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By oSha Shireman, Class of 2014
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| oSha Shireman |
My internship at the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and my Anthropology coursework this semester have aligned in an interesting way. Throughout the semester, I have taken part in a course entitled, “Food and Body Politic” taught by Professor Jeneen Wiche, and one entitled, “Food and Farm Movements in the Americas” with Dr. Lisa Markowitz. One of the topics that I have focused on in my research this semester is the ways in which food and our access to certain foods shapes the overall culture of health in a community.
The Center for Nonprofit Excellence is one of the partners of the Greater Louisville Project: a civic, nonpartisan initiative that has catalyzed action by providing data that engages the community in a shared agenda for competitive long-term progress. The Greater Louisville Project evaluates the health of Louisville in comparison to 15 peer cities in an initiative called, “Building a Healthier Louisville”. This project seeks to connect the health of citizens in every zip code of Louisville to their capacity for success in areas like education, income, nutrition, housing, and productive neighborhoods.
Through evaluations of social and economic factors, clinic care, health behaviors, and physical environment of different areas in the city, the GLP Report reveals the deep inequity of public health in our city and in many other cities in the United States. The Report reveals that place matters, indicating that the environmental injustice of the concentration of toxic waste in areas like Rubbertown, among others, has a clear and obvious impact on the life expectancy of the residents there.
Interning at the Center for Nonprofit Excellence has been an important experience to my future in Louisville for two major reasons: confronting the reality that Louisville has great social problems that stem from inequalities to access to comprehensive health and then seeing all of the hardworking, passionate individuals who are working in the nonprofit sector and in city government that believe they can enact positive change. I am inspired and motivated by these individuals to see that I can be a part of widening opportunities for all Louisvillians.
oSha Shireman is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is majoring in English and Political Science.