Field Report: Latino Farmers Co-Operative of Louisiana

Six years ago I was a nervous South Texan boy setting foot on Southwestern University, scared out of my mind at the prospect of starting college. Back then all I wanted to do was study the Roman Empire, learn Latin, and become a professor. Six years later I’m working for the Latino Farmers’ Cooperative of Louisiana (LFCL) as part of my AmeriCorps VISTA service. If you’d asked me at the age of 18, who at that time was as close to right-wing as any South Texan can get, if I’d be working for a non-profit years after Southwestern, I’d probably shake my head in disbelief. Nevertheless, here I am, and I love it.

One thing I noticed from the start is that six years of being in an academic setting have wired my mind to work on a “we-all-start-off-at-an-almost-equal-footing”-mentality. It goes without saying that that mindset is a wrong one for the workplace. Nothing says “learn how to swim” in the real world more than when you realize that you have coworkers who have their act together and you’ll continue to seem like the newbie for more than the first week. (Those who know me know very well how it takes me more than thrice to teach me something.) However, my boss and coworkers are really nice people and have been more than kind to show me the ropes and share their personal experiences with the LFCL.

Moreover, my first weeks here have changed my life profoundly. Before I started working for the LFCL, I was very critical about my own family’s financial shortcomings. However, my focus on my personal problems began to shift to something more significant more than two weeks ago when we had the Banco de Comida (Food Bank) at the LFCL. During our Bancos de Comida, we clear out the office, making as much space as possible for the food that has been donated to us by Second Harvest Food Bank. Once space has been made and the food has arrived, the staff and our volunteers pack the food into individual boxes that we then distribute to people who come into the office. By the end of the day, we had distributed a little more than a thousand pounds of food to more than thirty families. Did we solve the food insecurity issue among NOLA’s Latinos? No, but at least we demonstrated that we can make the difference in our community.

On my way home after the Banco de Comida, I realized just how fortunate my brothers and I were that our parents never depended on a food bank for our food security. Seeing the need in the people coming into the office that day convinced me that I can no longer dwell on my past, trying to play out the what ifs as I have for the past year or so. Instead, I have come to the realization that I must begin to plan for a better future, one in which I can help change the socioeconomic situation of Latinos not only in New Orleans but throughout this entire country. I, for one, believe that it is the duty of every educated Latino youth to give back to his/her community and make a difference. In a way, this is our debt that we owe to our grandfathers and grandmothers, fathers and mothers, who gave it their all in the fields, in the factories, in the refineries, and in strangers’ homes to make it possible for us to go to college.

My future remains to be written, and I can’t wait to write it here. ¡Chao amigos!

- Luis Fernando Reyes, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Latino Farmers Co-Operative of Louisiana

August Friday Schedule

Friday VISTA Schedule for the Month of

AUGUST

 

3- Service Project

VISTA Site Benjamin Banneker Elementary From 9-3

 

10- Leadership

Training on Age Diversity

 

17- Documentary Series/ Program Evaluation

Partnership Development Series will take place this day as well with our Assistant Director of the Campus Community Partnerships, Amanda Bruberger

 

24- Professional Development

Training with Janet Johnson- Economics of Poverty

 

31- Professional Development

Training with Janet Johnson- Nonprofit Sector

Field Report: Mondo Bizarro

Our summer here at Mondo Bizarro has been steaming up with a bunch of travel across the country with performances, workshops and video shoots. Now we’re gearing up for our fall season of work, some in relation to our current projects, and some other new ideas that are starting to brew.

 The Race Peace is a project of Mondo Bizarro and M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction), under the mentorship of Junebug Productions and Roadside Theater, which blends multi-disciplinary performance techniques with interactive dialogue to incite conversations about race and racism. Race Peace explodes the myth that civic transformation only takes place at City Hall. We believe that true racial progress starts here—in small gatherings around the country. At each of our workshops, we use art-making as a tool for renewing conversations about race. Through performance techniques, personal stories and satire, we create a space for people to experiment, celebrate and explore common bonds; to debate their differences and pursue solutions to ongoing problems.

::DELTA VISTA’s Workshop::

Last month we had an amazing workshop with the Delta VISTAs in New Orleans. Maurice, from MUGABEE, drove in from Mississippi. Nick Slie, Bruce France, and I all worked with the group during the morning, and then passed it over to the Peoples Institute to do the afternoon portion of the work shop.

I-Witness Central City

::Event Celebration::

This is still going to happen, possibly during the fall.

I-Witness Gulf Coast 

::Interviews::

We went out to Bayou Bienvenue in the lower 9^th ward and spoke with John Tayler and Johl Calhoun about their thoughts of what’s happening with that body of water. We are currently viewing the footage and scheduling more interviews to take this a step further.

Cover art

Music Video

::Lawd Have Mercy::

Is a music video that we shot with MUGABEE in the swamp out in Pier Part earlier this year. It’s a song that talks about the Oil spill and the catastrophic event it was to nature and the ecosystem around the Gulf Coast. We are currently half way done with editing this video, and should have a clip of it to show real soon.

Street vendors at Rootsfest 2011

::Alternate Roots 35^th Anniversary::

Nick and I drove to Baltimore, MD to show a snippet of the performance for the ROOTS FEST 2011 festival.  I was also there as a photographer taking shots of community building interaction amongst the people, during the entire weekend.

- Melisa Cardona, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA. For more information, please visit their website by clicking on this link Mondo Bizarro

Field Report: CPS – Social Media

Google to unveil ‘Google Me’ social networking plans shortly

by @gordonmacmillan, posted on 15 September, 2010 at 10:32 am, filed under Search Engines, Social Media and tagged Facebook, Google, Google Me, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter. 

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said that its much talked of social networking plans, widely dubbed “Google Me”, will be unveiled later this autumn, but the suggestion that it has a Facebook killer in the works appears wide of the mark. Speaking at the Google Zeitgeist conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, Schmidt did not go into great detail according to a report on WSJ.com, but he gave a road map to the direction Google is heading with social media.

The idea of Google Me appears very much to be leaning to allowing users to access in one place all of the social information and projects they have across the web. That place would be their Google hub – their Google Me homepage. So imagine a place where you can monitor your own social media activity and that of your friends be it on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Google is for instance working on ways to let people know, for instance, when a particular video is being watched by many of their friends on YouTube in the same way they would find out that a lot of people liked a post on Facebook.

For this to happen of course, Google would need access to Facebook’s data and Schmidt spoke about this. Good luck with that one. Schmidt wants Facebook to open its data and for a two way flow of data to flow between Facebook say and Gmail, but as we all know Facebook doesn’t allow this to happen. Twitter would like similar data access, but no dice. “The best thing that would happen is for Facebook to open up its data. Failing that, there are other ways to get that information,” Schmidt said. Other ways? What is he going around to Mark Zuckerberg’s house with some heavy set geeks? Wait I don’t think such a thing exists. 

Commentary:

I am excited to hear about Google’s plans to incorporate social media applications into their interface. By now Google is a well-known and respected search engine and online service provider. Many individuals use Google as their primary email provider, and many businesses utilize their business tools. Facebook, on the other hand, seems to lack a similar degree of utility and credibility.

When marketing Facebook to businesses and non-profit organizations, I often get a hesitant response (e.g., “I’m not sure Facebook is for us”) accompanied by a dismissive look. Many of these businesses are under the impression that Facebook is solely for socializing or geared exclusively toward kids. However, I believe that if a provider as large and trusted as Google were to champion a similar platform, business leaders would begin to pay attention.
 
In terms of business models, social networking and media platforms offer endless opportunities in virtually every sector. Facebook and Twitter offer more than just a means to connect with friends. These outlets can provide businesses with a platform to share their goals with a global community, and to receive consumer feedback. Large corporations spend millions of dollars each year researching their customer base. If you want to know what your customers are interested in, why not just ask? They will be happy to tell you! By engaging with your clients directly, you will gain valuable feedback as well as their trust. Best of all, they will tell their friends about their positive experience.
 
Since I have not yet heard much about the new Google Me, I’m unable to determine the direction Google plans to take. As you’ll recall from previous field reports, I am a proponent of social networking sites, but I do think the market has become saturated with new (eerily similar) sites. I acknowledge that in business competition is good, but an oversupply can result in user confusion and/or lack of usage.
 
That being said, I do believe that this can be a pivotal transition for Google. If done properly, Google Me could be phenomenal. If not, it could be completely lost on users, which would be a shame. Ideally, Google Me social media components would be added to the already existing services Google provides. For instance, I’m a big fan of Google calendars. I use this feature daily for personal use, work purposes, and to coordinate community service projects. Being able to share an event (or even an entire calendar) on Facebook would allow for increased exposure and collaboration. Of course, this feature might be most attractive to businesses or professionals. It would also be nice to see a social component added to the Google Docs feature. For example, providing a direct and easy way to post a composed document to a Facebook page would be great for sharing and collaboration purposes.
 
Overall, it seems like the big question is: How cooperative will Facebook (and Twitter) be in this process? I predict, not very. Without cooperation I don’t see much room for growth, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. –Dominica Garza, AmeriCorps VISTA

Dominica Garza is the Social Media Liaison with the Center for Public Service at Tulane University, you can contact her by email at: mediavista@tulane.edu.

Field Report: The Green Project

The position of volunteer coordinator has recently been added to my responsibilities at The Green Project. For the past month and a half, I have been attempting to cement a system to recruit, manage, and track volunteers—many of who only volunteer for a day or two while they visit New Orleans. While creating an effective volunteer management system almost from scratch takes a significant amount of time, I have found that the greatest challenge is to constantly smile. As a volunteer coordinator, I feel like I work in the hospitality or food service industry much more than at I work at a community nonprofit.  Not only must I be constantly cheerful to keep tired and sweaty volunteers upbeat about pulling out more nails from lumber, but I must be constantly willing to have my other work interrupted to meet their needs. To be honest, I initially found the responsibility annoying and cumbersome on top of my outreach, marketing, and ReUse District responsibilities at The Green Project. However over the course of the past month, I have realized how vital my “hospitality” position is to keeping The Green Project going and the rest of the staff happy. It takes a significant amount of patience to meet the needs of all volunteers, and my position frees up the rest of the TGP warehouse staff to focus on our programs and customers. On top of this, volunteers are perhaps the best, informal, and free form of marketing for a nonprofit. Our volunteers go back to their communities and share how they spent their time. In doing so, they not only spread our mission as an environmental organization, but  they also vouch for us an effective nonprofit.

To learn more about The Green Project, visit their website at: http://thegreenproject.org

Also, be sure to check out The ReUse District page!

Field Report: CPS – Social Media

Lessons Learned
Professionalism: Getting Your Hands Dirty
I have had my fair share of professional experience. At the positions I have held I started off at entry level, working my way up. I believe that this is the best route to go, especially if you plan on serving in a managerial or leadership capacity. I like to think of this process as getting your hands dirty. Once you get your hands dirty at all levels whether it is washing dishes and sweeping or distributing mail and shredding paper, you get a better feel of the organization as a whole. When you understand the functions and frustrations of employees at all levels you can better empathize with your colleagues. I guess what I am getting at here is that since my position is a bit different than that of my colleagues, being that I do not work with professors or students, I am having a little bit of difficultly understanding some of their frustrations with their positions. I am not at all questioning their validity; I would just like to be of more assistance. My goal this month is to learn as much as I can from each of the VISTA’s and their work at their individual sites. So I can better understand and appreciate the uniqueness of each position, in turn building a tighter connection with the members I serve with.

Communication: Taking the Bull by the Horns
I have always considered myself a skilled communicator. I feel being a Communication major in college only supported this notion. My experience serving here, however has taught me a few more valuable lessons in the world of communication. It is funny to look back and reflect on the various Communication courses I complete throughout my collegiate career: Language and Communication Theory, Organizational Communication, Interpersonal Communication, and so on.  Yet, the most important (and simplistic) lesson I learned was from my work here: Communication is a two way street. I came to this conclusion after experiencing some frustration when communicating tasks and assignments with a few colleagues. I have learned that to be a successful communicator you cannot remain passive in dialogue. Sometimes you have to step out and ask for clarification. I have also realized that there are certain situations that may require one to be more assertive than usual. This is especially true in the professional world. This is a bit more difficult for someone like me who is use to being a bit more quiet and submissive – at least in the workplace. This is yet another reason I am grateful for my time serving here as a VISTA. I believe this experience will help strengthen my professional abilities in future endeavors.        

Social Media: Insights
Thus far, I have learned a lot about the world of Social Media especially in terms of its placement in the nonprofit sector. As a proponent, I believe the advantages are immense. However, as with any technological invention or advancement, I must lend some kind of consideration to those that may not be welcoming it (technology) with open arms. Yes, it is true that there are certain risks involved with adopting certain practices. And yes, there are certain expenses that small nonprofits may not be able to budget into their business costs. But the truth is technology is here to stay. I strongly believe that those businesses, organizations, or individuals that are fighting it may not only be at a severe disadvantage, but left out in the cold completely. Now is the time to get on board. Now is the time to embrace. More specifically, Social Media is changing the world of technology. This concept of Web 2.0 is seemingly simple, yet is evolutionary for those that embrace it correctly and manage to successfully implement it into their marketing and outreach campaigns. Before the development of various social media platforms, internet activities consisted mostly of reading, browsing, and viewing. Now users can develop their own content, write, share, and create communities. Users have a voice! In terms of a business model this is a great advancement. Customer/consumer feedback is key. Corporations spend millions of dollars a year devising systems to collect and analyze consumer feedback. These tools are here and ready for you to use now – and best of all, they are virtually free!  -Dominica Garza, AmeriCorps VISTA Member

To learn more about Dominica’s work with the Tulane University Center for Public Service, email her at: mediavista@tulane.edu

Field Report: The Idea Village

The New Year has started off on a great foot for the EIC! Our tenants, MFrancis Gallery have launched an artist’s collaborative “Ninth Ward Renaissance” that will celebrate local talent and create original art for the community. We also have urban design and architecture students from the Savannah College of Art and Design working with the Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association to design a master plan for the revitalization of the commercial corridor within the Upper Ninth Ward. On Saturday, January 16, 50 students packed into the EIC’s “Idea Room,” a conference space fitted with floor to ceiling white board walls, to discuss the Association’s vision for the plan.

The EIC is transitioning into a creative hub and we have adopted the new tag line: “The EIC where art and entrepreneurship meet.” One of our clients, the Young Fellaz Brass Band is taking the local music scene by storm and has a regular weekly gig at La Maison de la Musique on Frenchman Street. We are working with them to develop their online marketing strategy and to produce a web show.

When the EIC opened last July, the goal was to ignite entrepreneurship and innovation in the Upper Ninth Ward, but it was unclear exactly how that would be accomplished. It is truly wonderful to see a unique organizational identity emerging for the EIC—one that is focused on the creative industries and the potential it has for economic revitalization.” -Jodine Gordon, AmeriCorps VISTA Member

To learn more about The Idea Village, visit their website at: http://ideavillage.org

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Field Report: The Green Project

I started my term of service with VISTA in September, and from the beginning it has been a crash-course in New Orleans community politics. Nonprofits do not operation in isolation, and The Green Project, where I work, is no exception. The Green Project is a nonprofit retail store which sells quality, donated building materials back to the community at an affordable price to keep these materials out of landfills. Expanding our presence in the New Orleans community is essential to not only increase our sales, but to also continue to operate according to our social justice mission.As the marketing and outreach coordinator at The Green Project, I began my position by trying to develop a neighborhood outreach system where I would attend neighborhood association meetings and speak about the programs and the environmental impact of The Green Project. The Green Project is located right off of St. Claude Avenue, which operates not only as a major thoroughfare through New Orleans but also a racial and economic divider between the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods on one side and the 7th Ward and St. Roch neighborhoods on the other. Attending these different neighborhood association meetings separated by just a matter of blocks illustrated how distinct New Orleans neighborhoods are and the economic and racial disparity within them.Marketing is about knowing your target audience. While this is an inherent trait in the field, it is something that I have internally struggled with as I speak about The Green Project to different New Orleans neighborhoods. The Green Project prides itself in being accessible to everybody and helping all people live by their own economic standard, regardless of their finances.  While The Green Project may approach all customers equally, I have discovered that my marketing does not. Instead I find myself targeting different demographics differently, believing that neighborhoods will respond positively to different incentives to coming to The Green Project. At times I will emphasize The Green Project’s environmental stewardship and the steps New Orleanians must take to consume responsibly. Other times I will stress our affordability to individuals still struggle to rebuild or maintain their homes. While The Green Project’s customers naturally come from different backgrounds, I continue to struggle with the fact my position requires me to make these judgments about their backgrounds in order to share The Green Project’s services.

Field Report: The Idea Village

“I am one of two staff members at the Entergy Innovation Center, a community technology center and business incubator in the Upper 9th Ward. A project of the Idea Village that launched this past July, The Entergy Innovation Center works to support the growth of entrepreneurship and computer literacy in the area.  With the EIC being just a few months old, my main tasks since starting as a VISTA have been focused on community outreach to 1) spread awareness about our services and resources, 2) build relationships with community members and local organizations and 3) demonstrate that entrepreneurship is a viable option for economic success.Some of my methods include going door-to-door introducing myself and the EIC, meeting with local community leaders to encourage referrals to the EIC and assess community needs, and making sure to have flyers and business cards with me at all times—many good conversations have emerged during my numerous lunch trips to Poppas Seafood to get my fill of chicken tenders. While a large portion of my job description is program development and I came in with lofty goals of implementing a full business curriculum within the first few weeks (what was I thinking?), I have found that, at this stage, it is key to first get out into the community and just get to know people and their interests in order to really develop programming that can meet their needs.The goal of the EIC is to be an entrepreneurial hub. To that end, we have two retailers—Unlimited Communications and Lollipop Boutique—housed within our building in addition to offering office space for rent to small business owners. Our newest tenants, Sharika Mahdi and Myesha Francis, are two local artists who have opened MFrancis Gallery on the second floor of the center. They will also be the lead artists for a community mural design on the EIC building and we are incentivizing community involvement in the design process by having a design contest (with cash prize, of course). Immediately after coming on board I joined the efforts to plan and execute the opening of their gallery and launching of the design contest and it was so exciting to see it all come together! I have some video production experience, so I offered to create a marketing video for the two artists which became a great feature included in email invitations and community event message boards. With the Mario Abney Trio pumping out some live jazz on the sidewalk and some light refreshments, the art show attracted over 100 guests! Some of my fellow VISTAs volunteered at the event, taking pictures, greeting guests, and pouring wine, and I was able to mingle and make some connections with the attendees. It was amazing to see how many local art entrepreneurs came out to support the show. It seems like the opening of MFrancis Gallery at the EIC could develop into an Upper 9th Art Community. Moving forward I will continue working with my supervisor to expand community outreach efforts, work on designing long-term programming at the EIC, and incorporate University students and volunteers in our initiatives. This is only the beginning!” – Jodine Gordon, VISTA Member

To learn more about The Idea Village visit their website at: www.ideavillage.com