Has it really been a whole 10 months since I joined HIP? It feels like I just finished typing up my first blurb saying hello to all you HIPsters!

There is so much that can happen over the course of (a little under) a year and so much that can change. My Americorps year at HIP has been underscored most by change: fostering new partnerships in the community, improving our already solid programs, and adding a few new ones. And as HIP grew, I grew up with it. 

My first or second day was our second packing party of the year. I can only remember a three hour blur of what seemed like unadulterated chaos. So if you would have told me that first day that we would go on to start offering cook & no-cook alternatives to the soup in the Healthy HIP packs, open up a food pantry in Nathan Hale High School, or smoothly run a packing party with over 50 people (including two girl scout troops and one school group) I would have laughed and assumed you were feeding me fake news.

If you would have told me that we also put on five Cooking Matters courses, I probably would roll my eyes a little bit. And if you told me that on top of that we also created content for and hosted two family educational nights, two nutrition classes in Spanish for our Hispanic Senior Meals attendees, and a summer themed food & nutrition class for the North Seattle Family Center, I may have choked on my coffee.

I do not think the HIP community is (or should be) surprised by the work we did. We all know how much effort and thought goes into offering these services each and every year.

I am the one amazed by the opportunities I was given this year, by the freedom and responsibility given to create content and actually implement changes in programs; to have had the space and encouragement to learn about & fight injustices that people in our community still face; and to get to meet & learn from our neighbors, our clients.

I’m amazed that I’m still 5’3”, no taller than when I started, because boy, do I feel like I’ve grown.