My summer 2014 fellowship with United Way of LaPorte County has drawn to a close this week. In a way, however, it has continued on. For although I have officially ended, my unofficial involvement has just begun. That will be the message for this blog and that certainly seems to be a subtle goal within the CAPS Fellowship program. There are currently three full-time employees at United Way of LaPorte County. Three people serve a community of 70,000+. It would be foolish to believe that these individuals, although highly talented, can accomplish that much without assistance. In fact it would be paradoxical to the very title of their organization. A community must LIVE UNITED, and while the staff at United Way might facilitate or lead the way, the community must be committed to its own betterment. In my time at United Way I have seen the community do exactly that. […]

Whenever someone seeks to revolutionize an organization and take it a new direction, it requires a lot of dedication and cooperation. That has been my experience so far this summer working with United Way of LaPorte County as they seek to involve their community in shaping United Way’s future. When I first started at United Way back in May, I joined in the middle of an 18 month process. At first I felt overwhelmed and unsure. Over the past five weeks, I have seen strands of this project come together in new ways, and I’ve become excited to see how the project continues to unfold. United Way of LaPorte County resides in a building shared by many other nonprofit organizations. This is exciting, because the organizations can assist each other and brainstorm about opportunities for collaboration. All of the employees in the building seem to enjoy their job and generally want to help […]