Field Report: Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center

“Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high-risk occupation. If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you.” – Erma Bombeck

 

This month Cathy and I helped to plan two events, one being the….

 

University of Minnesota UROC 2^nd Annual Summer Resource Fair

 

The Summer Resource Fair was planned by us, our supervisor – the marvelous Makeda Zulu-Gillespie, Minneapolis Public Schools Area staff, and residents of North Minneapolis. This event was created from a need to share information about summer programs and scholarships for these programs with Northside parents and youth.

 

On April 7, 2012 over 40 families attended the event which included door prizes, live entertainment, and lots of information about a variety of programs that are available for this upcoming summer. This was a free event open to the public. Some of the programs showcased were Venture North, Juxtaposition Arts, Junior Entrepreneurs of Minnesota (JEM), The Youth and Farm and Market Project, and PCYC. The fair opened its doors at noon and closed at 3:00 pm with local and well known rap artist Jasir “Ja Boogie” Johnson, who introduced The Ja Boogie a new dance sensation!

 

Parents were able to browse opportunities while children enjoyed getting their faces painted and double –dutch with Coach Jonny of Coach Jonny’s Pros of the Rope.  Another favorite of mine was the University of Minnesota’s Extension’s Simply Good Eating program which had a fantastic display table which had great information about increasing parents’ buying power through cost effective and healthy grocery shopping.

 

More times often than not, parents are so busy keeping up with life, they can sometimes forget that summer is near and kids need to something to get into over the summer. Parents have to take the first step to make sure their children are in a program that will keep them stimulated throughout the summer until school starts up again. This fair has provided an opportunity for parents to become aware and take control over what their children are involved in over the summer.

 

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can – there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” – Sarah Caldwell

 

This month we helped to plan and attended the….

 

Community Engaged Scholars Spring Introduction to North Minneapolis

                                                                                                                                             

On April 6^th the Spring Community Engaged Scholars Introduction to North Minneapolis was held at UROC in conjunction with MCTC’s Service Learning Office and the University of Minnesota’s Community Service-Learning Center. We began the event with an introduction to UROC by UROC’s Executive Director, Heidi Barajas, followed by a rousing speech by Minneapolis’s City Council Member for the Fifth Ward, Don Samuels. The students who attended the tour – who are part of the University of Minnesota’s Community Engaged Scholars Program – then visited three different community based organizations to get a feel for the kind of work happening on the Northside. The students were divided into two groups with one group visiting Sumner Library, Harrison Neighborhood Association and Venture North, and the other group visiting Cookie Cart, Juxtaposition and Urban Homeworks. Both groups were exposed to exciting work the organizations are doing as well as getting an introduction to the history and culture of North Minneapolis and learning about the different models of community based organizations. The groups then reconvened at UROC for a discussion and reflection session where the students discussed their expectations of the Northside prior to that day and whether their experience matched these expectations. The Introduction to North Minneapolis happens twice a year and is designed to introduce students to the important work happening in North Minneapolis and inspire them to become involved in the community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Brittany M. Lane, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA, Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center, University of Minnesota

Field Report: Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center

This month has been the most important for me yet in my VISTA service. That is because many of my projects are culminating in events in the first week of April so I have seen or will see the results of the work I have been doing for the last four months in a concrete form. In the first week of April we have the Community Engagement Scholars Introduction to North Minneapolis (a tour) and the Summer Resource Fair so this month is really busy trying to get everything ready for those events.

For the Tour we have been working on the North Minneapolis Resource Guide which is a document being produced to give to people on the tour as an introduction to North Minneapolis. When we started this year as VISTAs (in November) the guide was started but had a long way to go. It has been great to work on it and see it progress and now it is almost complete. It will be nice to have a tangible work product to look back on from the last four months because so much of what we do is intangible (meetings, trainings, community events etc.). And, not only will it be nice for us to have as a work product, but it will also be exciting to figure out where it will go next. We have received positive feedback from the community and people representing organizations that operate in North Minneapolis, and we have also received repeated requests for the product to be online or for people to be able to have copies of it. So, developing wider uses of the guide will be a future endeavor.

Besides the culmination of these projects, my VISTA year continues to progress well and I am thoroughly enjoying it!

 

-Cathy Harris, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA, Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center, University of Minnesota

Field Report: Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center

I am now into month three of my VISTA service; it is going by so fast and yet I feel like I have been here forever. The volume of projects is really starting to pick up, and we have also had a lot more community outreach work to do over the past month. These events have been really interesting and useful in helping us determine how UROC is seen by the community, how many people have heard of or use UROC and what we offer that can be of use to people. We learned what to highlight about UROC to interest people, for example telling them that we offer free computer trainings, entrepreneurship consultation and meeting space. People were also really interested in the Landscape Arboretum. It is fun to have a combination of outreach events as well as our usual projects because it gives us the opportunity to do more hands on outreach work and then bring back what we learn from those events to our ongoing projects in the office.

My role at UROC has become clearer now that I am in my third month of service, although I am not sure I could really describe it or define it. Maybe it is more true that really I’ve just become more comfortable with not completely understanding it and have come to appreciate better what boundaries I have. These boundaries have particularly been important with regards to what work I should and should not be taking on. For example, at the outreach events I have been to recently when people want information about something that is not within my work as a VISTA I know who to refer them to that can help. On the other hand some projects have come up that were not originally part of our VISTA year plan but have clearly fit into the parameters of service learning, and fit well with my skills so that I can hopefully help with them. When I first started the ambiguity of what actually would be my role was very evident and daunting, and now that ambiguity has become just part of my work. I have more than enough to work on daily and so the ambiguity is more of an overall aura and less of a pressing concern. It will be interesting to see at the end of the year how clear my sense of the work I have done over the last year is. I would guess that with hindsight some sense of clarity will appear.

 

-Cathy Harris, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA, Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center, University of Minnesota

Field Report: Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center

AmeriCorps VISTA Community Engagement Coordinator working at the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center. There’s my title and the place that I am stationed at for my year of service. Can you imagine saying that with a speech impediment, to everyone you meeting or during a presentation? Yeah, think about it and I’m a little shy on top of it. I would have never even noticed this. The things that I have realized as I work this year of service to a community that I know and love, I think I’ll go ahead and say that this is a good thing.

 

I am so focused on the challenges that I have faced already during my year of service. I cannot stress enough, YOU will find out your strengths and “weaknesses” during your year of service. I have learned so much about my learning style, how I work under pressure and most of all how I talk and present myself at work and in front of a group. I have never had as many meetings, talked or said my name so much in my life. I have had to present myself so much more than any other time in my life…it can be overwhelming as a person who can be shy at times. As my life has been so much more complicated while I have been at UROC, my year of service has been still rewarding, yet still challenging.

 

So let’s take a look back at my title, engagement coordinator, that isn’t even the half of it. I have met so many people! I have been engaged back into the community and the work being done in the name of making NoMi better. My background is, I never knew what civic engagement and responsibility was, never even heard these terms before becoming a VISTA. My family was living on survival mode, no time to be “involved” or “engaged”.  Presently, when I speak to some of the most engaged community members and residents, I am somewhat ashamed that I am just not now becoming a part of “the voice” of NoMi. But I have found that it is all about making the effort to become more knowledgeable about my community.

 

Talking to any and every one about making the connections to become organized, listen/giving feedback, implementing plans and executing to take an action, this stuff hasn’t come easy for me. BUT as I have started to think about the community that I claim to be a part of, I am making my different for my community. I know I can complain about having to go through this process and learn and focus in on my “weaknesses”, this community needs to be learned and focused on. Challenges, shyness, outspoken, stress, weakness, failures, broke, strengths, listening, plans, ideas…it all comes with the job.

 

I love N Mpls! 612!

-Brittany M. Lane, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA, Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center, University of Minnesota

Field Report: UROC

What’s Next?

No beating around the bush.  This is my last field report as a National Tulane VISTA.  It feels good to be writing this and to see how much I have grown over the last year and in ways that I didn’t necessarily expect.  I’ve learned about team work and professionalism.  I’ve learned about being an active and proactive citizen.  I’ve delved into learning firsthand about the degree to which race, ethnicity and culture affect each and every one of us on a personal, professional and societal level.  And I’ve had the opportunity to make some wonderful connections and friendships that I won’t be able to forget and will most likely call upon after I leave this project at UROC.

Everyone always wants to know “what’s next?”  I’ll humor your curiosity.  This is a tough question for me to answer because I’ve completely, whole heartedly changed my answer three times since July.  Right now (and for the last month) the idea is to apply to Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and get my Masters in Children, Youth and Family Ministry with the end goal of finding a youth ministry position at a church in the Minneapolis area.  Sounds easy enough until basic needs step into the picture (food, rent, health insurance, etc.) but I won’t bore you with that stuff.  When we know the big picture, we can create the little picture.  So that’s the stressful part of the last few weeks of service- getting to create the little picture of post-service.  I’m confident that it will come together, though.

I’ve been thinking a lot about life choices and paths lately, so my final thought to share with you all is this:  as we all come to forks in our life paths, we have to choose how and where to make our next path in order to move forward.  It can be difficult and stressful to make these decisions (first-hand experience here).  There can be pressure to choose the right path or the path that will make the most money or the path that will allow you to be the absolute best in the business.  Someone recently told me that you know which path to choose when you point towards that path and your soul finds peace.  Not necessarily that the path is peaceful but that your soul, the very core of your being, finds harmony and freedom with and supports following that path.  That peace is what will sustain you in that work.  So as we all journey forward in life, may we find and recognize the paths that give our souls peace and have the courage to pursue them relentlessly.

- Amanda Quiner, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA @ Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center

Field Report: UROC

A Very Busy Two Weeks For Me

These past two weeks have been extremely eventful for us up here at UROC. We had our UROC Community Day event on September 20^th which allowed us to celebrate the work that we do with the community as well as introduce ourselves, the community, and the UROC facilities to the new University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler who has now officially been president of the university for about two weeks. The event was a huge success with members of the community, community organizations, and higher education all coming to together to hear President Kaler speak and enjoy the live music and delicious meals provided by Mariana’s Grill.

Our second event occurred this past Friday and was the second and hopefully annual Community Engagement Scholars Northside Tour that I created and planned. The purpose of the tour was to introduce community engagement scholars from the University of Minnesota to the North Minneapolis Community and the community organizations that serve the area and would be willing to host the students as future service learners, interns, or volunteers. During this tour we were joined by faculty from the Minneapolis Community & Technical College (MCTC) to see if the tour could potentially be adapted as an introduction to faculty from MCTC who participate in Service Learning so they may learn about new organizations to potentially partner with. The tour started out with an introduction from UROC Executive Director Heidi Barajas followed by a speech from community leader and Director of the Black Storytellers Alliance, Nothandu Zulu. Then the groups were taken to visit eight different community organizations which included the Harrison Neighborhood Association, Redeemer Center for Life, Urban Homeworks, Cookie Cart, Catalyst Community Partners, and more. The tour was a success as the students enjoyed themselves and some even took applications from the different organizations with the intent to apply to volunteer with them.  Hopefully this will remain long after I am gone because the potential benefits for the universities and the community organization are astronomical.

In the coming week we are also planning for a VISTA networking event and training and the hopeful completion of our projects by their due dates so that we will be prepared to have everything prepared for our replacements, Catherine and Brittany, who seem like two lovely, hard working girls. Alright I think that’s enough explanation for me; I need to get back to work now.

UROC Executive Director Heidi Barajas, Community Member James, and new University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler pose for a photo at Community Day

Community Day Soul Train Line

UROC Art Director Hawana Sullivan Janzen and Minnesota Center for Neighborhood Organizing Program Director Jay Clark

-Terrence Scott, TNVNet AmeriCorps VISTA @ Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center

Field Report: UROC

This month I was fortunate enough to take a vacation to California, and spend some much needed time with family and friends.  As I wind down my term of service and reflect on the things that I have done, I can say that this year has provided me with many humbling experiences.  One of the highlights this month would be that I was chosen by UROC’s executive director, Dr. Heidi Barajas, to participate in a photo exhibit.  This exhibit was used for UROC’s open house where the organization welcomed U of M’s new president, Eric W. Kaler.  I was part of a photography exhibition at UROC that was designed for the open house they hosted.  The open house was a great success, with many members of the community in attendance as well as live music and food.  I was asked to document the event by videotaping.   We also set up a separate video booth where I interviewed community members.  In these interviews I asked people to share a fond memory of North Minneapolis.  I was able to capture more than 50 people’s experiences on camera.  These interviews may later be used for a documentary and for the University of Minnesota’s website.   I was very pleased with the diversity and the culture of this open house and with UROC’s staff for making this event so successful.  The staff at UROC went above and beyond to make this a fantastic event.  I am also excited about our VISTA networking event taking place on October 7^th.

- Charles Dillon, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA @ Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center

 

Field Report: UROC

Adding up the Experiences

During my time here in Minneapolis I have served as a Community Engagement Coordinator, where my job was to seek out community organizations looking to partner with the universities, potentially host service-learning students, as well as assist in increasing service-learning capacity and awareness. I have served as a Living Room Host for the Redeemer Center for Life, where I operate a center that allows community members to use computers for business and personal use and also to get a hot lunch while there. I have served as Redeemer’s Christmas Store Santa Claus where I gave candy to all the good little boys and girls. I have served as grill master for the community’s weekly summer cookouts and block parties, I have served as a host and tour guide for my Community Engagement Scholars Northside Tour–that I planned with some assistance from my coworkers. I even managed to squeeze in some time to coach a 13u baseball and a 9u Coaches pitch baseball team. I would say I have been a busy boy!

The reason I mention all this is to say that Americorps VISTA, no matter where you serve or what your project is, can be a rewarding experience. It’s all about what you make it, what you’re willing to do to help your project succeed, and what you’re willing to do to make your time wherever you are an enjoyable experience. I’ll have to admit I didn’t always enjoy my time or the weather here, but it’s about surviving the bad to get to the good. Being congratulated on a job well done is worth the hours you work and arguments over ideas. Seeing little kids smile at you because you’re Santa or because they learned to play games on a field they never thought they would play on is worth every second that you’re away from home. Its all about the experiences–enjoy them while you can!

-Terrance Scott, TNVNet VISTA, Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center

Field Report: UROC

This month at UROC my co-worker from our A-team,  Amanda, held the Northside and Higher Education Partnering, a breakfast conversation.   I documented this event with photos and video.  It was a successful event with 15 community agencies in attendance.  This made stronger connections with the three universities:  University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Community and Technical College and Augsburg College for future service learning opportunities. I’m happy to be on “The A Team “ with Amanda and Terrance! Great Job Amanda!

Left to Right: David Carson with Hannepin County Youth and Gang Violence Prevention, Willy Dominguez with PICA Head Start Cross Cultural Team, and Charles Dillon with UROCA Minneapolis Evening

Left to Right: Terrance, Amanda, and Charles--UROC VISTAs

- Charles Dillon, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA @ Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center

Field Report: UROC

Gracie vs. the Peanut Butter Jar

“Your know how to cut to the core of me Baxter.  You’re like a miniature Buddha covered in hair” –Anchormen: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

I want to introduce you all to my own miniature Buddha covered in hair. Her name is Gracie and she’s a 1.5 year old cavapoo. Most recently her doggy wisdom has taught me about creativity, forgiveness, courage, and tenacity. Gracie vs. the Peanut Butter Jar is about tenacity.

A few days ago, one of my roommates gave Gracie an almost empty peanut butter jar as a treat. Gracie had a mission- lick the peanut butter jar completely clean. She spent four days trying to get all the peanut butter out of that jar. Her little tongue was too short to reach to the bottom of the jar and her head is too big to fit in the jar so she couldn’t get that last bit of peanut butter out of the bottom.

She ripped off the jar’s label and even tried to destroy the jar to get to the peanut butter.

This tenacious little dog would not give up on that little bit of oh-so-precious peanut butter. Yes, yes, after watching this go on for nearly a week I got a rubber spatula and scraped out the peanut butter before recycling this container.

My miniature Buddha covered in hair made me think about what I am tenaciously committed to in the various aspects of my life.  As an AmeriCorps VISTA I know that I am committed to ensuring that my projects are valuable and well done.  I constantly strive to learn from the experiences and opportunities granted to me through my service.  As I look to the end of my first term of service in November, I am searching for a post-November plan that I can be tenaciously and flexibly committed to.  I’ll keep you posted!

- Amanda Quiner, TNVNET AmeriCorps VISTA @ Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center