AndiLeeHawkenProjects22

 I was inspired to pursue this project by a book that I read about structures that had been created for the homeless. They had locking doors and insulation. Several parts of my project went great. Was able to successfully pack thank you letters for 3 total states and had gotten halfway through a fourth. We were able to pack several hundred hats and pairs of gloves and nearly one hundred coats. Unfortunately there were several times where we didn’t have work to do because we’d finished what they’d offered us and they couldn’t think of more to do that day. We did however find several jobs we could do that they hadn’t thought of, such as reviewing their social medias for suggestions on better marketing strategies. I did learn through this process the importance of properly contacting people and publicizing events. The day we attended the 2k for VA event is a good example. There was little to no online presence of the event. And so, very few people actually attended.  While it is ...

 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...