Hello everyone! My name is Maggie Sterling (she/her) and I am a rising senior at U-M. I am studying sociology with a concentration in social work and will be attending Michigan’s School of Social Work after undergrad, working towards my MSW. This summer, I am working with Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO), which is a non-profit in Detroit that works to end homelessness and provides many holistic health services and housing-first initiatives to underserved communities in the area. My project with them is helping to plan and build a community closet for their clients and I am excited to write more about it soon!
Community to me is a place or a group of people that you have commonalities with and somewhere you can comfortably show up however you need to. A community is strong because of its members and I have already witnessed proof of this all throughout Detroit, even after only being here for less than a week. Detroit is a resilient community that deserves to tell its own story as they grow. I was interested in DCERP and the Detroit community after learning about the many social justice and rebuilding efforts currently going on in the city and about how its culture remains strong throughout many drastic changes.
One strength of mine that I think will help me with my work at NSO is my ability to stay open-minded and to be a good listener. NSO is a huge non-profit and every day I am meeting new employees, community partners, and clients. I believe that there is something to learn from every person and every conversation and I think this is at the core of community-engaged work: to truly listen and seek to understand those around you. Something I would like to work on this summer is seeing myself as a self-starter and assertive worker. Many of my jobs in the past were not based on my own ideas and creative concepts, but I have a lot of say in the community closet project this summer and am excited to find my place in this project and assert myself more in the process.
I am so excited for these next 2 months and to get closer to my DCERP cohort and my supervisors at NSO. Here’s to a great summer in Motor City! 🙂
Here’s a photo of me and a part of my cohort at the Eastern Market last Saturday w/ dole whip!
Hey Maggie! I’m excited to be in Detroit with you for the next few weeks! Your non-profit sounds really interesting, so I’m going to be actively waiting to see the updates you post on here about all your endeavors.
Hi Maggie! 🙂 Your non-profit sounds so amazing I’m excited to learn more about it in your posts as the weeks go by. Congrats on completing your first week!
Hi Maggie! It has been great to hang out with you so far. I am glad that you are able to have a say in your project and also tie in your major with the work that you are doing.
Hi Maggie, I loved reading your post and seeing you during this first week. I agree with you that is so rewarding when you are able to have more of a say in the project you are working with and being able to be more hands on with the work you are doing.
Hi Maggie. I totally agree with you that there is something to learn from everyone and I’m super excited for you to be able to engage with that in your fellowship! I hope everything goes smoothly this summer.