From policy to pantry, SMU student tackles food insecurity

When a suspected gas explosion displaced families from a Dallas apartment complex, SMU senior Bailey Kamau learned first-hand how a nonprofit springs into action to help.

Bailey was interning just blocks away at Mission Oak Cliff, which became a hub for the displaced families, organizing and distributing community donations. It was an unexpected lesson during a summer Bailey spent learning about an issue she hopes to help address throughout her career as both a volunteer and a scholar: food insecurity.

An economics and human rights major, Bailey is interested in finding solutions to food insecurity both as a scholar and through hands-on service. A more typical day for her included organizing tasks for volunteers, unpacking food for the food pantry and handing out lunches to unhoused individuals.

“I’m interested in food insecurity and the lack of healthy food,” Bailey says. “I’d like to work on filling that gap.”

As a student director for Engage Dallas, a residence hall-based community service program, she has led monthly feet-on-the-ground service opportunities for students at Dallas community gardens and homeless shelters.

As a Tower Scholar, she studies the public policies that shape issues like food insecurity. The selective program enables students to earn a minor in public policy and international affairs while learning from policy experts and exploring how public policy intersects with their academic interests.

In addition, as a human rights major, Bailey traveled to Poland, Peru and South Africa, engaging with communities who have experienced or are currently fighting against human rights violations.

The human rights program study abroad trips train students to engage with communities as more than just tourists, while understanding how global human rights issues relate to local issues, Bailey says.

Bailey’s summer internship has also helped her understand how to connect academic work with the people and communities affected by the issues she studies.

“I’ve gained a lot of understanding of this community, I hadn’t spent a lot of time here,” she says. “At SMU, I’m very studious, I study a lot in my dorm and in the library.”

Now she takes public transit from campus to Oak Cliff, south of downtown Dallas, to immerse herself in a part of the city she previously knew little about.

“I realize I can make lots of change by being out in the world,” she says. “This internship has forced me to come out of my shell.

“The best way to be a changemaker is to interact with the community.”