Massry Community Service Fellows Gain Hands-on Experience Volunteering with Area Nonprofits
By Bethany Bump
ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 29, 2024) — Four UAlbany students spent their summers volunteering with local nonprofits on issues related to food insecurity, homelessness, addiction and health as part of the Massry Community Service Fellows Summer Program.
The program, established in 2014 through a gift from the Massry Family Foundation, provides scholarship support each summer to UAlbany students who volunteer 400 community service hours with a Capital Region nonprofit organization. The goal is for students to learn how nonprofits operate, gain quality experience while supervised by professionals in the field, and provide hands-on support that links their academic studies with practical experience in community settings.
This year’s scholarship winners are pursuing graduate degrees in fields related to social work, social welfare, education and community health, and said the fellowship program helped them hone and develop skills that will be useful toward their future careers.
Applications for the Massry Community Service Fellows Program for 2025 will be available in early February.
Hear from the 2024 Massry Community Service Fellows below:
Abigail Fraser
Abigail Fraser, who is pursuing her Master's of Social Work degree, spent the summer volunteering with the South End Children’s Café, which was established in Albany’s South End community in 2015 to address the issue of food insecurity. She worked with Tracie Killar, director of development for the café.
“One word to describe my experience working with the South End Children’s Café is impactful. The Café and the children in many ways have positively affected my life. My experience taught me the importance of community and love. I worked with the children and families on an individual level while I also worked with programs on a community and systemic level. It also marked a pivotal accomplishment in my journey because it allowed me to delve deeper into understanding a child’s developmental stages and the role biological and psychosocial [factors] play in personal growth and development. I hope to utilize the knowledge and skills gained during my time with the café to positively influence social change in my work with underdeveloped, vulnerable and marginalized individuals, families and communities.”
Yaa Essah Armah
Yaa Essah Armah, a doctoral student in the School of Education’s Educational Policy and Leadership Program, spent the summer volunteering with the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless in Albany.
Essah Armah worked with site supervisor, Cleveland Morgan, and program director, Shahmeeka Chaney-Artis, at the organization’s Community Connections drop-in center, where community members come for food, meals, clothing, laundry, showers, case management, housing assistance and more.
“As a charitable organization that works to support the most vulnerable in our community, IPH has a mission to address the needs of the homeless and low-income community by providing a continuum of services to encourage self-sufficiency, empowermen, and stability. This ensures that the most vulnerable people within our community receive the needed support to sail through hard times and receive the needed support that enables them to get their lives back as individuals. This fellowship experience was also useful in shaping my ideas about educational policy implementation and brought to life the ideology that in designing and implementing policy for any education system, the wider socio-economic factors that influence policy success need to be taken into consideration. This is particularly important insight which I intend to incorporate into my research on climate change education policy implementation across different parts of the world.”
Carmen Strachan
Carmen Strachan, who is pursuing her master’s in social behavior and community health, served her fellowship with the American Cancer Society of the Capital Region in Albany under the supervision of the Associate Director of Cancer Center Partnerships Joni Richter.
During the fellowship, Strachan developed and implemented a strategic plan for Voices of Black Women, an ACS study to better understand cancer and other health conditions among Black women; addressed improvements to the Access to Care Program; and collaborated with the NYS HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Coalition to improve vaccination rates preventing six types of cancer.
"I developed my public health planning skills while addressing health care disparities in diagnosis, treatment, and mortality. I gained experience in the more clinical aspects. As an individual with firsthand knowledge of the effects that a cancer diagnosis can have on a family, I am grateful for this Massry Community Service Fellowship.”
Jeesoo Jung
Jeesoo Jung, a third-year PhD student in social welfare, volunteered with Hospitality House, an addiction treatment center in Albany, working with Executive Director Young Do and Keren Stempsey, a licensed master social worker.
“Hospitality House offered numerous opportunities that expanded my knowledge in direct services and nonprofit operations. Throughout my internship, I immersed myself in various aspects of the organization’s work, including clinical data management, research, community meetings and quality improvement. Engaging in these activities allowed me to contribute to the organization’s mission by aiding in clinical intervention processes and educational workshops, and supporting individuals affected by substance use disorder. My involvement in data management and research methodologies helped me understand how clinical data informs the organization’s evidence-based practices. I hope to continue using this experience to help the community and amplify the voices of these vulnerable populations in the future.”