Lighthouse New Beginnings

Olivia Gobble, Summer 2018

Through the Urban Health Project, I was able to work alongside the facilitators at Lighthouse New Beginnings and gained a valuable experience. I would classify my time at New Beginnings as community focused, with social interactions and relationship building being my main goal. I was able to work alongside 10 girls, between the ages of 12 and 18 and hear more about their stories and experiences than I ever thought possible. I spent time with them while on community excursions to places like King's Island, Coney Island, or at any of the Cincinnati recreational center pools as well as chaperoned and worked alongside the girls who participated in the Lighthouse Community School Garden Project. It was extremely impactful to see the change the girls underwent after the weeks spent tending the plants in the garden, learning how to harvest and care for the crops and the intricate details that go into making and sustaining a garden. They gained communication skills as well as life skills that I believe they will take with them into future employment and endeavors.

Beyond helping them with simple activities, I learned a lot from these young women and what they have thus far experienced in their young lives. They have taught me the resilience that people can display in the face of hardship and how to overcome even the most difficult of battles. Furthermore, they have shown continuous positivity and excitement for what is to come. In the last few weeks I spent with the girls, they all prepared to enter their next level of education and we spent time going over reading and math skills so they would feel ready to start. Beyond that, we talked about their goals from the future, which ranged from photography and detective work to being nurses and other professions in the medical field. Each of these girls has a special passion that they want to works towards accomplishing and each of them has changed my life in their own unique way. Whether it is their outlook on life, their approach to the future, or the unique and unending positivity they display in their day to day activities, they have taught me that no matter the past we have been dealt or the difficulties we have faced, we each have the opportunity to approach each day fresh and ready for the future.