Rebuilding Together Howard County’s staff expanded from January to April with the addition of an intern, Ayo Adelaja, who was supplied to the nonprofit by the Howard County Public School System’s (HCPSS) Applications and Research Laboratory (ARL), Finance Division.
Adelaja, a senior at Atholton High School who plans to attend the University of Michigan this fall, offers the nonprofit an advanced skill set. “We were a first-time partner with the ARL, and we did not know what to expect when we signed up to host an intern,” said Ann Heavner, executive director of RTHC.
Maddy Halbach, ARL Academy of Finance instructor and head of its intern program, first suggested the idea at a meeting between the two organizations. “How would you like to have an award-winning writer create grant request applications for your nonprofit?” she queried.
Not only did Adelaja write grant requests, the requests were approved. For example, he wrote a grant request for Sears Heroes At Home, which is designed to enable veterans and their families to receive free home repairs. As a result, RTHC was awarded $10,000 in funding to repair not one, but two veteran homes in Howard County.
Adelaja also wrote other applications, and RTHC is waiting to see if more grants will be approved. He also performed other important jobs that freed up RTHC staff to focus on expanding its program and provide more low-income homeowners with free home repairs.
Staff members said Adelaja would receive a project which was anticipated to take a week, then turn it around in a day. After having that experience after hiring its first intern, it’s no surprise that RTHC already has signed up for another intern in 2018.
For more information about Rebuilding Together Howard County, call 443-812-5627 and [email protected].