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Past Fellows and Their Placements
2007 Fellows
Carolyn Boyle
While working at Tedford Housing, Carolyn Boyle '08 (Government & Legal Studies/Economics) learned about homelessness and affordable housing in MidCoast Maine. In addition to gaining experience in day-to-day non-profit management and researching and writing grants, she was responsible for planning the celebration that accompanied Tedford's opening of the Evergreen Wood Apartments for homeless families in Bath. As part of her research project for Tedford Housing, Carolyn coded the shelter's intake forms to develop a database of characteristics of guests using Tedford shelters as a basis for further study of homelessness in Maine.
"When I return to Bowdoin this fall as a student, I will continue my summer research on homelessness and affordable housing through a class project with Tedford Housing. Through data collection, we hope to get a better picture of the reasons behind homelessness in MidCoast Maine, and then come up with strategies to eliminate homelessness."
Sara Griffin
Sara Griffin '09 (Art History & Visual Arts/ Latin American Studies) spent the summer with the Five River Arts Alliance, a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect regional arts, culture and heritage through advocacy, education, promotion, and celebration. She was able to contribute to every aspect of the organization's mission - website development, writing for the Artscape publication, and researching for and promoting events. In addition to learning new skills in technology, Sara also was exposed to institutional knowledge that allowed her privileged access into the lively culture of MidCoast Maine.
"This was an invaluable experience, and it has made me a much more aware and active citizen of Maine. My experience at Five Rivers changed the way I think of myself as a student and, in some ways, as a person."
Suzanne Heller
Suzanne Heller '09 (Psycology/Teaching) interned with Independence Association, an organization which provides services for adults and children with developmental disabilities and promotes community inclusion. Suzanne was able to create many new opportunities for Independence Association clients and brought a fresh, new perspective to creating unique programming activities. In addition, Suzanne took on several other tasks including writing a comprehensive report of completed satisfaction surveys; creating a template for an employee newsletter; and planning a camping trip for several interested individuals.
"It is a constant challenge to provide meaningful services that best support an individual's unique needs while still allowing room for new experiences. I will surely use all that I learned at Independence Association as I pursue my studies and a possible career in the field of special education."
Jeana Petillo
Jeana Petillo '09 (Psychology) worked with Volunteer of America Northern New England, an organization that provides a variety of services for youth, adults, families and seniors. Starting the summer with a week as a counselor at camp POSTCARD (Police Officers Striving to Create and Reinforce Dreams), Jeana continued to address her interest in serving the needs of youth through the Homeless Youth Outreach program in Lewiston, Maine. The culmination of her summer included organizing the first-ever job fair hosted at the Maine Correctional Women's Center in Windham in which 14 Maine employers participated. The event was such a success that the Maine Department of Corrections hopes to replicate the model across the state.
"The most powerful program I participated in this summer was Homeless Youth Outreach. After spending time with some of the kids and looking for others in need of assistance, I have a new perspective on issues that nearby youth are facing."
Aisha Woodward
The principal mission of the Mitchell Institute is to increase the likelihood that young people from every community in Maine will aspire to pursue and achieve a college education. Aisha Woodward '08 (Government & Legal Studies/English) began her work with the Mitchell Institute last fall interviewing students and school officials for the Barriers II study. Her fellowship this summer included updating the report with more recent data; organizing school specific data for participating school; and attending the pre-release briefing for the State Department of Education, local press agencies and college presidents. Aisha has continued her work in the academic year by developing programs through which Bowdoin students may imiplement Barriers II recommendations in local high schools.
"An important part of this fellowship experience was recognizing that societal problems, specifically poverty, take away a person's right to make choices that we believe are 'necessary' - like pursuing a postsecondary education, finding affordable housing, or having access to healthcare. I gained awareness of the links between all of the organizations the fellows worked for, and I have a broader understanding of the complex challenges our society faces."
Matt Yantakosol
Matt Yantakosol '10 (Government & Legal Studies) spent his summer working with the Town of Brunswick Planning and Development Office. His projects included creating a PowerPoint display of recent building renovations in the historic section of Brunswick; producing two brochures describing walks that he designed for Healthy Maine Walks; and updating the town's 2002 Open Space Map. This last project involved researching easements, subdivision plans, town assessing maps and deeds. Matt also attended a multitude of meetings regarding a range of town topics including transportation, the reuse of the Brunswick Naval Air Station and zoning issues.'10
"Learning about the MidCoast Collaborations for Access to Transportation provided me with a greater understanding of the issues of public transportation at the local level. This fellowship helped me to become more familiar with the overall Brunswick community - realizing resources I never knew existed. Our site visits to conservation properties in particular gave me a greater appreciation for natural resources and the necessity of protecting them."
2006 Projects
Lily Abt
As part of her fellowship with Independence Association , a non-profit with a mission of assisting those with disabilities in obtaining full and inclusive lives in their community, Lily interviewed parents of children with developmental disabilities about services that would enable the entire family to thrive. She also worked with members of the marketing committee to develop text for the redesigned website and assisted in implementing the Peer-to-Peer Resources Project for Independence Association adult clients interested in sharing their skills with others. In addition, by serving for the summer as an Executive Assistant to the Director, Lily was able to learn the intricacies of running and organization. Lastly, Lily was fortunate to be able to spend time talking with and working alongside artists at Spindleworks, a studio and gallery space for adults with disabilities.
"This fellowship has given me the chance to see the strengths of the Brunswick community. There are countless examples of organizations and individual community members working together for common goals that I never would have noticed without my time at Independence Association."
Michel Bamani
Michel Bamani spent his fellowship working as an intern with Volunteers of America, whose focus is providing affordable low-income housing for seniors and a variety of services for youth, adults and families. Michel spent his summer conducting data analysis and data collections, as well as interacting with kids. By serving as a counselor at Camp POSTCARD he played outdoors with kids and police officers for three hours a week. Michel was responsible for a survey project on elderly abuse, which included data analysis and interpretation, presenting data at a board meeting and revising the survey to better capture the desired information in the future. Michel also helped collect data regarding the BNAS closing and its possible effects on homelessness in the area, and worked on a project to help VOA strengthen their programs so that they meet their desired outcomes.
"My fellowship taught me the importance of advocacy and the extent of issues that seriously need to be addressed within our society. My experience at Volunteers of America has served as an eye-opener and as a motivator in stimulating my desire to raise awareness and create changes regarding societal issues surrounding youth and elderly abuse as well as people with mental illnesses."
Anna Karass
Anna Karass spent her summer at Tedford Shelter, the primary provider of shelter and housing services to residents in the area. Through her work, Karass increased her awareness of homeless issues in the area, as well as gained valuable work experience in the non-profit sector. Her first project at Tedford introduced her to grant writing and provided her with the opportunity to write portions of a federal grant application with guidance from Housing and Resources Director, Giff Jamison. Karass also developed program policies and procedures for an innovative mentoring program designed to provide homeless families and those at risk for homelessness with a caring mentor. Karass’ final project allowed her to experiment with technology by redesigning and updating the Tedford Shelter website.
"My experience working with Tedford Shelter as a Community Action Fellow was invaluable. At Tedford I felt like my projects were meaningful and actually made a difference. I wasn't just another intern who did the photocopying and filed papers."
Sara Schlotterbeck
Sara Schlotterbeck worked at the Oasis Health Center in Brunswick with their Community Prescription Assistance Program (CPAP). The Oasis Health Center is a free clinic that provides quality health care to eligible uninsured adults in the area. CPAP assists both patients of the clinic and patients of providers in the area in obtaining free or low-cost prescriptions through pharmaceutical company programs. Her responsibilities included patient advocacy work, research, answering phones, writing, processing applications for prescription assistance and working with others at Oasis to address situations as they arose.
"I will take the lessons that I learned from co-workers and patients at Oasis with me for the rest of my life. I feel like I have developed a deep understanding of the challenges and vital importance of providing quality health care to all."
Debbie Theodore
Debbie Theodore spent the summer working with Five Rivers Arts Alliance, a non-profit arts organization that seeks to connect the arts, culture and heritage of the mid-coast region. Debbie focused on writing promotional material for Five Rivers events, editing and adding content to the organization’s new website, gathering survey responses from local artists, promoting Five Rivers Arts Alliance at regional festivals, and attending board and committee meetings to learn about the structure of non-profit organizations. She frequently visited arts venues in Brunswick and became familiar with the challenges that local artists, gallery owners and arts and cultural organizations face. She also worked on developing closer ties between Five Rivers Arts Alliance and Bowdoin College by building relationships with the Art and Music Departments.
"Because of this fellowship, I have been able to feel like a member of Brunswick as well as a student at Bowdoin. My experience at Five Rivers Arts Alliance has shown me the energy and creativity within the Brunswick community and has revealed the benefits of building closer ties between Brunswick and Bowdoin."
Alex Weaver
Alex Weaver worked in the Town of Brunswick Planning and Development Office. Much of Alex’s early work included learning about the major issues in Brunswick, through reading relevant literature and by attending meetings of local committees and organizations. As the summer progressed, Alex took on a number of projects that had a direct impact on the course of these issues throughout the summer. Such projects included compiling a funding spreadsheet for the MidCoast Collaborative of local organizations that should be contacted to make public transportation in Brunswick a reality; creating a photo documentation packet for the Town Council about Bowdoin College’s New Soccer Field project; designing two projects for Bowdoin’s upcoming Common Good Day; and helping write a grant for the Maine Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program. In addition, Alex took meeting notes at various meetings, attended site walks to get a first-hand understanding of some of the issues, sat in on small developer meetings, and offered general help around the office.
"To me the most important thing about this fellowship experience was gaining a sense of personal professionalism by being provided the freedom to explore the major issues in Brunswick while at the same time having people around me who could guide me when needed."