New Opportunities

My name is Melissa Lester; I’m a graduate student (MSW II) at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. Additionally, I have a B.A. from OSU in sociology. Originally I am from Marion, Ohio which is about 51 miles north of Columbus. I recently moved to Columbus about five months ago to the east side near Bexley. Ironically, I moved to Columbus to be closer to school, my practicum, and to career opportunities such as this fellowship, but I am finding I have to drive to lots of places because Columbus is bigger than I realized. My fellowship with Cancer Support Community Central Ohio (CSC_CO) is currently located in Powell. However, the office will move from Sawmill Parkway to 1200 Old Henderson Road, Columbus, Ohio43220. If anyone knows anyone suffering from cancer or care-giving for someone with cancer then tell them to check out Cancer Support Community Central Ohio, because they offer a wife-variety of services to help individuals with cancer and their families.

I’m excited for this fellowship and the opportunities it affords me. I’ve never had my own office until this fellowship so I’ve been given a glimpse into what it will be like when I am a licensed social worker (hopefully) with my own office. My glimpse tells me my future desk will be covered with paperwork like my current one is! 

The Cancer Support Community Central Ohio provides free emotional support, education, and hope for people with cancer. They offer professionally led support groups, educational workshops, mind/body programs such as Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, so people affected by cancer can learn the skills necessary to regain control, reduce stress, feelings of isolation, and restore hope.

My primary focus at CSC_CO will be to work on their west side expansion program. The west side of Columbus is underserved part of Columbus, so CSC_CO has plans to offer educational workshops and partnering with other nonprofits in the area to offer more opportunities for individuals living with cancer on the west side  to incorporate healthier practices into their everyday life. I also will fill in with other projects, and at times support the Program Director, (my fellowship supervisor) Peg.

 The first part of my week has been spent becoming familiar with everyone and the office environment. Cancer Support Community Central Ohio has countless volunteers and many of them work in the office so every day I have met a new face. It’s great to see that there are so many individuals willing to volunteer their time.

Towards the end of the week I helped a little with CSC _CO grant proposals, they are writing two that are due on Monday. This experience has exposed me to what the process of grant writing is like. Grant writing is a very marketable skill to have in social worker so at some point it’s a skill I plan to have. I’ve learned that grant writing is very time consuming and stressful. I have a new found respect for individuals that spent countless hours writing grants to fund projects they are passionate about. I also have a new found respect for individuals that work in the nonprofit sector, because they work way harder than I ever imagined. I knew they gave a lot of their time, heart and soul but I had no idea until my first week at CSC.

 

I look forward to my future opportunities and experience with this fellowship.

In the Driver’s Seat

The keys that should have been in my pocket.

I walked out of our orientation fully motivated and anxious to start my summer at INCREASE CDC.  As I was strolling through the parking lot, my sense of elation came to a sudden halt as I reached into my pocket expecting to find car keys, but came away empty-handed.  Immediately, I pulled out my cell phone, pretending to be in control of the situation, while I erratically retraced my steps.  After several fruitless searches, I went back to my car and there they were — my keys were sitting in the driver’s seat.  I sighed and shook my head in disbelief as I had managed to successfully pull off one of the more impressive day-one debacles in modern times.

Thankfully, after several distress calls, both my roommate and girlfriend executed this rescue mission with Usain Bolt-like speed, dropping off a spare set of keys and slinging some well deserved jokes at my expense.

I jumped in my car and headed for the second half of my orientation at INCREASE.  I did my best to laugh off the past hour while listening to the soothing melodies of the Pandora “Enya” station.  Ten minutes of mid-90′s ambient music helped ease the nerves considerably.

The welcoming at INCREASE was incredible.  Carmen, Deonna, and Mr. Carter treated me as one of the family from the minute I stepped through the door.  I was introduced to dozens of people, participated in productive meetings, and was even asked for input on proposals essential to the future planning of the organization.  I was both surprised and invigorated by the autonomy in which I have been granted to see my project through.

The next 9 weeks are as equally important to INCREASE as they are to me.  This fellowship truly is not just another internship.  This fellowship is a chance to impact an organization in a lasting, meaningful way.

I am driving my fellowship experience.  I am just grateful it doesn’t require keys.

Preparing for ETSS Summer Camp!

Hello, my name is Hitomi Abe and I recently graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Nutrition. I am excited to work with the Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services this summer, as a nutrition instructor.

ETSS is a non-profit organization that provides services to refugee families throughout Columbus. Services include after-school tutoring, summer camps, adult english classes, as well as many more. This summer, ETSS is running 3 different summer programs with over 50 kids at each site! I will be working at 2 of the sites, teaching nutrition education to the camp kids.

The staff here at ETSS have been extremely kind to me, answering all of my questions about the summer program! It is great to learn more about working for a non-profit organization, and I am grateful that ETSS has given me a big responsibility to lead the nutrition lessons for the summer.

This week, I have been busy preparing for the camp. So far, I have created 5 weeks of nutrition and gardening lessons. I’ll start on Monday with the kids teaching the My Plate as well as basic gardening skills. I created a My Plate poster with various foods from each food group. For the gardening skills, I am going to take the kids out to the community garden to plant some seeds! I’m so excited to meet the kids and have a fun and rewarding experience.

Wish me luck as I begin my summer with ETSS!

New Beginnings

 

Hello and welcome to my Summer Fellowship blog! 

 

 

 

The Columbus Foundation Summer Fellowship Program is providing the perfect context to begin narrating my first blog. Writing to an audience over an extending period of time is something new for me, but considering where I am in my life right now; taking on new challenges seems to becoming very familiar!

 

Just five weeks ago, almost to the day, I was in Ohio Stadium listening to President Obama address my graduating class on the meaning of citizenship and altruism and the importance of community and active participation in that community, country, and world. His words couldn’t ring more true for how I developed over the past four years and where I will continue going from here. Social justice, diversity, service to others…. are just some of the values I have deliberately intertwine into my education and experiences throughout my undergraduates years and now as I stand in the gateway to the “real world” I want nothing more than to find how and where I can live out those values now. I believe The Columbus Foundation Summer Fellowship Program will be the perfect stepping stones to begin that journey and I am excited to be sharing it with all of you.

Graduation day with my parents

 

This summer I will be working at Columbus Collegiate Academy and my primary role will be to recruit and enroll potential students for the 2013-2014 academic school year. This includes (but is not limited to!) developing creative marketing strategies, talking with parents and families about the infinite benefits of sending their son or daughter to CCA and reaching out to community organizations for their support. Columbus Collegiate Academy is a tuition-free, open enrollment, public charter middle school with two campuses in Columbus. CCA Main opened just five years ago on the east side and has had incredible success. CCA has receive numerous awards including an excellent rating on the Columbus City Schools report card, only one of five schools to receive such a high marking. The average CCA student arrives there in 6^th grade nearly two or three grade levels below the average American 6^th grader and leaves in 8^th grade at or above the average 8^th grade level and with acceptance and scholarships to some of the best high schools in Columbus. I could go on forever talking up all the amazing results that are achieved here, but in short, the school leaders to have the right recipe of structure and support low-income children need to achieve academic success and ultimately thrive in our globalizing world.  

I am beyond thrilled to be working at Columbus Collegiate Academy working for something I truly believe in, a quality education for every child. Please check out CCA’s website to learn more about their amazing achievements and stay tuned to my blog for updates on my experience.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Nikki

 

 

Lean In

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, recently published a book titled Lean In in which she encourages women to boldly pursue their ambitions and challenges society to address the barriers women face.

In a commencement address at Barnard College in 2011 she told graduates, “lean way into your career. You’re going to find something you love doing, and you’re going to do it with gusto.”

I have adopted Sandberg’s words as my summer mantra. As the summer fellow at The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio, empowerment for women is my day job.  We fund grant partners who are working to create social change by equipping, encouraging, and enabling women and girls to “lean in,” to embrace their ambitions and potential.

My task as the summer fellow is to research the state of philanthropic work targeted at women and girls nationally and within central Ohio.  The project description sounds straight-forward, but I have discovered this week that the assessment is going to be rather complex.  So in my second week of work, it is time to push up my figurative sleeves and lean in.  I am going to hunker down and work really hard.  I am going to see where this research takes me, and deliver thorough and useful results.

The mission of the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio is “to transform the lives of women and girls, by mobilizing the collective power and passion of all women working together.”  It is a big deal to have the opportunity to work for an organization whose mission and values so align with my own passion.  I am going to embrace it like a sponge, absorbing all that I can learn from my coworkers and contributing the ideas and skills that I bring to the table.

This summer fellowship is an opportunity to be at a table where they are discussing something that I really care about: enriching the lives of women and girls in central Ohio.  I am going to sit up, lean in, and absolutely make the most of it.

To learn more about the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio visit our website: http://www.womensfundcentralohio.org/

And follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/WomensFundCO?fref=ts

What’s My Job?

Whew.  Let me take a minute to introduce myself and my organization.  I’m Ryan Max, a student at Miami University, and this Summer I am working as the Program Coordinator for SON Ministries’ Hilliard Free Summer Lunch for Kids.  In a nutshell, we provide a healthy breakfast and lunch to the children in the Hilliard area that receive a free or reduced lunch during the school year.  My first week here has shattered that nutshell.  This is about so much more.

“People are our priority, relationships our goal.”  I’ve heard this phrase many times in my first week, and it sounds like a fine mantra.  But it is much more meaningful when I can see the way the camps exemplify this firsthand.  We’re trying to build a community environment that many of the children we serve do not get to experience outside of the four hours they spend at our “Summer Camp”.

In my role as Program Coordinator I travel to three of the Hilliard lunch sites throughout the week, spending a day or two helping implement programming at each before moving on to a different group of kids and a different set of staff.  In five days, it’s incredible to see how strong the sense of community has already been developed at the sites.  Each site has its own personality and its own rhythm.

Norwich Township Fire Department visits a Hilliard Free Summer Lunch for Kids site

Every day is a whirlwind of games, art, science and food; a delicate balance of planning and chaos.  Basketball, jump rope, water guns, parachutes, fire trucks, kites, Soccer games, Dodgeball, homemade flags, daily skits, board games, books, gardens, restaurant planning, dozens of volunteers, hundreds of kids.

I don’t think anything could sum up the passion and goal of SON Ministries and the Summer Lunch program better than the call and response that I witnessed at one of our lunch sites this week.

Site Leader: “What’s my job?”
Children: “To love us!”
Site Leader: “And what’s your job?”
Children: “To love each other!”

That’s the new nutshell.

A Treasure Hunt Without A Map

A basement, an attic, and two old offices later, I sit amongst a sampling of Columbus Early Learning Centers’ 125 year history and preschool toys. Treasures unearthed thus far? I suppose that depends on your definition of treasure. I’ve been rather enchanted by the blocks next to my desk — just kidding! Older treasures include a scrapbook of newspaper photo clippings of the all-female leadership over the span of 30 years, a 1964 ledger from the West Side Day Nursery (as it was then known) – utilities were expensive!, and hundreds of day nursery applications from 1900-1930. That doesn’t even include the undated photos (though hair and pants styles indicate the 1970s) and Super 8 Kodachrome film. And yes, I had to Google what Super 8 Kodachrome film is, or should I say was. I’m still pondering how we might watch the three minutes of footage that Wikipedia told me is on it, assuming it has not be ruined by its time tucked away in a box.

And what am I going to do with all of these disparate items? Well, it’s only my first week, so I can’t be expected to quite know the answer to that yet. The end goal, though, is to preserve the history of Columbus Early Learning Centers and to maximize its utility for future alumni, marketing, and fundraising initiatives. So more discovery and exploration await!

Columbus Early Learning Centers have provided day care services in Central Ohio since 1887, under more than seven different names and across four locations. Now serving infants and toddlers at two locations, Columbus Early Learning Centers maintains its connection to the women who started the organization, focusing on providing the highest quality early learning environment possible. The first day nursery in 1887 was not only one of the first in the state, but also one of the first of its kind in the country. Columbus Early Learning Centers continues this trailblazing tradition today. To learn more about their work, visit their website here. And to stay updated on my summer of treasure hunting, check back here weekly.