- Email:
- rrice@iu.edu
- Department:
- Diabetes Impact Project
What did you do before becoming a part of the DIP-IN team?
When I became a CHW for DIP-IN, I was and still currently work as the community builder for the Near Northwest Quality of Life organization, since 2019. My work as the builder handles community engagement with residents and multiple organizations, such as universities, non-for-profits, the city, etc.
I create and am responsible for the community newsletter as well as convening all of the community meetings, networking with new and familiar partners, and providing resources to the community that they would not otherwise know of or be able to connect with on their own.
Tell us more about your background in living in and working with Indianapolis communities.
I was born in the Near Northwest community but only lived there until the third grade when my family moved up to the Washington Township area. Although I still had family in the area, it wasn't until 2010 that I moved back and purchased a home there.
Up until 2017, I was never involved in any community-based organizations or initiatives. In 2017 I was asked, as a resident, to be a part of the Riverside Regional Park Master Plan Steering Committee, and that was my introduction to the work of the community.
When we were successful in creating that plan, I was asked to be a co-chair of the Arts, Parks and Public Spaces action committee for my current organization and after a year of learning, watching, listening, and doing I stepped into the community builder role and have been here ever since.
Tell us a story of a time you felt you had a true impact in your community work.
When I was a volunteer on the Riverside Regional Park Master Plan Steering Committee, I was very unsure and uncertain that anything I would offer to the group would be acknowledged or even considered. My thought was, and for a lot of people like me, that my voice didn't matter. I even stopped attending the meetings because I felt that I wasn't important enough or knew enough to be of value to the group.
This wasn't how they treated me, this was how I viewed my value as a whole. There was one individual who took the time to reach out to me and helped me understand that as a resident—regardless of status or title—I actually held the most power and that my voice was the one that had the greatest influence. That my voice, if united with similar voices, could achieve things greater than what I cared to believe it could.
So I came back to the meetings and became more involved, more enthusiastic, and more vocal. This resulted in my becoming the spokesperson for the community to advance the most expensive master plan ever created by Indy Parks for approval from the city. As happy as I was for this achievement, I soon realized that getting the master plan approved wasn't the greatest impact.
When other residents saw what I did and how candid I was with my true feelings and words, they followed suit and found their own value in their own voices. They, in return, got more involved. More motivated to do more for our community. That was when I learned that by leading as an example, you can change lives that can change for the good of all.
What part of this project are you looking forward to most?
For the last 20 years, I was a personal trainer who specialized in weight loss and triathlons. I have always found that physical fitness was a key to not only optimal physical health but enhanced mental well-being. When our steering committee chose physical fitness as its focus around diabetic health, I could not wait to get started creating classes and providing opportunities that our residents sorely need to get back in shape and to help prevent existing or future medical issues.
This also helps us find new ways to push public policy into improving the quality of life and also the physical state of our parks, walkways and green spaces, so that residents will become more motivated to participate in physical activity.
When you are not working, what are you up to?
I am a foodie at heart and even though I'm diabetic, I enjoy cooking because of the science behind it. I am also training to do three Spartan races in 2022. There is a level of personal commitment you have to put in to be able to finish a race and show how one can overcome diabetes to achieve goals and change outcomes that have become expectations in my ethnicity.