We are once again participating in the Mobile Housing Board’s Summer Work Employment Experience Training Program (SWEET-P). It is a community outreach program aimed at providing high-school students with valuable career development experience while they earn a little money. Their mission statement says it all:
“To provide a meaningful working experience that will cultivate and develop technical and interpersonal skills, which will meet the everchanging environment of today’s job market.”
Before the participants even go through the interview process, they receive eighty hours of employability training. So they come ready and able to work in all types of job settings. 15 Place is one of at least a dozen local businesses that participate – the Circuit Court, Public Library, and Board of Registrars are a few others.
This is the fifth year we have participated in this wonderful program. We have had great “SweetPs” in the past and are blessed by our newest sweetie, Miss Kimberly C., a senior at Vigor High School. We look forward to the next five weeks, and hope the experience is as beneficial for Kimberly as it will be for us!
The explosion last month of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig has us all concerned, for the health and beauty of our precious Gulf Coast, for the safety of the seafood we all relish, and most importantly, for the continued livelihood of people who make their living from the coastal industries reliant upon those two factors. That they are intertwined is no secret. A quick look at the surge in population during Spring Break, the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, and the Shrimp Festival; the long lines at local seafood markets during mudbug season; and certainly the influx of out-of-state license tags during our “off” season, and it’s not hard to imagine the economic impact. Take the seafood and the pristine beaches away, and we’ve lost the two major attractions for these visitors.
So while we await the as-yet-unknown negative effects of this disaster, we must try to find the positive side. Another opportunity for our community to come together; (hopefully) better safeguards for the gas and oil industry that has literally become part of our coast’s profile; and, closer to home for us at 15 Place, job opportunities and training in a field unknown to most : hazardous materials cleanup. No, it’s generally not high on the list of most sought after skills, but, let me tell ya – if you’ve got that experience (and more specifically the certification it requires), you are good as gold right now!
As soon as the call went out for workers to help with the cleanup, the buzz of job hunting activity at our place ramped up. We were innundated with information from local and distant job placement companies, notifying prospective workers of application and training locales. Most of our guests hit the streets running, and I’m happy to say, many have achieved the first step toward employment – the coveted HAZWOPER certification. Now we await the oil.
The full effect of the oil rig disaster on our coastal industries likely won’t be realized for months, perhaps years. We dread the possibility that the cleanup itself may stretch interminably. But the situation does have a silver lining, and, at least for some of our guests, it could be the chance of a lifetime. Not only will they have the means they need to get back on solid ground, they’ll have valuable experience which will help them attain permanent jobs well past our Coast’s immediate needs.
This Saturday, May 8, 2010, marks the eighteenth year that the National Association of Letter Carriers is teaming up with the public in a nationwide effort at combatting hunger. Last year they picked up over 73 million pounds of nonperishable food items along their routes and distributed it to local food banks, pantries and soup kitchens.
You can help out with the food drive by putting non-perishable, non-breakable food items in a sturdy bag and leaving it by your mail box. Your mail carrier will collect the items and they will be distributed locally.
Read more about the effort to stamp out hunger here:
http://www.stampouthunger.info/#/30097/
Going over this past quarter’s “numbers” for our soup kitchen got me thinking – how do things stack up for the rest of our state, or even the nation as a whole? Is food insecurity as big a problem everywhere else as it seems to be here locally?
In searching for that answer, I found an eye-opening study by Feeding America that addresses the problem of hunger. It is the fifth such study by this organization, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, and the numbers seem to be growing. According to their research, there has been a 46% increase in the number of people seeking relief from hunger since 2006. You can read the report here: http://feedingamerica.org/faces-of-hunger/hunger-in-america-2010.aspx
While I don’t have numbers specific to Mobile, overall, Alabama has a 13% food insecurity rate. Here at 15 Place, we served a total of 8,297 meals this past quarter (Jan – Mar ) – and we are only one of four places that provide food to the needy within a ten block radius downtown! Over the course of the year, that adds up to over 33,000 lunches….makes me wonder about the totals if you could add the breakfast and dinner that are provided by other organizations.
So, yeah, hunger is a problem, even here in Mobile where we’ve been told we haven’t been feeling the same effects of this recession as the rest of the country.
We have something new and exciting we’d like to share with you! It’s the new 15 Place toolbar – once added to IE or Firefox, each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to 15 Place. This may not sound like a lot, but it certainly adds up, especially if everyone in your family and/or office uses it for their search engine!And if you initiate your online shopping through our toolbar, a percentage of your purchase from more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) will automatically be donated to 15 Place – at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!).
Please pass this along to all of your friends. The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference!
Get the toolbar NOW! http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/15-place
The Poetry Writing class at the University of South Alabama has started a Poetry Project at 15 Place. Since Fall 2009, students come by once a week, and meet with those of our guests who wish to participate in a poetry writing workshop. The response was so good then, that the class decided to continue the project this semester, with the hopes of generating enough pieces to publish a book.
In the interest of generating funds for that book, Poetry Project USA is holding an event at Satori Coffee House, on Old Shell Road, TONIGHT at 6pm. There will be various readers, including some professors, as well as music – and, of course, coffee! Stop by to experience Poetry That Moves, and help support the Project!
We had a special treat yesterday at 15 Place. Twenty-eight students from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee dropped in to help out with some Spring cleaning. They are in town with their UWM campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity, participating in something called ”alternative Spring Break”. Rather than hitting the slopes, or building sand castles at the beach, this group of students have chosen to give their free time to helping communities in need.
While they were here, the group, ranging from Freshmen to Seniors, did a lot of the “detail” work which needs to get done, but for which we seldom have the time. Tables and chairs were turned over, the legs wiped down; the scuffmarks and even footprints that find themselves on the doors and walls were scrubbed clean; our courtyard was given a thorough going-over; the bathrooms and showers were scrubbed CLEAN. And, yes, they even did the windows!! As if that wasn’t enough, for the remainder of their week in town, they will be building a Habitat for Humanity home for a local family!
We so enjoyed having these students spend their valuable time with us – not only for their hard work, but for their wonderful attitudes and contagious spirit. The folks at Habitat for Humanity are fortunate to have such a dedicated group volunteering for them. We wish them an unforgettable experience and safe travels, and a warmer Spring when they return to Wisconsin!
It is Lent, for those of you who know what that means…the 40 days before Easter is usually spent in penance or sacrifice. Those are words we don’t hear much anymore. I’m suggesting a Lenten practise, Those of you who can afford it why not BUCK UP 15 Place? Send one dollar to 15 North Joachim Mobile AL 36602.
With that one dollar and our grants we can serve 5 hot lunches to the homeless or do 3 loads of laundry or provide 3 showers Where else can you get a deal like that? So ”give up ” one bottle of water or one candy bar for Lent and Buck Up the homeless center
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