Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

The beginning of week 6 started off with a very long staff meeting. As the school year is quickly approaching, there are a plethora of tasks to be completed. This meeting helped lay out my schedule and focus areas for this week. I am looking forward to designing more content for the Family Mentor Foundation as well. 

Tuesday started off with another early meeting, this time discussing our current programs, and our options to expand our new ideas further. If I could give this week any title it would be “meetings” Wednesday started with an 8am meeting to discuss development and fundraising strategies. This meeting was a little different than the others, with committee members joining us in our brainstorming. As I attend more and more meetings, I continue to learn how important communication is in every aspect of Family Mentor Foundation. Later in the afternoon Wednesday was filled with lots of designing content, helping create documents on funding, and gathering donor information. 

Fortunately Thursday offered a change of pace, with a morning delivery to Gladden House. Staff typically does not deliver our buddy boxes, but we wanted to get some footage of our process. It is always a treat to get out of the office and interact with the Columbus community. Thursday I was once again glued to my desk, editing and re-editing material for our social media platforms and other outlets of communication. It is so easy to become enthralled by work and tune out every other distraction. 

When Friday rolled around I was shocked at how fast the week felt. It reminded me of the saying, “the days are long, but the years are short.” Once again allowing myself to take time to step back and be grateful for everything I have in my life. 

The last week has been so busy with Equitas Health!! In the last few days, we had our first patron party and 2021 Art for Life submissions closed. Also, in addition to getting the submissions ready for the jury meeting, we have a thank you event for our past event, AIDS Walk, and more patron parties coming up soon.

The art submissions have kept me super busy. Currently, we are at over 125, with two or three coming in every hour. My role with each submission is to edit the artist’s biography and statement and prepare their submission to be juried. It has been so fun to see all of the artists’ work as it starts to arrive. We just received an Aminah Robinson piece, and it is a beautiful fabric piece that tells the story of Bilali, an enslaved African in the US who fought for the US in the War of 1812 and was a spiritual leader. In the style only Robinson can do, the fabric work is truly incredible. (If anyone wants to bid on it and give it to me, let me know… it is valued higher than my student loan debt so I am currently sitting out this one…)

Our first patron party of the year was a success! We had it at the Columbus Museum of Art in the special events pavilion. I was working registration and check in for the first half of the event, and then gave out paperwork to people who donated to be patrons for the event. The event was incredibly successful, and the whole team seemed to be equally as excited for the funds we raised as well as having our first indoor, in-person event since March 2020. Our community was equally as excited to be able to gather in person one again, as they got to see artwork, hear from the artists, take advantage of the open bar, and give to our organization.

To begin my sixth week of the Columbus Foundation Fellowship, at Hope Hollow, I was tasked with running an errand to the Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital to drop off restaurant gift cards and cash for a patient. While to some this may sound like a mundane errand, the purpose of the trip was far more consequential than a weekly trip to the grocery store.

Each and every patient that Hope Hollow assists has a distinct need that usually cannot be met by health care providers or government agencies. Additionally, Hope Hollow is the only non-profit in Columbus that provides direct services such as lodging, meals, transportation assistance, and emotional support to cancer patients and their loved ones in a rapid fashion (typically on the day that Hope Hollow receives a referral). 

One of the patients that Hope Hollow assisted on Monday was being discharged from the Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital and needed to travel home to Florida, with his belongings, on a Greyhound bus. The financial assistance that this patient needed was beyond the scope of assistance that the James Cancer Hospital permits. So, an administrator at the James Cancer Hospital suggested that the patient’s social worker contact Hope Hollow.

Without hesitation, Hope Hollow granted this patient’s request for financial assistance. For most people, especially people like myself who are fortunate enough to be healthy, it is unimaginable to have to travel hundreds of miles by Greyhound bus after battling cancer and being discharged from the hospital. But, for many cancer patients that Hope Hollow assists, a substantial amount of travel (however, typically not as far as Florida) is required in order to receive the best possible medical care.

When considering the cost of cancer treatment, the cost of traveling for treatment is often overlooked (especially for Columbus residents, who are lucky enough to live in a city with fantastic hospitals). Hope Hollow serves to fill in the gaps that health care providers and government agencies overlook when considering the financial burdens associated with cancer treatment.

Week 5 flew by! Although I am mainly focused on one project at the moment, I am still learning new things every day. For example, I was able to attend my first Science Committee meeting this week. FLOW’s Science Committee meets to discuss things like current and future restoration projects, capstone opportunities, grants, and upcoming events. During the meeting, we had the opportunity to take a tour of Willow Brook Village where a stream restoration project has occurred. In case the method would be applicable to streams within the Olentangy Watershed, they were willing to share the process and outcomes with FLOW. It was super exciting to see how their hard work was paying off!

In addition to the Science Committee meeting, I got to spend some time outside this week. One of FLOW’s projects is a tree nursery in Weinland Park. The land was obtained from a city landbank, and the goal is to grow trees that can be dispersed throughout the neighborhood to be planted. To maintain the project site, I stop by occasionally to mow the grass, pull weeds, and check the status of the trees. Throughout the rest of the Fellowship, I will make visits to various pollinator gardens and project sites to do a similar thing.

Tomorrow, we have another workday for the Slyh Run Bridge project by Cranbrook Elementary School. Hopefully, we have a big turn out and lots of people power so the bridge can be done in time for school in August. Although building a foot bridge doesn’t directly apply to FLOW’s mission, a lot of other work has gone in to restore the area. Tons of invasive bush honeysuckle have been removed and a beautiful pollinator garden is growing steps away from the river. The bridge will allow families to enjoy these benefits of the river while also having a safe path to school. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Next week, I am hoping to finish up my Storymap project of creating an interactive website with maps, pictures, and descriptions of FLOW’s current project sites. Since we’re halfway through the summer, I am eager to pick up the pace and fit as much work in as possible for FLOW’s mission. Talk to you next week! -Shelly

We had our first gardening event this week which involved weeding all of the beds, adding stakes, and planting flowers!

It was excruciatingly hot outside but with a team of five we got it all done. The veggies are growing a lot but the recent weather isn’t making it easy on them. We will likely have to push back our first Farm Stand to the last week of July or the first week of August.

Our original goals included having a banner by now. However, after some emails and brainstorming we have decided that the best course of action would be to create a garden webpage or add the garden and an interest form on the Columbus ECDI page. While we would love to see a nice banner up, having a webpage will allow the banner to be less crowded and since the garden is an ongoing project having a set place where people can find the opportunity to get involved will benefit in the long run.

As for the Women’s Business Center, we have multiple projects going on. JP Morgan Chase has released a mentorship program for “small businesses,” so we created a form for our members to submit if they would like to be recommended for it. Doing this allows us to determine if they are eligible to apply before we recommend them.

A few of my bosses are also working with Elevate Northland on the Northland Unity Festival and they secured ten vendor spots for ECDI members! This also required a survey and automation sequence, and Samantha the Marketing and Communications Manager designed an email to go out with the survey embedded!

ECDI’s main building is a refurbished schoolhouse that was built in the 1900s. It is absolutely beautiful on the inside, but construction has started on the building. So as I sit at my cubicle I see my other bosses, John and Terry, run around with the construction crew. Today we had to refile literally thousands of lending loan documents, strangely enough it wasn’t too bad of a time. I guess it really pays off to work somewhere with good vibes.

All in all, it was a pretty great week and I have been given more design and data projects to work on next week. In the next few weeks there is a big board meeting, a data deadline, and ongoing construction so there’s lots to look forward to in the near future!

At the conclusion of my fifth week of the Columbus Foundation Fellowship, I have reflected on the versatility of the non-profit sector. Not only the versatility of the services that non-profits provide for our communities but also the versatility of skills required for those who work in the non-profit sector. 

One of my favorite things about working with Hope Hollow is that each day is unpredictable. At the beginning of the summer, Kevin, Hope Hollow’s co-founder and co-director, presented me with a list of tasks to work on throughout my fellowship. I originally viewed this list of projects similarly to that of a class syllabus. I believed I had set projects that needed to be accomplished by a set deadline, the end of my fellowship. But, in reality, because non-profit work is centered around the immediate needs of the communities they serve, new tasks that were not on the original agenda are added meaning other projects may be delayed. 

While the main priority for Hope Hollow, fulfilling each and every referral from cancer patients and their loved ones that are received from medical institutions and hospitals in Central Ohio, remains constant, the day-to-day projects are widely variable. Unlike major corporations or even small businesses who have departments and individuals that largely focus on just their professional realm, Hope Hollow’s co-founders and co-directors, who are the only full-time workers for Hope Hollow and completely volunteer their time, have to be jacks of all trades. 

Day-to-day conversations with Kevin typically encompass touching bases on numerous different ongoing projects. In conversation, Kevin and I have pivoted from talking about Hope Hollow’s social media presence to Hope Hollow’s upcoming fundraising efforts. While at times it can be challenging to focus on so many different projects, it is also exciting to know that there are never-ending opportunities to better Hope Hollow in hopes of furthering its mission and impact. 

To outsiders, the amount of work that Kevin and Jane shoulder may appear insane, especially for a retired couple. But, Hope Hollow’s mission and the cancer community are so extraordinary that Hope Hollow’s co-founders and co-directors have decided to volunteer their “time, talent, and treasure” (as Jane always says) to the immense project of helping the cancer community.

My week started with festivities for the Fourth of July, a celebratory day to commemorate the great country of the United States. I, like many others, attended pool parties and celebrated America alongside family and friends. 

However, Wednesday shocked me back into the cold reality that is the United States of America. My day started with a simple yet perplexing question; Dr. Lomax II asked the fellows to think of systems that worked. Silence filled my ears, as every fellows’ Zooms remained on mute. However, this was not the type of mute due to lack of attention or participation. This was the type of silence that made the hairs on my arm raise and sent a cold rush down my spine. The weekend prior, I joined in on the celebrations of the seemingly superior country that is the USA. However, in this moment of silence, I could not think of one system in America that truly worked. The only thing that filled my mind was systems in place that hurt and fail so many. I had to leave the meeting early to get to Netcare and consequently missed some of the discussion with the eloquent guests that joined. I must be honest, though; I left feeling quite hopeless. 

I went from there to speak with four Netcare clients and hear their stories. As I listened, I could not help but think back to the Zoom discussion I had just previously left. As I did so, I became more and more despondent. One client’s story especially struck me and made me think about how the systems of oppression that harm thousands of individuals daily. One client was a Black man who was seriously contemplating ending his life and arrived at Netcare after sending out a cry for help via Facebook. In an attempt to save his life, an acquaintance called 911 to the scene where the client had mentioned in his Facebook post. He was in no danger of hurting anyone but himself. Yet, this man ended up running from the police who were discharged to the scene. With thoughts of the numerous police brutalities in recent years, his mind raced with the fears of being the next George Floyd or Tamir Rice or Eric Garner… and the list goes on. This client spoke of how his suicidal thoughts were only exacerbated as he was tackled down and arrested.

In the moment in which this man needed the most protection, the people who were there to “serve and protect” only sent him more into crisis. How failed of a system, of a country is that. 

As I reflected back on my day that Wednesday evening, a little glimmer of hope returned. The clients’ stories were each unique and their suffering manifested from very different events. They even had their own, individualized journeys through Netcare. While the anecdotes they mentioned about their past and Netcare were distinct from one another, there was one unanimous thing that every single client mentioned while telling their story. Each and every client said how kind the Netcare staff was to them, continuing on to say that “it was not just the type of kindness that is superficial. It was the sort of kindness that you could tell came from a genuine place of care.” It gave me hope to know that, while many systems in America and around the world are vehemently unkind to many, there are people out there who work daily to battle against these ruthless systems. 

Reflecting more, I could distinctly see now what I was blind to just hours early. There was indeed one system that I could have thought of that works, and it was right in front of my eyes: Netcare Access. This place has 14 individual programs that all unify together to provide holistic care and guide individuals through their lowest points. 

With these lingering thoughts of my busy Wednesday, again, for the fifth week in a row, I was reminded how special of a place Netcare is.

This week was the first week that things felt like a routine for the first time. Though it was a bit weird to come back from a 5-day weekend, it also felt right to just jump back into my assigned tasks and have more and more folks from the office with whom I feel at ease. If there is one thing about City Year that has been great, it’s the community. They all really try to find common ground with you and talk to you outside of your role as a worker in the organization.

On to some shop talk for this week: I continued the promotion for our Regatta submission and encouraged even more folks in the office to participate and take pictures with the boat. Since the deadline for the final boat votes is on August 2nd, it seems that promoting it will take up most of my social media calendar. This is great, however, because I am getting to know more of our staff members, what their sense of humor is like, and how they feel about their work at City Year Columbus. Check out this Canva image I created featuring one of the City Year Impact Directors:

Speaking of social media and promotion, I have also had good feedback from folks who are following the organization’s social media platforms. Specifically, since these upcoming weeks are Registration days for the AmeriCorps members, my Instagram stories and questions/response have created great engagement from Alumni and incoming Corps members. This is something that our Recruitment team has really appreciated and I’ve gotten multiple positive comments from other staff members about this.

I want to end this week’s post by speaking about this week’s Learning Session, which was incredibly powerful in thinking about what Collaboration and Systems mean within the nonprofit world. Some parts that stuck with me this week from the conversation with Tasha Booker Fowler (who also works at City Year!) and Toshia Safford (Center for Healthy Families) was the acknowledgement that “Collaboration in the nonprofit sector can be challenging” and, most significantly for me, that sometimes you have to say no to stay true to your mission. This last part in particular seemed important, especially in connection to our previous conversations about leadership and marketing–the realization that sometimes you have to say no to donors or partners because of various reasons but, ultimately, for the better of your organization’s intended mission. This has been particularly relevant given national conversations regarding racism and other discriminatory issues and who is funding what systems of oppression and harm. So this is all something to still keep at the front of our minds as we proceed our work with communities and nonprofits.