Westside Together is a community development organization on Charleston’s West Side, and this has been the most comprehensive engagement in the FTM portfolio by a long shot. What started as website and communications support through Create WV turned into a full partnership covering just about every communications channel the organization touches.
The scope here is wide. I built and maintain the westsidetogether.org website from scratch — Django backend, React frontend — along with a resource database that catalogs local organizations, events, and food pantries for residents. On top of that, I developed a grantmaking tracking system that manages 18+ grantee organizations across multiple funding cycles.
On the design side, I created the full brand identity system including logo suite, brand guidelines, and all the collateral that comes with it — business cards, donation cards, flyers, posters, signage, and community recognition certificates for their “Best of the West” program. The quarterly newsletter “What’s Up West Side” has been running since 2024, produced in three formats: digital, print, and mail. Each issue is a full InDesign production.
I also set up their email marketing through Klaviyo, manage social media templates and assets, and handle event materials as they come up. The work touches photography, video, and writing depending on what’s needed at any given time.
What I find most rewarding about this project is the variety. In any given week I might be pushing code for the resource database, laying out the next newsletter, designing yard signs, or coordinating with contractors. It’s the kind of engagement where you have to be comfortable switching between creative and technical work constantly, and that’s where I do my best work.