My name is Addison Kim, and I am a Georgia Tech sophomore business student, concentrating in Strategy and Innovation. This past fall semester, I had the privilege of working with Hopeful Change as a marketing intern. Hopeful Change is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that seeks to provide culturally competent and accessible mental health resources to those who are uninsured or underinsured.
When I first spoke with the founders of Hopeful Change, Dawn and DT, we discussed how even though they are having a significant impact, not many people know about it because they have a very limited online presence. They told me that as their organization continues to grow, they want to improve their reach and invest in developing their brand. So this fall, I was responsible for helping them launch a marketing rebrand initiative. My primary deliverable was a short documentary video that informs others about the organization’s mission and inspires people to donate or get involved. To gather footage for this video, I filmed and photographed the work Hopeful Change was doing in the community. I observed their youth mentorship sessions, I spoke with the researchers who support their work, and I met their community partners.
By working so closely with Dawn and DT and seeing their day-to-day work first-hand, I gained a deeper understanding of how important and impactful community organizations are. For example, before working with Hopeful Change, I knew that there are many communities who do not have access to affordable or quality mental health resources. But after personally speaking with students who are benefiting from Hopeful Change’s support and learning about why Dawn and DT began this work in the first place, I have a greater understanding for why this issue is so important and also what can actually be done to help. There is a multitude of youth who face significant mental health challenges without support. But additionally, what many people do not realize and what I did not realize, is that even a “simple” support system can have an immensely positive effect on an individual. Just giving a student a safe space where they can openly talk about their emotions once a week or having just one relationship with an adult who genuinely cares about them can be life-changing.
For me, it is encouraging to know that individuals and organizations can make a real difference. Oftentimes tackling social issues seems hopeless because they are so intense and widespread, and sometimes it feels like nothing we do will ever be enough. However, Dawn and DT give me hope, and just the existence of Hopeful Change (a perfectly named organization) gives me hope. I was reminded that this kind of work makes a bigger impact than we may realize or appreciate, and there are many individuals who are successfully making the world a safer and better place.
My experience with Hopeful Change was a fun, eye-opening, and rewarding experience, and I’m deeply honored to have had the opportunity to connect with them thanks to the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact. I hope that my story can encourage others to also get involved in their communities and get excited about the impact that community work is having.
This reflection is part of Georgia Tech’s Social Impact Fellows program, offered through the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact (ILSI). This program connects students with nonprofit and community organizations in Atlanta for semester-long, hands-on project experiences designed to foster co-learning, social responsibility, and personal growth. To learn more about program details and application information, please visit our program webpage.