Hello! This is a freestyle, so apologies in advance if it’s a bit random!
This week was my first week of the program without also having my physics class, so that’s been super nice. I’ve gotten to sleep in, focus more on my project, and enjoy my evenings rather than cramming in a lecture yay!
In terms of work, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on – two meetings got cancelled so that freed up a couple of my mornings and there’s also been a couple meeting-free days. We did have two important meetings though – one with Homeless Recovery Services to keep them updated on our projects and grant progress and one with Gleaners Food Bank to talk about a potential partnership. This is a side note, but unfortunately all the rain caused some flooding and leaks in the homeless shelters, so I hope those issues can get resolved soon because I know the staff already has a lot on their plate. I feel like the Gleaners meeting went well. We learned a lot about what a partnership with Gleaners could look like, and I think it will be exciting for NSO to work with them in the future.
As for my project, it’s coming together. I’ve officially documented 25 different homeless shelters across the country and noted how their meal service programs run. I think that I will be able to finish the entire resource document soon, and I hope it will be useful for NSO going forward. It feels good to almost be done, and I am excited that we still have another month left because it means I’ll be able to start a new project – most likely researching community gardens and what that could look like for NSO. I am a little sad though because everything seems to be going by so fast!
Overall, it’s been a good past month in DCERP!
Hey Abby, first off woohoo for no more physics! Your program seems SO cool and it sounds like you’re doing really impactful work. The program seems to be flying by which is kind of sad and scary but I think is also probably a good thing.
Hope to meet ya in person soon 🙂
Good for you Abby for taking Physics while having an internship! I give you SO much credit for that. But definitely make sure you are taking enough time for yourself.
I bet it feels really good to know you’ve almost completed an entire project. The work you are doing seems really interesting, especially the project you might be able to start on community gardens. I have always been interested in the functionings of a community garden or an urban farm.
That is wild you were taking physics during this internship and I salute you for that. I avoided taking a spring class for that very reason. You definitely deserve a breather. Also, the fact that you’ll have time to work on two projects is so cool. Community gardens are such a beneficial feature of neighborhoods due to how hard it is sometimes to get access to fresh, quality food. The work you’re doing is important you should feel accomplished for getting to participate in it.