Community Partner : Strong City Baltimore : Nate Tatum Community Center Peer Mentor : Kaetlyn Bernal Site Supervisor : Lottie Sneed and Farajii Muhammad
What is Strong City ? Established in 1969 , Strong City is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build and strengthen vibrant urban communities in Baltimore City . Our work centers on the pillars of vibrant urban living : safe streets , good and diverse quality housing stock , quality schools , and livability .
" Working at the Nate Tatum Community Center in Barclay has given me the opportunity to turn my summer into an enriching experience that has opened my eyes in many ways . Last summer , while doing this program , I was able to narrow down my future career choices to working in the non-profit sector , but this summer , I have accomplished so much more . I had no idea what community organizing / building was and I didn ' t know that such a position existed . I am so excited to be able to say that CIIP has allowed me to discover where I can make the most impact in something that I enjoy doing every single day — I discovered my calling as a community organizer . CIIP has taught me so much in terms of my abilities and how to be able to assimilate myself into a community that needs the resources and knowledge that I have , and due to this program I look forward to doing this exact type of work on a global scale in the future .
• Staffed the community center and supported community members with services within the center and the community at large .
• Assisted in planning and execution of several community events such as the BMOG Cookout , The 4th Annual Women ' s Empowerment Conference , National Night Out , and more .
• Worked on different community projects including greening , development , and planning
Every day I spent at work this summer was unique and challenged me to think creatively , speak out against crime and violence , find resources for community members in need of assistance , discovering how to work in a community without imposing myself on the community , and more . I hit the ground running from day one and have not stopped ever since . Due to the retirement of my site supervisor at the end of the summer , I became responsible for much more than any other intern who has worked at the center . Since community work can often involve long hours , my supervisor had scheduled several weeks of vacation during the time of my internship . This means that I often found myself working on my own and serving the community without the guidance of a more experienced community builder . However , this time working alone helped me grow more than I thought I would this summer . For people to come into the center and for me to be able to direct them exactly where they need to be or what they need was a huge accomplishment . Although I did not realize how much effort running a community center on my own would be , I always kept pushing and working with the community to enhance my own knowledge and become part of the community . While working with my retiring supervisor and getting the new supervisor acquainted with the community , I found out how valuable another person ’ s perspective can be . After my time in the Barclay community this summer , I feel prepared enough to take my perspective and skill set to another community for them to use in empowering themselves and other members of the community to overcome obstacles of events that communities are facing ." -Kaetlyn 44