Community Fellows and Projects - 2012-2013

Emily Folenta Lehigh Valley Hospital, Department of Community Health As a Fellow, Emily did research and collected data on homelessness and housing insecurity in the Lehigh Valley to help LVHN determine how it might address these issues to facilitate a healthier community. Her work included interviewing LVHN community health and social workers to better understand the difficulties of providing proper resources to patients who are homeless or housing insecure, and she visited local homeless shelters and soup kitchens as part of her research, as well. From these interviews and site visits, Emily developed policy and program recommendations.	Kali Collymore City of Bethlehem, Department of Community and Economic Development Kali worked on Bethlehem’s efforts to reduce blight and raise the standard for quality housing in the city. This required collecting, analyzing and mapping a range of data, researching best practices from other communities engaged in similar work, and making comprehensive policy recommendations to city staff and elected officials.
Sara Keeler Community Action Development Corporation-Allentown Sara worked on CADC’s Jordan Heights Revitalization project and for the Upside Allentown Arts & Culture Committee. She collected and analyzed data on the Jordan Heights community, from physical conditions, to public services, and key stakeholder perspectives about the neighborhood. She also researched grant opportunities for arts organizations in Allentown.	Matthew Lubitz City of Allentown, Planning and Zoning Bureau Matt was a Community Fellow in the City of Allentown’s Bureau of Planning and Zoning. There, he worked on a variety of projects, including grant writing and plan review, and collecting information for the annual Capital Improvements Plan. He worked with city staff on a bike share program in Allentown, and created maps for various projects.
Sandra Ngeseyan Lehigh Valley Social Impact Center Sandra spent her Community Fellowship supporting strategy development and devising new ways of improving collective impact among collaborating nonprofits, government and private sector organizations in the Lehigh Valley. Her work included conducting research on existing organizations and associations, social impact metrics, and new forms of capital formation like crowdfunding and venture philanthropy. Sandra also helped write, edit and develop grant budgets and proposals.