Engaging the South Side of Columbus

Within the Engagement Department at Community Development for All People (CD4AP), Lizzie Carmichael’s VISTA project focuses on outreach and communication with the community. Curating the organization’s social media, designing print communications, conducting email campaigns, and connecting with partners, she is cultivating a meaningful presence for CD4AP in the South Side of Columbus. Finally, Lizzie also builds capacity for the ID for All People program, which allows individuals to receive Ohio birth certificates, Ohio IDs, and license renewals at no cost.

Out of all her projects, Lizzie feels her biggest successes have involved event planning and fundraising. During her service year, CD4AP celebrated the 25th anniversary of its flagship program, the Free Store. In recognition of this milestone, Lizzie worked with other team members to organize a special celebration. In addition to this event, she also organized CD4AP’s Annual Celebration in November. Finally, Lizzie also worked on a successful campaign to solicit toy and monetary donations for the Christmas Shop, resulting in $5,400 in monetary donations and many more in-kind donations. Ultimately, this proved to be CD4AP’s largest fundraiser using their CRM to date.

Through service, Lizzie is learning to advocate for herself and more effectively delegate her time and energy. The experience has also provided her with an important opportunity to work with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.

“I get to see a very diverse crowd at my job,” she says. “The opportunity that I have to interact with people that are very different from myself, in ways that extend past class, race, religion, generation, etc. is something that has allowed me to gather more professional experience with different people/groups and that, I feel, is always a beneficial personal experience that expands one’s perspective on the world.”

Following service, Lizzie is looking forward to pursuing another service term, perhaps in a new part of the country. In the future, she also hopes to pursue further education. However, before her departure from CD4AP, she is intent on ensuring her projects can sustainably continue beyond her tenure. Reflecting on her experience, she has valued her time in AmeriCorps.

“I would definitely recommend national service to folks that are in a similar position that I’m in – looking for experience in nonprofit organizations and the freedom to explore different options and opportunities,” she says. “As a recent graduate with flexible future plans, this is the best thing for me right now and I am gaining so much for my VISTA term(s).”

Great work, Lizzie!