Host Organization Highlight: CREW (Communities Responding to Extreme Weather)
Semester in the City provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; our hands-on internship program allows students to develop professionally, receive mentorship from a social sector professional, and make a difference in people’s lives all while living in Boston with like-minded students. Our program is not only beneficial to students, but social impact sector organizations looking to help increase their capacity and inspire the next generation of problem-solvers.
The following blog post is an interview with UVM's Grace Morrissey who was a part of our Spring 2021 student cohort. She’s joined by her placement site mentor Rev. Vernon K. Walker Development Associate, at CREW (Communities Responding to Extreme Weather). Here we learn about CREW’s mission and both Grace’s and Rev. Vernon’s experience from both a mentor and Fellow perspective.
*Note: The following interview was conducted during April of 2021. Sections have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about CREW’s mission?
Vernon: CREW is an acronym for (Communities Responding to Extreme Weather), and simply we look to repair communities through education, service, and planning. Quite simply, our values are related to local leadership -- insuring that we empower and allow space for people with community-specific knowledge and relationships to display that knowledge and [those] relationships.
Our mission is to prepare people in an equitable, sustainable, and inclusive way to become climate resilient. We know that extreme weather will continue to be with us for a very, mighty, long time. It will manifest in a form through heatwaves, storm weather runoff, sea level rise -- that's particularly some climate impacts here in New England.
[At] CREW, we think the best way to become climate resilient is through social resiliency. We believe in neighbors connecting with neighbors -- neighbors-to-neighbors, if you will. We do this, as we mentioned, through the medium of education and service and planning. We have a lot of workshops that we do, virtual workshops. In fact, Grace is doing one later today around diversity, equity, and inclusion. We're so glad about that! We do a lot of workshops around extreme weather impacts; we try to localize it to the community that we are speaking to -- whether that's someone here in Massachusetts or somewhere across the country.
Through the extraordinary work of the team we have about 61 hubs; the hubs are our organizations that have the physical space that's meeting some type of particular need in a community whether it be social, spiritual, or economic, etc. [In terms] of service, we received some funding last summer to give out AC units to frontline communities in Brockton, MA. We are anticipating on receiving that same funding this year as we apply for it. We also have done depaving in cities like Somerville; depaving is breaking up concrete. Historically, we have done that on people's private properties with their consent. We have had some of our neighborhood teams lead that process in Somerville.
We've talked about the mediums in which we operate, we've covered education, we've covered service, and we are now covering planning; we work with these organizations to plan these virtual workshops. We work with several other organizations in Brockton; we [are currently] coming up with a plan to reach the most vulnerable in Brockton.
Q: Can you tell me about your role at CREW as a Fellow - what’s an average day for you look like and what’s the special project you’ve been working on?
Grace: My role within CREW pretty much falls into [those] climate resilience hubs that Vernon was talking about. That's where I've been doing most of the work as a Fellow within that program. I guess I'll tell you a bit about my special project first; essentially, as Vernon said, I've been planning a DEI centered workshop. Basically what it does is [with] the climate hubs there's 61 across the country that are initiations, libraries, [and] faith institutions. What we wanted to do was as they're educating their communities they're holding [an event], I think they have to hold one event a year, to educate their community and help them prepare.
They're hosting a bunch of informational sessions, and then they also have the opportunity to go into providing service. So, they can provide electricity during brownnouts, they can provide heat during long cold spells. So, they can actually give service to their community, but in preparation for that we wanted to make sure that they were doing so in an equitable light and they were thinking about the ways that certain groups and communities are affected more by climate change and by extreme weather.
That was where the root of the special project took place was how can we get this education to our hubs? Get them thinking about this? And brainstorming for ways that they can be more equitable in their preparation. To do that we set up a workshop, and we have four panelists coming in today -- from all over. We have a Red Cross manager who's specializing in DEI and race talks, so she's going to be doing a training for us. We have a professor from the University of Vermont coming in to talk about [environmental justice] communities. We [also] have someone from the Trustees Organization, so a lot of networking went on to bring everybody together, much to Vernon's help.
Now we have this big event, and it's going to be an hour of informational talks and then 30 minutes for the hubs and the public to get together and discuss different ways that they can make this happen. How can they build resiliency in their communities and keep that equitable mindset making sure they're being inclusive in their planning and reaching a diverse range of groups.
As far as the other parts of my project, along with the workshop that we're hosting, I created a toolkit that goes over how to think about social vulnerability. What it is, why it occurs, and then how people can address it and asses their own communities. So, that will be a supplement to this workshop that we're putting on; so, that's kind of the heart of the project.
My day-to-day work -- we're all online now. I've been doing all the work from my little room, but it hasn't been bad because we have meetings to break up the day. I usually get on around 9:00 AM, and I'll start working. I'll have one to two meetings throughout the day with the whole CREW team, and it's a pretty small network which is really nice. We get to work together, and [with] most of the people we'll have meetings for different topics but it's usually the same five or so people. So, we're getting to see each other a lot and work back and forth. So, that's really nice and it's good keep in check that way, and the rest of the day I kind of spend managing my own time. Making sure that I can get stuff checked off, and then starting over the next day -- it's pretty much what my day-to-day looks like.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about Grace’s role from your perspective and how she’s contributing to CREW’s mission?
Vernon: I think Grace is doing an extraordinary job in terms of deliverables; she has helped us get a Canva [graphic design] account going. Some of us on the team are still in the process of becoming proficient at it but we're working day-by-day. There's a social vulnerability kit that Grace and another one of the CREW [team members is working on].
I think that Grace has built up some skills to organize an event albeit virtually; we're excited about the event that will be happening later. I appreciate her openness to receive feedback and is just willing to learn on the go here, so that's pretty cool. I think in this particular program/organization flexibility is important, and being a self-starter is very, very, useful. One being able to manage their own time is very useful because in our workplace culture we don't micromanage. We try to embody a culture that embraces everybody's individuality and allow people a certain level of autonomy -- although we are always in consistent communication through Slack or our other channels [of contact].
This is our third time around the wheel with CFSI Fellows and each and everyone of them have been extraordinary in their own ways. I think it's just really been great working with folks, some university students, that are interested in climate preparedness, interested in grassroots organizing, interested in doing event planning, and social media, etc.
Q: Has there been a moment where you’ve felt you have gotten to see the impact CREW was having in completing its mission?
Grace: I think a lot of it is coming down to the end of today, which is kind of scary. I think some of the ways I saw that really early on, the difference CREW was making, was through a lot of the meetings that I was attending. Early on in the semester, before I had a lot of my own work to be doing, I was sitting in on a bunch of different meetings, taking notes, [and] getting to know people -- getting to know our partners. That was really interesting and rewarding to sit in and take part in those conversations because you got to hear from a bunch of different people that were all doing different work within the climate field. Within emergency management. Within equity.
It was very inspiring to listen to, and I think I heard very early on a lot of the same kind of [remarks]. A lot of people were feeling [that with] this work [that] we're doing in the climate field we might not be seeing the results of that in our lifetime. The work that we're putting in now -- we might never get to see the positive results of that work and sitting with that and accepting that and say, "We're going to do it anyway because we have to have this hope. We have to continue on this work for the future."
That was really cool to listen to -- to be able to hear, especially from the Red Cross and within FEMA. Lots of the people we were talking to from there had the same reactions of this hope, even though they might not be able to see the results, but just wanting to do that work anyway because they felt it was important. That they could be making a difference. That was really uplifting to watch very early on, and it definitely motivated me going foreword throughout the semester.
Q: Has being a mentor changed your view of your work at CREW in anyway?
Vernon: I think it has been a positive impact because we have, through CFSI, mentees -- all three of them have come with open mind, and a willingness, and an open heart to try on different organizational tasks. I think it has not only been beneficial, it has also been helpful in terms of disseminating the work load and ensuing the workload is manageable for folks like myself and others.
I think that having Fellows allows not only for practical experience for the Fellow to gain, through the Fellowship, but I think it also provides an opportunity to be supportive to folks on the CREW staff. Also I just think it's a really great way for Fellows to continue to build up on their people engaging skills.
Q: How has having a mentor shaped your experience thus far and do you feel like you’ve been able to gain any professional skills by working with Vernon and CREW as a whole?
Grace: I definitely think I have been able to gain professional skills. Just being able to have somebody to always go to with questions or concerns or just thoughts and ideas is so helpful -- being able to bounce back and fourth. Vernon and I have weekly check in meetings where we'll go and we'll kind of just debrief all of the different things that have been going on that week [and] where we can improve. He always comes in with these ideas I hadn't thought of or different people to reach out to; just adding in his experience and wisdom from that is really, really, helpful to have in the meetings.
I think also one thing that Vernon has helped me do is just with conversational skills. It's been easy to learn how to talk to new people; he definitely encourages sharing your perspective and speaking up in meetings. He was very eager to invite me to a bunch of different meetings even if I thought it wasn't a place for me he was like "Okay, we're having a meeting with the Red Cross today. Come on in!" That was something as a new intern -- I was like, "I can't do that. No!" and he was like "No -- it's fine!" Coming in and welcoming me to the spaces was really helpful, especially in the beginning.
Q: What experiences do you think you are having with CFSI that you might not be able to have on your home campus?
Grace: So many I think! It is definitely not a traditional learning classroom environment at all which is really, really, awesome. It was kind of exactly what I was looking for this semester. I needed away from that campus/typical classroom lifestyle. I think the main thing with CFSI here is you're just learning by doing. You are put into a workplace that is going to rely on you to get jobs done and you're just learning as you go. Having other people relying on you. Having the team aspect. Also having a mission to your work is really, really, awesome!
I think being in the social sector too there is a meaning and a purpose to everything that you're doing. That makes it really easy to want to be involved and want to throw yourself into this semester; I think that's the main way it differs from a traditional college environment. It's been really helpful and rewarding in that way.
Q: Using your experience as being a mentor what would you say to any social impact sector organizations who are considering hosting a Student Fellow like CREW did this semester?
Vernon: I would say do it! I would say it's a great opportunity to shift some of the organizational responsibility to a Fellow and also an opportunity to work with someone that is currently in [the] college phase in their life. The phase where they're in college and have an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on them and their future professional development; I would say CFSI's a great program for social sector organizations to partner with because not only are they helping prepare future generations in whatever mission or social justice work that they're working on, but they also have an opportunity to impart some wisdom, impart some knowledge, [and] impart the experience of their staff upon the Fellow.
So, I think it's a great opportunity, and I think it's a great way to help the future generations shape a just and more equitable world. That certainly doesn't come in on the wheels of osmosis but that only comes when folks do the work. When folks are doing the work then we can help build as Dr. King talked about "A beloved community." For social sector organizations to partner with CFSI I think it's a great opportunity to welcome a fellow and to have that fellow be a part of creating a just and sustainable and equitable world for us all!
Q: What would you say to students who are considering applying and becoming a student fellow with SITC like you did this semester?
Grace: To echo Vernon's response "Do it!" I think it's definitely an awesome opportunity. I think my favorite part, and why I think it's so good for any students who are interested, there really is freedom to be able to create your own experience within the program. So, to start even with placement -- where you are placed in the social sector is somewhere that is based on your interests as a person and where you want to be making change. To go from that like you get to design your own special project and really create the ways that you want to leave an impact on your organization and how you can aid their mission. It's really up to you.
How much you put in is definitely how much you're going to get out, so if you're willing to come in and give it your all, test it out, be uncomfortable, get better. It's really a learning experience, and it's something I'm really grateful for. I would definitely encourage all students who are interested to apply and see where it might take them. I kind of applied on a whim not thinking I would actually follow through, then after a month I was like, "This is a program I really want to be involved in. This seems like a great opportunity." It really was. All of my expectations were met, and I'm definitely happy and glad that I did it. I've built so many skills as well as just confidence in myself through this program because it really was a trial by fire, but I got put to the test and got to prove to myself as well which was really awesome!