Ogallala Commons Newsletter: June (Issue 3)

Intern Profile: Elisa Elizondo

My name is Elisa Elizondo, I'm 20, and I have finally decided that I will transfer to Prescott College in Arizona in the fall as a junior. I lived in Fort Worth all my life up to now and went to TCU for two years. Home used to be all the way at the end University Drive and now it's far, far away and about to get farther.

My internship is in Amarillo, TX at the Wesley Community Center and the Maverick Boys and Girls Club. Both aim to establish community gardens that will provide food for the people they serve. Wesley serves as a place where people (mostly children and the elderly) come to learn and have fun. The Maverick Club serves only children and is pretty much the same thing on a larger scale.

Most of the volunteers I work with are in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade and they absolutely love being out in the garden and learning about it. At this point both gardens only grow annual vegetables, but in addition to caring for it (not an easy job with all this wind!), my job is to ensure more perennial and long term edible shrubs, rain catchment, and composting, and community support are in place to sustain the garden when I leave.


Intern Profile: Tara Fox

My name is Tara Fox and I am serving in my community of Plainview, Texas this summer. I have been living in Plainview for almost 7 years now. I have completed my undergrad as well as my master’s degree at Wayland Baptist University. This summer I am taking on the task of creating a financial banking and education curriculum geared towards lower income and unbanked individuals and families in the community. The end goal is to provide information and education to break the poverty cycle in families to give future generations a chance at something better.

We are also working on beginning an IDA (Individual Development Accounts) program for women who are or have been in a domestic family violence situation. By providing a program that will not only assist them in meeting a goal, whether that be owning a home, going back to school or starting a business; but also teach them how to make a budget and stick to it; we are taking away a piece of power and control that this family has been under. Economic abuse is one of the main reasons why women stay in abusive relationships for as long as they do. Most of these women were never allowed to work, or never able to so teaching them some basics is exactly what they need.

I believe in this project and am so honored to be a part of this opportunity to change families’ lives not only right now but for future generations as well.


Intern Profile: Larissa Gardner

Hello,
I'm Larissa Gardner, an Ogallala Intern working in Nazareth, TX. I live in Amarillo and have two daughters (12 and 19) who live very nearby, so I can see them as often as I want to. My parents grew up in Happy, Texas, and I spent summers in the Texas Panhandle helping my grandfather on his farm. What I really love about the program is the opportunity to work in my field before I graduate with my Masters' Degree. I feel very lucky!

My main project is an exhibit entitled “A Woman's Touch.” It celebrates the Benedictine Sisters who taught in Nazareth from the early 1900s until 1990 as well as the Sisters who received vocations and left Nazareth for the St. Scholastica Monastery in Arkansas. I've done research on the History of Nazareth and the History of Supreme Court decisions on Separation between Church and State. I've also interviewed Sisters who are still in the area and have gathered stories from many of those they taught! The exhibit is planned for seven panels and will be presented at the Nazareth German Sausage Festival on July 9th.

Other portions of my internship center around the Cemetery's Oratory Index and map as well as production of an exhibit book for “A Woman's Touch” and “Pioneer Pastors” exhibits to be used on future displays as a takeaway. I am also following up this summer on work I did last summer to help get the Holy Family Cemetery designated as a Historical Site so they can get a Historical Marker.