Making a Difference Close to Home
Donations to Doing Good in the Neighborhood can also help Duke community members
For her final two years at Northern Durham High School, Natasha Graham wrote for the Durham Voice, a community newspaper that chronicled the lives of, and issues important to, residents of northeast and central Durham.
And each time Graham had a byline, her mother, Bonita Forbes-Graham, grabbed a copy of the paper and saved it.
“She was really proud of me,” said Natasha, now a junior at Wells College in Aurora, New York. “That meant a lot.”
On Oct. 31, the Duke Office of Durham and Regional Affairs wrapped up a month-long celebration of its Doing Good in the Neighborhood employee giving campaign. The campaign, which distributes donations from University and Health System employees to local non-profits, undoubtedly makes a difference in the lives of many in the Bull City.
During the 2017-18 fiscal year, Doing Good in the Neighborhood raised $629,384 from 2,021 employees for the campaign, which features seven giving categories: Community Care Fund, Emergency Relief Fund, Health, Neighborhoods, Schools, Youth Empowerment and United Way of the Greater Triangle. Employees can give to the campaign at any point in the year.
As evidenced by the newspaper clippings kept by Bonita, a health unit coordinator at Duke University Hospital, the employee giving campaign also touches the lives of colleagues.
“Her articles helped her figure out what she wanted to do,” Bonita said of her daughter’s work. “She’s doing really well. She likes to write. She writes all the time now.”
A mother of two who works in the 2100 surgical unit, Bonita has been a Duke Health System employee for 33 years. Her connection with Doing Good in the Neighborhood began five years ago, when Natasha, her youngest child, was looking for something to do for the summer after her sophomore year of high school.
Natasha, who admitted she was painfully shy, heard of a summer workforce training program from the Partners for Youth Opportunity and decided to give it a shot.
Partners for Youth Opportunity aims to help Durham teenagers find direction through academic support, mentoring and opportunities to gain experience in the work force.
Julie Wells, the organization’s executive director, said Duke has been a major backer of the program, which receives part of its funding from Doing Good in the Neighborhood.
“It’s been everything from having people who can help us talk through ideas, to very tangible support such as people, transportation and money,” Wells said of the help Duke provides.
Partners for Youth Opportunity provided Natasha a paid internship with the Durham Voice, a collaboration between journalism departments at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina Central University, and community organizations.
First as a writer and later as the Durham Voice’s Teen Editor, Natasha worked with fellow writers and developed stories and sources through community interaction.
“It helped her express herself more,” Bonita said. “She did really well. She loved it.”
The passion that the experience ignited in her is still going. A visual arts major in college, Natasha is minoring in journalism and has written for her campus newspaper.
“For me personally, to get myself out there and be more confident, Partners for Youth and the Durham Voice gave me a huge support system,” Graham said.
Carlton Koonce serves as Workforce Development Coordinator for Partners for Youth Opportunity and Teen Mentoring Coordinator with the Durham Voice. He had an up-close view Natasha’s growth. And with her now in college, Natasha, the child of a Duke employee, is a story in a program that relies on support of Duke’s work force.
“Every dollar counts,” Koonce said. “People might give little donations and think ‘I’ve just done my good deed for the day.’ But just know that your good deed is going so much farther than you ever realize.”
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