WYPR’s On the Record with Sheilah Kast continues its tradition of featuring the newest OSI Community Fellows. The interviews with the 2020 cohort kicked off on December 23rd with Isaiah Johnson and Elizabeth Finne. Isaiah’s project, The Greenmount East Leadership Project (GELP) aims to provide kids between 10 and 19 with positive activities and role models. Elizabeth’s Parole Preparation Project will develop infrastructure that provides support to those who are up for parole. Listen to Isaiah and Elizabeth here.
On December 28th, Fellows Atiya Wells and Monica Lapenta were featured. With Baltimore Living in Sustainable Simplicity (BLISS) Meadows, Atiya has created a nature center and educational space in Northeast Baltimore to encourage Black, Indigenous and other People of Color to explore nature. Monica’s Be a Chef for a Day (BaCfaD) seeks to both teach children how to cook healthy food on a budget, and raise awareness about child hunger and malnourishment. Listen to Atiya and Monica here.
Fellows Ateira Griffin and Wayne Paige were featured next, on December 30th. Ateira founded Building Our Nation’s Daughters, Inc. (BOND) to work with single mothers and their daughters together for activities and communication strategies to help build confidence and connection. With The Beautiful Baltimore Project, Wayne hopes to mentor young people in the McElderry Park neighborhood and support them at various points throughout their life, just as he had been mentored years ago. Listen to Ateira and Wayne here.
On January 5, Tehya Jenae Faulk and Darius Wilmore spoke about their projects, Orphan We , an online story portal that hopes to build empathy with others, and The Short Kuts Narrative Therapy Initiative, a project that helps performers share peronsal stories, respectively. Listen here.
James Henderson and Bree Jones were featured on the January 21 episode. Listen here. Henderson’s project Pathways to College or Entrepreneurship aims to help young people in Baltimore find paths toward college and entrepreneurship. Parity, the organization founded by Jones is working to increase affordable home ownership for those in historically redlined neighborhoods.
The final installment, featuring E.V. Yost and Troy Staton, aired on January 27. E.V. created Queer Crisis Response Unit (QCRU) to establish a trans-led emergency services alternative to respond when members of the queer community experience a crisis. Troy’s More than a Shop is helping to create a network of hair salons that will bring health care screenings and other resources to their neighborhoods. Listen to the interviews here.
