Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

It’s no secret that we can’t truly serve people until we know what they need help with. It’s no secret we can find a solution until we identify a problem. And in my experience, it’s to be certain that there is something we can learn from each person we meet. In fact, I believe to be the greatest servant leader we can be, we must first have the willingness to put others needs before oneself, we must have the humility to accept we do not always know what’s best for ourselves and others, and we must have the meekness to learn from and about others.

Now I believe for my internship with the Down Syndrome Association I am still in the stage of learning from others. And my, how I have learned.

In three weeks at the DSACO office, I have learned several important things:

(1) Improvement is always possible, and it is always necessary. In striving to better the lives of those with Down syndrome in the central Ohio area, improvement is not an option, it is our mission. So every day we are trying to improve communication, increase planning, assess experiences, and brainstorm ideas.

(2) To maximize impact, one must work with others. We don’t know all the answers, and we can’t execute all the plans, so teaming up and collaborating can minimize knowledge gaps, and maximize output. We work with other passionate people in our office, we work with experts in various fields for our different programs (Golf Academy, Summer Learning Academy, Lose The Training Wheels, etc.)

(3) Have fun. We laugh a lot every day, and I wake up every morning excited about going to work, hanging out with the staff, and meeting new people.

I’ve learned just as much from the Down syndrome folks and family members I have met this Summer:

(1) Celebrate the small things. Possibly the most powerful thing I’ve learned this summer. There can never be enough high-fives, too much dancing, or too many laughs or smiles.

(2) Learning is exciting. To have the opportunity to come out of something knowing one more thing than before you came in is extraordinary, and it should never be taken for granted, whether you’re learning how to putt a golf ball, identify a picture of a camel, or pick-up a new dance move.

Other things I’ve learned that I think you should know too: Down syndrome is caused by having three copies of the 21st chromosome. That extra chromosome can result in low muscle tone, small stature, and several other medical conditions. These results vary in magnitude across Down syndrome patients. It is the most common chromosomal abnormality, occurring once in every 700 or so live births. Approximately 4 million people worldwide have Down syndrome, also known as trisomy 21. And it is Down syndrome. Not Down Syndrome.

While I’m still learning, I’ve come a long way from the young man who had never spoken to  someone with Down syndrome. And it’s been truly a blessing. Learning? Check. Serving? Let’s do this.

~Alfred Yates

With the help of employees, interns, and board members, I have been laying down the foundation for improving the transition to full time employment for the homeless population.   In order to accomplish this we need to work on three things.  Firstly, we need to make sure that Street Speech, selling newspapers to the public, is only temporary.  Secondly, we need to do a needs-assessment to determine what is holding these individuals back from gaining full-time employment.  Thirdly, we need to expand the existing social enterprise, Greenworks, to offer more street newspaper vendors the opportunity to work for it after selling the newspaper

I have been told that Street Speech needs to be transitional employment.  I have noticed that many vendors are staying in the program for several years.  We need to limit the amount of time that these vendors can participate in this program because it was initially set-up to provide quick, immediate relief and not long-term employment.  We will create mandatory workshops based on the needs assessment to help transition from them this program to Greenworks or another full-time employment option.

One employee and I have been working to expand Greenworks in order to feed vendors into this program from Street Speech.  Greenworks’s capacity is not big enough to hire many vendors.  Firstly, we need to do a better job at marketing the program to increase the number of customers.  I recently made a survey to send out to various businesses in downtown and the Short North.  Secondly, it will be more profitable to find a place to sort the recyclables to collect extra money versus dumping the recyclables into a RUMPKE recycling bin.  We have looked into this option, but no companies offer enough money to make it worthwhile.

My quest for starting a new social enterprise was put to a halt when I saw that the social enterprise Clean Turn is already doing the same work I wanted to do.  I will continue to meet with the entrepreneurs who have started social enterprises and find out what the community needs to set up my own startup.  If I am unable to accomplish this I will network with these current social enterprises to hire our homeless population.

To meet the social needs of the vendors I am in the process of setting up a bowling night for the street vendors.  I will use tactics from the Cramer and Associates presentation to create this evening.  I will be talking to the bowling manager at a local bowling alley where one of my co-workers and I frequently bowl.  I have done my research by looking up the current prices of group rates.  I will ask the manager for a lowered rate based on the needs of our population.  In exchange, I will tell him in exchange we can put the name of the alley in one of our homeless brochures.

David Teran

It’s funny that Melissa below mentions the Strengths Finder test because this week I FINALLY got to take it myself!   For years I’ve been hearing my friends talk about their results for a greek retreat, leadership retreat, etc., and taking it has always been on my list.  My office does a great job with staff related activities and one of the more recent ones revolved around taking the Strengths Finder 2.0 Test and everybody talks about their results all of the time.  I share an office with my two bosses and hearing them talk about their “woo” was a little confusing and I was ready to be able to share my strengths!

I scored: Significance, Communication, Harmony, Relator, and Input.  Check out the website if you’re more curious about what this test is and what the strengths mean.  Essentially though, it’s funny that I’m in a development and fundraising office and the “woo” factor isn’t at the top of my list.  Woo is exactly what it sounds like–the ability to get people to like you and cooperate well with you.  However, I found my strengths actually make sense for a fundraising and development professional.  Together, my strengths tell me that I love to be a part of a team and facilitate it’s survival and to form strong, personal relationships with people.  This reminds me that there are several ways to skin a cat; there are different types of people that make great fundraisers (and salesmen :)! ).  This book was also really motivating in that the emphasis is on what people do best.  The author of the book argues that for years Americans have poured effort into removing their weaknesses and focusing on them in lieu of honing their strengths and touting them.  It was a breath of fresh air for me as an A-type personality who consistently focuses on what I have to work on!

Some other things I got to do this week included a working lunch and dinner at Level and a another lunch at Union Cafe in the Short North.  Despite living in Columbus for four years, I have somehow never made it to these restaurants and I’m glad I finally did!

Until next week,

–Katie

This past year I participated in a Strengths Quest workshop, which assessed my top five strengths. Two of these five were input and learning. This means I love information, understanding, and collecting details. This tendency to be a ‘strong’ learner and information collector also plays into my MANY interests in MANY areas (just look at my undergraduate course of study-health major…. German minor! ). This quality can be a strength, but can also be a detriment. Because I do really enjoy learning and have a tendency to collect my information I am often able to make conceptual connections across diverse subject areas. However, I have also found that my desire to know more and more can sometimes cause me to convolute the big picture which, I think in-part, happened this week.

As I am continuing with my evaluation and research on the VISTA Summer Associates working with Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors/sites, I have compiled quite a bit of information and data. I have a developed a database, kept everything organized and accessible. Tried looking at the data from different perspectives, but I have not yet been able to determine which sponsors I would like to use as case study sites. Nothing seemed to speak to the differences between the sites; no patterns. I was hoping that once I saw the responses to the sponsor survey I sent out, all would become clear, but alas that wasn’t the case. Thankfully, I am being mentored by Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, and had a meeting with my mentor yesterday. She was able to help me look at the data critically and discern how the knowledge I have can help determine the most important differences between the SFSP sponsors. After observing that the information from the returned survey also has no apparent pattern we started to think more broadly. Referencing a past USDA  evaluation study on SFSP sponsors, we concluded that the type of organization (government, school based, faith based, etc.) is vital in determining the activities that the Summer Associates perform. As these are mission driven organizations,  all of their programs and activities are derived from such. After my ‘aha’ moment, my mentor explained this further and gave vital direction for the next steps in deciding case study sponsors.

As mentioned, I always strive for more information; more detail. A collection that I can store, sort, reference, and analyze. But I’m finding that it is most important to understand the fundamentals of a situation/organization/issue/person, to therefore understand the nature and the reasoning behind a majority of what that entity does. By first referencing the organizational mission, I will have the foundation that connects all of those other details that I have already collected. This is a valuable lesson and critical thinking skill learned through this experience, which is what this Fellow program is all about!

**As a final note, I want to extend a big ‘thank you’ to Michelle, Mike and Dawn from Cramer & Associates for their information presentation yesterday at our first Columbus Foundation Fellows’ Learning Circle. It was my first in-depth experience learning about non-profit fundraising and it was incredibly insightful and valuable. One key aspect of successful fundraising is researching your potential donor knowing as much as you can about them- something, I think is safe to say, I would have no problem doing :-).

Until next time,

Melissa

Time flies when you’re having fun… I can’t believe this is week 3!

This week, I continued reaching out to community partners. Related to student transportation, I’m in search of general expertise, mapping software, routing software, confirmation of safety requirements, identification of excess capacity in the community, etc, etc. I was able to meet with both MORPC and CRP, and they provided me with several new contacts who might be able to help out as well.

Based on internet research, I’m learning how to become a saavy consumer of student transportation. One option to consider is the use of a private vendor. So I began calling transportation vendors, in search of those who are well qualified to transport children. After these initial phone conversations, I was able to identify only a few strong candidates. So I am working to interview those companies using a consistent and thorough list of questions that cover issues related to vehicles (type, availability, age, technology), drivers (qualifications, experience, training, licensing, compliance), service (on-time performance, professionalism, flexibility), safety (regulations, seat belts, vehicle maintenance/ inspection, accident records, student supervision, and emergency planning), efficiency & cost (optimization of routes, ways to minimize costs), and vendor credentials (company stability, management qualifications, references, etc).

Today, I also attended a learning session at the Columbus Foundation, where I was able to check in with the other summer fellows. Cramer & Associates gave a very lively and engaging presentation on fundraising. They set the bar really high, so I’m definitely looking forward to attending additional learning sessions over the next several weeks!

This week, I am further settling into my position at WARM and discerning all it entails.  I had a meeting with a professor at Otterbein University with whom I will collaborate in the upcoming weeks.  We are creating a measurement tool to evaluate the Kids Lunch Club program and improve upon it in the future.  Through my research courses this past year in OSU’s Masters in Social Work program, I learned of the importance of evidence-based practice rather than the often utilized, yet potentially unconstructive “ooh, ooh, let’s try this” shot-in-the-dark style method.  Though the program currently runs smoothly, we will hopefully discover methods to strengthen the program and its mission.  I am also currently organizing the plethora of KLC volunteers into a database and will use this list to form a focus group of key volunteers from each of the four meal sites.  This group will meet to discuss any issues, concerns, and perceptions of the program, and will help determine volunteer satisfaction. 

 The second week of the backpack weekend meal distribution, which coincided with Governor Kasich’s visit to WARM and the KLC site, was a success.  A large crowd gathered at Ridgewood Park and the Governor spoke of his fondness of social service programs focused on hunger and youth.  I am hopeful this experience will lead to a continuation of the backpack program for the children of Westerville! 

I continue to work on enhancing the kids’ meal experience by planning activities and special guests, including the Turtle Lady, COSI, and more.  In supervising and managing the sites, I observed several of the Americorp VISTAs taking initiative to enrich their site.  They networked with a local man, who builds “little free libraries,” who agreed to place one within one of our sites.  Here are some of the kiddos enjoying his handiwork and books donated to us! 

From August 2010 until August 2011, I was a Jesuit Volunteer and committed to living out the values of social justice, spirituality, simple living, and community.  Still now, my time in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp remains close to my heart and in my mind, and I realize what a community can achieve when it works together.

Since my post last week about the importance of collaboration, that lesson has continued to present itself even more clearly. The executive director of Local Matters has shared many bits of advice with me so far, but one line that I’ve heard multiple times is “never burn bridges.” In an endeavor such as opening a cooperative grocery store, you never know what challenges you will face or what people you will need to call upon for help. It seems intuitive that a cooperative business is founded on principles of cooperation, but the extent to which success relies upon the help of so many varied people and resources is eye-opening.

Even though this lesson is still coagulating in my mind, it’s demonstrably solidified in other co-op managers. I’ve made several phone calls that I anticipated would be sensitive or awkward – for instance, asking for financial documents or member income levels – but everyone that I’ve spoken with has been more than happy to honor my requests, and on top of sending me the requested documents, they extended offers to help in any way possible. This is even true of several co-op managers in Columbus, who I expected would be hesitant to speak with me since the Near East Side Co-op could be viewed as competition. Instead, these managers answered my requests with a resounding “YES!,” and then mentioned the importance of cooperation among cooperatives in order to further the community-based mission of such businesses.

This work is completely different from any other work I’ve ever done. Instead of approaching projects with the question of “what’s in it for me?,” cooperatives seem to approach projects with the question of “how can I complete this in a way that will best serve my community?” I went to St. Olaf College for my undergraduate degree, and part of their mission statement is to prepare students to live lives of worth and service. I heard that phrase so many times while I was at school there that it started to sound trite; however, delving into cooperative business has re-ignited the meaning of that phrase for me. I’ve set the intention to embody an attitude of service in my everyday life, and I imagine that it will allow me to enrich the lives of others while simultaneously enriching my own.

Sorry for the delayed post–after such a busy first week and working 11 of 12 days, a much needed long weekend was so nice!

There has definitely been a learning curve at work, especially in regards with how to cultivate relationships with clients, come to arrangements that are mutually beneficial, or just “making the ask” and seeing if they are willing to do anything pro bono.  I have found that it is definitely an art and a learned skill set.

For instance, the other day I emailed a company in Columbus that I thought would have great insight to an event ARC Ohio is putting on. However, some of the information on their website was out of date and I ended up essentially asking for the wrong thing and realized it when the company followed up with me via phone.  It was definitely time to pivot, but I realized I didn’t really know enough how to redirect and regroup to make the conversation a beneficial one!  I muddled my way though and followed up with an email apologizing for my lack of preparedness, but it was definitely a painful learning experience.

Luckily, my bosses had some great advice for cold calling or handling situations on the phone like that. 1.  Always smile on the phone when you’re speaking to some one you have to kind of make a pitch to.  This way, you remind yourself to be positive and personable even across the phone line.  2.  Stand up like you’re having a conversation or a presentation.  When you are telling some one your organization’s story or saying why your event is the best, you’re essentially making a presentation. Stand up and you’ll find you sell it better.  3. And the last, if in doubt always say, “Well, why I don’t I tell you a little more about us and then I’d love to hear more about what you do.”  Such an easy way to recover and have the other half of your conversation fill in the gaps of “what do we have in common to work together on?”

Overall, a small blunder become a learning experience and these are definitely tips I will keep in mind!

–Katie

The best thing about doing work for others is that there are always great people around you that are interested in helping and supporting your efforts. I first learned this for my Eagle Scout Project while I was raising over $10,000 for a memorial garden that I designed and planted at our high school for all the students and staff who had passed away during their tenure at my alma mater (shout out to Big Walnut!). So many people in the community were quick to donate money, ideas, and services, and not only did I meet a lot of cool community leaders, but I really had fun doing my project because of it.

On Friday, this realization came to me again when the Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio (DSACO) met at Buffalo Wild Wings to continue planning for our annual golf outing fundraiser. DSACO is teaming up with Bdubs, Dr. Kivitko (a local dentist and radio host for Dentally Speaking with Dr. Kivitko) and Ohio State basketball legends to put on a golf outing that will truly be the bee’s knees.

While I drooled over my wings (free, and oh my word do I love wings, so thank you Bdubs) in the presence of Scoonie Penn, I quietly listened in on the conversations across the table of some of my all-time favorite things (wings, golf, and Ohio State basketball). As a kid, I remember watching Scoonie Penn and his shooting prowess along with Michael Redd lead Ohio State to the Final Four. I couldn’t believe I was sitting across the table from him at one of my favorite restaurants for a business meeting!

I also had the great fortune on Monday to attend a Kiwanis International meeting at the immaculate Athletic Club of Columbus, where I met successful businessmen and ladies and gentlemen who have made real positive impacts on the Columbus community.

I have truly been blessed this summer by The Columbus Foundation and DSACO for being giving the privilege and honor of working with some of my former role models (like Scoonie), some of my new role models (the Down syndrome kids), and many people who I’ve been able to learn from and have fun with. We’re doing big things at DSACO, and I’m living the good life.