As we give thanks this week, I want to salute the great work being done in Durham by the West End Community Foundation, Inc., which I’ve been fortunate to volunteer with over the past year.
Dosali Reed-Bandele, the foundation’s executive director, and I worked together to produce an updated website, an e-newsletter, new brochures, a texting service and other communications tools to serve the Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park, which the foundation administers. The center is located in a historic building that was previously a school for African American students in Durham’s segregated system.
Dosali took the lead on this work along with her colleagues. As she says in a new article by Jeannine Sato, the year-long project “helped our center tell its story more authentically, about both our history and how we now interact with the community.” She and I are still working together on some remaining tasks.
The article describes the collaboration, which was organized by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. We hope it will encourage other older volunteers to share their skills with — and learn from — local nonprofits. Both sides stand to benefit, both locally and nationwide, as I’ve discussed previously. It’s an opportunity and unmet social need that I hope to pursue in the year ahead.
Dosali has inspired me throughout this project with her talent and commitment to the community, and she’s helped me broaden my understanding of the city I call home. Thank you, Dosali.
"Not Exactly Retired" 