Breanna Sommers Post 1

Hello, My name is Breanna Sommers and I am a fellow at Agape Family and Child Services. 

So far, I am developing and curriculum for an intervention reading program for their community apartments in Frayser and Raleigh. Students in adverse learning situations can lose up to three months of academic knowledge at the end of a summer that does not include learning and skill practice. We received a grant to use a program with learning tools to continue growth and stabilize previous skills. We plan to integrate the five pillars of literacy and hope to move every student to the next grade level by the end of the summer. On my first day, I saw a huge gap in the understanding of the grant-supported program they hoped to implement and very little time to complete the job. My co-workers are often scrambling to complete tasks, but are hardworking and dedicated. We developed a training session for summer interns and are currently working to assess and implement the program this week.

            While sometimes it makes me feel a little uneasy of my exact responsibilities, my supportive and extremely kind supervisor is leaving my fellowship open to growth and change. When we met on the first day, she was responsive and engaging. She directly asked what my needs and wants were out of the experience. While I will complete meaningful work for Agape during the summer, she also wants to make sure that I observe and absorb the meetings, opportunities, and experiences in the office and in the Raleigh and Frayser schools.

My orientation and first week has been a whirlwind, but each day I am excited to see what is in store for me at Agape. I received extensive training and verification in order to work there. Because I will interact with various members of the Frayser and Raleigh community and especially children, I took short courses in Self Defense, CPR, and First Aid.

Agape deeply values the relationships we make with those of differing backgrounds and struggles with the word 'service' as the fellows did in last Monday's discussion. Even though ‘service’ is artfully painted on the wall in the break room along with words like community and development, Agape uses a religious perspective to explain their use of the word.  For them, service is the act of a servant, in this case a religious person, aiding those who are of need as called by God. This complicates our previous discussion, but in ways puts a positive spin on the word. It would be interesting to analyze mentions of the word ‘service’ and ‘servant’ in the Bible and compare it to Agape’s work as a religious non-profit.   

We want to authentically work with communities of a different background and intersectionality, but also recognize the unavoidable disparities between staff and community members. Agape believes that it is essential to honestly diagnose the needs of an area, but the organization also looks to build communal bonds by asking questions rather than assuming need. A group of dedicated staff members take significant amounts of survey data and use patterns and trends to determine which programs should continue, end, or need revamping.