JACOB TOOK | MADE IN BALTIMORE In my goal sheet, I identified a handful of personal goals to focus on this summer — build connections with Baltimore community members, gauge community perception of Hopkins, and understanding how nonprofits both uphold and subvert destructive capitalism. I did write this before starting…
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JANAYA BROWN | FRANCISCAN CENTER My week began slightly discouraging, but by the end I was reminded why I want to keep doing this work. Tensions run high in the nonprofit world, the workload is high, the staff is low, and the rewards are variable. This is the first week…
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JANAYA BROWN | FRANCISCAN CENTER Everything in life requires adjustment. The center is not what I had expected to be at all, as I first realized I’d be in the Franciscan Center, I was worried that I was neither Catholic nor very religious. How would I look walking into a…
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TURQUOISE BAKER | WAVERLY MAIN STREET Having completed my first week of work at Waverly Main Street (WMS), I can safely say that my “first week butterflies” have dissipated. I now have a slight morning routine: I walk for about 15 minutes to the office turn on the lights and…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER Every day on my way to and from work, I pass by vacant buildings. As I drive down North Fulton avenue, through Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park, there seem to be two to three on every block. This is not an exaggeration. Black…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER I am beginning to understand what people mean sometimes when they say they are proud. Of their children. Of their students. Of course, I have felt a similar type of pride for my younger brother, but in our relationship I have long…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER Every day, usually in the mornings from 11 to 12, my kids will settle down, sit according to age group, and complete a worksheet. For the first week, each of them except the very littlest, worked on math; the kindergartener and the…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER There is a great emphasis placed on work. Although it is a recreation center, the idea of work is never far. The expectation is that few-toddlers, and the very elderly-are exempt from contributing their share, as they can. When it comes to…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER Humility, and the ability to listen. And more importantly, putting that ability into action. Out of all that we touched upon at CIIP Orientation, these two themes have affected me most, in a subtle and almost semi-conscious way, embedding themselves in the…
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LEENA AURORA | 29TH STREET COMMUNITY CENTER I guess that I’ve been focusing on other things in these blog posts, but a pretty significant part of my summer has been planning a community health fair! Last year, the CIIP interns for 29th St and Charm City Clinic collaborated on a…
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