AndiLeeHawkenProjects22

 One of the things I learned about myself is that I actually enjoy tedious work quite a bit. The two main things I was tasked with during these three weeks was sorting donations and packing letters, both very tedious, repetitive tasks. I found it easy to get lost in the work and let my thoughts come and go as they pleased. It interests me that that was also what was most useful for SZM. They had very few thought intensive tasks for us, it was mainly just work that needed done that nobody wanted to do. Someone that I previously mentioned in another blog post was a man whom I called J. I found out on Tuesday that he had actually found an apartment that he would be moving into. He said that he would be in by Friday. This moment felt truly exceptional; Knowing that he had been working on this for the past several months and that I was witnessing his final step was unbelievable. His job for the past several weeks was to cut out and place ceiling tiles into the ceiling. I felt that the t...

If I were to restart my project, I’d do several things differently. First and foremost, I would not bring my own ideas of how I could help the organization to begin with. I learned through the course of this project that one of the most important things in charities is that they won’t necessarily make good use out of what I think is beneficial to them. When I first began thinking about the project, I wanted to effectively build homes for the homeless. I had a book on temporary structures that were being built around the world in small communities that I thought would be a fantastic idea. I would essentially be building homes for the homeless. In my first meeting with Al I quickly realized that this was not at all effective. Legally speaking, the structures weren’t up to building code. They’d need a foundation and electricity to qualify as a house which is simply not feasible. Furthermore, because someone would be living in it, it would have to meet those requirements.  So from ther...

On Thursday, my partner Taylor and I got to interview the lawyer in charge of affairs at SZM. Taylor has an interest in going into non-profit law as a career path so this was interesting to see. As far as I gathered, Doug, the lawyer, primarily dealt with legal issues relating to real estate and construction. Originally SZM’s land belonged to the owner of the gas station next door and it was being rented to them. Then a few years ago, they bought that property and are now building a new section of the building onto it. On the other hand, I did a recording for a child friendly version of the comic books the SZM had written. The subject matter of the comics were very intense and not necessarily appropriate for a young age group. And so, rather than try to rewrite a novel centered around drug addiction and alcoholism, PTSD, and abuse, SZM simply wrote a new graphic novel centered around kindness and helping others. The storyline of the book was very simple; kindness had become scarce in t...

 In the past two weeks I have had the pleasure of getting to know a man at sub zero mission who has been truly inspiring. The backstory of his presence at SZM is less than happy but it is still truly amazing. In Lake county, there is an option for veterans who commit misdemeanors or other low level nonviolent crimes to go to veterans court rather than the regular civilian court. In veteran’s court, the sentences for offenses that can be easily connected to their previous military service, like drug use for example, are much more lightened. Oftentimes they are assigned counseling or community service and weekly drug testing. SZM is one of the locations these veterans can be assigned. They work doing everyday tasks at the mission like sorting or small construction projects. During my time at SZM there has been on man assigned to SZM whom we will simply call J for privacy purposes. J has been an absolute shining light during our time. Each morning he arrives early before the doors are...

On Wednesday the 18th my partner and I attended the 2k for VA event. Here we learned about how Sub Zero Mission organizes all of their various events. They have a set table layout for free merchandise and informational pamphlets. We set up the table accordingly and sat with the other SZM members. Here we spoke to veterans and family members and other passersby about the goals of SZM. We participated in this event as well, doing the 2k twice while we were there.  In a sort of unfortunate way, we learned the importance of publicity for events like this. Very few people attended due to a mistake made in the public relations side of things. As we were there, one of the managers of SZM realized this and mentioned to us that there should have been more social media posts and perhaps a sign by the road to indicate the event. Nonetheless, the event was still successful and provided us with insight on the day to day operations of SZM in the summer months. Throughout the entire week we packe...

  Our mentor assigned us homework on Friday to read his comic books and write a short report along with a review that he could use. He explained to us that the point of these comic books was rather simple; He watched people throw out his pamphlets and business cards after they’d looked them over. He wanted to create something that people would keep with them. He recounted to us a memory of sorting through his items from the military and as he did, his old comic books fell out from in between his possessions. He told us that he then realized that that was the solution to the problem. He sent us home with two graphic novels that he’d written with his colleagues. The story was fantastical but clearly rooted deeply in reality. With the grim reaper coming to “claim” veterans that were on the streets and monster-like “friends” that encouraged characters to drink more, the story outlined a clear picture of the mental turmoil associated with being a combat vet on the streets. However, in e...