UB Visions – LeaderShape at the University of Baltimore

My LeaderShape Vision: Addressing Youth Mental Health

Hi everyone! My name is Casey, and I am an undergraduate Psychology major at the University of Baltimore. I’m currently looking into the Psychology Master’s program here at UB to obtain my counseling certification and begin the long journey to being a certified, licensed Psychologist. I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m so excited about the opportunities this road will expose me to.

The reason I chose to major in Psychology is the same reason I chose to step outside my comfort zone and participate in LeaderShape: counseling and crises centers all over the country, in both private and public schools at all levels of education, are woefully and neglectfully under-served and understaffed. Mental health is such a hot-button issue in our country, but little is being done for it despite the attention it’s getting. Everyone wants to talk about it, but there’s no action.

When I was a teenager, struggling with hormones and school and weird teenager stuff, I was also struggling with anxiety and depression. And a significant portion of my friends and peers were, too. But there wasn’t anyone to address this problem. Parents brush the issue off as adolescent drama, school administrators aren’t qualified to handle a suicidal teen, and aren’t necessarily obligated to make parents understand those implications. The difference between my mental health issues (which at the time were undiagnosed) as a teenager, and the mental health issues that some of my friends faced, is that I lived through mine. And they did not. Using the same resources (or lack there of) that they were given, I was facing down my own mortality as I realized that if my life were in jeopardy because of my mental health issues, there was no one to save me.

As I got older I became more disillusioned with the concept of getting “help.” Who was there to help me? Why didn’t those people help my friends? Why didn’t anyone listen to them? Would anyone listen to me? As I struggled with these questions, more friends lost their lives. More peers. Colleagues. Even now I watch my little brother emotionally struggle his way through high school because the only support his “counselor” can offer him is: “Well, it could be worse.”

So, why is “worse” the only option? That’s what I want to change. My ultimate goal, my vision, is to ensure that youths, ages 13-25, have access to proper and adequate mental health care at every stage of education. Growing up is already so difficult; undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems spell disaster for kids all over this country. Being a part of this society that is so driven by advancing and being the best means that kids, who won’t even have a fully developed cerebral cortex by the time they have to decided where they want to go to college and what they want to do with their life, are being crushed before they have a chance to prove their worth. I want to see a world where a society that demands this much of children also offers them the resources they need just to live through the process. In this case, that resource is access to mental health care.

In regards to Baltimore, my end goal is to open a series of free walk-in clinics, where licensed counselors can offer assessment and referrals for short or long-term care for youths experiencing psychopathological disturbances. At the moment, to achieve that goal, I am expanding my network of Baltimore City based psychologists through our universities. We have an extremely dense concentration of higher education institutions here in Baltimore, and nearly all of those institutions have a Psychology program. That’s a massive resource to mine, and I intend to do just that.

My LeaderShape Vision – Eliminating Hunger on College Campuses – Liz

By Liz Paige, Class 7

Hello everyone! My name is Liz and I am a graduate student in the Legal and Ethical Studies program, expecting to graduate in May of 2017. I also graduated from UB in May of 2014 with my Bachelor of Arts in History. I had previously been chosen to participate in LeaderShape, however after the orientation, I had to rescind my acceptance because I wouldn’t have been able to fully commit – I was just too busy! This year, my final year at UB, I wanted to experience LeaderShape and further a vision that I’ve had for several years – ending hunger on college campuses.

Three years ago, I learned that close friends of mine were struggling financially and that food was what they had to give up in order to afford rent, textbooks, and the like. I was so upset when I found out – college is hard enough and expensive enough – you shouldn’t have to worry about where you are going to get your next meal from. After talking to people around campus, I floated the idea of a food pantry to the UB Student Government Association, who were wildly supportive. Fast forward three years, tons of research and meetings and strategizing later, and the UB Campus Pantry is opening on October 18^th!

Opening this food pantry at UB is important, but it illuminated a larger problem that college students everywhere are facing. We discovered that schools with no meal plans, no dorms, and a large upper-level undergraduate and graduate student population feature some of the most food insecure students. Does that sound familiar? Because that’s UB in a nutshell. We also learned along the way that college food pantries are popping up everywhere – from community colleges, to large research universities, to everywhere in between. No population, region, or class level is immune to food insecurity, especially coupled with the rising costs associated with a college education.

I want schools to feature more services that target these issues that are external to the school, but still have a huge impact on your collegiate experience. Issues like homelessness, transitioning from foster care, taking care of your children/family while in school, financial instability and others are things no one wants to talk about, but they exist and for many, their college experience is not just about going to events and studying, it is a struggle for survival. While all of these issues are important, I feel as though addressing hunger on campuses can be a gateway to talking about these other issues. Typically, hunger is a symptom of a larger problem in someone’s life.

I hope to open up other schools to establishing a food pantry on their campuses, because some institutions are hesitant to acknowledge they have a problem. They might be worried it ‘says something’ about their population, or don’t know where to get started, or just see a mandatory expensive meal plan as the perfect solution (it isn’t). Instead of assuming something about your population, survey them and ask them what they need. You might be surprised by what they say.

I know that with the support of LeaderShape and my wonderful cluster, anything is possible.

Hello and Welcome!

Hi! My name is Sonce Reese and I am a Class 6 alum and Class 7’s On-Site coordinator. I graduated from UB in Spring 2015, with a Bachelor’s degree in Forensics and am now working towards a Masters in Global Affairs and Human Security.

LeaderShape: I had never heard of LeaderShape and didn’t even know what the program was about, but thought it would be a great opportunity to build up my leadership skills, so I signed up. Keeping an open mind, I signed up for the program. LeaderShape, for me, was transformational. My vision, to fill the 16,000 vacant homes in Baltimore City, was met with encouragement, support and probing questions, such as “How will this vision be completed?” and “Is it even possible?” I was more determined and more inspired than I had ever been before. I met and interacted with some wonderful people whose visions I support and who support mine. My vision, which hangs on my wall in my home office, has evolved to include creating healthy, vibrant communities, but fill vacant home In Baltimore City is still my top priority.

I am pleased to travel on this journey with you and will be with you until your LeaderShape graduation next semester. Looking forward to your posts and a great year with you!

My Leadershape Vision – Home – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

With over 16,000 vacant houses in Baltimore City, the city has a unique opportunity to make it possible for many college students, individuals and families to have a place to call home.

Heritage Crossing5 — http://baltimorefuture.blogspot.com/2014_10_01_archive.html

Purchasing, owning and rehabbing a vacant home is a great way for the city to bring families back to the city, and to create affordable housing opportunities for individuals and college students. Homeownership in the city provides the owner with the opportunity to create their own space, to work towards becoming debt free and to be a part of building a healthy, vibrant community.

There are many programs that make it possible to own a home in the city and create housing opportunities. Baltimore City’s Vacants to Value program offers many incentives for Baltimore City Ownership including the faceted Baltimore Homeownership Incentive Program (B-HiP). The highlights of the program include:

The Vacants to Value Booster Program – Eligible homebuyers can get $10,000 towards closing costs for the purchase of a formerly vacant home.

Baltimore City Employee Homeownership Program – The incentive for City employees has been increased from $3,000 to $5,000.

Buying into Baltimore and City Living Starts Here – The Buying into Baltimore incentive has been increased from $4,000 to $5,000. Also, Live Baltimore has added four neighborhood tours, City Living Starts Here, to the previous two citywide tours. The number of incentives awarded has been increased from 60 to 100 per year.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Homeownership Assistance Program – For first-time home buyers with total family income at or below 80% of the area median income, $5,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance is available.

You’ll find the website for the program here.

There are also many talented real estate agents in the city who can help to make Baltimore City homeownership a reality.

vacantsmap — http://technical.ly/baltimore/2012/08/09/15928-vacant-buildings-baltimore-city-map/

Access-Land-Photo-1024x323 — http://www.farmalliancebaltimore.org/the-alliance/how-to/access-land/

http://www.vacantstovalue.org/Incentives.aspx#lnyw

What is privilege?

By: Amber Khan, Class 6

Privilege is something that is always around us, but may make us feel uncomfortable. However, if someone calls for you to check your privilege, and you are getting offended, you may not have the right idea about what privilege is.

As apart of my spring project for Leadershape, I decided that I would dedicate a topic once a month to make a video with. The topic for this month is exactly that – Privilege!

Just because you are privileged does not mean you are a bad person, and believe it or not – every single one of us is privileged. Every human in this world is privileged. Just having the wifi, means of connecting to this page to read this means you have privilege. Let alone having the ability to see and read — these are all privileges.

Here some things that does not equate to being privileged: being a bad person, having everything handed to you on a silver platter, that you don’t work for what you have, being one without struggle, not being a hard worker, an asshole.

Obtaining privilege is not about you asking for something and receiving it, but rather the way life has worked out, you was given these benefits that you didn’t necessary ask to be given or not to be given. We have to recognize that we benefit from these privileges and that I as a human being should act as a mender between the gap between those who are the ones affected by it. This is because every human deserves a right that another human being has obtained simply from existing and how life has played out for them.

Now you may think: but I don’t FEEL privileged? but just because you are privileged does not mean you haven’t felt or experienced oppression in different ways. Privilege and oppression can come in more form than one. Being told you have privilege gives you an advantage in achieving things and that can be surprising, annoying, and frustrating because it sounds like it’s putting down one’s struggles and it actually goes against everything we’ve been taught. We have not been taught to identify and understand our privileges. Privilege is about individuals being terrible people and thats why it’s happened, it’s more-so about an entire system that favors some groups while putting others down.

Talking about privilege isn’t supposed to be comfortable. Feeling the discomfort is what can help you aware yourself of the inequality and realize it in situations when you’re supporting it. Every human has an identity that benefits them in some way from the exploitation of another group, so not wanting to accept your privilege helps keep oppression in place.

Educate yourself on what privilege, or access you have. and do your thang as a earthling and make it happen.

Check your privilege through this activity that we did at the Leadershape Spring retreat, linked below!

http://www.differencematters.info/uploads/pdf/privilege-beads-exercise.pdf

My Leadershape Vision – Building from the Inside Out – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

Healthy, vibrant communities begin from the ground up and from the inside out. Oftentimes, because the problems are so prominent and so widespread, we forget about solutions. Solutions can be large or they can be small, the size of the solutions do not matter. What does matter are the actions that we take. Actions are the difference between change and stagnation. My vision is to create healthy, vibrant communities. Will you join me as I help to make a difference and rebuild our Baltimore.

Why LeaderShape, and Why Now?

By Anthony Butler
Associate Director of Leadership and Community Engagement
University of Baltimore Campus Liaison
for Baltimore Collegetown LeaderShape

I didn’t know what was in store for me when I reported for duty in August 2011 as a LeaderShape Cluster Facilitator. I was only in my second year as a Campus Liaison for Baltimore Collegetown LeaderShape, supporting students in their visions. I applied to become a Cluster Facilitator because I felt I couldn’t really help students with their vision work if I didn’t understand the process of LeaderShape, so I knew I would need to experience it first hand.

My week at LeaderShape was life-changing. I met students from all over the Baltimore region – from more than eight different colleges and Universities. My family cluster, the “Chill Bees” (pictured above) represented students from Loyola University, Stevenson University, Maryland Institute College of Art, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Morgan State University. They were a diverse group in many ways, including their approach for creating positive change in Baltimore. We had amazing, deep, and throught-provoking conversations that week, and built strong connections within our group and among all of the participants.

Nearly five years later, many of us still stay in touch. These “LeaderShapers,” as they are called, are working here in Baltimore and internationally. They are working in government, humanitarian aid, civic engagement, arts, and business. And they are just a few of the many students who participate in Baltimore Collegetown LeaderShape each year.

Each participant emerges from Baltimore Collegetown LeaderShape with their own powerful vision for transformation and change in Baltimore. This vision is unique to each student and is realized in many different ways. I am consistently amazed by the creativity and passion and care for community that each of these LeaderShapers possesses.

LeaderShape is more than just a week of leadership development. It is a year-long (and some would say life-long) process to realize your vision and make a difference in Baltimore and beyond.

Participating in LeaderShape is a serious commitment. Not only must you participate in the week-long institute in August, but you must attend retreats, follow-up meeting, and service activities. While that’s a significant investment of time, the personal and professional benefits – the communities you will serve, the people you will meet, and the life changing experience you will have – make that time well spent.

Now here is the really good news: LeaderShape is a free program for UB students! A deposit paid to Baltimore Collegetown Network will secure your participation, but is returned to you if you fully participate.

The application deadline for Baltimore Collegetown LeaderShape is March 11. Applications are competitive and slots are limited.

We hope you’ll consider joining the growing LeaderShape family and making a difference in your lives and in Baltimore.

For more info and to apply, please visit
http://baltimorecollegetown.org/collegetown-leadershape/

Moving Forward With My LeaderShape Vision – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

This semester marks the beginning of a new year with new challenges. One challenge that I may face is continuing to move forward with my vision.

After spending almost a month in Antigua, Guatemala and looking around at the most magnificent architecture I’ve ever seen, I realized that it was time to start focusing on solutions. We know what the problems are, we see vacant houses everyday, but what are the solutions to the problem.

So this semester I am focusing on solutions. My solutions will include and my focus will be building healthy, vibrant communities and neighborhoods where:

the residents feel safe.
children can go outside and play.
affordable housing is well kept.
schools and school programs are properly funded.
fresh fruit markets are within walking distance.
the streets are paved.
the transportation system is efficient and transports people to jobs that pay a livable wage.

I’ll keep you posted and in the meantime, come and check out my presentation at the University of Baltimore’s 2nd Annual Experiential Learning Showcase this Thursday, February 11, 2016 in the Bogomolny Room of the Student Center at 11:15 am. Hope to see you there.

My Vision: One Love

By: Amber Khan, Class 6

Hello!

My name is Amber Khan, I’m a super antsy person who loves people and cats. I’m also a business student at UB, specializing in entrepreneurship.

I was recommended by my friend to join leadershape as she explained it to be a life-changing experience, I didn’t actually understand until it was the last day of this 6-day retreat, and I was bawling tears into the shoulders of my family cluster members(Shout out to BAWS NERDS!), and fellow leadershapers. They were all apart of the intense and eye opening week.

Fellow leadershapers worked on mentorship programs, abandoned houses in baltimore, food desserts, environmental issues, all such passionate members all wanting to create a better community for something bigger than themselves.

As I got to focusing on my vision I realized that everything I wanted to do could be achieved in what I already had access to. My skill: video-making. I’ve been doing it since I was thirteen years old, practicing on clips that I would record, helping and following my older brother around while being behind camera. Later, I started getting in front of the camera and making fun videos in my free time.

Eventually I decided to create Youtube videos where I would post about random topics without a schedule, just getting them done when I could.

Upon realizing that my focus for leadershape would be talking about community issues, shedding light on areas where ignorance may linger, and genuinely answering questions that people may have, I decided to combine this into my video-making.

Luckily when I realized that this is what I would wanna do, I went ahead and made my first vision video that happened to during the time of Ramadan, so I ended up making a video answering questions that I had gotten about many of misconceptions about Ramadan and Fasting during this month, so I made my “What Is Ramadan?” video linked below.

Soon after I realized that there was a politician leading a group of people in the country with a twisted agenda, I had to address this.
My video called “I’M AMERICAN” is made addressing some of the thoughts and comments I found to be faulty. The link is below.

My third video in the leadershape series is my newest. This addressed the issue of me being bullied my whole life, and luckily I’m friends with one of the people that happened to bully me throughout my 7-12 grade years in school. I felt like it was more beneficial to have both perspectives from not only the person who got bullied but the person bullying as well. Not just to hear what one was going through but to see two sides of the story. This is also linked below.

Overall, I’m glad that my vision of slowly breaking down barriers and seeing issues topics from a different light started coming to life. I’m excited to continue this series for as long as I can, and ultimately incorporate this vision of mine in whatever else I accomplish in the video making world.

My Leadershape Vision – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

Hello. My name is Sonce Reese. I am a graduate student studying Global Affairs and Human Security and the Graduate Assistant for the Divided Baltimore Dual Enrollment course at the University of Baltimore.

When I moved to Baltimore City three years ago, I saw many vacant homes in the city and people experiencing homelessness and wondered why we couldn’t use these vacant homes to create housing opportunities for the people who really needed them (in Baltimore City there are approximately 16,000 vacant homes and 13,000 empty lots).

My Leadershape vision is to rehab and fill the vacant homes in Baltimore City, to create housing opportunities for those who need them and to encourage the creation of healthy, vibrant neighborhoods and city schools within the communities. I believe that the issues and problems we see have valuable solutions and can be solved.