My academic journey has had its ebbs and flows, yet each semester has presented itself as a learning and growing opportunity for me. The course that I believe exemplifies this the most would be when I took Nonprofit Boards: Theory and Practice I & II. As a part of this course, I was placed as an Ex Officio Board Member at Gilead Community Services, a local nonprofit that serves those within Middlesex County dealing with mental illness and addiction. Throughout the course, I served on the Resource Center Project Workgroup and the Resource Center Clinical Planning Team to create a starting point for individuals and their families looking for information on available mental health resources in the area.
During the remainder of my time working with the board, I developed an Outreach Plan for a new program that Gilead was going to be implementing to help veterans dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders. For this project, I gathered information on the veteran community within Middlesex County, possible challenges Gilead might face while rolling out this program, how Gilead could use this program to cover areas missed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, a list of potential program partners to increase the number of veterans informed about the program, and a list of potential sources of additional funding. I now realize how much work and planning goes into maintaining and expanding a nonprofit organization.
Mental Health is a topic that has greatly affected my life in several ways, and I have sought out advice when uncertain. Because of my own challenges, I continued to volunteer for Gilead by forming a Wesleyan-affiliated group to participate in one of their annual fundraising efforts. During the Spring semester of 2019, I gathered 6 Wesleyan students and 2 Wesleyan staff to participate in the annual 5k that took place in Middletown and we were able to raise $300 for Gilead. Unfortunately, during the Spring semester of 2020, the 5k run was canceled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. However, our team was still able to raise about $225 that year. During Spring 2021, we were able to grow our team to 26 Wesleyan affiliated members and raised $780. These events have helped create a relationship between Wesleyan and a portion of the Middletown community that I trust will continue to grow.
