Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

This week was probably one of my favorites that I have had at my fellowship this summer. The highlight of my week was attending the Rural Housing Forum that MORPC hosted up in the Morrow County. At this event, I got to meet with numerous stakeholders about their work in rural housing and economic development initiatives. I was thoroughly impressed with some of the businesses and their methodology for addressing this concern.

At this meeting, I first was kindly introduced to the team at Small Nation, a private company addressing rural development and housing needs. Their mission and successes with the City of Bellefontaine was remarkable, and I enjoyed talking with them about the role of private companies in helping foster this change. Often, I think most individuals only look to government’s role in alleviating pressures such as housing, but companies also can have a massive impact, especially for lower-middle income individuals. This is one of the key areas that I will be studying this upcoming August, so I greatly appreciate MORPC for fostering this connection.

In addition to the event, I was able to attend the Ag and Rural Communications Outreach meeting. In this meeting, we discussed initiatives around MORPC’s rural stakeholders about various rural issues. Once again, this is right up my alley with what I plan on pursuing, so I felt like this was a tremendous opportunity to hear about their work and how MORPC helps these communities succeed.

Overall, I am getting towards the end of the fellowship, which is sad because of the great work and priorities that MORPC has for their rural communities. This week showed me that our advocacy goes far beyond just the cities in Franklin County. It is comprised of everyone and every city that spans from Delaware County to Hocking County.

This week, I started to work on Bridgeway’s annual report for the 2023-2024 year and I started to map out the content that I want to include in the report.

I decided to include a page for a staff profile to highlight our crisis stabilization program manager and a page that would highlight the program itself. I want these pages to also highlight a major success story that the program helped makes possible with a student that had experienced high levels of detrimental behavior that included self harm, but is now able to live more independently and attend classes at Bridgeway with a significant decline in those behaviors.

I also left room to include pages to highlight our Giving Tuesday campaign that raised over $16,000 for our Bridgeway Academy Market program. The market is located in the basement of our building and is a space where staff and students can come for food and snacks. The program is run by students and allows them to practice occupational skills by working at the cash register and preparing the food. Unfortunately our Food Service Manager had left so the Market has not been open for the summer but I have set up a meeting with Emily Walker who is a transition specialist at Bridgeway but who is looking over the Market in the meantime to ask for updates about the Market and its future plans.

Bridgeway’s segment on Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid was also another highlight from the previous year that I want to include into the report. The Viewpoint team reached out to Bridgeway to film a segment raising awareness for our organization. I thought this was amazing because it also raises awareness for students and adults living with developmental disabilities as well. I want to highlight this experience and include the finished segment in the report in a QR code.

Lastly, I wanted to highlight other unique programs at Bridgeway such as the Young Men’s Club lead by one of our speech therapists, Henry Newberg that I previously wrote about in a blog post. I also made room to showcase our Bridgeway theatre group that is lead by another speech therapist, Alexa Reck. Though I don’t know much about the program, I have reached out to her to hopefully get more insight into what it is and the positive impact it has on our students.

I am excited to be able to work on the annual report. I want the design to communicate Bridgeway’s brand and its values through the design and I want the stories to stand out to current and potential donors are confident about investing into the organisation.

I am also continuing to work on our charity regatta campaign. Unfortunately, we haven’t raised much money from the campaign but I spoke to our Director and she said that she was more focused on the content that we put out for it. I will continue to promote it as much as I can and think of ways that would encourage people to donate.

Can you believe it’s already week seven at Seeds of Caring? It’s unbelievable! I have mixed feelings as this incredible fellowship journey nears its end. Part of me is excited to see what’s next, but it also feels surreal. I’m thankful for the entire experience and the amazing people I’ve had the privilege to work with.

This week has been one of the busiest yet, and I hardly had a moment to catch my breath. I started the week by dropping off summer fun kits at Broad St. Food Pantry, then visited a new Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School called Livingston. There, I managed the kids in level 1 and taught them about how they can show gratitude to veterans for their service. It was my second time fully leading an event but the first time with these kids, so I was determined to instill the right and necessary information about veterans.

Monday’s session was quiet, as many of the kids were ESL students. As someone who was born in Nigeria and moved to the USA at a young age, I could relate to their experiences. Even though I always knew English, the accent and cultural differences were unique challenges. This connection made the session particularly meaningful for me.

Back at the office, the day slowed down after a few meetings and quality checks. Tuesday’s routine mirrored Monday’s, but the kids were much more active. They made a total of 50 veteran kits and their comments about the session were heartwarming. One kid said, “Wow, veterans are the kindest; they do so many dangerous things just to protect their country.” Hearing their understanding and appreciation melted my heart.

After returning to the office, I dropped off postcards to one of our non-profit partners for their back-to-school kits and continued preparations for future events. Wednesday was a chill day, focused on completing tasks and setting up for a board meeting in the evening. Despite struggling with my research project, I managed to identify 20 potential non-profit partners in a day, a significant improvement for me.

The rest of the week was a mix of activities. On Thursday and Friday, I visited various schools to drop off flyers for our upcoming events and entered data for all our summer activities. Additionally, I created content for the PLANT prep groups by compiling questions designed to encourage the kids to think outside the box, build their confidence, and understand that they can be leaders in unexpected ways. These questions also focus on teaching empathy, kindness, and other important values, ensuring the conversations are both suitable and age-appropriate.

As I reflect on these past seven weeks, I’m motivated to make the most of the remaining three weeks, seizing opportunities and pushing past limitations. This journey continues to teach me more about myself and the impact we can have on our community.

Until next week, have a great time! 🌱❤️

Kanyin

Another great week working at flow! This week began with a team meeting about an upcoming festival. ArborFest is in late August and is an opportunity for local community residents to be more interactive with environmental groups and learn more about safe practices. After this, we had a group lunch at Northstar! It was great to hear more about everyone’s thoughts and current projects as well as how they came to work at flow .

On Tuesday, I did my first News interview. Last week I contacted many local new sources in order to spread the word about flows tree giveaway. I got a couple emails back that asked me to meet with them in order to explain the opportunity more. I met Clintonville spotlight on Tuesday and had my first over the phone interview. I was pretty nervous, but I think it went relatively well for the first time doing this and definitely showed me how to be prepared for something like this. I had another one on Friday and I think this one went a little more smoothly, but I am looking forward to seeing what both sources write.

On Friday, I attended a local community event called the Go Green event hosted by Columbus parks and rec. My coworker Maggie and I set up an activity for all the kids in attendance, which was planting sunflower seeds. For a couple hours different groups of children from summer camps and activities came over and we were able to meet so many children and spread the word to them about what we do. This was a highlight of my week and I really enjoyed working with local kids and seeing them be so excited about the environment.

Sad to be leaving FLOW so soon, but I’m still looking forward to the next few weeks!

Happy Friday, everyone!! This past week at Children’s Hunger Alliance has been wonderful and packed with exciting new experiences! I still can’t believe how close we are to finishing the fellowship.

This week was different than usual, as I started the week working from home instead of being in the office. Although working from home had its beautiful moments and challenges, it taught me the importance of time management. Now I understand how challenging it can be to manage time, especially when working from home. There are so many unique distractions that can make it difficult to stay focused. A few tools that I used to help manage my time effectively that I hope will help others are making a schedule, setting boundaries, and creating a to-do list with realistic goals in mind.

On Monday, the team and I had a bi-weekly meeting with the CHA board members to review Taste To Remember updates, which are now six weeks away! This was just our first meeting, and there are many more to come. I had the opportunity to introduce myself to the board members, and we discussed the details of the ticket sales reports, auction items, and fundraising efforts for the upcoming event in August. Although the meeting was short and sweet, it was lovely finally being able to meet some of the hardworking board members and put names to faces of the people who have dedicated a lot of time and effort to helping Children’s Hunger Alliance with the behind the scenes fundraising events such as Taste To Remember and Menu of Hope. 

I can’t believe the fellowship program has only three weeks left! Once again, I’m genuinely excited for the upcoming weeks at CHA. Next week, I have a few fundraising webinars to attend and hope to explore more volunteer engagement at CHA. I’m committed to cherishing every moment and making the most of this incredible opportunity!

Another week down the hatch! This week was smooth sailing for the most part, but in doing my tasks and talking with everyone in the office I came to a few realizations. One is that the 9-5 format is not what bothers me, it’s being in the office all day. I love being outside, especially in the summer, and you get approximately 4 hours of being in the office. As I went through the week, I recalled our conversation at our last session on the pros and cons of remote work. I’ve concluded that I love remote work because it offers you true flexibility within your day. Most tasks might take you 3-4 hours max if you stay focused, then the rest of your day is practically yours. In saying that, I do see the value of being in the office as you can connect with your team members more easily. I have gotten to learn a lot about the team during our chats in the office and if I was primarily remote those connections may not be as strong as they are.

Last Friday, the Letter of Intent application closed with a total of 100 submissions! This week, the team and I were able to read the grant applications that various organizations had sent for approval to move to the second step of the process. It becomes very difficult when reviewing applications because you can identify the need, the significance, and the thought behind each of the programs that closely align with The Women’s Fund’s mission. There were some programs that the team and I loved but lacked a detailed application that outlined what participants in a program would be doing. It was an incredible amount of reading and your eyes started to get cross-eyed by looking at the computer screen filled with small text for hours. Reading the submissions gave me a new perspective on the grantmaking process and more knowledge of non-profits in Columbus.

Through this fellowship experience, I have realized quirks about myself, the pros and cons of workplace cultures, and gained some newfound skills. Each of these realizations is shaping the way I want to move forward in my career which I am extremely grateful for.

Hoping everyone had a great week!

See y’all in the next one!

Kennedy Smith

My time with City Year Columbus has been filled with tasks/projects ranging all over the place. I have been lucky enough to have experience in marketing, the technical side of development, fundraising, networking, graphic design, video editing, content management, etc. 

This past week, I worked on setting up the framework for our annual Red Jacket Bash an end-of-year celebration in honor of our AmeriCorps members finishing their year of service reflecting on the work done and the impact made in the community. I was also able to draft sponsorship documents for the Red Jacket Bash as well as our Advancing Racial Equity event held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Last year on that day there was a panel of students and AmeriCorps members who discussed the mental health of the youth. It is a great opportunity to connect more personally with the community and the issues they are facing.

One of our biggest projects for the year is the annual Impact Report where we as a site highlight all our important accomplishments for the year and report back end of the school year student successes. I have been tasked with creating a cover for the report which has hit a few bumps in the road but worked itself out. City Year handcrafted a gift book for Bill Clinton and used a collage of AmeriCorps pictures as the cover. I wanted to do something similar for my site, so I pulled our site-specific photos to use instead. I also created a graphic showing our partner schools as well as updated the picture out front in our office. 

Since the rest of my Devo team is out today I was responsible for posting to socials and crafting future posts for our social media. Additionally, I have been tasked with creating a new display for our national/local sponsors and our City Year values. Since I am getting used to creating monthly newsletters I was asked to start the one for August which included our Opening Day event, Kiwanis Regatta information, and catch-up with the returning Senior AmeriCorps members. My favorite task was creating a “Piece of Me” slide where I introduced an object of importance in my life to the AmeriCorps members. When getting tied down with technical tasks it’s nice to take a break and be creative!

The biggest event to occur this week was the departure of my supervisor Tiffany Priest who will be working with Lutheran Social Services. Tiffany has been a great mentor to me throughout my time at the fellowship and equipped me with all the skills/experience I need to succeed. She will be missed but I am thankful for all that she taught me and wish her luck in her future endeavor!

It’s crazy how close we are to the end of the fellowship. It feels like just yesterday was my first day here! This week, we hosted a group of 3rd-5th graders from the Homes for Families Foundation with Mr. D (Dwayne McGrath, Assistant Director) for mini camps on Tuesday and Thursday. I helped out with camp and mainly prepared the lunches. On Tuesday, we ordered pizza, so there wasn’t much to set up. However, Thursday was a different story, as we had a taco bar. My boss Sandy cooked nine pounds of meat in a crockpot, and I chopped up lettuce and arranged the other ingredients. It was all worth it because this group of kids was the sweetest, most engaged, and appreciative group we’ve had.

On Tuesday, we went macro netting, where many kids caught fish and did a craft with our resident artist. It was heart-wrenching to hear some kids say they didn’t have a home to take their crafts to. This goes to show the importance of nonprofits like the Homes for Families Foundation, which provides housing and social services to homeless families with the goal of empowering them to achieve stable housing and self-sufficiency. I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet these kids and learn more about the organization that provides them incredible opportunities that they would not have otherwise had.

Thursday’s highlight was partnering with Metro Parks for a rock-climbing session. Almost every kid made it to the top without fear, and I loved encouraging them and seeing their smiling faces. We have four more mini camps with Mr. D in the coming weeks, and I can’t wait to meet the other groups of kids.

My biggest accomplishment this week was my work on the sponsorship package. I had a meeting with Leigh Ann (Center Director) and Sandy, who gave me valuable feedback on what to change, including condensing it and highlighting the sponsorship’s impact. After several drafts, I managed to reduce the nine-page document to three pages. Initially, I felt unmotivated to keep revising the sponsorship because, as a student, I’m used to doing one or two drafts and submitting it. However, this experience taught me that in the real world, nothing is perfect on the first try, and it takes time and practice to get things right. I hope to receive more feedback on this draft so I can tweak it more and hopefully send it out before my time here ends.

Another notable event this week was leading a green infrastructure tour with Sandy for Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. This was my first time leading a tour, and Sandy and I were initially hesitant to do it since the group already knew about green infrastructure. However, after rehearsing a few times, the tour went well, and the group of about 15 people had a great time. I even learned about some of the center’s green features I didn’t know about, including a bioswale, a former wetland, and a graffiti art piece titled “Erica” that was saved from when this area was a warehouse district and impound lot before being transformed into the beautiful Scioto Audubon Metro Park and GIAC we know today. We took the group all over the building, explaining the green features and their benefits, including permeable concrete, the green roof, the rain chains reused from the warehouse district, geothermal wells, native plants in the gardens, and more. Reflecting on the tour, there were a few things I could have done differently, but I’m glad I got the experience and will be better prepared next time. This internship has taught me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things I’ve never done before. It’s definitely a crucial step in my career and is helping me gain confidence in my abilities.

Hello, I hope everyone is having a great and productive week at their host sites! I started off my week by attending an event hosted by COHHIO (Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio) at the Bexley Public Library. COHHIO presented a powerpoint to us pointing out some of the root causes of homelessness and financial insecurity here in Ohio. Learning from COHHIO and the data they took time to collect, we can see that our community still has many systemic areas where we need improvement to ensure everyone has access to basic human needs. However, it was awesome to be in a room full of people from different organizations all coming together to engage in conversations surrounding the advancement of affordable housing and initiatives to end homelessness; this aspect allowed me to see all the great work that is currently being done for the cause in our community. It was interesting to see the way everyone had a different perspective of the issue based on their backgrounds. For example, a woman who owns apartment properties has had experience with tenants who have vouchers, and there were also people in the room who work to distribute those vouchers. With that being said, people had their own opinions on what areas of focus are most important and from what angles we should tackle the issue of homelessness to be most effective. 

This week I have also been working on my assigned projects while my supervisor is on vacation. I have developed our program booklet for our 2024 Founder Awards Ceremony and started coordinating with NBC4 to set up our scheduled interviews with our honorees which will take place the week of 7/29. I am also currently working on press releases to be sent out after the ceremony to highlight our honorees and why they are so deserving of our recognition!  

Hello! Week seven here at Legal Aid has been a great one with a lot of new projects starting up, along with old ones kicking into gear, both balanced with some fun. As I talked about before, I have been involved in creating what we’ve been calling our “Story Bank,” an easily accessible database of great and compelling client stories that could be used for a wide variety of purposes. I’ve been working a lot on it this week, and I am happy to say it is really coming along. Hopefully this will be a good resource long after I am gone.

Besides this, I’ve also been continuing in our preparation for the celebration of the Ohio Poverty Law Center’s anniversary party fundraiser. For those unaware, OPLC is Legal Aid’s advocacy affiliate that seeks to promote and work for the interests of those in poverty in Ohio policymaking. This upcoming event is very important, as raising funds for OPLC is critical for its work. While the event will occur over a month after I am done at Legal Aid, I am very grateful for the opportunity to help in its preparation and support.

Finally, I will soon be starting on assisting the Development team in applying for a massive federal grant, one that will take a lot of collaboration, ingenuity, and hard work to put forth an application for. On my end, I will be helping collect and sort through the immense amount of data the Supreme Court of Ohio provides on evictions in our service area (36 counties), hopefully providing some useful information that will assist in our final application. I’ve learned here that applying for federal grants such as this entail a lot of hours and hard work (estimated 120 hours of work!)—however, it is work like this that keeps Legal Aid going. I am excited to get more into this next week, hopefully sharpening my research skills in the process.