Submitted by Peter Bulan ’21, one of 30 students doing community-based research this summer as a Fellow in the Upstate Institute Summer Field School

This summer I have worked as a community partner at the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York (LASMNY) with attorney Susan Conn, who graduated from Colgate in ‘79. LASMNY is a non-profit law office based in Utica that provides free expansive legal services to low income clients in the surrounding area. The advice that LASMNY offers, which is civil in nature, ranges from divorce and domestic violence cases to social security to tenant law. Working at the Legal Aid Society has presented me with the opportunity to understand the prevailing economic issues of the Upstate New York region especially in and around Utica. Perhaps more importantly, this has granted me the chance to see the face of poverty. Having now seen the ways that poverty affects the daily lives of many has instilled in me an awareness of the dire situation that is poverty and why LASMNY is so critical. The legal system can be cold, harsh, and convoluted, and so LASMNY is an important resource that help clients navigate this system, with the hopes that they can come out unscathed. Many of those overwhelmed by the system simply submit without giving a fight and end up accumulating debt and fees. LASMNY is the solution for many who have nowhere else to turn. 

The idea that one is deserving of legal representation, a right afforded to all citizens, is a key principle upon which the United States of America was founded. Two-hundred forty-three years later, the phrase “liberty and justice for all” may not ring true. Justice has not in fact been available to all. According to a report by the Legal Services Corporation, “86% of the civil legal problems reported by low-income Americans in the past year received inadequate or no legal help” (LSC). The legal needs of the low-income population and the resources that are available to them reveal a profound inequality, a ‘justice gap’ that LASMNY serves to address. The Legal Aid Society is a bastion of hope for the downtrodden, and serves thirteen counties in the central New York area. 

While at Legal Aid, my primary responsibility has been working on the Consumer Bankruptcy Law Project in a student paralegal capacity. This project, which also exists as a volunteer project offered at Colgate, aims to guide a client through the entire process of filing for bankruptcy at no cost to them. I am tasked with parsing through a number of legal and financial documents including credit reports and tax forms, among others, in order to complete several of the forms, called schedules, required for one to file for bankruptcy. Completing schedules requires a significant amount of time and detail in order to ensure accuracy; this is important to note because once completed and verified for accuracy, we refer the case to a pro bono attorney in the area who will then be saved a number of hours of work. The process is therefore easier for all parties involved. A significant amount of my time has been spent working on improvements to Susan’s course. These include write ups in order to facilitate learning as well as the development of a hypothetical bankruptcy case from which students can learn.  Besides working as a paralegal for the bankruptcy project, I have done ministerial work around the office. 

My time as a Field School Fellow has been momentous for me. I feel much more passionate about issues affecting the Upstate New York area and feel much more confident in wanting to attend law school. It has been a great opportunity to apply some of my linguistic and analytical skills derived from my English and Spanish studies at Colgate to a very grounded situation. Being a Field School Fellow has left me feeling hopeful about my future employability and ability to positively affect my community as a Colgate student. 

Source for data: https://www.lsc.gov/sites/default/files/images/TheJusticeGap-FullReport.pdf

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Submitted by Nate Jeffries ’20, one of 30 students doing community-based research this summer as a Fellow in the Upstate Institute Summer Field School

This summer, I have the opportunity to work with Young Scholars, an educational nonprofit based at Utica College. Young Scholars identifies 6th graders who may benefit from academic support services and works with them from 7th through 12th grade to ensure they have the resources necessary to excel in junior and senior high. These resources include tutoring throughout the school year, summer school programs for rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders, and internship opportunities for high school students and recent high school graduates. If Young Scholars students graduate with an advanced regents diploma, they are automatically offered admission and a financial aid package to Utica College, a promise which is made starting in seventh grade. The motivating power of such a promise is immense – to tell a 7th grader whose parents may not have even graduated high school that they can go to college has a powerful impact. The past several years have seen a one hundred percent high school graduation rate for Young Scholars students, demonstrating the enormous success of the organization in fulfilling its mission.

The Utica community has a large refugee population, and many of the students Young Scholars serves are first generation citizens. Candidates for the program are identified by their 6th grade teachers, and each cohort is selected from that group of students. The selection process is highly stringent – the 2019 cohort of about 70 students was selected from a pool of almost 250. The demographic of students and parents creates an interesting set of barriers to parental participation in their children’s education – language and transportation, for example. Many of the parents of students served by YS work multiple jobs in order to support their families and have very little free time to attend school functions and educational events. A growing body of research points to the importance of engaging parents in education – success for many students is almost impossible without it.

My project this summer revolves around solving the parent engagement problem at Young Scholars. I have spent some time coming up with solutions for the issues which prevent parent engagement that could work for Young Scholars; text services with a translating feature to enable easier communication with parents, different forms of media to disperse information, and events which can bring parents together to engage with Young Scholars, to name a couple. Although it is practically impossible to solve an issue as tremendous as parent engagement in just ten weeks, I hope that the ideas I generate and the solutions I implement can be a step in the right direction and can help improve the way Young Scholars gets parents engaged in children’s education.

I was drawn to this project for several reasons. I spent the summer of my sophomore year serving as a camp counselor with Americorps at a non-profit in Pittsburgh, and I wanted to see what I could achieve working from behind-the-scenes in more of an administrative position, so I sought a fellowship with Young Scholars. I am proud of the work I have done for the organization so far, and I have learned a lot about working at nonprofits and organizations in general. Working with Young Scholars this summer has helped me clarify my career goals and learn valuable skills related to the logistics of running a large organization, all while giving me the opportunity to give back to a greater cause.

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According to data gathered by Field School Fellow Revee Needham ’18 this summer in partnership with the Adirondack Council, hikers in and around the High Peaks Wilderness Area of the Adirondack Park overwhelmingly want the state to prioritize its time and money towards protecting the area’s wild character and opportunity for solitude — for current and future generations — over accommodating, expanding or intensifying recreational opportunities.

The Adirondack Council conducted surveys this summer of over 1,000 hikers in and around the High Peaks, which showed that hikers favored wilderness protection over accommodating unlimited recreation by a margin of 70 percent to 20 percent. The hiker survey consisted of 11 questions, administered at 10 trailheads in and around the High Peaks Wilderness Area.  Surveys were conducted from June to early October.  One person, age 18 and above who could read and write in English, in each hiking group was asked to respond prior to the planned hike. Surveyors approached 1,209 groups; 1,004 hikers completed the survey (response rate of 87.5 percent).

The full results of the Adirondack Council survey can be accessed on their website.

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-Written by Colleen Donlan ‘18

Colleen Donlan ’18 at the Farmacy in Keeseville, NY

This summer I worked with AdkAction in Keeseville, NY in the Adirondacks. AdkAction has been creating projects that address unmet needs, promote vibrant communities, and preserve the character of the Adirondacks since 2011. They serve seasonal and year-round residents of the Adirondack Park and work in diverse project areas such as: community revitalization, food access, environmental stewardship, arts and culture, and broadband internet access. My primary focus was on “The Farmacy” which began in 2017 and is a partnership between the Keeseville Pharmacy and AdkAction designed to make healthy food, sourced from local and organic farms whenever possible, physically and economically accessible to all Keeseville residents within the Pharmacy space. We partner with six local farms and a food hub to make high-quality produce, dairy, meat, eggs, and value-added products available in the Farmacy. Together with the Keeseville Pharmacy, we are trying to help vulnerable populations gain access to affordable, locally-produced food.

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-Written by Gabby Yates, ‘19

Gabby will present her research poster at the Walk/Bike/Places 2018 conference in New Orleans, LA. This conference is organized by the Project for Public Spaces, and is the premier conference in North America for walking, bicycling and placemaking professionals from the public and private sectors.

Gabby will present her research poster at the Walk/Bike/Places 2018 conference this fall.

This summer I had the opportunity to work with the Hamilton Partnership for Community Development. The Partnership (PCD) has served the Hamilton area since 1998 as an economic development non-profit. It works to promote sustainable economic opportunities and a sense of community through fostering community-based projects. More specifically, they help existing business and farms thrive, attract new community-minded businesses to the area, develop the downtown area all while preserving the small town character and fostering civic involvement through research and administer grants to serve these purposes.

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-Written by Mackenzie Carroll ‘19

Through the Upstate Institute Summer Field School, this summer I had the opportunity to work with the lovely people at the Madison County Department of Health (MCDOH) in Wampsville. During my time at the Health Department I worked mainly with the Preventative Health division. The Preventative Health division offers the following programs and services to aid the Madison Community: Community Disease Prevention and Control, Health Education and Promotion, Vaccination Program, Maternal and Child Health Program and Home Visitation, STI Program, Tuberculosis clinics, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, Car Seat Safety, and Cancer Services. The Health Department deals with all kinds of people throughout Madison County and works in partnership with many of the nonprofit organizations in Madison County in order to better meet the needs of the people. From doing home check-ups for premature babies, to flu clinics on college campuses, the staff is always running around to accommodate as many people as possible, and they still manage to think of new ideas all the time to further meet the needs of the community. Many of the health clinics on campus are run by them, so next time you hear about one I strongly suggest you attend because the nurses will keep you healthy and they are super friendly!

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-Written by Jolene Patrina ’19

Jolene Patrina ’19 at the Oneida County History Center in Utica, New York

This summer I had the wonderful opportunity to work at the Oneida County History Center (OCHC) through the Upstate Institute Field School. OCHC works to collect, preserve and make available the history of Oneida County and the Upper Mohawk Valley. This nonprofit organization, located in an old Christian Science church, houses a research library, a 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit space, and thousands of collections including artifacts, manuscripts, artwork, and more. With many of these materials, I created an exhibit titled “World War I Centennial: Oneida County and New York in the Great War,” commemorating the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into the first World War by focusing on the American experience and local history of the war. Exhibits are usually up for two years or more; OCHC currently contains six exhibits of all different sizes on local history, all of which are open to the public.

OCHC serves the local community in preserving and exhibiting a wide variety of local history. It is often difficult to complete this mission as both archival and exhibit work is largely completed on a volunteer basis, and there is only one full-time employee, Brian Howard, who rarely has time to work on curation.

This summer I curated a large portion of the exhibit space with my World War I project, which will help OCHC in its goal of sharing local history and attracting visitors. Specifically, I looked through the OCHC’s manuscripts and artifacts pertaining to World War I, conceptualized an exhibit from these items, and designed and implemented the exhibit. This process involved working closely with artifacts, such as military uniforms, weapons, gear, and technology, all of which were over a century old and very delicate. Similarly, I worked with fragile documents such as posters, photographs, and newspapers, and often had to encapsulate (i.e. laminate by hand) many of these items. This work culminated in my exhibit that includes topics such as New York’s efforts to fund the war and conserve resources, technological innovation and its impacts, women in the war, and certain Uticans’ experiences during the war. Ultimately, this exhibit will help to preserve and present local history in an interesting and comprehensible way to the surrounding community, and hopefully attract more visitors to OCHC.

My first summer as a Field School Fellow has been both educational and exciting, as I was given the opportunity to create something substantial largely on my own, and was able to contribute to both preserving and making accessible local history. This project enabled me to work hands-on with fascinating materials and added a meaningful component to my studies as a History major. Furthermore, I was introduced to curation, work that I have never done before but am now extremely interested in pursuing as a career. In addition to my wonderful experience with curation, working in Utica allowed me to connect with a local community that I otherwise would not have encountered, and added depth to my understanding of and appreciation for Upstate New York and the local communities it fosters. Ultimately, I have gained invaluable experience in both history and curation, while also forming connections with and learning about the local community.

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-Written by Sarah Allen ’20

Sarah Allen ’20 at the Children’s Museum

This summer I worked at the Utica Children’s museum as an intern focused on developing new programming for the organization. The museum is a non-profit with a dedication to providing children with a place in which they can learn in a fun and hands on manner. Their mission statement explains this well, describing that the museum is meant, “to offer an environment that supports every child’s natural curiosity to learn through hands-on, play-based exploration.” In the past year, the museum entered a management contract with Kids Oneida, an organization dedicated to helping families in need. Their mission statement is, “to empower children, families and individuals who have high service needs and enabling them to live ways that are productive, healthy and meaningful.” This management agreement has helped the museum by allowing it grow more organized and to adopt a similar, community based mentality to that of Kids Oneida.

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Written by Emmy Ritchey ’20

This summer, I had the opportunity to work as an intern at the Midtown Utica Community Center (MUCC) through the Upstate Institute Summer Field School. MUCC is a “multicultural and refugee-friendly place that serves all” that provides cultural and educational programming and assistance to the refugee and low-income communities in the city of Utica, New York. MUCC was founded in 2014 after Chris Sunderlin noticed a gap in the services provided to the refugee community of Utica. While many resources are available to help the refugees who call Utica their new home, MUCC gives refugees a place to gather and continue their cultural practices and helps the community connect with other agencies for further assistance.

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Written by Alicia Violette ‘19

This summer I worked with BRiDGES: Madison County Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Inc., whose mission is to provide advocacy and services to the local community, through the workplace, families, and individuals in order to improve the quality of life. They focus especially on those affected by addiction and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances. They do this by implementing prevention and intervention programming in the community in order to promote change and work toward building a healthier community. This summer I was assigned to work with them in order to assess what substance use looks like in adults as well as in youth in the community. I was also attempting to determine what gaps exist in the services related to substance use as well as suicide prevention and the LGBTQ community in this area.

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