{"id":2080,"date":"2020-12-16T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T23:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/students-build-an-orphanage-provide-water-to-the-homeless-and-assist-immigrants\/"},"modified":"2023-10-11T12:50:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T19:50:18","slug":"class-on-doing-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/class-on-doing-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Students build an orphanage, provide water to the homeless and assist immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                                    \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3376-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3376-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Students build an orphanage, provide water to the homeless and assist immigrants\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  With the help of the Dornsife Toolkit course \u201cDoing Good: How to Start and Run a Successful Nonprofit Organization,\u201d undergraduate Joanna Maniti made her dream of building an orphanage and a school in the Philippines a reality. (Photo: Courtesy if Joanna Maniti.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=student\">Student<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Students build an orphanage, provide water to the homeless and assist immigrants<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  The COVID-19 pandemic hasn\u2019t stopped students in Kamy Akhavan\u2019s class \u201cDoing Good\u201d from bettering the world. <strong>[4\u00be min read]<\/strong>\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Margaret Crable<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">December 16, 2020<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 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<p>Consistent sources of good news this year have been rare, but one class offered by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences has gone against the grain by producing a steady stream of uplifting stories.<\/p>\n<p>Students in \u201cDoing Good: How to Start and Run a Successful Nonprofit Organization,\u201d taught by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife-center-for-political-future.usc.edu\/staff\/kambiz-kamy-akhavan\/\">Kamy Akhavan<\/a>, executive director of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife-center-for-political-future.usc.edu\/\">USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future<\/a>, are putting their classwork into practice by helping the homeless, immigrants and orphaned children.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17069\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17069\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-17069\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryB-3376-500x322.jpg\" alt=\"Young woman wearing a face mask and holding a pack of water bottles places a water bottle into the outstretched hand of a person in a homeless encampment.\" width=\"500\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryB-3376-500x322.jpg 500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryB-3376-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryB-3376.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17069\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Catherine Cummings delivers clean drinking water to the homeless in downtown L.A. (Photo: Courtesy of Catherine Cummings.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Catherine Cummings,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/hist\/law-history-culture\/\">a law, history and culture<\/a>\u00a0major, and her organization\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.waterdropla.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Water Drop LA<\/a>\u00a0have provided thousands of gallons of clean water to homeless Angelenos. An orphanage in the Philippines recently broke ground thanks in part to the efforts of Joanna Maniti, a business administration major at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.usc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Marshall School of Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Natalia Wurst, a senior majoring in public policy and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/psyc\/\">psychology<\/a>, is forming the USC Immigrant and Migrant Resource Center, which will act as a resource hub for immigrants in Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n<p>Wurst, Cummings and Maniti all point to Akhavan\u2019s class as essential to moving their projects forward. \u201cProfessor Akhavan connected me with a whole new network of people in the nonprofit sector who helped me grow Water Drop to an even bigger organization than I could have ever dreamed,\u201d says Cummings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nonprofit? No problem<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Akhavan is well-suited to guide students through the complex world of nonprofit formation. He\u2019s worked previously as the CEO of ProCon.org, a nonprofit news source, and has served on numerous nonprofit boards. \u201cDoing Good\u201d was offered through the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/TOOLKIT\">Dornsife Toolkit<\/a>, which provides students with skills that can help them beyond college.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a great appreciation for doing practical work, something that is directly applicable to a person\u2019s life,\u201d says Akhavan. \u201cHow can you make an immediate impact with your knowledge and with your initiative?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He teaches students how to build a board of directors, market your organization and procure funds. Guest speakers from nonprofits around the nation. share real-life experiences and tips. At the end of the semester, Akhavan had his students pitch their nonprofit idea to a slate of previous speakers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been to a lot of\u00a0pitch presentations in my career and there\u2019s always some that are kind of duds. These students were all top-notch, and any one of them would have received funding in a real-world situation,\u201d says Akhavan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Called to the frontlines<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no accident that these particular students ended up in Akhavan\u2019s class. All three enrolled seeking guidance for their humanitarian interests.<\/p>\n<p>For Maniti, the desire to make a difference started at age 17, after a mission trip to the Philippines where she witnessed the lack of educational opportunities for children. She knew she wanted to provide them with access to housing and educational resources and that desire remained even after she left the mission field.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17071\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17071\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-17071\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryC-3376-500x322.jpg\" alt=\"Filipino construction workers build a roof with red rafters and joists.\" width=\"500\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryC-3376-500x322.jpg 500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryC-3376-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryC-3376.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17071\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers in the Philippines build the orphanage made possible by Joanna Maniti. (Photo: Courtesy of Joanna Maniti.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cFor a while this dream was something that I didn&#8217;t want to touch, and I didn&#8217;t know how feasible it was or where to even get started,\u201d says Maniti.<\/p>\n<p>Inspired by the experiences of her father, a Peruvian immigrant, Wurst had been volunteering at organizations like the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gould.usc.edu\/academics\/experiential\/clinics\/immigration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic<\/a>. She discovered that many immigrants were not aware of resources available to them and felt that a centralized information hub would be beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>Cummings started Water Drop LA after an afternoon spent handing out burritos to the homeless in downtown Los Angeles. She and her fellow volunteers were frequently asked for water. Cummings learned that there were just a handful of public water fountains available and, with many cafes and restaurants closed due to COVID-19, water had become even more scarce.<\/p>\n<p>She formed Water Drop LA in the summer of 2020 along with fellow student <a href=\"https:\/\/priceschool.usc.edu\/student-created-nonprofit-pushes-for-water-accessibility-solutions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aria Cata\u00f1o<\/a>, who graduated from <a href=\"https:\/\/priceschool.usc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Price School of Public Policy<\/a> with a bachelors in public policy and is currently pursuing a masters in urban planning, and USC alumna Kate Montanez. They\u2019ve been distributing jugs of water to the unhoused from a church parking lot near the USC campus, dispensing over 1,000 gallons each Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Something tells me I\u2019m into something good<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Akhavan\u2019s class offered Cummings the practical skills she needed to make sure her nonprofit had staying power.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17070\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17070\" style=\"width: 354px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17070 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryA-3376-354x550.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of Kamy Akhavan smiling and wearing a dark blue, collared, button-down shirt.\" width=\"354\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryA-3376-354x550.jpg 354w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/DoingGoodClass_InStoryA-3376.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17070\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamy Akhavan (Photo: Courtesy of Kamy Akhavan.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI learned from both Professor Akhavan and from the awesome guest speakers he brought in about topics ranging from IRS filings to social media strategy,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Cummings has raised $400,000 in funds and hopes to soon install permanent water sources for the homeless in L.A.<\/p>\n<p>Wurst feels similarly about her coursework.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince taking the class, I now have the connections and knowledge I need to take the USC Immigrant and Migrant Resource Center from a proposal to a reality,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Akhavan introduced Maniti to contacts who laid out the logistics of building schools overseas. With his encouragement, she reached out to the pastors who oversaw her previous missionary work and learned they were looking for a partner to help start an orphanage and school on the island of\u00a0Mindanao, in the city of Ozamiz, Philippines.<\/p>\n<p>Maniti is helping design the blueprints, educational curriculum and helping train teachers and staff. Her nonprofit Cherish Hearts International, which will prioritize building orphanages abroad, has been officially established as a 501(c)(3).<\/p>\n<p>Akhavan couldn\u2019t be more thrilled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring one of my office hours, [Maniti] showed up and screenshared a picture with children squatting in the dirt. She says, \u2018These are the kids who are going to be in my\u00a0orphanage,\u2019\u201d he recounts. \u201cAnd the next slide, you see the steel girders going up for the roof of the building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer efforts are going to give those children a real shot at life by providing them with education and shelter and all these resources that they would not otherwise had available. I\u2019m so proud of her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Akhavan looks forward to mentoring another group of USC students who aspire to change the world in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/classes.usc.edu\/term-20211\/course\/mda-300\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">next iteration of his class<\/a>\u00a0this coming spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic hasn\u2019t stopped students in Kamy Akhavan\u2019s class \u201cDoing Good\u201d from bettering the world. <strong>[4\u00be min read]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24,17],"tags":[303,470,148,544,545],"class_list":["post-2080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dornsife-global","category-social-impact","category-student","tag-homelessness","tag-immigration","tag-students","tag-volunteering","tag-water-drop-la"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Students build an orphanage, provide water to the homeless and assist immigrants<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/class-on-doing-good\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Students build an orphanage, provide water to the homeless and assist immigrants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The COVID-19 pandemic hasn\u2019t stopped students in Kamy Akhavan\u2019s class \u201cDoing Good\u201d from bettering the world. [4\u00be min read]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/class-on-doing-good\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USC Dornsife News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uscdornsife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-16T23:17:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-11T19:50:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3376.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darrin Joy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uscdornsife\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" 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