Kay Nelson Brings Her Community Contributions to NWI Forum

NWI Forum Director of Environmental Affairs Kay Nelson's dedication to Northwest Indiana and the local community is not limited to her work on the forum, but also her abundance of community work for children and adults. From her time working at the United Way to teaching children at the Dunes, Nelson has served on the Lake Area United Way as chairperson and president for eight years, an experience she credits as being a great experience builder which gave her access to help out her community in a variety of ways.

"The United Way is a very critical component in assisting and serving the community," says Nelson. "From educational issues to health care and child care issues, it really was an opportunity and experience to understand what services that were being offered throughout the community that we really don't hear about. These organizations don't often have the ability to reach out to news sources so being able to see everything they offered was terrific."

Nelson credits her time on the board as being able to see great people at work who made sure that every amount of funding and assistance went to the people who needed it the most.

"As a board member, I got to learn how seriously board members took their responsibilities," says Nelson. "They made sure that the right people received what they needed and the right people received the money through donations. "

Nelson also serves on The Dunes Learning Center, a residential campground for the national parks system that provides nature education for children from the fourth grade through the middle school grade level.

"My profession is environmentally related, so I saw a great deal of value from multiple fronts," says Nelson. 'I saw opportunities to teach children more about their environment and how to care for it as well as offering kids without a backyard to play in an opportunity to experience nature."

Nelson stresses the importance of children without "green spaces" to have the opportunity to experience and learn about the world they live in.

"It's important for kids to take a walk through the woods and learn how to survive without a flashlight," says Nelson. It's important for kids to have fun and learn about nature."

Despite being a member of the board, Nelson also spends a great deal of time working with children and enjoys the opportunity to see their positive reaction to the programs and their experiences with nature.

"When you watch their excitement when they touch a critter for the first time or take part in their first time walking around the sand dunes, it's an extremely rewarding experience."

Through these positive interactions with the community, Nelson is able to bring this positive energy to her job at the NWI Forum and through this energy, is able to serve those who need help the most.

"I am a very strong believer in that all of our experiences, regardless of where they originate, fill into and improve all of our behaviors in our daily jobs and our private lives," says Nelson. "You really shouldn't try to separate the good things that we have learned and only apply them in remote locations."

Nelson credits her experiences working outside the forum as experiences and knowledge that allows her to help even more from within the forum.

"With the United Way board experience, it gave me the opportunity to share with members how United Way dollars are being used and being able to help organizations that may have experienced trouble in the community and connect them with people who can help them," says Nelson. "It's exciting to see this outpouring of support to the community from organizations you have introduced through your connections, it's exciting to think that you may have had a small part in sparking that group to do that activity and improve the quality of life for someone."

While Nelson's contributions to the community are immeasurable, her one wish is for community members to never feel like they are powerless in their options to help others.

"People need to take a look at their blessings, you may think that you may not have much to share, but that's not true," says Nelson. We all have something to share, it doesn't have to be financial, sometimes it means stuffing a bag full of books for schools and introducing reading to a child, taking a vacation day to packing meals to help stack the shelves a the food bank. We all have something to share."