Browsing by Subject "Volunteering"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Amanda Veasy Interview
(2022-02-18) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
This interview is with Amanda Veasy, co-founder of One Love Longview, a nonprofit resource center for unsheltered, uninsured, and underserved populations. Amanda talks about the rapid rise of her organization as a response to community needs for accessible mental and physical health care. She describes the changes in her religious experiences over time, including being spurred to leave the church over her unwillingness to condemn the LGBTQ+ community. Amanda also talks about her methods of helping effectively by putting the individual’s desires and consent first and about the strength of her value of southern hospitality.
Big civic energy : social connectedness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, TX
(2023-05-04) Weatherford, Krista Michelle; Bixler, R. Patrick (Richard Patrick)
The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the way society views many things. Is civic engagement one of them? In the beginning of the pandemic, many individuals were active in their immediate neighborhood, leading many to believe that long-term social change was inevitable. However, the pandemic was a mixed bag in terms of the engagement it inspired. Benefits to the community in response included broader mutual aid, volunteering, mask-making, and food delivery to the elderly. Whereas negative civic impacts included anti-Asian racism, toilet paper hoarding, mass gatherings and antimasking despite restrictions. Ultimately, it is impossible to assess whether the event was wholly good or bad in terms of civic engagement. However, this report examines whether the following forms of civic engagement (referred to as social connectedness) increased in Austin during the pandemic: volunteering, donating, group association, and favors for neighbors. The report also uncovers any spatial disparities between how different populations responded to the pandemic. Academic literature analyzes how neighborhoods can differ in resident formation of social capital, and individual motivations to become civically engaged. Beyond that, a significant amount of literature discusses community formation and mutual aid in response to disruptive events such as natural disasters. This report utilizes mixed methods through a quantitative analysis using the Austin Area Sustainability Indicators, as well as a qualitative approach of interviewing community members and non-profit leaders
Heather Malkawi Interview
(2021-08-04) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
This interview is with Heather Malkawi, a seminarian studying at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Heather shares the story of her experiences living with and treating her epilepsy, including discerning the choice to pursue seminary and fighting for the legalization of medical marijuana. She talks about how the Texas Freeze kept her from receiving shipments of her medication, putting her at risk of seizures. She also speaks about her experiences volunteering to distribute water and home necessities with her church during the freeze.
Shakeel Rashed Interview
(2019-07-30) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
This interview is with Shakeel Rashed, an engineer and technology professional and a co-founder of Islamic Center of Lake Travis in Hudson Bend, TX. Shakeel shares about his upbringing in a Muslim-majority, religiously intermingled culture in Hyderabad, India. He discusses moving to the US for graduate school and compares perceptions of religious identity in the US and in India. He discusses how his experience in the US caused him to reevaluate his Muslim identity and become more involved in a Muslim community, eventually becoming part of the leadership of a new mosque in the Lake Travis area. He also describes how the Islamic Center of Lake Travis was started, the complicated process of building and rebuilding, and their vision for their community.
Vexations, volumes, and volunteers: institutionalization and the veneration of information at a small international NGO
(2009-08) Letalien, Bethany Lynn; Doty, Philip
The author performed action research over the two years between March 2006 and February 2008 with the Instituto Dois Irmãos (i2i), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in a low-income area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil consisting of a group of approximately 3-5 locals and 2-30 foreigners at any one time that in March 2006 offered few services and lacked the expertise or confidence to offer more. Together, participants and the author improved and increased the NGO’s services and implemented a reading room – a place of information and literacy – for Portuguese-speaking students of English. This dissertation describes participants’, the organization’s, and the author’s journey to transform the i2i into a better functioning organization and to create the NGO’s reading room. The analysis focuses on the practical learning that took place within the i2i. Throughout the research process, the author both made use of and questioned the concepts of participation and development. In the text, she also draws on the experiences of the i2i’s leaders and volunteers to question the prevailing notion of information as a social good. A critical understanding of these three notions is essential for the work of librarians, development professionals, and policymakers alike.