Monthly Archives: June 2018

“But Do You Have Friends?”

This entry was tagged Chicago Heartland Alliance and posted on by

“I get to do this every day.” This thought has echoed within my mind repeatedly over the course of the last few weeks, carrying through the Chicago view from my apartment window, to the neighborhoods surrounding my brown line L commute, to the community-style lunches enjoyed by my department each day that bring together different cultures, flavors, and perspectives. I am reminded of it when I hear and learn new languages from my office desk, and when I witness the kind of joy that can only come from a two-year old ready to run outside to play. And though my first few weeks in Youth and Family Services have consisted more or less of blindly stumbling around while simultaneously trying to pretend that I actually know what’s going on, I remain thankful that I stumbled into Heartland.  During these first few weeks in Chicago with Heartland Alliance’s Refugee and Immigrant […]

Living the Dream: Is This More Than a Metaphor?

This entry was tagged Harrison Center Indianapolis and posted on by

When I was just beginning my CAPS placement process, my dream of what this summer would hold was a filmy concoction that I excitedly stirred; my recipe grew as I poured in stories that previous fellows had told me, sprinkled in the advice of every person that would answer me, and threw in a dash (or two) of anxiety for good measure. This past Wednesday marked exactly one month (it’s felt like two weeks!) that I’ve been interning at the Harrison Center as one of their many summer Cultural Entrepreneur Interns. I can confidently say that my dream had as many holes as it did substance and that I didn’t even need to cook it up (but who am I kidding– I’m definitely already gathering the ingredients for what I imagine the upcoming school year will bring). One of the many epiphanies I’ve acquired and tucked away has been that […]

The Vocation of Silent Heroes

This entry was tagged art ArtMix CAPS Fellowship disabilities Indianapolis vocation and posted on by

My family has always found me to be creative, whether that meant eating hot dogs like corn-on-the-cob at a young age or creating marvelous stories in school through my writing. Even though I, too, find myself to be creative to some extent, I would have never imagined working for an arts organization. Wait a minute- it’s not just an arts organization. It’s an art organization for everyone and anyone. You may be thinking, Felicia, of course, anyone can do art, or at least, they could try to… why is it so special? But that’s where you’re wrong, imaginary conversationalist. I would venture to say most people think that spaces (whether outside, in school, at work) are inclusive and welcoming to all people, that is, until you are the person excluded by happenstance or purposefully. And this is where ArtMix comes in.  ArtMix meets people with disabilities where they are at, which […]

Two Weeks in El Salvador

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Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA) is a small organization with far reaching effects. CoCoDA partners with local organizations and communities in El Salvador and Nicaragua to accomplish community building projects. To do this, communities dictate which projects to work on and CoCoDA facilitates the project process and provides resources for the project’s completion. They occasionally plan trips with external organizations (many of these being universities) to help in the implementation. The organization originally peaked my interest because of it’s thoughtful approach to volunteering in a world where international volunteering has been somewhat sensationalized in the form of short term volunteer trips. I wanted to learn more about the effects of crossing cultural boundaries with good intentions, and how to minimize any possible negative effects. Spending two weeks in El Salvador with CoCoDA showed me that CoCoDA is among the unfortunately small ranks of organizations that realize that good intentions are […]

Rose-colored Bubble

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I call Indiana home, but not by choice. My mom grew up in southern Indiana, and my dad thought the combination of her and the low cost of living was a great deal. I used to think the state was just boring, as expected of an eight-year-old surrounded by constant road work, potholes, and soy. Ignorance was bliss, because I didn’t start to notice the greater flaws until I started to question and explore my identity. My domineering feminist phase revealed that the “Midwest charm” includes casual misogyny and a severe lack of women in leadership roles. The feminist phase evolved into love that I had been taught by society not to accept. I know other kids have it a lot worse, but it is less than ideal being gay in Indiana. I thought it was just a regional thing at first, then I went to college and not much […]

Got Questions? Ask Them!

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When applying to be a CAPS Fellow, I had a limited understanding of what that meant. I knew from former Fellows that it meant interning at “real” job, travelling to that “real” job, and spending my summer gaining some experience. But, just what exactly was that job? Where would I be going? Staying? Doing? To be honest, those questions are hard to answer. The best way to understand it is to experience it. The first day I started at Ingenuity was the first day that I really understood what that non-profit does, and, really, I don’t think anyone could have explained it to me beforehand. There’s a process, I’ve learned, that comes with entering a new space (a new workplace). It’s a whole new environment, and, to do the job right, you need a lot of context for why your colleagues do the work they do and why. Before arriving, […]

Finding Community in a New Place

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Living in a new place can be an exhausting process of navigating the unfamiliar. The first few days are usually filled with trying to get comfortable in a new space. For me this included finding where to buy groceries every week, the route I would take to my internship every day, and a good, nearby coffee shop. These small forms of comfort and routine help create the space for an unfamiliar place to become a community. On the morning of the first full day at my internship, the crowded processing room was full of applause, as everyone celebrated accomplishments and got motivated for the day. During the morning meeting we discuss the theme of week, which for my first week was “community”. As a result, I spent time that week reflecting on community and what it meant to me in the context of my recent, unfamiliar surroundings. In new places, […]

Meeting People with Passion

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Last summer at the end of my internship my coworker told me her favorite quote, “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested”- E.M. Forster. But as a I packed 28 boxes filled with cell phones, insurance cards, and hundreds of papers, to be sent to universities across the country earlier this week, I could not help from thinking that maybe 40 interested people may actually be useful. In all seriousness though, that quote has really stuck with me over the past year as I traveled abroad to Namibia and now as I have begun my CAPS placement at IREX in Washington DC.   IREX is an international nonprofit that focuses on development. In the past I have worked with several very small NGOS, often with a local staff of 2-3 people. IREX though has a staff of over 400 world wide and 178 locally, so when […]

We’re Not in Valpo Anymore!

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  We traded our Chapel bells for rumble of the L train.  Chicago.  A city that will never cease to amaze me.  Being from a Chicago suburb, I am no stranger to this majestic city.  I spent my weekends exploring different pockets of city under the careful guidance of my family.  I like to say that my family bubble wrapped my Chicago experience.  I could not take public transportation until I was 17, and even then I was under the protection of my brothers.  My mom is a nurse and my dad is a taxi driver, they know firsthand how bad Chicago can be.  They were just trying to protect me, but they cannot shelter me forever. The independence is liberating.  Living in Chicago allows me to explore myself outside of the safety net of home or Valparaiso.  I was overjoyed when I discovered my placement was in Chicago because it […]

LET’S GO CAPS 1 comment

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C-A-P-S LET’S GO CAPS! This was the constant refrain around DC and outside Capital One Arena last Thursday night as fellow CAPS member Caroline and I watched the Capitals bring home the Stanley Cup. It was incredible to see the energy and watch the city come alive around the event. D.C. is an amazing city, vibrant and overflowing with political energy and I have really enjoyed my time here so far.  The cheering refrain was also a constant reminder of my CAPS internship and the reason I’m able to have these experiences this summer. I’m interning with Venn Strategies, a government relations and public affairs firm in the heart of Washington, D.C. I just finished up my third week and it has been a whirlwind. I am a part of two client teams based around tax and infrastructure, two things I knew very little about before arriving here. It’s been […]

They Always Say Congratulations 1 comment

This entry was tagged Indiana Humanities Indianapolis and posted on by

Indiana has never been a state that I have found very appealing. Although yes, I go to school in Indiana, northwest Indiana and the area around Valparaiso University has a very different feel than the rest of Indiana. The rest of the state sees what they know as “The Region” as a suburb of Chicago more so than part of the rest of the state. When I got placed in Indianapolis, I was skeptical, although it seemed everyone else was excited for me and kept “saying congratulations.” I didn’t know what to expect because I’ve only been to Indianapolis one time prior to the internship. I didn’t know what there was to do around the area or how the people are. During my interview with my placement here in Indy, my now supervisor, Kristen Fuhs Wells, vice president of Indiana Humanities, asked me what my thoughts on Indiana were. I […]

Familiarity in the Difference

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Before we even get started here, I think it is important to know that I grew up in a small farm town in Northeast Indiana, to devoted and incredibly loving parents. My hometown, North Manchester Indiana, is a Tree City USA with one university, two retirement homes and three stoplights. If you travel 4 miles east of town limit, you’d find my parents’ house tucked in a woods with a long gravel lane. This environment has to be one of the top places for a child to grow up. I had frogs to catch, hills to sled down, and many cousins to play basketball with in my grandparents’ barn. Now that I am three years out of high school and into my degree at Valparaiso University, I love to reflect on my past as I am continuously blown away by my present and future. Now that you know where I […]

Are You Ready?

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It’s the question I have gotten many times a day for multiple weeks, “Are you ready?” Last week, it was referring to my trip to Austin and the start of work. This week it’s been directed towards my trip to Ethiopia which begins tomorrow. Which is one day from today. Which is not a lot of time. Each time I hear the question, it carries a different meaning. Sometimes the question refers to logistics, other times the packing process or vaccines and medicines, but the trickiest is whether or not I’m prepared mentally. This summer I am working at Water to Thrive, a non-profit in Austin that works with organizations in East African countries (Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania to be specific) to provide clean, safe drinking water to communities. I am primarily working on the beginnings of a bridge project in a village in Ethiopia that sees their only bridge […]