Community Partner : No Boundaries Coalition Intern : Siena Defazio Site Supervisor : Saché Jones
What is No Boundaries Coalition ?
The No Boundaries Coalition is a resident-led advocacy organization building a unified and empowered Central West Baltimore across the boundaries of race , class , and neighborhood .
Supported marketing , including managing social media , creating flyers , and calling members Coordinated with other community organizers on collaborative projects Crafted creative community-building events and political education workshops Took a class on cooperative economics for BIPOC
My experience this Summer was a huge growth moment for how I looked at my future and the communities around me in Baltimore . I had only been to West Baltimore once my freshman year , and after COVID I never had another reason to up until my placement at No Boundaries Coalition . My first day was the Saturday right after orientation . My supervisor , the Director of Health and Food Justice , asked me to help at the fresh produce stall she runs with her team at Pennsylvania Avenue Market . My first day was filled with confusion . It seemed everyone ’ s words just got jumbled up through their mask and I had no idea where anything went when I did understand ! It was a learning process , but the staff and my supervisor were supportive every step of the way .
Eventually , I grew my metaphorical sea legs and I started taking up the task of reinvigorating the buying club . The Central West Baltimore Buying Club allows its members to buy produce at wholesale prices directly from local farms . Each member pays in with equity : either a small monthly or yearly payment or with volunteer service . In return , members get free delivery of produce of their choice and join a community of people that democratically control what food they can purchase . It takes a paradigm shift to go from looking at food as something you just purchase versus something that you work together as a community to achieve . We believe this is the most effective method to end the many systematic factors that go into creating food apartheid .
This process of building community allowed me to take on many roles including social media manager , graphic designer , event planner , marketing lead , and coordinator between other organizations that we wanted to work with . Much of this was outside of my comfort zone as an introvert who is always on the verge of deleting Instagram . Since everyone at No Boundaries was so supportive , I could look at this as a huge chance to grow . Now I feel so much more confident in myself as a community organizer .
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