Tag Archives: Empowerment

Around Town: May 11-12

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If you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend, these Catalogue nonprofits have got you covered! Whether you’re doing stream restoration and planting trees or doing outreach visits to low-income seniors, a good weekend is in the forecast!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Wilderness Leadership & Learning (WILL) Environmental Service Project

Wilderness Leadership & Learning
WILL partners with the Anacostia Watershed Society for this service learning experience. We will be doing stream restoration and/or tree planting at Heurich Park. WILL provides lunch and pays Metro fare
When: Saturday May 11, 2013 (08:30 AM – 5:00 PM)
Where: Heurich Park, Nicholson St & Ager Rd, Hyattsville, MD 20782
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: We can use 3-4 volunteers. 2 individuals will meet WILL youth at Bell HS (3101 16th Street, NW), and take Columbia Heights Metro to West Hyattsville Station and meet up with me (Steve Abraham) and group I am bringing from Minnesota Ave. Metro. I could use at least one person to be with us from Minn Ave. Metro. The groups will meet at W. Hyattsville and then walk a little less than a mile to the Park. It is rain or shine. If interested please e-mail me and I will provide additional details. THANK YOU for considering this opportunity.
Contact: Steve Abraham, (202) 319-2765

Outreach Visits to Low-income Seniors

We Are Family Senior Outreach Network
We Are Family will be coordinating outreach visits to isolated, low-income seniors in their homes.
When: Saturday May 11, 2013 (10:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
Where: Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge St. NW, Washington, DC 20001
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: Volunteers will receive a brief orientation and then go out in pairs or groups to visit with seniors in their homes.
Contact: Mark Andersen, (202) 487-8698
For more information: click here

Youth Media Festival

Passion for Learning
Middle school youth showcase their digital media work for the community at this annual Youth Media Festival in Silver Spring. This event is in partnership with Gandhi Brigade Youth Media, Festival Sponsor.
When: Saturday May 11, 2013 (11:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
Where: Silver Spring Civic Center Building, Ellsworth Avenue and Spring Street, Silver Spring, Md 20910
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: Help set up room for media showcase along with our middle school students and staff. Help our students meet and greet and register parents, students and families. Help break down and clean up after event.
Contact: Cynthia Rubenstein, (301) 562-6014

4th Annual Health & Wellness Fair

Mentoring to Manhood
An afternoon of entertainment, health & wellness vendors, face painting, moon bounces and more!
When: Saturday May 11, 2013 (11:00 AM – 3:00 PM)
Where: Bowie Library parking lot, 15210 Annapolis Rd Bowie, MD 20715
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: Greet the community, hand out give aways, set up and break down.
Contact: Nicole Howze, (443 ) 370-1748

Arachne Aerial Arts & In-Flight Theater

Dance Place
Two companies at the forefront of aerial performance, Baltimore’s In-Flight Theater and Washington’s award-winning Arachne Aerial Arts, collaborate on a bold new piece based on the myth of Demeter and Persephone. A 15-foot metal weather vane rises at the heart of an original story exploring mothers, daughters and the seasons.
When: Saturday May 11, 2013 (8:00 PM)
Where: Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC 20017
Fee? yes $22 General Admission; $17 Members, Seniors, Teachers and Artists; $10 College Students; $8 Children (17 and under)
Contact: Carolyn Kamrath, (202) 269-1608
For more information: click here

Sunday, May 12, 2013

DCYOP’s Youth Orchestra Concert

DC Youth Orchestra Program
DC Youth Orchestra Program’s most prestigious ensemble — the Youth Orchestra — performs Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 and Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni. Plus the Youth Orchestra’s string quartet plays the first movement from Mozart’s “The Hunt” string quartet and Carlos Gardel’s “Por Una Cabeza” (tango from the movie “Scent of a Woman”). If you can’t make it to the concert, watch it online live or in the Millennium Stage video archives at www.kennedy-center.org/millennium.
When: Sunday May 12, 2013 (6:00 PM – 7:00 PM)
Where: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566
Fee? no
Contact: Rashida Coleman, (202) 698-0123

The Power of Change

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The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to un-learn. We are filled with the Popular Wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up. Patriotism means obedience, age means wisdom, woman means submission, black means inferior — these are preconceptions embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there.

– Women’s rights advocate Gloria Steinem, born today in 1934. Beginning in the 1960s, Steinem played an essential role in empowering women and striving for equality for all American citizens.

Equitable Development in the District

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by Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

This year, the print Catalogue for Philanthropy opened with an infographic, “Our Region, Our Impact”. The spread presented facts and figures on the levels of poverty and income distribution in the Greater Washington region, as well as the impact of Catalogue nonprofits and ways they serve under-served communities. As many readers are likely aware, income inequality on the Greater Washington region is one of the highest in the nation — the top 20% of earners bring in annual salaries of over $250,000 and the bottom 20% of earners, not even $10,000.

Within the District, gentrification has played a large role in not only increasing inequality, but the ways in which rich and poor interact and engage in geographic spaces. This week, the Nonprofit Quarterly highlighted the work of one DC nonprofit, ONE DC, in addressing gentrification (or displacement, as they refer to it) and promoting equitable development across the city:

Equitable development is defined as development activity with a triple bottom line, taking into account the interests of the business community and local developers, fairness in the treatment of employees, and sustainability in protecting and enhancing resources (human and others) in responding to an array of social and environmental needs. There are many communities throughout the U.S. experimenting with these principles, and one such project that offers a manifestation of this burgeoning “equitable development” movement is ONE DC (Organizing Neighborhood Equity DC) in Washington, D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood…

By engaging in what ONE DC refers to as “participatory democracy,” this membership-led organization is confronting several powerful private and public entities to protect residents’ interests. Its strategy, as stated on the organization’s web page, is one where “people within movements for social change, those directly affected by the issues, make the decisions related to the campaign or movement; minimize hierarchy within their organization to maximize shared power and equity of voice; and utilize direct action as an effective means to compel decision-makers to implement decisions made by the community.”

Perhaps the most interesting and innovative aspect to ONE DC’s work is that “the overarching goal is not simply reform but institutional change and social transformation.” Unlike other direct service organizations that provide a much needed, but often one-off service to clients trapped in systems of poverty, ONE DC attempts to achieve specific objectives (“human rights to affordable housing, living wage jobs, and equitable development”) by empowering affected communities with voice in the process and stake in the (equitable) development of their communities.

Learn more about and support Catalogue nonprofits also working in community and economic development online here.

From the Field: Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop

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By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

Many great individuals have written about the power of a free mind — authors, scientists, philosophers, musicians. Perhaps none have written quite as eloquently as the young poets who work with . Free Minds, a Catalogue nonprofit for the past five years, “serves 16 and 17 year old youths who have been charged and incarcerated as adults at the DC Jail. Free Minds uses books and creative writing to empower young inmates to transform their lives.”

This week, I had the privilege of reading and commenting on poems written by Free Minds poets at Volunteer Write Night — a monthly event in which Free Minds staff, members, and volunteers meet to mingle, read inmates’ poetry and offer their own personal feedback. The poems, with comments, are then mailed back to their authors, and provide a bright spot of both artistic feedback and communication with the outside world for those who are currently removed from it.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but was blown away by the maturity, honesty, and emotional depth expressed in Free Minds’ poetry. The poems touched on every range of emotions related to their experience in the system — from missing a girlfriend or family members, to the hurt, frustration, and loneliness that comes with time spent in jail. While I cannot relate to all of the poets’ experiences, I can relate to their responses — after all, who hasn’t experienced pain, hurt, or despair at one time in their life?

Overall, I found many poems to be incredibly uplifting and inspirational. The young poets’ words expressed how they became adults in such a short time and learned life lessons the hard way, but have become better people because of it. Bridging the divides of race, class, gender, or legal status and connecting with another person through art — this is a crucial aspect of Free Minds’ program, and Write Night is an incredible volunteer opportunity that fosters those connections.

For those interested in volunteering, Write Night is held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. You can also read poetry written by incarcerated members of Free Minds online at their .

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop

Guest Post: Empowered Women International

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Empowered Women International creates entrepreneurs and community leaders through women’s empowerment. Marga C. Fripp, the Founder and President, shares Three Reasons to Mentor a Woman, while EWI’s Media and Outreach Intern Jeremy Brandt-Vorel shares the stories of two women active in EWI’s programs. Both articles were originally published on EWI’s blog.

Why mentor a woman? Well, there are many reasons, but I want to share 3 compelling aspects that move most of our mentors.

Passion is infectious.

I often hear our mentors and even donors finding EWI’s passion for social change real and infectious. It’s true that once you meet our women entrepreneurs and experience the passion behind their work, you too will catch the bug and be transformed. We’re in the business of changing lives, but doing this without passion we wouldn’t be the same organization.

Once empowered, women give back.

It’s truly remarkable to see our immigrant or low-income women students struggling to recover from difficult life circumstances, yet working on business models that aim at social change. Income or profit is important for women. But what is most important is the change these women want to see in their communities. And their business enables them to do just that.

Mentoring is inspiring and rewarding.

We all want to feel good about being of help to someone in need. We love to support and invest in people who passionately believe in what they do. We love champions, and being part of their journeys is as rewarding as seeing them reaching the final destination.

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Hunger For Life

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At the age of 12, before I had had one full year of formal schooling, I had a conception of life that no experience would ever erase, a predilection for what was real that no argument could ever gainsay, a sense of the world that was mine and mine alone, a notion as to what life meant that no education could ever alter, a conviction that the meaning of living came only when one was struggling to wring a meaning out of meaningless suffering.

I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.

— Black Boy; American Hunger by Richard Wright, born today in 1908