What started as a part of the Restoring Hope Restoring Trust grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Charting the Future initiative has grown thanks to an additional grant through the Endowment’s College and Community Collaboration. The goal is to bring more cultural and artistic programming to Wabash and Montgomery County.
“168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网 realized a lot of our students see Wabash as home, but not necessarily Crawfordsville or Montgomery County,” says Community Partnerships Coordinator Leann Parrish, who is beginning her third year in the position. “There is definitely a divide on the other side too—community members not feeling like Wabash is part of their sense of home or community pride.”
Parrish’s job is to facilitate connections in both directions.
“Anytime campus and community come together I’m usually involved,” says Parrish. “Sometimes it’s community members reaching out saying, ‘168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网 have this project; do you have students who could help?’ Sometimes it’s a large-scale issue: ‘Do you have a class interested in taking this on or helping us troubleshoot?’
“On the campus side, a lot of our fraternities and student organizations have required volunteer hours. I can point them in the right direction to complete those hours. If faculty members want to do a community-engaged course, I can help find partners for them in the community.”
Through her work, Parrish learned that many students, even upperclassmen, had not had experiences in the local community. Yet, once they take that step, it becomes easier.
“That’s when the ball really starts rolling,” she says. “Getting them to take that first step is hard and can be scary. But once they experience what it’s like out in the community and all the good things that Crawfordsville and Montgomery County have to offer, it becomes less intimidating, and they’re more excited to get out, get involved, and be members of the community.”
Academic courses are often an early entry point for students getting involved with community organizations.
“Crawfordsville Adult Resource Academy (CARA) hosted some English conversation classes on campus once a week, where their students were invited to campus to have conversation with some of our students,” Parrish says. “Last fall there was a political polling class. Associate Professor of English Crystal Benedicks’ grant writing class partnered with several organizations in the community, working with them on writing grants.
“This semester we have a class that’s doing a course modeled on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program in partnership with the Putnamville Correctional Facility in Greencastle,” she continues.
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program brings together incarcerated students and students from a higher education setting and centers around completing a college course. The special topics course, taught by Associate Professor of Political Science Lorraine McCrary, meets in the correctional facility with incarcerated individuals. The students read political theory and discuss the relationship between freedom, virtue, and politics.
In addition, Parrish administers a collection of mini grants to assist campus-community partnerships.
“I came in thinking a very specific way about what community engagement might look like,” she says. “Then all these different project ideas have come up—I am amazed what ideas people share. The variety of opportunities and the level of impact we’ve managed to have is exciting to see.”
Examples of community collaboration with the local schools include partnering to bring students to campus to visit the art gallery, hosting mental health first aid training for the athletic department, and sending bilingual Wabash students to work with elementary students to help develop their English vocabulary.
168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网 has hosted guest speakers open to the public, welcomed local foster children for Easter and Halloween parties, and assisted in the purchasing of equipment for student-run kickball and softball tournament fundraisers.
Grants have funded internships at the United Way, Grace and Mercy Food Pantry, and the Mayor’s Office to do translation work for city documents. The Montgomery County Free Clinic was able to provide medical translation certifications for staff and three Wabash student interns.
In addition to grant assistance, Wabash students, faculty, and staff have been involved with the groundbreaking for the Montgomery County Early Learning Center, the Sugar Creek Players summer theater camp, Humans United for Equality, the Soul Stroll for Juneteenth by the Historical Society and Bethel AME Church, and the inaugural Crawfordsville Community Day of Service, as well as assisting with the labeling of trees at Lane Place and in the arboretum on campus.
“Wabash has been incredibly supportive of people having volunteer time,” Parrish says. “The administration approved two days of paid service leave time for staff. It shows, at an institutional level, the support for community engagement.”
For Parrish, community creates a sense of place.
“I love raising my kids in this community. There are so many opportunities for them to get involved,” she says. “Something that’s significant for me is when you find home for yourself, wherever that may be, doing what you can to improve that space is part of your responsibility as a member of the community. Seeing me go out and try to make our community better, I hope will become part of my daughters’ internal conversations. Maybe they will live in Crawfordsville forever, maybe they won’t. Wherever they end up, I want them to take that with them—have a sense of pride in their community and be involved and try to make it a better place.”