Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

I have updated the Streetcard and currently working to translate into it into Spanish.  I passed out some of them at our booth during ComFest and gave some to the vendors.  I believe this Streetcard will help those at risk of being homeless receive more up-to-date services.  I will have this put onto the website later this week.

I have been determined to quickly form a social enterprise to employ homeless people, but I found out it’s more complicated than I thought. Firstly, Jamie, another fellow, gave me resources about a social enterprise in Chicago.  I talked with a case manager at Inspiration Corp that told me how their culinary arts program evolved from a police officer passing out sandwiches to a restaurant that employed the homeless.  Also, within the Coalition I read how Greenworks, a recycling program where homeless individuals collect and dispose of business’s recyclables, evolved from cold calling businesses and writing grants to a service that is delivered twice a week with 15 businesses.  From these two projects I know that the process can be long and tedious.  Therefore, it may be better to take it slow and tackle one issue at a time.

I am looking to start a lawn service/carpentry company within the Coalition to employ the homeless to fix/maintain the vacant buildings in Columbus.  There is a need in the community for this work because the city is having a hard time finding enough contractors to do the work.  I am currently in communication with Columbus Area, Inc. to have them donate lawn mowers for the start-up.  Also, I have been calling Ohio Department of Development and other companies that can help me write a business plan and apply for grants.  This has been a daunting task with many phone calls.  I will continue to network next week and collaborate with my colleagues to help lay the foundation for this new venture.

In addition to working on these two assignments I have noticed that there is a big push on getting these homeless individuals employed, but neglect on other aspects of their lives.  After working two weeks with some of the vendors I have built relationships with them.  I would like to see more social events for them.  Two vendors and I discussed having a bowling night and one vendor discussed organizing a homeless football league.  I have realized that the individuals are constantly hustling and try to make ends meet, but I can see that some are lonely and really want to have positive social opportunities.  The other intern is making volunteer positions and she is looking to form a social volunteer coordinator. 

Giving drugs without food is like washing your hands and drying them in the dirt.” Haitian Proverb

I studied health services administration in my undergraduate degree and will be pursuing a graduate degree in public health starting this fall, meaning that it’s safe to say, I’m very concerned with the health of our nation. And currently if you don’t know, health care reform (the Affordable Care Act) is being reviewed by the Supreme Court and could be in-part or completely thrown out. This in conjunction with my position at the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, has caused me the past few days to do some serious thinking about the connection between access to food and health. If the ACA is indeed thrown out, that continues to leave many without health insurance, continuing the stress on the state budgets through Medicare and Medicaid, along with financial stress on uninsured or underinsured families with medical costs. With  the stress on state budgets, cuts to social programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) could further negatively impact the health of our communities, states, and nation, even without the ACA being thrown out.

The impact of policy decisions on our communities is incredibly great. With more than 1 in 3 children statewide living below 185% of poverty (according to 2006-2010 American Community Survey data), many Ohio families depend on SNAP, foodbanks, pantries, and soup kitchens, free and reduced school lunch programs, and Summer Food Service Programs in their area when school is out.

Thankfully many communities have resources address this issue in part, but more needs to be done to directly link our health and our social determinants of health (such as physical environment, social environment, social-economic standing, etc.), and thus is directly related to the food we are supplied and eat, the conditions we live in, and the attitudes that our communities share about personal health and wellness.

I read an interesting article this week by Rebecca Onie, Paul Farmer, and Heidi Behforouz, titled Realigning Health with Care  in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (great read, I highly recommend). In this article, the authors speak to a realignment of health care through expanding the scope of health, the delivery environment and, the workforce providing it, shortened to product, place and provider. For example, the article mentions a 2007 study by Johns Hopkins Medical Center in which, “98% of pediatric residents said that referring well-child patients for help with basic needs could improve the children’s health.” But only 11% of those residents routinely inquired into their patients food security. Children lacking proper nutrition cannot properly develop and often food insecurity for children can result in higher rates of depression, anxiety, behavior problems, diabetes, and can have an increased likelihood of repeating a grade or lower math scores. And so if we were to expand the scope of health to include basic necessities, expand where the public can access the resources, and expand who can provide the resources we could realign our health care system in a more effective and efficient way.

I wanted to share this to emphasize the importance of programs such as the Summer Food Service Program and the Governor’s Summer Backpack Program. I happen to be evaluating the VISTA Summer Associates volunteering with Summer Food Service Programs across the state, and having this frame  of mind has caused me to see the value of their work already! I can also see the great impact and value that the Ohio Associate of Second Harvest Foodbanks has in all areas of fighting poverty: advocacy work, the Ohio Benefit Bank, their National Service Programs, the Agricultural Clearance Program and more!

I have hopes that in the future we will address social determinants of health more effectively and efficiently, and in my humble opinion, throwing out provisions of the ACA (Yes, including individual mandate) would be a step backward. But no matter the decision, I know that communities at least have the support and assistance from organizations such as the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks.

Until next time,

Melissa

The views and comments on this post are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of or shared with OASHF

After a week and a half (I must apologize for the tardiness of this post, as blogging is a challenging new adventure for me) of working with the Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio, affectionately noted as DSACO (di-SAH-co), I can honestly say that I am loving it even more than I had expected. What was once a fortunate combination of everything I was looking to do this Summer has become all of that and more: a pure blessing.

DSACO has a full smorgasbord of events, programs, and services to help not only the lives of persons with Down syndrome, but their families as well (new parents, dads, siblings, etc.). And this has certainly helped form a wonderful community here in central Ohio that I had never even guessed existed. The members of DSACO, I have found, seem so much like a family, and I am so grateful to be given a chance to see more into that family and even work on becoming a member myself. Per the positive stereotypes, the kids and adults I have had the fortune of working with through DSACO’s Golf Academy and Summer Learning Academy have shown a love so untainted, a smile so genuine, and a laughter so contagious, that I wake up every morning excited to go to work, excited to learn something new, and excited to notice my own life changing when I’m supposed to help change theirs.

Want to be inspired? Check out the Lose The Training Wheels bike camp hosted by DSACO each summer, and see children with Down syndrome conquer two-wheelers for the first time with the biggest grins on their faces.

Hi!  My name is Owen Pollack and I am the Westerville Area Resource Ministry (W.A.R.M.) Summer Fellow.  My primary responsibility is to serve as a leader of one Lunch Club site, maintaining and improving the standards, attendance, and positive relationships with participants and the site owner.  Truthfully, I was not quite certain what to expect in beginning my work with W.A.R.M., which has turned out to be a good thing since each day brings new and different occurrences!

Last year was the first year that W.A.R.M. was a USDA-approved Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) site.  The objective of the program is to provide children, especially those who receive free and reduced-price lunches during the school year, with a free, nutritious lunch during the summer.  W.A.R.M. served meals and offered recreational and sports activities in one Westerville area park in 2011.This year, the program expanded to three parks and one apartment complex in the Westerville City school district.  Until the start of my work, I did not realize how much marketing and publicity launching three new sites would entail.  We also found out some exciting news…W.A.R.M. was selected as one of the SFSP sites that will be providing weekend backpack meals thanks to the Governor’s initiative.  We will even receive a visit from the Governor and his staff at one of the sites at the end of this week.

My first week involved a lot of networking within the community, talking to individuals and community members in the surrounding areas of the lunch sites, producing signs and flyers to advertise the program, and even preparing press releases.  Over the course of my time at W.A.R.M., I will be focusing on creating a video of interviews from families, volunteers, and other supporters of the Westerville Area Kids Lunch Club; composing a business model to share with Trinity Health to potentially expand the lunch program to other cities and states; partnering with other Westerville area backpack programs through local churches and individuals to hopefully continue providing weekend meals for children during the school year; and overseeing operations at each meal site.  Fingers crossed that I will have a photograph to document the affair in my next post!

I have completed one week and started a second week at the Broad Street Food Pantry, and it has been a great experience so far! So happy to finally begin and get the ball rolling. A quick overview of my project is that it has three aspects: making the food pantry more eco-friendly, volunteer friendly, and transportation friendly for clients.  The eco-friendly aspect is pretty straightforward.  In the volunteer realm, Kathy and I hope to find ways to let the volunteers know how appreciated their work is, and also make it easier for them to schedule hours and become properly trained.  Transportation is a big issue for some of the Pantry’s clients.  Imagine living even a few miles away, with no other mode of transportation than your own two feet, and attempting to carry 3 or 4 bags of groceries back home!  In the summer heat, no less.  I will admit: I occasionally have trouble trying to  man-handle my groceries from the store to my car.  Imagine if I had to walk the two miles back home!  I have already started work on each of these projects, you will hear more about that soon!

It might be good to explain why I was interested in the Broad Street Food Pantry when I applied. As I said in my application essay, “An eco-friendly food pantry benefits both our society and the earth that nourishes it.” I really believe this to be true.  The healthier our soil, air, and water, the better our earth will be able to sustain us.

One philosophy I live by is “A falling leaf affects the farthest star”. In a gist, everything we do has an effect, be it large or small, and every effect makes the world a little bit different, be it a large difference or a very small one. I think we should keep in our minds, every day, that each choice we make affects not only ourselves, but many others as well. The farmers who grow our food, the textile workers who make our clothes, the earth that supports us. Our daily choices affect the health and prosperity of other people and the health and prosperity of our planet.

This being said, even a small change in the Food Pantry (for example, using only natural, biodegradable cleaning products) will have an effect on its surrounding environment and the people who work and shop there. I hope to find as many ways as possible to change the Food Pantry for the better: to be better for the environment, a better place to volunteer, and an accessible place to help our neighbors who need it most. Not that the Food Pantry isn’t an amazing place already, but we must always strive for improvement! 🙂

This is a big project, and after my first week I have realized I will not have to find all of the answers on my own. I have met many people so far, each with a different and very valuable opinion. The people at Broad Street Food Pantry do so much for our community, and with all of our ideas together I believe we will be able to do even more in the weeks and months to come!

(Hanging out with the onions at our first Farmer’s Market!)

Have a great week everyone!

-Liz

One of the lessons emerging from my work at Local Matters is the importance of collaboration. I naively assumed that I would have to know everything and be an idea powerhouse to be a successful Fellow; however, it’s quickly becoming clear that there are a ton of seasoned co-op owners/workers/managers/gurus around the country that I can rely on for sound advice and brilliant ideas.

I spent most of yesterday on the phone with various people, gathering their insights on running a co-op and serving EBT customers. The two lengthiest conversations were with the membership director at Sevananda Natural Foods Market in Atlanta, and the membership director at the Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis. Both of these women provided expertise from years of experience, as well as a wealth of ideas for us to draw from when we open the Near East Side Co-op here in Columbus.

This is a photo of Sevananda’s storefront – welcoming and beautiful!

The Wedge’s storefront promotes a similarly professional and welcoming vibe.

…and here’s a Google Maps screenshot of one of the many possible locations for the Near East Side Co-op. Lots of work to do, huh?

The initial intent of my phone calls was to determine the demographic make-up of each co-op’s membership base, and to see how EBT benefits play into their annual income. Although I got all of this information in great detail, my conversations with the women at Sevananda and the Wedge evolved into dumping grounds for advice, ideas, and encouragement.

Sevananda operates multiple initiatives to give back to the community it serves. One notable example is its “Be the Change” program, which started in 1997 to make contributions to locally based non-profit organizations. Sevananda chooses twelve partners annually and gives to them in a variety of ways, including donating 1% of sales one day per month and allowing customers to round their purchase up to the nearest dollar to benefit the organizations. Since its inception, the program has provided thousands of dollars for 150 organizations.

The Wedge also gives back to its community through several programs. For one, shoppers that bring their own grocery bags are given “Green Patches,” which are credits that shoppers can donate to community gardens and other community organizations. “WedgeShare” is another initiative that grants funds to organizations whose missions align closely with that of the Wedge. The Wedge also operates its own organic farm, which supplies the co-op with produce as well as acting as an educational arena to train organic farmers.

At the beginning of this project, I was viewing the Near East Side Co-op as an island within the community. Thanks to the insight of everyone who I’ve crossed paths with so far, my perspective is shifting to view the co-op as a conduit for community building and collaboration. The opening of the Near East Side Co-op will do more than provide access to healthy food; it also has the potential to partner with other local businesses and create a vibrant community full of partnership, synergy, and mutual benefit.

At first I was a little disappointed that right after graduating from THE Ohio State University I would be starting work the following day in Columbus, Ohio.  So many of my friends had weeks or months off before starting the next step in a different city, state, or country even.  However, this week was amazing and I couldn’t imagine a better, more uplifting way to start my summer as an alumna beginning to find my career path.

I work for the AIDS Resource Center Ohio (ARC Ohio), specifically in the development office. ARC Ohio is a wonderful organization in terms of mission, beliefs, and programs.  The office is comprised of a development, prevention, treatment, and financial office in a broad sense. Overall, we aim to provide our clients with comprehensive assistance, from anonymous, free HIV testing to determine status to treatment options with prescription drugs to assisting with rent, utility, and food bills.  There can be a downward spiral with a positive HIV diagnosis that begins with increasing medical bills and leads to making difficult choices between upholding prescription regimes or eating and sleeping with a roof over your head.  I’m so proud to be working for an organization that truly saves lives in every sense imaginable.

This week I hit the ground running.  This summer I am responsible for devising my own outreach plan to recruit volunteers for a Street Team to raise interested in our AIDS Walk in September and to also form partnerships that lead to financial sponsorship or advertisement.  On the agenda this week was tabling at (614) Day and Pride.

(614) Day was put on by the Harmony Project, a choir that bases its membership on volunteering–so. cool.  It was also co-hosted by (614) Magazine.  I had a great time at Park Patio and Grille, talking to people interested in volunteering and also normal bar patrons that were curious to see what all the tables were about!  Overall, it was a successful event for ARC Ohio.  I event landed a video spot on the CW Columbus’s Columbus Bicentennial Blog!  We had so many people interested in our events and organization.  I’m sure the free stickers, condoms, and suckers helped though 🙂

I also got to table at our Pride Parade and Festival this weekend, which was an event I always missed because I have never been in Columbus for the summer.  It was a great day, though.  Pride made me remember how lucky I am to live in such a progressive, inclusive, metropolitan community that makes great efforts to value people of all walks of life.  I certainly met some characters as they came by our booth.  Some were completely decked out in rainbow boas, glitter, heels, fishnets, body paint, flags, posters; you name it, I probably saw it!  It was so much fun to see people wear their pride, whether it was an outward declaration about themselves or support for a friend or family member.

The moment that impacted me the most though was when people came up to our booth and said “You guys literally saved my life,” “Without you, I would have died years ago,” and “If it hadn’t been for your organization, I would have watched some of my family members and friends die.”  It moved me and made me proud to be working for ARC Ohio.  My boss had told me that our CEO always asks, “Have you saved a life today?” when he comes in from Dayton, but being at Pride and hearing the stories of some of our clients while having the freedom to be themselves (gay, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual, etc.) drove that fundamental idea home to me.  I am part of a grassroots nonprofit in Columbus, Ohio, a city that has given me some much in addition to my education, that saves people from a disease that has no cure.

As I packed up our table yesterday, I couldn’t help but think that it was more than serendipity that led me to this position.  It reaffirmed for me the importance of any position I have to be for a great cause with a nonprofit organization.  It also gave me the fuel to power through this next week with only one day off and sparked so many ideas for my outreach campaign.  I am excited for what this summer will bring!

–Katie