Volunteer Explorer

I've got an interview! Next Tuesday I will meet with Mary, the volunteer coordinator for Catholic Charities, for my interview as a volunteer. She promises she will keep the process to an hour. That's good, because what would we have to talk about for more than an hour? I pitched this idea to my workshop group Monday evening and they really liked it. All the others in my group are writing memoir--the Christmas when a boy's dad ran over a bunch of deer in Pennsylvania and he thought he had killed Santa Clause; a Gen-Xer delaying adulthood as long as possible by contemplating buying the house of an ex-serial killer; a collage of micro-essays about the musical backdrop of one girl's coming-of-age. I have nothing against memoir narratives; in fact they can have a lot of value as literature and as entertainment, not to mention the psychic catharsis of confronting and examining memories. But Creative Nonfiction is so much more than just memoir. Besides, writing about other p...

How does a white girl from the suburbs infiltrate the Hispanic community in her own town?  I have been doing some writing about immigrants in Akron for a while, but it's been hit or miss: A mutual friend introduces me to someone who is from a different country; we talk and I learn about their journey; then I write a story about it. This serendipitous method has worked to a point, but now I'm stuck and need to do something new. Recent census data indicates that Hispanics and Latinos have out-paced blacks as the largest minor i ty in the country for the first time. I've noticed more Latino faces around town, but I can't seem to initiate the right conversations or contacts to get a story cooking. So I'll do something different! Yesterday, I mailed an application to Catholic Charities Services to apply for volunteer work with their Hispanic Outreach program. This volunteer work will do several things for me--and for Akron: 1. It will allow me to reach out to member...