Looking for volunteer opportunities in East Baltimore?
Head to the
SOURCE. Johns Hopkins' new Student OUtreach Resource
CEnter is now open on the East Baltimore campus, providing
for the first time in the institutions' history a single
office to help both students and staff in the schools of
Medicine, Public Health and Nursing reach out to the
neighboring communities. The office also functions as a
clearinghouse through which community groups can request
volunteer help.
The SOURCE has relationships with more than 90 local
organizations, including schools, community clinics and
advocacy groups, says director Mindi Levin. Levin helps
students and staff find activities at any commitment level,
from a onetime park cleanup to an in-depth internship that
Public Health students can use for a capstone thesis
project.
SOURCE's programs and services will include an annual
volunteer fair in which attendees can learn more about
local organizations; quarterly drives to collect books,
toiletries or cell phones for donation; and monthly
lectures by community leaders. A weekly e-mail featuring
the latest opportunities for community involvement already
has 800 Johns Hopkins subscribers.
Community activist Glenn Ross, an East Baltimore
resident for more than 30 years, works with the office to
provide tours of the area to those not familiar with its
history.
On April 9, SOURCE held its inaugural tri-school day
of service, in which 90 students volunteered for various
projects around the city, including building a playground
for the new YMCA at Stadium Place, organizing registration
for a multiple sclerosis fund-raising walk and boxing
donated food for distribution by the Maryland Food Bank.
Although the idea of such an office seems simple,
setting it up was no easy task, Levin says. The School of
Public Health for several years had for its own students an
office called InterAction that performed many of the same
tasks as SOURCE. The School of Medicine had an informal
referral system for community outreach, but when students
lobbied for an office similar to InterAction, the
administration wasn't able to find the resources or office
space to accommodate them. At the same time, School of
Nursing instructor Lori Edwards was coordinating her
school's outreach program and sometimes found in contacting
local agencies that she was repeating efforts by others. In
addition, the community groups didn't necessarily
understand the differences between the various schools.
"It was just confusing to everyone involved," says
Levin, who previously directed the School of Public
Health's InterAction office.
Levin, Edwards, medical student Graeme Woodworth and
David Dowdy, a student in the M.D./M.P.H. program,
presented a proposal for the tri-school office to the three
schools' deans in December 2003, and SOURCE opened Jan. 1,
2005. Working through each school's academic requirements
and needs was a challenge, Levin says.
The feedback from both community groups and Johns
Hopkins participants has been positive.
Deborah Chilcoat, a health education and training
specialist for Planned Parenthood of Maryland, has asked
for Johns Hopkins volunteers for tasks such as giving sex
education lectures in public schools and providing abortion
counseling. "I can't say enough good things about the
students Mindi has sent me," Chilcoat says. "A lot of them
have worked with the Peace Corps, so they know the value of
working in the community. I don't have to hold their hands,
and it's very refreshing to know the work will be done."
Public Health student LaShawndra Pace used SOURCE for
help when she wanted to plan Black History Month activities
for a local school. Levin put her in touch with Tench
Tilghman Elementary School, where Pace and her fellow
students hosted a panel of community leaders, taught
lessons and helped the children put on a show highlighting
black history and culture.
"I'm really impressed at how much she does," Pace says
of Levin. "If you want to know something about the
community, Mindi knows it."
Though volunteerism is not mandated by any of the
three health schools, Michael Barone, assistant dean for
student affairs at the School of Medicine, says the
administration has worked hard to foster an educational
environment that encourages responsibility to the
public.
"I can honestly say that now, across all four years of
the SoM classes, volunteerism and community service are a
top priority," says Barone, who sits on the SOURCE's
governing board.
Adds Levin, "We are truly hoping to integrate our
program into the curriculum of the three schools to become
part of the students' academic process. I [now] see more
students who want to be involved but are limited by their
academic schedule."
Dowdy, one of SOURCE's founders, says the office "has
the potential to be extremely valuable. It could make a
large impact on the culture of students."
"I welcome the new SOURCE office," said Deidra Bishop,
director of East Baltimore community affairs for the Johns
Hopkins Institutions and a member of SOURCE's governing
board. "It's an effort to coordinate greater linkages
between our institutions and the neighboring
communities."
SOURCE is located in room E1002 of the School of
Public Health. For more information, call 410-955-3880 or
go to
www.jhsph.edu/source.
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