Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Being approximately halfway through my second week with Big Brothers Big Sisters, I am finally beginning to settle into “the grind”. That is, the 9-5 very ADULT lifestyle. This routine feeling of getting up, making lunch, going to work, going to the gym, and going to sleep, has made me think a lot about what the next year will look like for me in a professional sense. So, I wanted to dedicate this blog post to discussing young people in the workplace, and how I see the workplace changing for young professionals.

From conversations with my peers and colleagues that also identify as young professionals, there are two main things I feel like we search for wherever we land post-college: balance and purpose.  I have had the conversation a few times with my father where he stresses the importance of hard work and dedication to his career. Not to say I don’t agree with that, but my father has talked extensively about how he comes from a generation where you have to bring your work home with you to succeed. Time in the office isn’t enough, and in order to “outperform” your colleagues for that next promotion, your career must become your life. I feel like our generation values work-life balance; being able to detach from work when you get home at 5:30 and not stressing over working long hours to get the next monthly bonus. At Big Brothers Big Sisters, they both accept and encourage vacation time to relax and decompress, and they are incredibly flexible with hours to accommodate appointments, families, etc.

The other element I believe young professionals are searching for in their first real job is purpose. Feeling valued by colleagues, and most importantly a supervisor or manager, may make or break your performance of daily tasks. People appreciate being told that they matter, that their work matters, and that they have a place and purpose within the organization. On my first day at Big Brothers Big Sisters not only was I introduced individually to the entire staff, but they also held a brief meet-and-greet with snacks. Each individual discussed their position at the organization, their favorite thing about working here, and inquired about my professional aspirations. I didn’t feel like “just an intern”, I felt like an important component of a team working toward a much more important goal.

Through this reflection of young professionals in the workplace and what we value, I have been validated that this is where I belong. Not just in this field, but with this organization surrounded by these people. I can only hope that my post-college job search leads me somewhere with these same values.

This week was the first official week of summer camp for SON Ministries; a week full of surprises, old and new faces, and adjustments. During our fellow meeting at the Columbus Foundation this week, I learned lessons from social profit leaders that perfectly align with the challenges and successes of the first week of camp. One thing that kept coming to mind, though, was the metaphor of looking at every child as a gold mine.

During our fellow meeting, we discussed the potential within each human being and the ability we have to help others reach their full potential. When I think of this potential, I think of gold; something that is highly valued and something that’s always in high demand. Within a child, the gold is there, just waiting to be mined. However, while everybody wants gold, few take the risk to mine it. It can be a dirty job – one that is tiresome, challenging, and maybe sometimes defeat. I’ve never personally mined gold, but I’ve worked with children and can say that sometimes it can be the same. But, the feeling you have when you see a child reach their full potential far outweighs any challenges you may have faced. When you see this, you know you have truly struck gold. Only a few days into camp, I’ve already seen many of my peers strike gold. Maybe it was forming a relationship with a shy child and encouraging them to express themselves in whatever way they feel comfortable. Or, maybe it was encouraging a teen intern to try out for the basketball team. Whatever that gold may be,we can only do our best to find it and help bring it out in the children we serve.

In only a short time, I’ve already seen so much potential. Something that Dr. Lomax said in our fellow meeting made me think about how we view potential and power. It is not our job to give people power or potential – they already have it. It is simply are job to show someone that these things are already within them, as cliche as it may sound. Like gold, potential and power are already there, ready to be mined and refined.

As my second week of this fellowship comes to a close, I am overwhelmed with admiration of the volunteers that make Ohio Wildlife Center function. All of the wildlife camp counselors, most of the education staff, and the animal care staff in the Wildlife Hospital and Education Center are all volunteers that care about Ohio’s wildlife and the center’s mission. This is a small organization and it would not be successful without the amazing work and dedication the volunteers bring every day.

Another person that I have come to greatly admire since my first day is one of the veterinary technicians that runs the Wildlife Hospital, Becky Drown. The Wildlife Hospital is incredibly small and in the basement of a companion animal vet’s office. With rooms and cages of wild animals being cared for by hospital staff and constant new admissions being brought in by the public, Becky handles the chaos of the hospital with grace and calmness as she makes sure each animal receives the care it needs either from her or the hospital volunteers. She explains everything in great detail so that everyone can be successful. The Wildlife Hospital takes in over 5,000 animals every year, many which are orphaned baby animals that need round-the-clock care. Many volunteers spend hours at the hospital, and even take some of the animals to their home to continue caring for them after-hours. Here is Becky pictured examining a fox kit patient that was brought into the Wildlife Hospital.

Also under the theme of admiration, I was able to attend a fundraiser on Thursday this week where all of the money raised was donated to Ohio Wildlife Center. The generosity of the community was humbling because the work that is done here would not get done without the generous donations of the community.

When our fellowship cohort met this week, I had a hard time connecting a lot of the lessons to my experience this summer as Ohio Wildlife Center has an animal focused mission. But after talking about leadership and what makes a good leader, I see many of those traits in the staff and volunteers here. They are selfless, helpful and welcoming. They care for themselves, the animals, and colleagues during tough times and decisions and I am very thankful to be working for this organization for the summer.

Here are a few (very cute) pictures I captured this week:

Today, I got to attend the Franklin County Community Agency Networking Meeting hosted by Buckeye Health Plan, and I will always be surprised at the magnitude of social services and public health nonprofits located in Columbus Ohio. It was a full house, and the list we received of the other organizations there was very long. This also shows the amount of need in the communities in central Ohio.

Meeting these needs seem daunting; the meeting talked a lot about the social determinants of health, which are the social and economic differences that contribute to differences in health. As a Public Health major at OSU, it was great to be able to apply a concept that is talked a lot about in my classes to this Fellowship. While I am primarily working with low-income families to connect them to affordable dental care without insurance, it is also important to recognize the underlying reasons that they are low income.

I really learned how important networking is in this line of work; most organizations only have the capacity to address one social problem, but the reality is that fixing one thing will not necessarily fix them all. Being able to partner with an organization providing services that are different but still important to the families using your organization is a more well-rounded way to participate in outreach and service.

I am very grateful to be able to experience meetings like these; the more I interact with the people at KidSMILES and immerse myself in their work, the more excited I get for my future. Something someone said at this meeting stuck out to me, “We are doing the dirty work, but we’re the type of people that love it”. I think working in non-profits is difficult for an array of reasons, but the impact they can have make it all worth it.

Welcome to the beginning of my blog!

My name is Ladan Barnes and I am a 2019 Summer Fellow with the Columbus Foundation. During my time as a fellow, I will be stationed at the Non Profit,  Lower Lights Ministries. Lower Lights Ministries offers a plethora of resources and opportunities for our community here in Columbus. They serve our most at-risk populations and help them navigate their way to a healthier lifestyle by combating emotional and physical poverty. This is done by the many programs offered by Lower Lights Ministries. The non-profit provides programs for youth, low-income families, recovering addicts, and female ex-offenders. Many of the programs also provide housing in order to provide a safe space to learn and recover.

Personally, I could not have asked for a better site. As a recent graduate of Otterbein University, in a Pre-Med Public Health Education Major background, I am familiar with their cause. Back in April, I passed my CHES exam and now I am a Certified Health Education Specialist. This certification coupled with my experience with prevention workshops and programs helps prepare me for my job at Lower Lights Ministries. At the organization, I will be a summer camp counselor and educator in their Bright Lights Summer Camp program. My focus is to promote social emotional learning and addiction prevention skill sets.

During my first week, I went to training classes and attended an ADAMH meeting in order to prepare for my summer students. Next week, I have planned to meet up with an on-site recovery center coach at Lower Lights Ministries to explore more evidence-based addiction prevention methods. I look forward to learning more from Lower Lights Ministries and tailoring the experience for the children at Bright Lights Summer Camp.

Lastly, I was told a meaningful story behind the name of my organization. In short, ‘lower lights’ represents the lower lights that are needed in order to successfully guide and dock a boat sailing in the water. At the organization we all do our best to act as the lower lights for our community.

See you next week!

Ladan Barnes

Hi! I’m Kelsey and my internship this summer is with the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center in Worthington, Ohio. I’ll be spending the coming weeks organizing, planning, and assisting the MAC’s summer youth camps, where kids from around the area come to learn about and develop a love for all the fine arts. 

I spent my first week at the MAC as a counselor for Camp Creativity. I had a group of eleven 10-year-olds (go Red Team!), and I led them around as they got to experience painting, drawing, sculpting, critiquing art, dancing, and acting, mostly for the first time. We also focused on building a language around the fine arts so they would find it easier to talk about. The central part of this was teaching them how to kindly say that they might not like something, which they could do by giving a reason and still acknowledging that the artwork may have taken a lot of time and effort. I found it very meaningful that I began my time at the MAC with a strong reminder of why this placement was my top choice. What I love most is advocating for the arts, and this week was a hands-on opportunity for me to do exactly that. Fostering a love of the arts must begin at a young age, and it was my privilege to help a group of kids discover that passion early.  

My favorite parts of every day happened when I had the chance to sit down with my campers and work on the projects with them. As much as I love doing my own arts and crafts, listening to a young camper talk about why they’re having fun and letting them explain their own ideas really allowed me to feel like I was giving back to my community. Thanks to one of my campers, I can now confidently say that I’m well versed in the pros and cons of a city made of floating islands. When I was young, there were countless people (mostly my parents) who listened to me and guided me through the arts so I could develop my passions. The only real way I can thank them is to pay it forward.  

There were some challenges along the way, like when we had a long discussion about using paint on their projects instead of on the tables. There always will be challenges when working with young campers, though, and seeing how excited they were to continue working on their project (sometimes at the cost of being late to their pool time) was beyond rewarding. After a week’s worth of hard work and creative thinking, I’m ready to tackle the projects that lay ahead of me this summer.  

Hello! My name is Soncerrae Davis and I am a recent graduate of The Ohio State University with a B.A. in Arts Management. I will be spending my summer this year working for Community for New Direction in their Youth Summer Day Camps. CND’s mission is to empower individuals to achieve their potential through innovative programs and positive relationships. Their primary purpose is to prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, as well as violence in youth served by their programs.

So why is someone like me, who studied to work with artists, spending my summer working with kids in a summer camp? I have been asked this question more than once during my first week working here. During my time at OSU, I had countless internships and jobs in the arts in Columbus that I received priceless experiences from. When I heard about this fellowship, I was tempted to apply to work at the arts center but I thought to myself, “what is something new I can gain from working at another arts center?” and I was struggling to find answers.

When I discovered CND and explored their organization, I realized that this was my opportunity to take everything I know about helping creatives and put it into something that I have always had love for: children. I am so blessed that the folks at CND and The Columbus Foundation have given me this opportunity to work so closely with our at-risk youth here in Columbus.

All children deserve to live full, happy, and healthy lives. It is my personal belief that the arts can help anyone regardless of the situation. CND is a prominent entity in Columbus making a real impact on the lives of youth here in Columbus and I can say that I am so excited to go to work every morning because I know my work makes a real difference. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this summer has in store for me at CND.

Hello! I am Liz Webb, a rising junior at The Ohio State University studying Public Affairs with a specialization in Education Policy. This summer I am working at Cristo Rey Columbus High School. Cristo Rey empowers Columbus students from economically disadvantaged families to graduate from both high school and college to achieve ultimate success in the future. To fund their rigorous college-prep education and prepare students for their bright future in college and the professional world, students at Cristo Rey participate in our Professional Work-Study Program. This is a program where every student spends 5 days a month working full-time at a business in the Columbus area. Cristo Rey’s transformative approach to education produces exemplary results, too. Every graduating class since the school’s opening has achieved 100% college acceptance!

I was already bursting with excitement to get to work, but my enthusiasm only grew when I walked into school in the midst of the last week of classes. Within the building there were too many festivities to count with ice cream parties, student potlucks, staff and faculty appreciation lunches, the annual food truck rodeo (yeehaw), and graduation events. Immediately I felt embraced in the supportive community Cristo Rey creates between students, faculty, and staff.

While I’m painting my first week as one big party, I do actually spend my days working on various projects for the school. Primarily, I am spending a portion of my first few weeks creating a report and site map for the school as we revamp our website. It is my job to improve the user experience of our website. By doing so, I hope for it to fully capture the impressive nature of Cristo Rey and attract prospective students, donors, and work-study business partners.

Additionally, this week marked the beginning of my other major project: creating an oral history of Cristo Rey Columbus. Throughout the summer, I will formulate questions, interview integral members of the Cristo Rey community, and edit the audio to generate a history that encompasses the journey of Cristo Rey from its developing stages in 2011 to the present-day school that has already celebrated the graduation of three classes. This will be a big undertaking, but I am looking forward to starting these interviews. It almost feels as if I’m a producer at NPR!  

Even though classes end this week and graduation is held tomorrow, it is still full steam ahead for me this summer. While I am still adjusting to my new environment and all that comes with it–like being introduced to students as Ms. Webb, not Liz–the community within our school has already helped me feel like part of the Cristo Rey team. My direct supervisors have been unbelievably welcoming, along with other staff and students I meet every day. I cannot be more excited to see what is in store at Cristo Rey!

Hello! My name is Sarah Elfers, I will be a senior at The Ohio State University this coming fall and I have been given the amazing opportunity to work with the Ohio Wildlife Center as my host site for the 2019 Columbus Fellowship Program. I am getting a degree in Marketing with two minors in Nonprofit Management and Human and Animal Interactions, so this opportunity is perfect for me!

My first week has gone by very quickly while I have been getting to know everyone and getting settled into my own role. Everyone has been very welcoming and I have already learned so much! I will be primarily working with the development team on photography and social media management, as well as additional day-to-day tasks I can help with.

The grounds of the Ohio Wildlife Center are beautiful, complete with an administration building (where my desk is), Bonner Barn event space, Pre-release facility for injured wildlife, trails and ponds for education and wildlife camps, and so much more! I was given a tour my first day and am thankful this opportunity gives me the chance to enjoy the summer weather. The grounds used to belong to a family, and our administration building has even been converted from their home to our office space!

The mission of Ohio Wildlife Center “is dedicated to fostering awareness and appreciation of Ohio’s native wildlife through rehabilitation, education and wildlife health studies.”  I have always been passionate about helping animals, and I hope that I can make an impact in the lives of animals during my time here through marketing our mission via various social media and marketing outlets. I was able to capture a few photos at the Pre-Release Facility. Here’s one:

Reflecting on my first week at Ohio Wildlife Center, I realize that I will have to be flexible and work with a variety of people and departments during my time here. Working for a smaller nonprofit sometimes means rolling up your sleeves and doing what needs to be done for the success of the organization, and I am happy to lend a hand wherever I am needed. The staff and volunteers here are hard-working and driven. Although there are outside forces that can slow the progression of projects, the staff and volunteers work hard to get things moving as fast as they can. The center operates with only two full-time staff members, the rest are part-time or retirees passionate about our mission.

My favorite part about the week was visiting our Wildlife Hospital, which is about six miles from the education center and administration buildings. I will continue to visit the hospital twice a week to capture photos of wildlife dropped off by the public and get their stories of rehabilitation to share with donors and other stakeholders. While I was there, I talked with staff and volunteers about daily tasks, including feeding bird fledglings every 30 minutes! The hospital admits over 5,000 animals annually, so they are very busy! They rely heavily on volunteers and do great work around the clock for Ohio’s wildlife. It was very inspiring to see how well the animals are cared for and how passionate the staff is. I took a myriad of photos, but only grabbed this one on my phone (cute, right?)

I am excited to fall more into my role and get my projects off the ground in the coming weeks. I look forward to all of the things I am going to learn here this summer.

Hi everyone! My name is Katie Brown, and I am a senior Public Health student at OSU. My Summer Fellowship site is with KidSMILES Pediatric Dental Clinic. KidSMILES is a nonprofit that offers comprehensive dental care to families in need. They also engage in community outreach through schools, community events, and social service agencies across Central Ohio to educate kids about proper dental health and maintenance. This last part is what I will primarily be focusing on; my projects this Summer include increasing patient recruitment and education, updating marketing materials, working with KidSMILES’ social media, and any other projects thrown my way

I felt very welcomed on my first day at the clinic; it became clear that Laura, the Executive Director, wanted me to get as much out of this experience as I possibly could. She remembered that I mentioned possibly wanting to start my own non-profit someday, and she went above and beyond in creating a plan of work. Along with working on outreach, I was given non-profit development materials and strategic plans, and will get the chance to review grant proposals, assist in evaluating the effectiveness of outreach, and learn about recruiting donors. Receiving binders full of information and plans was a bit overwhelming, but I was given the chance to take a day to go through it all and work on a tentative plan to get everything done. My past internships and jobs were very structured, and I am excited for the challenge of working on projects and budgeting my time more independently.

Yesterday, I attended my first outreach event at a Summer Lunch program. Throughout the Summer, I will begin to lead volunteers during these events, which consist of playing games with kids and teaching them about good oral health habits. I had conflicting emotions during the visit; part of me loved interacting with the kids and teaching them proper brushing techniques on Aly the Alligator (pictured below with Douglas the Dog!). They seemed so excited to be talking to us, and their parents seemed grateful. However, I also knew that these kids and their families were in tough situations; one little girl talked about living in the homeless shelter, and some of these kids get their primary meals through programs like these. It will be important going forward for me to not get discouraged and instead use these feelings to work to alleviate the issues that families like these face.

This first week was full of exciting new experiences and knowledge. I look forward to learning more about non-profit work through both my fellowship site and The Columbus Foundation throughout the rest of the Summer!