Project Affinity - Catalysts of Change

On July 25th, US Together celebrated the end of a successful partnership with Baldwin Wallace University’s Project Affinity program. Project Affinity is an eight-week residential summer program that immerses students in real-world issues. Held at Baldwin Wallace’s Archwood House, the program aims to teach students the importance of valuing diversity, defining societal issues, and assuming leadership roles to become “catalysts of change.” Project Affinity centers around working with local nonprofits. Diamond Green-Phillips was our first intern from Project Affinity and was able to earn academic credit for her internship.  

During her time with UST, Diamond committed 180 hours of service in which she was able to work with each of UST’s programs. This allowed her to gain a holistic understanding of refugee and immigration issues. Primarily working with our Matching Grant program, Diamond handled job applications for eight cases that included 16 unique employable adults and over 50 unique job applications. When not processing applications, she was working on research and recruitment for the Matching Grant program, as well as client resource development such as informational posters and designs.  Diamond showed up each day with a bright and positive attitude. In addition to her duties with Matching Grant, Diamond also assisted case managers with auditing files, preparing enrollment documentation, and handling set-up for various initiatives, such as the Farmer’s Market.