even install more gardens by themselves.

It was incredible to witness how quickly a raised bed garden can be installed. We loaded up the truck with supplies and drove to the house receiving the garden. The people who lived there, a woman and her teenage son, came out to assist us, and we proceeded to unload 15 bags of soil, 4 wooden planks, and various tools from the back of the truck. In less than an hour, we fastened the boards together to form a box, we placed it against their front porch, and we filled it up with soil. Then, the mother and her son planted a variety of vegetables in the plot. They were particularly excited about the sweet potato and pepper plants! Below is a photo of the completed raised bed garden:

After installing this garden, we drove around the Weinland Park area and marveled at the success of some of the yard gardens installed in the past. The residents have done awesome things with their plots, as evidenced in the photo below:

It was inspirational to watch Growing Matters in action. Everyone worked without complaint in 95 degree heat, smeared in soil, lifting heaving loads. The Growing Matters team labors every day to increase local foods in Columbus, and from what I saw during my couple hours of shadowing, they’re doing an incredible job.

THANK YOU to the Columbus Foundation for this morning’s learning session on career opportunities related to the non-profit sector. It was extremely helpful to hear from a  panel of highly successful professionals and to learn about how they got to where they are today. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to hear their perspectives and to benefit from their helpful advice.

This week, I have been working to gather information, tie up loose ends, and document all of the transportation-related information I have gathered so far. I’m working to organize the information in a logical way, so that research efforts won’t need to be duplicated down the road. Final costs are still coming in, but I hope to finalize my recommendations next week so that I can get input from key staff members. I’m feeling good about the direction of the project, and my hope is that the final report will be very useful to The Homeless Families Foundation & The Dowd Education Center.

I can’t believe there’s only 3 weeks left in this summer fellowship program! I’ve learned so much already… Looking forward to the next 3 weeks and all of the experiences ahead!

This past week I had a training with Ohio University’s Voinovich School (acting as my project mentor) in Athens (which being a former Bobcat, was like going home) and learned how to analyze and report the data I have been collecting for the past two weeks. With case studies, it’s important to present the information almost like a story- with details, narratives, and pictures. My final product for this impact evaluation will be a four page document showing the overall themes and impacts that the VISTA Summer Associates have on the Summer Food Service Program, as well as five additional 1-page, double sided inserts describing each case. This is a tall order for only about three weeks left. I have to write the content, have it edited, make revisions, design a layout, find and insert pictures, and then have it printed and approved. I’m excited, and I think it will really turn out to be an impressive piece to put into my professional portfolio, but I am also nervous to get everything done in time!

I think that having the pressure of a timeline however creates better work, and challenges me to really use my time and energy wisely. I feel that I am right on schedule, as I have collected all of my data and transcribed it this past week, meaning that I am already knee deep in data analysis, moving onto starting my first case study insert. I think one of the most challenging partsof writing for this evaluation is that I have to be very concise and can’t include all of those details and nuances of each site that I find very interesting. I have to be very selective in what I include in the report, as politicians and other stakeholders that will be reading it won’t have a lot of time to spend looking it over and will need the most pertinent information presented in a way that is simple yet significant; concise yet interesting.

This is something that I am confident will be accomplished in some form over the next few weeks. And to add one additional item to my list is a presentation for the fellowship closing luncheon which will be in Pecha-Kucha format (if you’ve never heard of this, like I hadn’t, check out the link). So with that added in I should really get back to work!
Until next time,

Melissa

Last week, in wake of an unforeseen appendectomy for one of our Summer Learning Academy teachers (she is doing much better now, things worked out!), I was thrust into the teacher role while we figured out how to get another teacher to fulfill her spot. It was everywhere from fun to stressful and certainly another interesting twist to my role as an intern. It’s not like I haven’t taught before: I was a substitute teacher for my high school’s Calculus class. But, sadly, that was no preparation for this, and I had to be a little more creative than simply explaining how to solve derivatives. It didn’t take long however to realize how uninteresting I can be: the kids were more interested in our puppet frog, the computers, the mirror on the far wall, and their own shoes. But in those moments where they performed something for the first time, I can’t tell you how exciting and rewarding that was.

The highlight of my DSACO experience since my last blog had to be from this past Saturday: A wine-tasting fundraiser to support someone newly near and dear to my heart: the one and only Jackson Amon. He is one of our Learning Academy scholars, a star reader with many supporters. Every year family friends join the Buddy Walk team  Backin’ Jack in honor of Jackson. This wine-tasting hosted by the Amon’s in their beautiful back yard raised funds for this Buddy Walk team, and it was so much fun (hence the title of FUNdraising). I held the prestigious title of Pourer, and though I hardly knew anyone there, the common bond of backing Jack was enough. The weather was delightful, the decorating sublime, and the hosts beyond amicable. I can’t wait to be a part of Pour It Forward next year!

And lastly, I would just like to comment on one last thing. Between the excitement I witness when our SLA scholars learn and the unexpected learning I seem to experience every day, I have realized the real potential of learning. Learning doesn’t make you smarter, rather it opens up a new world, a new realm of possibilities. Learning doesn’t require work or structure, it requires an open mind. Learning isn’t a chore, it’s a gift. Learning can be experienced any time, by any one, and inspired by any other.

So cheers to open minds, to new friends, to new possibilities, to greater potential, and to DSACO.