Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Following the previous week, Week 8 consisted of more camp preparation, along with a gallery installation and a final project. As the second session of Camp Creativity began the following week, I moved into the bulk of preparation. I sent out information emails to parents attached with the forms which they were to return to me. I examined the camper roster and sorted the kids into their color groups, dependent upon age, and created their name tags for the following week. Additionally, I began to organize the binders for the counselors with the completed parent forms, blank incident reports, sign in sheets, and emergency phone numbers. I also coordinated with my Programming Director and the Education Coordinator on what supplies needed to be reordered. 

While camp preparation was underway, a new gallery was being installed for our current exhibit ‘Worthington on the Walls’. A month prior, I had curated the submission list for the exhibit entries, so I enjoyed watching the installation and seeing which works had been chosen by the panel of judges. I have no previous experience in the Arts Administration sphere, so it was interesting watching the installation process first-hand. 

In Week 8, I was assigned my final project at the MAC – to begin a series of Programming Impact Reports. The goal of these reports is to measure the financial impact, as well as admission statistics,  of various series of programs, which are primarily free or ‘pay what you can’. Before beginning this project, I met with both the Development Director and the Executive Director to discuss the content and format which they wanted the Impact Report to reflect. After meeting with both of them, I began gathering information regarding attendance and revenue from our online ticketing system, balancing reports, and physical attendance sheets at the MAC. 

Week 7 of my fellowship at the McConnell Arts Center involved a variety of projects and preparation. I began the week finishing up my survey and evaluation project which I began a few weeks prior. This project consisted of analysis of both the quantity, quality, and style of the previous programming surveys. After examining these older surveys from both camps and classes, I pinpointed types of questions which elicited the most responses. I then created surveys for the parents of Camp Creativity campers to gauge which aspects of camp the McConnell Arts Center should work on for next year. In addition to preparing surveys for Session 1 campers, I began to gather old supplies and reach out to instructors for their updated supply list for Session 2. 

The remainder of the week was spent preparing for the MAC’s first Summer Outdoor Series. A concert and movie were hosted on our lawn, with food trucks and popcorn. The latter part of the week was spent organizing and prepping supplies for this event. While the attendance turnout was lower than expected, from a development standpoint – the event was successful!

This week I came home from spending the week with my family, and we got right back into the swing of things. It was quite a busy week!

This week was Lesson 3 of our Kindness Corps program in Session 3, and we had multiple summer camps to attend each day. Again, this lesson educates children about hospitalized children. We made banners and activity kits to deliver to Nationwide Children’s Hospital later this week.

Besides camp this week, I have been continuing my efforts in outreach to day care centers in the Columbus area to see if they would be willing to show our brochures in their spaces. I’ve had a few centers say yes to this, so I will be dropping those off at the end of this week and sometime next week as well. These brochures will help to bring in new, young families to Seeds of Caring and to get them engaged with our mission and programming.

I also attended a walk-and-talk meeting about corporate events on Thursday afternoon. We all met at Inniswood Metro Gardens and walked the trails and concluded our meeting at one of the picnic tables nearby. I’ve never had a meeting in this style, but I enjoyed it a ton! I feel like moving around and being outside on a beautiful day, like it was on Thursday, got our brains moving and it felt very productive. I listened in and gained insight on what goes into planning these corporate events.

On top of my time at Seeds of Caring this week, we had a Fellows Learning Session at The Columbus Foundation about advocacy. Listening to the speakers and my peers discuss this topic and what it means for them in their spaces was very insightful. It made me think and ask myself what advocacy means to me, and what passions of mine can move me to advocate for different communities. Advocacy has always been a passion of mine in general, as I have advocated for my sister and others who have rare diseases and for Medicaid in general, so listening this week and soaking in all the information was beneficial for me as it caused me to think about other passions of mine that I can advocate for.

This week felt very busy for myself and my mental health. We’ve talked about burnout as a group at some of the Fellows Learning Sessions and while feeling this a little bit myself, I’m trying to take my own personal self-care into consideration. Taking small breaks to go outside or sit with my dogs for a few minutes has helped me be more productive through this time as well as lessen the amount of stress I put on myself. I’m also taking my evenings and weekends more seriously when it comes to relaxation and giving myself time to rest.

I also was able to attend a board meeting on Tuesday evening I have never been to a board meeting for any organization so getting to listen was very interesting, especially with the content that was discussed. Things are very exciting over here at Seeds of Caring!

Week 7 was another week of building the Sustainable Business Directory and we are now up to 575 businesses in the directory. Simply Living founder, Chuck Lynd, helped get a few more possible listings from like minded organizations. The first organization was the Ohio Ecological Food & Form Association (OEFFA). They are focused on sustainable farming and cuisine, meaning the food we eat is locally grown and sourced with organic practices which is both sustainable and good for the environment. Similarly to the “Green Spot Business” tag we gave businesses partnered with Green Spot, OEFFA businesses were given a “OEFFA Member” tag. The reasoning behind these tags is to build a solid network of organizations with the similar goal of sustainability within our community. The second organization was Green Energy Ohio (GEO). They emphasize the importance of renewable energy while promoting policies that also add value to the economy AND environment.  If you are interested in renewable energy and supporting local businesses, I would recommend looking into Kinnard’s LLC. Kinnard’s LLC is a small business out of Heath, Ohio that installs solar systems. Founder Brandon Kinnard was a former electrician for 20+ years who decided to start his own business due to his passion for renewable energy. Solar energy is the way of the future if we want to conserve the natural resources Earth has to offer. GEO’s tag is “Green Energy Ohio Member.” These tags will help connect people to the resources our community has to offer regarding sustainability. Furthermore, these tags are helping Simply Living grow as an organization by further building relationships with other well-known organizations that have like minded objectives. The Sustainable Business Directory will not only be a great resource for our community, but a way for Simply Living to grow as an organization through strong connections.  

I have some different scenery this week while I’m working.

This week is my annual family vacation in North Carolina, so I was able to start a week early at Seeds of Caring back in late May to ensure I was able to spend some time with my family. I’m still working a few hours here and there this week to get ahead by the time I’m back in Ohio, but I’m glad I can relax most of this week.

I spent a few of my mornings catching up on some reading I am completing. Our executive director/founder gave me Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits by Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather Mcleod Grant to read during my time with Seeds of Caring, to look at what all goes into creating and managing a successful nonprofit, and how exactly “successfulness” is measured and how to increase a nonprofit’s impact. I’ve enjoyed what I have read so far, and I hope to finish the book by this week or next.

Originally during my time on vacation, I was going to assist our marketing and communications coordinator on outreach efforts to call different day cares around Columbus asking if they had brochure space for us, and if they would be interested in that. I figured I would tackle that next week, as I will have more time and will have more privacy as I’m with my family this entire week. I am looking forward to assisting on this task!

Since we engage kids 2-12 in our programming, and our organization is young, the kids who were involved in our programming when Seeds of Caring started have grown out of our programming. We are looking to engage a new generation of younger families who have children in the age range we want to engage with.

I have had an interest in communications, as I am aiming to complete my communications minor in the spring when I graduate, so I am glad I am getting some experience with this area as well. I feel as though I have been able to gain a lot of knowledge while being with Seeds of Caring, as I have worked with multiple different staff members on different projects.

This was my main goal through this fellowship- to get as much experience and gain as much knowledge about what roles go into a nonprofit as possible. Even as we conclude our seventh week, I feel as though everything I have learned has exceeded my expectations already.

At Ohio Humanities this week, we jumped head-first into the process of creating an entirely new audience for Lumen, a yearly publication published by Ohio Humanities, because the very first edition is coming out this autumn. Based on the the extensive audience of a previous publication from the organization and a new audience of potential new stakeholders from universities, cultural centers, and other organizations, we have been diligent in making sure that everyone who should receive a copy does, especially those who were quoted, featured, or whose story was included in the publication. The need to have an organized database with accurate data has never been more clear to me than in this process, and it is incredibly applicable to any project in which we are sharing our work with supporters, attempting to gather statistics on grants and grantees, or working on the upcoming strategic planning operation.

I’m excited to start seeing the results of the donor stewardship project that I completed last week of displaying gratitude in a multitude of communications specified for each individual donor in the form of phone calls, emails, and written and mailed notes. We have already received a handful of kind words from donors in response to these communications, and being able to recognize the outright support that many donors give to the organization and the work Ohio Humanities does has been gratifying. I am looking forward to seeing the fiscal results of these communications as well, and if they are as favorable as I expect them to be, then I will have learned an invaluable lesson about strategies for advancement and donor stewardship that I will be able to use in my career to come in the nonprofit sector.

I absolutely cannot grasp how quickly this fellowship going by, and that we are more than halfway done. I have grown so familiarized with most aspects of the functioning of a nonprofit, from grants to programs to advancement to the board. However, becoming networked with my coworkers at Ohio Humanities has been amazingly valuable experience for me both personally and professionally. Just this week, a couple of my coworkers spent more than an hour of their workday helping me perfect my resume and cover letters to apply for future positions, and I am extremely pleased with the result of both. I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to Ohio Humanities four weeks from now, to say the least.

Earlier this week, one of my colleagues, Robin, asked me how many weeks I had left at the Ohio History Connection. An easy question to answer, but reality didn’t hit at that moment. The past seven weeks have been filled with student facilitations, marker-dusted fingers, hundreds of open research tabs, and plenty more mini memories that have encompassed my internship. This week wasn’t unlike the previous, with a week’s worth of summer programs to visit all over Columbus….or so I thought.

I’ve been revisiting a specific site since the beginning of my internship, but I finally got to the last visit this past Thursday. In the beginning, visiting the students seemed like the most intimidating thing. Of course I was going to try to teach them something, but I worried about whether or not we’d all be engaged. You see, I never wanted any of the children to think I was talking or teaching to them, but rather with them. This was a key “easier said than done” moment, but I did not want to give up without trying my best. Initially, I would rack my brain (for longer than I should have) on how I could connect better with these kids, improve the activities that I’d share, and “quickly perfect” a routine for every site. I quickly learned that it could never be that easy. Some facilitations seemed almost perfect, while others tested me in ways I didn’t expect. For the past four years, I’ve been used to communicating with mainly college students…. it’s a whole other language when talking to kids. At times, I doubted whether or not I was progressing and getting better with my faciliations no matter what the true results were.

When I returned to my regularly-scheduled site, I thought about the first time I facilitated by myself; I couldn’t think of a single thing, though. My mind was fixated on the students and what we’d be getting into that day, especially how I could keep my headwrap on while playing freeze tag! All of the tension I built up beforehand crumbled as the students talked to me about their favorite manga, fun facts, and all of the game knowledge they could fit in one breath. At the end of the facilitation, only little boy asked me if we could have more activities next year and for me to come back a little more regularly (“because every couple weeks is a long time”).

In the beginning of the summer, I was given a huge schedule filled with all of the facilitations I would’ve completed by the end of the summer. To be honest, just looking at it took my breath away – just how was I going to complete all of these? The plethora of summer projects seemed deafeningly intimidating in the beginning, but quietly fell without me noticing. Now, I only have about 2 weeks left of summer programs. This week’s facilitations gave me a comforting wakeup call on how easily the unimportant things can come and go. Truth be told, no facilitation will be perfect, but every facilitation is an important experience. There hasn’t been a day where I have not learned (or re-learned) something from the students, and I believe that is truly the most important thing. Putting all of the extra expectations on a learning experience takes away from the true value, so I was glad to see how much the students valued our time together.

The fellowship is almost over! There are only three weeks left. This week I spent some time doing hard labor in the gardens. I did this last week too. The other garden work was hard but tilling is something else. Pushing a mower is difficult for me too. But all of this is tremendously joyous, and I have not had the needed structure to attend physical therapy, so I am grateful for the paid exercise. I surprise myself sometimes with what I find myself able to do. Other days I find myself realizing I easily surpass my limits and pay for it over several days. I will likely volunteer time every now and then to help maintain these gardens. I have become attached and their existence benefits me. One of the youths keep coming and doing this work too! I am so proud of her. I am amazed at her work ethic and willingness to try everything we harvest. I love when she shares with us what she has going on in her life. I laugh when I see her nervously try the raw vegetables and herbs. She is so brave we had to stop her from eating random berries from a tree from another garden we visited. They likely aren’t edible – ha! I get to watch her facial expressions during these taste tests. Watching people’s facial expressions when they are exploring outside of their comfort zone is such a pleasure! I would like to see more consistency from the other youth, but I am proud they attend at all. They have other things going on in their life and Cultivate has a small budget. If they had larger monetary incentives, I have no doubt they would show up more. At least they are not quitting altogether. Today I did a home visit to check up with a resident Cultivate is helping navigate social service programs. I am thankful he trusted me with his sensitive and personal information. I am inspired by his perseverance and was able to relate to some of his struggles. I would share more but wish to keep his identity private since I did not ask for his permission to share. See below for some garden photos.

I feel very accomplished this week, but my hamstrings are sore. My butt is sore. My back is sore. My anxiety is rampant. I am often mentally and physically exhausted. I do what I need to recover but working like this is not sustainable. I rarely fully recover. I am glad to be in the the fellowship and more excited that it is almost over! I will now share a little about my work history, privileges, and experience using welfare. I love to talk about myself and I honestly hope readers learn something new or find validation.

I used to only work part time. This is due to chronic pain, mental illness, and neurodivergence. My last two jobs were moderately sedentary. Most recently, I got to lie down for most of the job and my clients came to me when they needed something. Most days I would be in a semi-private room in two clients’ home, and I always communicated that they simply come to me when they require help. I would review with them on how to do that sometimes, and occasionally check in with them, but for the most part, I could be alone. Because I was part time second shift, the other service providers did most of the social outings with our consumers. This meant less driving for me and less noise and groups of people. I easily get over-stimulated.

Most of the hard work for me was taking my clients to the grocery store, to and/or from work, and the days where I accompanied someone to kung fu and back. Sitting down for long periods of time and walking a lot significantly increases my pain. Most other movement I can do to a variable/relative degree that is less than a typical employee. While I have worked part time since 2014, the rest of my income has been supplemented with social security disability insurance (SSDI) monies.

Before I quit my last job this year, I lost nearly half of my projected yearly income. I got about $8000/year from SSDI. That is approximate because it fluctuates every year. The Social Security Administration (SSA) proclaimed that I am no longer disabled. Hooray, I am miraculously healed, or society has just become accessible. Just kidding. I lost my SSDI because the SSA is an inequitable government entity. During my appeals, which I am still going through (thank you Equality Ohio for representing traumatized queers!), I was still collecting. Now I must pay back my $6000 because my first re-determination of disability I lost.

Thankfully, I have the privilege of knowing how to advocate for myself and hunt for resources. I am on the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program. The Reeb Avenue Center (through MOFC) provides free and delicious weekday meals and has a few employees who have become cheerleaders for me. I find community here too even though I make my visits short. I have a sister who has helped me build my credit score as soon as I turned 18. My credit score is 800. I have a mother who pays for my phone bill. I have connections in school like a great mentor and a great work supervisor. I have supportive friends who give emotional, informational, esteem, and tangible supports. They even helped me buy a dryer so I wouldn’t have to use my energy going to a laundromat. I have friends who had a roommate opening for $293.33 a month, and utilities can be split by us three. I have also been able to stay on Medicaid which means I get my meds, doctor visits, and cognitive behavioral therapy paid for. I also get about $200 worth of SNAP (food stamps) for groceries. I am highly capable and adaptable too. I wouldn’t be here without others. Life is not bad. I have been very unsettled in the past year and a half due to uncertainty, but I have hit rock bottom before and won’t ever go back. Being a suicide survivor, for those who learn to reframe and open perspectives, can be a huge life motivator. I also got a promotion working as a federal work study student this year. I became an actual employee at CSCC, and my wage got a bump to $17.52 an hour. I quit my previous job so I could join this fellowship. Almost $16 an hour. I have been told that fellows are highly valued assets in organizations.

As a “disabled” worker (I’m just differently abled like everyone else), when you’re on SSDI, monthly income isn’t supposed to go over $1310. That’s the legal income limit if you want to keep your SSDI. Your benefit check is a strange formulation that factors in previous job earnings. Even if you never surpass the limit, which I never did, it’s the SSA – they don’t care about how your disability affects your life. In fact, living your life is evidence used against you. Pro tip for anyone struggling with SSDI. Do not frame anything as positive in your life and keep all details minimal as possible. They need to see you worthless. My Medicare has been taken as well. The system is antiquated and underfunded. It is too difficult to take risks when you have a disability and need the welfare. I have had to quit jobs because they were inaccessible and inequitable. Some jobs I wouldn’t even consider because I would lose my benefits and ultimately bring in less income.

This year, my income will increase further, and I get to dance with the almighty benefits cliff again. I will lose my Medicaid and SNAP benefits. One of the ways I cope with all of my stress is my new daily meditation practice. I am in a mindfulness based cognitive therapy group and we meet for two hours every Tuesday. As part of the therapy, we have multiple mindfulness practices that we try to do every day and we report what we notice during our sessions. I would not be able to attend this therapy or my cognitive-behavioral therapy if I wasn’t enrolled in Medicaid. I couldn’t afford it. I typically make around $12,000-$14,000 from wages. I am thankful for any Pell Grant money I get from attending CSCC. Going to school isn’t something the SSA supports either. It’s another strike. Disabled people are not supposed to learn. My recent increase in wages and my grant money is great, but it is not enough to pay for proper healthcare coverage. Medicaid? Annual salary must be $18,075 and below.  I will lose my SNAP benefits as well. SNAP pays for my food. To be eligible for SNAP benefits, a yearly gross salary must stay under $17,667. I am worried but I know my future is bright. I have amazing connections and even more privileges like being tall and white. My chances of getting hired are increased for these reasons. What’s more, I easily pass as cisgender and heteronormative when I wear masculine clothing and my bisexuality can’t always be seen. I know all about the food pantries to save money. CSCC has programs that help me when I’m not on break. But I’m still struggling, and I know there are others in similar positions. People go through seemingly far worse. I hope sharing about my difficulties in the fellowship can help make it more accessible. I also know that sharing my story can help others understand that people are not out here abusing the welfare systems. First, we pay to use them, and secondly, they do not currently exist to lift us out of poverty but to keep us in poverty. The non-profit world can sometimes fill in the gaps, but I wish to see them push for new systems instead of supporting the ones in place. I hope the fellowship recruits more people like me and others with different barriers and pushes their fellows more to challenge the Foundation and non-profit world.

Thanks for reading.

This week, I heavily focused on ETSS’s two annual events: Youth Summit and Evening of Promise. Youth Summit is right around the corner, taking place on Thursday, August 9^th, which means this week and next are focused in on the details. I recently started working directly with the youth department, and this was my first full week of meetings with them. I met the team, learned where we are in the process of getting ready for Youth Summit, and what all still needs to be done. We are still trying to confirm busing, which is quite stressful given the short time period before Youth Summit. We are also trying to get donations of school supplies so that we can give out a backpack full of necessary back-to-school items for each student attending Youth Summit. I am editing some visuals to post on our social media platforms as well as set up throughout Ohio Dominican University’s campus on the day of our Youth Summit. Much coordination and confirmation need to take place in the next following weeks, but I am so excited to see everything come together! I am most excited to see all of our summer camp kids all on one place, learning, celebrating, and playing together.

For Evening of Promise, I am still reaching out and requesting donations for our auction, specifically focusing now on restaurants in the Short North. This week has also brought about many donation pickups, which is nice to see the tangible items we have thus far.

Next week, we have our second happy hour fundraiser of our Summer Special Series! On Wednesday, July 27 from 4-8PM, ETSS will be at North High Brewing. $1 will be donated to ETSS for every beer purchased. All are welcome to come and enjoy the space with us!