Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

My project for Jewish Family Services is three-fold. I’m writing a marketing plan combining multiple media types to bolster JFS knowledge in the greater Columbus area, putting together engagement plans for various stakeholders affiliated with JFS, and ending the summer by conducting a social media “thank you” campaign. Last week, I was on vacation, and it was my goal to have the draft of the marketing plan complete before I left. I met that goal close of business Thursday.

I am intent on creating resources for JFS that are genuinely helpful and to give recommendations that are feasible. Before I left, I passed along the marketing plan to the Director of Resource Development (my supervisor) and the Director of Marketing and Communications. Next week I will be meeting with them to discuss their feedback and implement their suggestions into the final copy.

In the meantime, I am focused on the second part of my project: the engagement plans. This week has been spent conducting web-based research on best practices for attracting and retaining donors, corporate partners, and volunteers. At times the work can get tedious, but I am learning a lot. Yesterday, for example, I learned about Google Ad Grants. Basically, if your nonprofit fits Google’s criteria, they will grant your nonprofit $10,000 a month to run Google ads. When someone searches a relevant term pertaining to your nonprofit – “workforce development” for JFS, or “resettlement programs” – an ad for your organization appears. I brought it up in a meeting I had today, commenting that I’d never heard of it before, and the Director of Marketing and Communications invited me along to a webinar she was attending about it next week. Maybe, sometime later this summer, I’ll get to work with it.

Much like the marketing plan, my process for building out this part of the project is both online research and learning from the experts in-house. Next week I am meeting with others at JFS to get an inside look at current volunteer practices and recruitment of business members. Like I mentioned before, I am committed to making this as beneficial and realistic as possible, and that means getting input from everyone involved.

Tomorrow I will continue researching and putting my ideas to paper. Additionally, I’ll be attending the Resource Development Committee meeting. This is with both JFS staff and Board members. Jewish Family Services is the first nonprofit I have worked for, and being able to see the Board and how everything comes together has been interesting. Every day I am learning more.

Part of living a fulfilling life is knowing your purpose. For those of us that choose the path of community work, you have to have passion and independent drive to work with marginalized community organizations. In the fourth week, that was our continued conversation. Why are you driven to a path of non-profit community work?  What motivated you to want to work with organizations that work toward fixing social, economic, racial, familiar, and educational inequities? For many other summer fellows and me, it was experiencing or family members experiencing hardship, obstacles, or discrimination that affected the quality of life. In my case, surviving poverty as a child and as an adult as a single parent meant learning how to break the poverty cycle from working poor. There were many hard lessons, sacrifices, and stress from barely making it. On the other hand, some people are motivated by the acknowledged privilege they have had in their lives and recognize the inequities. For them, that means working with organizations that help build up marginalized communities or groups. So, it starts with identifying what you care about and applying your skills toward contributing to the greater good in a way that matters to you—ask yourself what you care about in your community. Understanding what you value most may help you narrow your life purpose to something manageable that genuinely resonates with you. I have worked with most marginalized populations except for the older population. Working with this organization has shown me how the older population struggles to maintain independence and basic needs. Like poverty, aging has unavoidable obstacles like declining health and financial and housing stability. At Home By High director’s why was the hardship from an inability to get supportive service for her aging mother with health issues. Her experience being her mother’s primary caretaker showed her gaps in the system that does not support the aging population. Knowing why can help you find effective solutions to community or population needs. In my experience, many organizations provide short-term solutions to basic like food and clothing, but the organizations that assist a person with long-term and stability issues like housing and financial stability are fewer. One of the members of AHBH, that just turned 89 expressed how he needed help physically maintaining his apartment due to his inability to do all the housework from lack of dexterity and unreliable home health aides. You do not think about those things when you’re an able body person. Surviving poverty and housing insecurities can mean experiencing soul-crushing obstacles and hopelessness, especially if you are working poor. There are no easy solutions or quick fixes, but having allies that are aware of their privileges and dedicated to making more equitable and stable communities along with people who know the struggles and have insight and effective ideas for change are essential. If you do not know why, how do you expect to have an impactful, purposeful life?

In my third week at At Home By High, I had various tasks, from weekly services to preparing for and conducting interviews with the replacement second permanent staff. The theme of all the activities I did was connection. I observed connections in unusual and organic places and sought relationships with people and organizations to strengthen the organization and its presence in the community.

Through the organization, I observed the clients connecting from organically to unusually. The clients are from different buildings and different backgrounds. A couple of ladies became fast friends and inseparable after one member introduced her to the organization and its activities. At Home By High often has outings around to local businesses and restaurants. Now these are places they frequent together, like going to the North Market together weekly. Their connection was organic, and they fit together naturally. And on the other side, at the weekly craft meeting, the members talked about reconciling a relationship after 27 years of not speaking. So that showed me that forgiveness and understanding are other ways to reconnect. Lastly, I was tasked with contacting local organizations to connect and possibly partner or collaborate, which has been more challenging than expected. Professional connections take a lot of follow-ups, persistence, and taking advantage of lucky chance meetings. You never know who you will meet and how you will connect.

As someone who has never met a stranger, it is easy to connect with someone initially, but making meaningful and impactful connections is more challenging. Also, as I got older and busier, staying connected can be more difficult with everyone’s busy schedules and family commitments. I know I make it a point to intentionally reach out to my more active family and friends, say hi, and ask how you are doing. It does not seem like much, but like one member said, “I look forward to morning texts or calls. It makes my day.” So connection can be different things to people, something as simple as a good morning to making plans regularly to spend time with each other.  

This week and the next my supervisor at CXC has gone on vacation, so I’ve been entrusted to complete my assigned tasks at my own discretion. While the past few weeks I’ve been working from home, and so I complete my work alone anyways, I still had regular check-ins and task reviews each week. While what I’ve been working on is not that different or difficult compared to my usual work, it is a bit challenging working with a minimal level of support. Even though my supervisor is several time zones away, I am able to get in touch with him through email or phone if the need arises. However, I’ve tried my best to keep that contact to a minimum, as I know how valuable time away from work can be and want to show the respect for his work-life balance that I would wish for myself. 

This week my main focus has been on continuing to compile information concerning media outlets and local interest groups. However, a new avenue of information gathering I’ve been following is businesses in both the local area and regionally, such as bookstores and comic stores. Thanks to the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE), I now have a list of names and addresses for comic shops and bookstores in Ohio and many nearby states. I’ve been using this list to find contact information for these small businesses, to help spread the word about CXC to our target audiences. As I continue to collect information for media outlets, interest groups and clubs, cultural academics, and now small businesses I’m building a database which will continue to help CXC grow. And as I do so, I feel as if I’m becoming more familiar with parts of Columbus, and parts of Ohio, that I wasn’t aware of before.  

The most significant part of this week surely took place at the Columbus Foundation. To be frank, the previous group meetings and discussions that we have had have been interesting and enjoyable but haven’t yielded anything significant for me. Getting to know the other fellows and Dr. Lomax II has been very worthwhile – I just felt as if the productivity was limited at that.

This week’s session interrupted the emerging pattern and instead offered me something much greater than I expected.

We really dug into our why-statements – identifying the real motivations and purposes we all held that drove us to engage in worthwhile work and change. Fellows sharing their thoughts, experiences, worldviews and feelings that gave them purpose provided to me a great deal of security and encouraged me to continue following the path that I am on.

I’ve struggled with maintaining optimism and commitment toward my goals as often time current structures and institutions that I aim to modify seem larger than life. The sessions’s discussions allowed me to ease those concerns and worries. Seeing a group of hard-working and dedicated individuals share sentiments in creating a society where humanity supports itself through dignity and respect was incredible and entirely encouraging!

I hope the coming group sessions prove to be as significant as this one, and I believe that they will be.

One time every 14.4 minutes. What do you think we do this often? Honestly, I wouldn’t even be able to answer this question (hint, hint) if you asked me, and the only reason I know this fact is because I looked it up for the blog. The answer is, well, to ask a question. You might be thinking, “There’s no way I ask questions this much.” And you’d be right—you don’t. But children do: about 100 – 200 times per day to be exact. And arguably, one of the most common questions children ask is actually pretty simple: why? 

“Why do I have to wear my coat?” 

“Why can’t we pet the skunk?”

“Why can’t we let a pony live in the house?”

“Why do you have red dots on your head?”

(That last one was real by the way, cordially asked by one of the boys I babysat for last summer. I don’t know kid, it’s probably just a pimple). Anyway, the answers to the seemingly never ending “why” questions from kids are usually fairly obvious to us. Let’s take the skunk question, for example. 

“Why can’t we pet the skunk?”

“Well, it will probably spray you with its stink, and you’ll smell really bad for a while.”

But with kids, it often doesn’t end there.

“But why will it spray me? I’m nice!” 

Okay. Let’s humor them.

“Skunks spray people when they’re scared, and they’ll probably be scared of you because they don’t get much human interaction even though you’re nice.”

Alright, you already know what’s coming next. C’mon, they’re just a kid.

“But why will I stink if they spray me?”

“You’ll smell bad because the skunk’s spray has something in it called sulfur, which is really strong and usually smells like rotten eggs.”

“But why does sulfur smell bad?” 

Don’t freak out people, I took organic chemistry. I got this.

“Most sulfur compounds are thiols, or compounds with a sulfur bonded to a hydrogen, which generally have a bad smell.” 

For the love of everything good and holy, I’d hope the kid would stop here because I don’t have any more answers off the top of my head. I guess I killed the cat though, because I was actually curious about this, so I looked it up. Turns out, thiols are actually a byproduct of some decomposing amino acids, like cysteine and methionine. Hopefully you’re getting your weekly dose of science you didn’t know about, considering the flatworms from last week. But back to what I’m really trying to illustrate: why is knowing why so important?

Asking questions gives us an answer, a why, a cause, a purpose. If we would have stopped at the simple because you’d smell really bad for a while, we wouldn’t necessarily be wrong, but we also never would have learned that the real reason for this is because thiols are a byproduct of decomposition. You can sort of use the same rationale in thinking about the reasons for doing the work that you do, especially in the non-profit sector.

 This week, Dr. Mark Lomax II from the Columbus Foundation spoke to the summer interns about our own “why.” It should drive your passion, be your backbone, evoke emotion. It should be the thing that you always come back to when you get lost in the day to day monotony. And, people are much more drawn to you when you continually place your “why” at the forefront of your work. The key is, though, that you can’t stop at one “why.” There have to be five. Five “whys” to understanding the real, true, most concealed intentions behind your actions. So, as an ode to Dr. Lomax, or maybe as an ode to myself, here are my five “whys.”

The first part is simply a goal: to help children learn about positive ways to cope with and understand their grief and trauma so that the weight of those experiences does not hold them back moving forward. 

Okay, here we go. The first why.

Because I’ve had my own experience with grief when my sister passed, and I hate the feeling I get when people look at you with pity, or don’t even look at you at all. Sometimes they even think you’re too traumatized to do anything meaningful or be a good leader.

That’s deep. But Dr. Lomax said don’t stop there, so it’s time for another one. Why?

People don’t like to acknowledge that a bad thing has happened to you because they’re scared. Scared it will make them face their own fragile existence, and scared to lean into the feelings they get when they think about yours. And, from my personal experience, I’ve learned that people tend to look down on those who’ve experienced adversity that has caused residual effects, like depression or a lack of motivation.

We’re not done yet— here’s the third why. 

Remember when I wrote about fear of the unknown? Yeah, that one always comes back around. Death, grief, and trauma are completely unknown to people that haven’t experienced them. And, when you’ve never experienced something, you’re more likely to be fearful of it. Not only that, but not many people want to spend their spare time thinking about death and loss because, quite frankly, it’s just sad.

Now is when it starts to get a little more challenging. Why?

Well, death and loss are subjects that tend to hit people right in the gut. If you hear of someone who lost their sister, you might think to yourself, “Wow, what would I feel like if I lost my sister?” And usually, you don’t feel too good. But that’s the reality of people who have experienced loss, and they live that reality every day. So, even if you’ve never experienced it, the least you can do is try to put yourself in their shoes (though they might be dirty, grimy shoes with mud caked in the bottom, but that’s grief). 

Well, folks, we’ve made it to The Final Why. I could probably write a book about this, but fortunately for you, I’m running out of room, and this is just a blog. So, I’m just going to answer this last question: Why don’t people feel too good when your sad reality forces them to confront feelings they might have about their own?

I guess I’ll start by stating a fact, which is that everyone dies, whether you’re talking about yourself or a loved one. Ah yes, loved one. It’s a term that’s thrown around loosely, but have you ever stopped to think about what it really means? You love this person, and that’s what makes it so hard to grieve them when they die. Love seems simple, but turns infinitely complicated during grief, the best definition for which I’ve ever heard is that it is love with nowhere to go, because the person it was meant for is gone. I might seem like I’m going down a rabbit hole here, but I promise, I’m not. I’m finding a way to express the love I had for my sister in this internship. By caring for kids who I know have come from homes that are terribly difficult to imagine, or have witnessed trauma so severe that it’s impacted their day to day behavior. And that is my ultimate why I suppose: it’s love. 

The theme of this week’s Young Masters Art Camp was prehistoric week and our days have been full of in-depth and historically inspired crafts. My days at camp also provided opportunities to learn from my colleagues and my campers as I grow in my role through guiding and serving.

Much to the camper’s delight and obviously because of our theme, several of the projects were centered around dinosaurs which are a great source of inspiration for our campers. One project was a multiple day dinosaur endeavor, where the kids made dinosaur skeletons out of salt dough, then attached the bones to a wooden display base, making it look like a miniature preserved dinosaur. The kids loved being able to design their own unique creatures and assemble them in the same fashion as museum pieces! Another project that I enjoyed watching the kids complete was the creation of their own book. They made the paper look aged by brushing coffee across the pages and crumpling them as well. Campers then made their own paintbrushes out of sticks, yarn, and wool, and some campers even experimented with painting in their books with them.

Most often the projects that the campers complete are individual. They work on their own alongside their peers and are able to take that work home with them at the end of the week. In contrast, this week the campers also worked on a collaborative project heavily inspired by prehistoric cave art. The campers painted their own pictographs on giant sheets of butcher paper. They emulated ancient painting methods by laying their hands on the paper and spraying paint over their hand to create a negative space where they had placed their hand, which they very much enjoyed! 

This week brought some very fulfilling moments for me as I learned more about how to guide my campers. When one camper became overwhelmed by the steps of a project, they came to me very upset and unable to complete the project. I assured them that they were in a safe space and that it was absolutely ok to be overwhelmed and upset, but that does not mean that they are in any way incapable. After some guided breathing, the camper was able to express to me that they wanted help going through the steps of the project. I was happy to be able to support them and guide them step by step to complete it. My hope is that they felt supported and understood.

I have learned a lot this week about adapting to individual camper’s needs and feel that my ability to provide support to the campers has expanded greatly, especially in more challenging situations where the camper may be reactive and upset. I feel that I have been taught new tools that will aid me in responding helpfully and appropriately to each individual situation.  

And finally, there was a special surprise to close out the week. I was able to procure a couple of inflatable dinosaur costumes, which I and one of the teen volunteers wore during the morning and afternoon art shows! The campers were absolutely ecstatic at the sight of the dinosaurs, and the parents and visitors got a chuckle out of it as well. I had a lot of fun this week, and learned so much. 

In my fourth week of being the Columbus Foundation Fellowship at Central Community House, I am thrilled to share how I am breaking free from my shell and embracing the non-profit world. Initially feeling scared about entering this unfamiliar territory, my time at Central Community House has been nothing but joyful. Each day brings new challenges, I am finding the confidence to make a meaningful impact. 

One of the most significant realizations during my fellowship has been discovering my purpose within the non-profit world. Central Community House’s mission to empower the lives of individuals and families in the near east community has ignited a deep sense of purpose within me. From assisting with program development to helping plan community events, I am actively contributing to the organization’s mission and making a tangible difference in the lives of those we serve. 

Building relationships has been a key aspect of my journey. I have had the privilege of connecting with dedicated staff members, passionate volunteers, and members of the community. These relationships have provided me with guidance, mentorship, and diverse perspectives. I am finding support and inspiration to push beyond my comfort zone. 

With each passing week, I am gaining the confidence to take initiative and make a meaningful impact. I am actively participating in team meetings, suggesting new ideas, and giving new projects a spin. The non-profit world demands proactivity, and I am learning to trust my instincts, tap into my creativity, and offer fresh perspectives to drive positive change. 

As I look ahead to the remaining weeks of my fellowship, I am filled with excitement and a sense of purpose. While challenges may arise, I am confident in my ability to navigate them with resilience. The non-profit world has proven to be a space where personal growth intertwines with community impact, and I am eager to continue learning, evolving, and making a meaningful difference. 

My fourth week at Central Community House has been a catalyst for personal growth and self-discovery. Breaking out of my shell, I am embracing the non-profit world with enthusiasm, passion, and a commitment to creating lasting positive change. The opportunity to contribute to the organization’s mission and engage with the community has been both humbling and inspiring. I am grateful for this fellowship experience and excited about the journey ahead. 

This week has been filled with a lot of great and meaningful experiences from Primary One Health filled with lots of connective conversations with so many different people throughout the organization. I have enjoyed getting to know my colleagues and I am excited to grow my relationships with them as I continue through the summer. I feel like I am starting to find my place, and feel grateful to be attending a lot of perfect meetings and working on interesting projects. I had the joy of getting to attend the Make a Day event where I worked alongside one of my colleagues who had the most inspiring story. His story was that of great inspiration, and I felt such a strong connection to his passion. His passion is the same as my own passion, even though circumstances and fate have dealt us both different cards in life our combined passion is what drives us. Listening to his story and hearing of all he has overcome I felt such an admiration for a man who has overcome so much, and yet has committed his career to the service of others. That takes grit, grace, and faith. Faith in the capacity of others to be able to help. He mentioned that he was not ready for help for almost fifty years or his life, and he said “one I was ready to accept help I realized that there were so many resources and help was here in Columbus” He is celebrating 20 years of sobriety and almost his 10 year anniversary at P1H.

During our Fellows meeting we talked about our why. When we were asked about this question I had to challenge myself. Ok Rose what is your why? I think I have a surface level why but when I dig deeper I feel a grounding in my why that was somewhat reaffirmed when I was speaking with my colleague. My why is: to help individual’s access basic needs such as healthcare, quality education, nutrition, etc. so that everyone can have an equitable life and opportunities. Equality isn’t always the answer when there are systemic barriers, and cyclical disparities: equity and serving people the way that they need in ways that are specific to their situation, population, and community is how I believe real change can be addressed. For as long as I can remember I have always had an innate calling to helping others. I find myself leading with empathy and I want to make an impact on the world and make my community better. I have always had the inside of me guiding my decisions, and guiding where I am today. A deeper part of my why is intrinsically connected to that disposition. I have been afforded a very privileged life and with that privilege I carry a deep responsibility to use my privilege to be able to uplift and serve those who do not have the same privilege as me. I will never understand what it is like to be in a different position than the one I have been placed in but I can dedicate my life to listening, learning, and connecting with all people. I want to end the systemic injustices, cyclical nature of society so that the dignity and humanity of all humans is honored and I believe this can be done by listening, meeting people where they are, and intentional action. My why is the desire that every person’s humanity is dignified and the empathy, grace, and kindness are at the forefront of change in our society and that every person has basic human rights. I want to be the person that people can count on, raise a voice for the silenced, and help people access resources so that they can be successful. When I was speaking with my colleague he said out stories may be different but we are sitting in the same chair today, and when he spoke about how there is help out there in the community, my desire is to be that person that shows up and can be a catalysts in changing the lives of those in my community.

Painting canvases, balloon races, and shaving week art closed out the final week of our summer program at WAV. We have had a whole month filled with music and art activities that made for a really exciting experience for the kids we had, and I am going to miss them and the other summer staff members a lot.

Today we all talked about what we learned from camp this summer. One camper said she learned to take care of herself, another said she learned she can be smart and learn, and another told a story about how she didn’t like everyone at first but after playing games with them she looked past her initial judgments. My favorite was from our youngest camper, who said he learned he can always make friends. Even with their brief answers, I can tell they listened to our wellness tips and that our social-emotional learning activities stuck with them at least a little bit. 

Our coaches also shared what we learned this summer, from learning how to start fresh every day to learning to not get too caught up in the details when it’s about the experience. We definitely had a rough start all being new staff for a new program, but we figured it out and adjusted as we went. Now at the end of the month, I am glad I got such hands-on experience with the programming and I got to see what WAV was all about from the start of the fellowship. I feel like I have a better lens as I go forward and work on other projects. 

WAV programming always includes a feelings check-in, and every morning we went around and talked about what feelings we were bringing into the day. I shared that what I learned most from this month was how important it is to check in with each other and know when extra support is needed. At the end of Week 4, I am feeling a little tired, proud, and excited for a change of pace as I learn even more each week.