Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

The Columbus Coalition for the Homeless is a small grassroots non-profit with the purpose of providing resources for the homeless.  Since it is a small agency I am able to have more control over my work and see the products of my work.  For example, on the third day of my fellowship I was able to review and change part of the Street Speech, a newspaper that the homeless population sells.  If I worked with the Columbus Dispatch I doubt I would be given this opportunity so quickly.

My first job is updating the Streetcard, which is a resource pamphlet for the homeless population.  Initially, I thought this job would take only a couple days to complete.  However, I found out that I really need to understand the organization, the resources in Columbus, and what the community needs to do a good job.  I have been listening to the current employees/board members/volunteers talk about resources in the community, calling the agencies on the current Streetcard to verify the information, and talking with homeless people about which resources they use and don’t use.  This collaboration and patience is needed for the Streetcard to benefit the homeless population.

In addition to the Streetcard I have helped to sell the Street Speech newspapers.  I am glad to see how well it is run.  Many people believe that non-profits/government agencies run inefficiently and ineffectively.  However, I believe this newspaper is a strong and well-organized system.  There is an Excel sheet which documents how many papers are sold to the homeless vendors and how much money is being generated.  Also, there is a system about where the vendors are allowed to stand and incentives in place to allow successful vendors to have priority where they want to stand.   

I have noticed that the sales pitch of the vendors vary in effectiveness.  I would like to get a successful vendor to come in and speak about what they do to in order to help new vendors.  I believe this workshop will improve the sales of new vendors.

My second job is to identify a start-up to employ homeless people.  Currently, it is too early to know what I will need to do achieve this.  The Street Speech seems like a great job to provide quick money to this population.   

I am very thankful for this opportunity to work with The Homeless Families Foundation, and my Summer Fellowship is off to a great start! Earlier this week, I was able to tour The Dowd Education Center… WOW! I was really blown away by what I experienced and what I learned. The Dowd Education Center is somewhat tucked away from Broad Street, so many people may not be aware of its location. But I truly hope that EVERYONE in Columbus is made aware of the incredible impact that The Dowd Education Center has on the children of our community.

The Dowd Center is such an amazing place, with extremely talented, compassionate, and dedicated leaders, teachers, and staff members. Each room is alive with colorful murals that not only brighten your spirit, but also provide meaning and insight into the history of The Dowd Education Center and the children whose lives have been so positively impacted.

If you haven’t been to The Dowd Education Center, you can watch a video at the following link (and feel free to spread the word… you can share this link with others!)… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqf7SZpsymU

So in recognition of all of the incredible work that is being done for children at the Dowd Center, I definitely feel pressure to deliver meaningful results this summer. My goal is to complete a transportation feasibility study in order to ensure that children can continue to be safely transported to and from The Dowd Education Center. More to come!

Monday marked the first day of the 2012 Summer Fellowship Program, and I have to say I am incredibly excited! I’ll take this first post as an opportunity to introduce myself and the organization with which I will be working.

On graduation day!

My name is Melissa Papic, and I am a recent graduate of Ohio University, where my major area of study was Health Services Administration, with minors in Business Administration and German, and a Global Leadership Certificate. I graduated in March, and since then have been working at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs as a research assistant. Originally I am from Grove City, Ohio (just south of Columbus) and it is going to be a great summer at home, and most likely the last summer at here for a few years! I plan to make the most of this summer through the fellowship and through getting involved with community events.

I am honored to work as a fellow this summer, as I serve the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks. The ‘Association’s’ mission is to assist Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks in providing food and other resources to people in need and to pursue areas of common interest for the benefit of people in need.

I have been charged with evaluating the Americorp VISTA SHARECorps Summer Associate Program, answering the question, What impact do VISTA volunteer have on summer feeding programs?. I am fortunate to have the guidance of mentors from the Voinovich School , giving me the opportunity to continue relationships with colleagues that I have worked with for the past year (didn’t have to say my ‘goodbyes’ just yet).

This first week has involved a lot of bringing myself up to speed on the research project. This has involved a lot of reading, organizing, discussing and THINKING! I was also able to visit four Summer Food Service Programs near Dayton, which was a great opportunity to see first hand where the Summer Associates are working this summer and how the programs are operated. On Wednesday, myself and the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks’ Fellow were given research training by the Voinovich School, so that we could begin our projects effectively and have a scope of what the next nine weeks will require and entail.

I have to say that this is going to be a challenging, but incredibly rewarding summer. I am excited to rise to the challenge as I begin really delving into the research and producing a meaningful research product.

Until next time!

I am in the midst of a tremendously busy time in my life. Not only am I working at Local Matters this summer through this Fellowship, I am also finishing up my master’s degree at Ohio State (freedom comes on July 13th… providing I pass my thesis defense!), as well as taking a yoga teacher training through Balanced Yoga. This mix of responsibilities is consuming every one of my waking hours, but the diversity of the lessons I am learning keeps things interesting.

The reason I share this is because during my first week here at Local Matters, I’ve found myself drawing upon a concept that I learned at yoga teacher training. The concept is “adhikara,” which translates to “qualification.” The project that I’ve been plugged in to at Local Matters is to aid with the opening of a community food cooperative in the Near East Side of Columbus. I’m in charge of producing a document that will act as a blueprint for other cities around the nation that may want to open a food co-op in a low-income neighborhood. When I heard that this was my job, I was incredibly excited, but also terrified; I know very little about business models, about the history of the Near East Side, etc. etc. etc. In other words, I didn’t feel qualified to complete the job I was given. My lack of knowledge made it very easy for me to panic – until I remembered adhikara.

At this point in my life, I haven’t learned the exact lessons needed to know everything about cooperative business models or the economic history of Columbus neighborhoods. Therefore, at this moment in time, I’m not qualified to produce the document that Local Matters wants. However, I am qualified to act and get myself to a place where I am qualified. I’m equipped with the tools to learn – I have passionate and intelligent co-workers, access to an enormous library at Ohio State (and there’s always wikipedia, too!), and ten weeks of time to do thorough research and dive into the subject matter that will help me fulfill the tasks I’ve been given. Adhikara has helped me realize that I’m not an expert in the subject areas that this project deals with yet, but I am competent in other subject areas (such as research, writing, interviewing, and critical thinking) that will help me gain the knowledge I need.

Hopefully by the end of these ten weeks, I will be able to add a couple new skills to my tool belt. In order for that to happen, I will need to diligently hone those skills. That being said, I’m signing off now to continue my research and get a little bit closer to having the qualifications I need!

We look forward to introducing you to them after they start on June 11^th.
Please plan to follow this blog all summer long as the Fellows post about their experiences, challenges, and successes through this summer’s opportunity.
To learn more about the 2012 class of summer fellows, visit the 2012 Fellows page.

Thank you for all of the very well qualified applications (over 90 were submitted). The review process will be occurring throughout March and April, with interviews for selected candidates happening in April. Announcements of site assignments will be made shortly thereafter for the final 11 Fellows.

The Columbus Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2012 Summer Fellowship Program.

Learn more, and about the student eligibility requirements

Learn about the host nonprofits

I was pleased and honored to be able to present about my fellowship experience on Friday, August 19th at The Columbus Foundation.  The room was full of members of the selection committee, employees from The Columbus Foundation, non-profit site supervisors, and of course the fellows.

At the luncheon, Ann, Alex, and myself spoke about our experiences in each of our respective fellowships.  It was very interesting to hear about different fellows’ experiences, and how they were both similar to, and different from my own.  Also, supervisors from Habitat for Humanity of Ohio and the Grange Insurance Audubon Center spoke about how their fellows, Matthew and Shelley, respectively, helped fill an important function in the mission of these organizations.

As far as the validity of my own experience, I could not have asked for a better one.  I have learned so much at Jazz Arts Group these past ten weeks, and met many inspiring, wonderful, and kind people.  I am certain I would not have had such a wonderful experience without each and every one of them.  I would like to send out a huge thank you to everyone at the Jazz Arts Group office, the Jazz Academy, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, the Columbus Zoo, The Columbus Foundation, and of course the Columbus community itself for helping to make our work worthwhile.

As I am writing these words of thanks, I can’t help but feel a little like a musician writing the “thank you” portion of their liner notes for their newest album.  In a way, I feel as though this experience, and particularly the blog chronicling it, have been like an “album” of mine.  I hope that one day someone else might stumble across my words, and maybe it will inspire them to engage in the arts and perhaps even non-profit work.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has helped make this all possible.  I feel very fortunate and blessed to be chosen for such an amazing opportunity.  I will always cherish the experiences, memories, and learning opportunities!

– Janelle, Jazz Arts Group