Looking Forward

Classes like this one have me wanting to be out in the community as much as possible. And not just the University community, but out with the people whose reality not academic pursuits live in Eugene. This recent inner push to talk to people and volunteer as much as possible was in a way kicked into full gear as the presenter from Peace Players was rapping up his talk. He told us that it didn’t matter what we did locally, nationally, or internationally as long as we could “just do something.” For me this took a lot of weight off my shoulders. Lately I’ve been feeling the growing sense that I need to start building connections, get some impressive internships under my belt, and try to stand out in the PPPM department. But it’s come to my attention that keeping my eye on a dream job while planning what I’m doing today isn’t going to get me many places. Instead of continuing to look for the perfect internship, this summer I plan on simply volunteering and helping a few different organizations with any projects they need help with, whether it is directing Eugenians to needed services, helping coordinate events, or even loading food in and out of trucks at a local farmers market. I need and want the experience, but mostly, I want to start doing whatever I can for other people, even if it is something really small.

What I like about being in the PPPM department is that I rarely do research because an assignment is due. Throughout the term I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at nonprofit websites, third sector blogs, and talking to friends and family who work in the sector about their experiences and stance on things I’ve blogged about. I’m usually a pretty hard worker but in this class I’ve felt responsible for figuring out all of the issues I don’t already understand (which trust me was a lot). The exciting part is that once I sifted through texts about foundations, the education system, and environmentalism to name a few of the toughest spots for me, I was able to join the conversation and begin to form my own opinions about reform. It was most exciting to begin to see all of the potential that is already being acted on in social services. I’ve been taught that social services can only do so much because of systematic problems and structural disparities between people. And though its a valid point, this class has made me aware of all of the organizations who have thought of ways to “make it work” so to speak.

In previous blogs, I’ve asked questions like “How do we best serve people in the areas we care about?” After exploring culturally specific nonprofits and community development corporations for my final paper, I’ve formed a basic answer that works for me. With confidence, I’d say that it's not the large-scale government funding, far-reaching policies, and national nonprofits that can have the greatest impact. But instead it’s nonprofits who can give a group of people directed and individualized services based on an understanding of what's needed and better yet, what will be needed. The most inspiring nonprofits I’ve found (Hacienda CDC, Native American Youth and Family Center, Healing Roots, Q Center, World Pulse…) are ones that are not looking at people’s problems but at their unique strengths. To me, this is the path we should have always traveled because—people want to be engaged. It doesn’t matter how much people need a service, in order to know how to access it and have the motivation to get the most from it, organizations need to involve culture, motivational interviewing, and exciting opportunities as a part of outreach.

A couple days ago, I sat down for about an hour with a homeless man who I could tell didn’t want much more than a conversation. He was desperately trying to apply the lyrics of a 1971 hit, “knock three times on the ceiling if you want me, twice on the pipe if the answer is no…” to his situation. From what I could gather, he was confused about why even when he had metaphorically “knocked on the door” of shelters and services, no one had answered. Now, I’m not sure what doors he knocked on and how willing he was to accept their services and advice, but he did remind me why I want to keep finding new ways to solve timeless issues in order to prevent people from feeling that hopeless.

I’d like to end by thanking Sarah, Bob, and everyone in class for making this an exciting learning opportunity. I hope to see many of you in future policy classes and interspersed throughout the sector.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah

Trying to reach across hemispheres

There is no question that people care about issues happening outside of their local community and home country. However the most difficult part of international philanthropy and activism has always been trying to reach across hemispheres (metaphorically of course). It seems as though international outreach for many of us is limited to charitable donations to intriguing causes, but even philanthropy excludes those who may not have the financial capabilities to make a significant contributions even though they have the heart. This brings us to another point, what exactly do we care about? Do we even have a good understanding about the issues most worthy of investment worldwide and which non profits are doing the best job of helping to relieve those problems? Access to accurate information about international non profits and international news has always been available but not through mainstream newspapers and websites. However with the internet today there are so many ways to become active internationally besides just charitable giving from well, behind your computer. We just have to know where to look.

My favorite international non profit is the magazine and interactive website World Pulse. World Pulse is a 501 (c) 3 stationed in Portland whose mission is to "broadcast the unheard voices and innovative solutions of women worldwide." The World Pulse website has news articles and personal accounts from female activists around the world and constant updates between magazine publications. Pulsewire is World Pulse's interactive media site where women can share stories, request and offer resources, collaboratively come up with solutions, make connections, and sell their crafts through the website's Marketplace. The best part is that third world women who often live under oppressive regimes and rarely get to tell their stories are being given the opportunity to speak out and advocate for change. All they need to connect with the world is access to a local internet cafe and a computer. The opportunities that the internet offers are huge for activists and philanthropists from both ends of the spectrum. The internet also gives students and others with little time and few funds the ability to get involved and share opinions without having to take a plane to volunteer.

Sites to explore:

World Pulse:

http://worldpulse.com/

Pulse Wire:

http://worldpulse.com/pulsewire

http://www.girleffect.org/

Philanthropy:

http://www.waterforpeople.org/

http://www.globalgiving.org/

http://www.care.org/

http://www.kiva.org/

Find blogs by country:

http://globalvoicesonline.org/

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/blog

I'm sure there are hundreds more. Feel free to post any cool international news or philanthropy sites you want to spread the word about :)

- Sarah

My Confessions to Mother Earth:

Though every generation has new problems to confront and opportunities to take hold, it's obvious that ours is standing at a kind of turning point; we are not only more aware that policies and practices need to be reconsidered but have also reached a time when our livelihood depends on that change. In class we throw out words like “green housing,” “clean energy,” and the favorite, “sustainability.” They are the words on the tip of our generation’s tongues because we know we’ll be using them later as we enter green jobs or as the severities of global warming and effects of the world’s depleting acts increase. Yet I often ask myself just how much I really understand about the issue. Though I love nature, hiking, kayaking, wandering you name it, my feeling of personal connection and future involvement to the environmental movement is limited (even if I consider it an urgent issue). I'm starting to think that my feelings of detachment stem from the sense that to be a leader in this movement, I have to have a knack for science. But what I've finally realized is that environmentalism and sustainability are not just about serving the earth, but about serving people. The challenge is to make the issue not feel as inconceivably large as the earth and climate but make it a national, local, household, and virtual topic of practice and discussion.

As we learned in class there are 27,000 environmental nonprofits in the U.S that span from organizations protecting wildlife, to recycling, to health, to clean energy—only the start of a long list. The breadth and the numbers clearly point to where the world’s mindset is. More and more people are starting to understand the relevance and urgency of environmental issues. However this understanding is not as widespread as the numbers reveal. Of the 42.9 billion dollars given through foundations in 2009, only 6 percent went to environmental nonprofits. I haven’t found information on whether or not this percentage has increased with the numbers of nonprofits, but I have heard the voices of people outside of the university and academia. As much as they will argue for the validity of global warming and the importance of recycling, the majority of people (including myself) do little more than care. Many people are content to leave saving the earth up to those 27,000 nonprofits, rebuilding the economy on clean energy to the government, and figuring out the changing environment to scholars and scientists. Environmentalism is an issue that most believe they either do not have the education or financial assets to be an important part of. This is a major problem—something that makes the movement especially difficult to become universal and inclusive. But evidently there is hope; for this disconnect is why so many nonprofit organizations are stepping up to make the facts, the procedures, and the opportunities more clear and available to all people.

Nonprofits are acting as the bridge between science, technology and the people—especially those who cannot afford green products and housing but whose lives depend on it. The Home Depot Foundation supports multiple affordable green housing projects who are making simple adjustments to houses to make a big impact. Some ideas include building houses in clusters to prevent cutting down trees, making sure they are in walking distance of schools and grocery stores, and thinking about water and energy efficiency when building. We also see non-profits like Envirofit whose mission is to provide houses in third world countries with clean cookstoves as an alternative to burning biomass fuels that are hazardous to health. The longer it takes to switch to green, clean alternatives the longer people will suffer the consequences (usually without even being aware of it). In my global policy class we watched a video that interviewed families living and working near a coal mine in China. The river flowing through the mine and into agricultural villages was reddish-brown and described as having a putrid stench. The families who worked near the river and ate the crops cultivated in its waters were suffering from diseases and quickly dying. Meanwhile nothing was being done. Evidently its the rural communities who often cannot afford green alternatives that will be feeling the effects of our decisions long before anyone else.

Nonprofits have already done an extraordinary job of trying to reverse these effects and spread awareness about easy solutions. Our generation faces the great challenge and exciting opportunity to continue what they have started—to make environmentalism into a movement where people do not just care, but know, discuss, prevent, and act.

Finding my niche in the third sector

A running theme in my past entries has been the question— how do we best serve people in the areas we care about? Is it through large or small non-profits or like in art, is it also through for-profits? Is it local or national? public or private? with government funding or without? or is it a combination?

Though every exploration (health, education, art...) brought new arguments to weigh out and left me with just as many proposed solutions, one underlying feeling has been growing with every entry. I am continuously excited about community development and non-profits that take a positive approach to solve some of the nations most negatively discussed and seemingly hopeless problems. Instead of coming in with standardized services to "help" a community, many non-profits are inspiring neighborhoods to find their unique cultural assets to build strong communities of leaders and not dependent clients. Non-profits create what are called "culturally specific" programs so that people will feel that they are walking into an environment that will understand and value their individual experiences as well as their strengths.

For my final paper in this class I've decided to explore the question: How are non-profits using culturally specific and strength-based approaches for community development? I'll be exploring the work of various non-profit advocacy organizations and CDCs including:

- Hacienda CDC (focused on Latino neighborhood development in the Portland area)

- Bradley Angle's "Healing Roots" Center (Oregon's only culturally specific domestic violence program for African Americans)

- NAYA (Native American Youth and Family Center)

- NARA (Native American Rehabilitation Association)

- Q Center (Portland's LGBTQ Community Center)

Seeing the potential and necessity of art

On beautiful days like this, I find myself wanting to be outside at any cost, even if it means climbing up to my roof with an extension cord to type this post. Naturally, this quest for sun is not unique to me. My neighbors currently sit on the roof parallel with their guitars and voices projected out into the day, giving me the inspiration to keep on working. I've always found that it’s the free art and constant exposure to creative expression that makes the daily grind worth going through. But despite all the arts fans, there's still much contention in America about putting time and energy into activities whose impact we can't calculate in numbers or dollars. When for-profit organizations produce a product, they see the immediate result of financial gains and although surveys, stats, and scores do not tell a complete story, we can use them to locate the effects of education, counseling, healthcare, and sustainability. Art on the other hand, tends to get lost in the debate of funding because it is broad and hard to measure. Many pose the question of whether what we call extra curricular, cultural, pass time and emotional should be given the same government attention as services that determine, health, literacy and financial stability.

In my opinion, Americans often forget what they need. It makes sense that to be successful we need math, science, and English instruction; we need healthcare for emergencies; and we need to find a business niche to make a living; basically… we need the basics. But what about what we need to be happy? What works to both aid the forming of bonds and the forming of self? What can keep us connected to our heritage and able to track the growth or decline of a culture? To me these immeasurable aspects of being are just as vital to our individual, local, and international livelihood as the "basics" mentioned above.

I am beginning to see the benefits of art starting in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Working artists can do just as much for the economy as they can get out of it. During the Great Depression, 40,000 artists were put to work under the Works Progress Administration (Federal I). Because of it, they not only provided inspiration and created some of the most treasured art and music of our time, but just by working, could pull their families out of poverty and have money to help revitalize the economy. As you probably guessed, I am thinking about the opportunities that for-profit art has in today's world. Some of the most inspiring projects to me are ones like World Pulse Magazine’s “Marketplace” or Women’s World Banking that encourage third world women to turn the crafts they have always made into small businesses. Similarly, the art that has no cost is also changing the face of communities and since the start has worked hand in hand to further the missions of the non-profits. Non-profits like Precita Eyes in San Francisco’s Mission District are recruiting at risk youth and graffiti artists to further their mission of promoting cultural pride and innovation in the city through free art. As a result of these projects, artists continually give back to non-profits by warming up the blank walls of their work places with inspirational paintings that make all the difference in welcoming in community.

Something I took away from this week's reading of Nonprofit Nation is the fact that non-profit and for-profit organizations often produce very different types of art—non-profits can venture into high culture while for-profits usually stick to the profitable low-culture art. This got me thinking about how the economic gap between the upper and lower class is also a social and cultural gap. The readily available free or inexpensive art often is categorized as low culture (low not equating with bad) and includes comic books, graffiti, magazines, pop art, and mass media. This is in contrast to the high culture of scholarly plays, ballet, symphony, opera, and art museums. While low culture can be just as innovative and inspiring as high culture, it too often perpetuates the ideas of mass media into its faithful consumers (stereotypes, drug culture, crude humor, an obsession with appearance...). What we see here is a nation whose people are not only not working and going to school together but also are not sharing the same interests and cultural values—a problem that dictates what services we are willing to support for one another. It seems that the non-profit sector has the ability to bridge this gap by bringing low culture like pop art and murals into communal centers for everyone to see and simultaneously offering high culture theater and art at reasonable prices. This does not mean that I am advocating for one homogenous culture, but instead one where people can easily get in touch with cultures unlike there own and begin to form a dialogue and understanding with others. In essence, non-profits could give people the chance to enjoy all forms of art and culture and not have their exposure limited by location and/or social status. However in order for arts organizations to switch into the non-profit world, people must begin to see the importance of funding the arts.

Now that you've heard my perspective...What potential do you see in art? Are non-profits the best vehicle for spreading art or can you think of a better alternative? I would love to discuss this further.

Best,

Sarah