Capital Improvements!

I had brought up the idea to Andres that perhaps we should advertise the work that our laborers can do by completing capital improvements to the SEEC Office building and showcasing these improvements to potential customers.

There are a couple ways that we could showcase their work.  We could either record the process of improvements (before, during, after) and post it on a website for the public to view or we could have potential clients walk into the building during an open house.

Possible improvements include painting, carpentry, and gardening.

This process could attract potential clients and it would give idle hands a task.

Possible hindrances include the lack of permission to alter the SEEC office building which is public property and the cost of supplies to conduct the improvements.

Tap into community, college resources

At the Board meeting tonight, a statement resonated with me.  Andres noted how SEEC was fortunate to be located in such a wealthy and caring community as Arlington.  The thought crossed my mind that perhaps we can tap into a few of these wealthy and caring communities.

One idea was to locate college groups with liberal agendas and professors with studies specific to Central/Latin America/immigration that would be willing to support or host an event for the laborers.

Why couldn’t we see if any embassies would be willing to host, advertise, or recommend grous with whom we could partner to raise awareness or funds?

Why couldn’t we solicit community associations to contribute to an event (even if it were even a food-can drive)?

Sign the Pavillion

It wasn’t until a month or so ago that I noticed a sign (“Busca trabajadores”) advertising SEEC’s services at the intersection of Walter Reed and Four Mile.  It made me smile but also made me think: do we have such good signage at the Pavillion?  If not, perhaps we should consider creating a sign that states that laborers are available with the hours of pavillion operation and SEEC’s phone number.

There is a positive and a negative side to this clear signage.  A positive aspect is that the sign could draw in more people who want to hire laborers, which could lead to a number of outcomes including more jobs for more people, more people on single jobs, and/or longer jobs for people.  The negative aspect is that we could be advertising a controversial cause that could draw negative attention to us.

The appearance of order through heaters and fans

At tonight’s Board meeting, a reoccuring topic was the appearance of order for potential buyers and builders of the new condos/housing in and around Shirlington.  SEEC’s business would not want to raise flags with these folks.

For those of you who don’t know, while the office and pavillion are set up to manage the day laborers at two specific locations, the men often times do not use these facilities and instead wander around on the streets.  From doing a study of Herndon’s day laborer site, I’m aware that the public perception of these wanderers is fairly negative; some will note that wanderers pose a problem to transportation as they stand on the corners and in the medians of roads.  Some may argue that they pose a threat to the harmony of the community since they do not seem to “fit in”.  Others may even attribute their sheer presence to criminal activity.

To avoid this negative attention, one Board member mentioned that it might be worthwhile to communicate with the developers and reach an understanding on matters at end before a situation escalates.

One other way to aleviate tension might be to draw the laborers into these sites (primarily the pavillion) by having heaters and fans placed outside to reduce the uncomfortable extreme temperatures in the winter and summer respectively.  The idea is that the placement of a heater or fan will draw the wanderer into that central location and keep him there while still giving him the opportunity to see and make the dash for jobs if a car drives up to the pavillion.

The negatives to this plan is that we’d have to pay for the purchase or rent of the heater/fan and pay for the electricity for their use at the pavillion.

Contribute and get fed!

A number of Board members have mentioned their willingness to host fundraiser dinners where a member will invite a number of their friends over for dinner, serve food and ask for donations.

A similar thought would be that every time SEEC Board members ask to have a dinner meeting at a restaurant, we instead gather at a member’s house for a meal and donation.  This meal could be a group effort- a potluck of sorts where members will bring food to contribute- or a singular effort where one member would prepare a meal.

Think about it- a tray of lasagna feeds a lot of people and although time-consuming to make by scratch, it is not unbearable to prepare.  If 5-8 people who chowed down contributed $10-$20 bucks, SEEC would have gained $50-160 (taking the lowest and highest scenarios).  Not too shabby.

I suppose the success of this meal depends on how well our Board members cook or, alternatively, how tolerant the members are of other people’s food.

I cook well

Combined Federal Campaign

Every year, representatives from the federal government have sent around a booklet and flier for the Combined Federal Campaign (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Federal_Campaign), a campaign that highlights 4,000 charities and establishes a means through which federal employees can donate to charities through payroll deductions.

I browsed through the CFC catalog and see a bunch of Hispanic organizations but not SEEC.  Could we ever be in this catalog or are we too controversial?  I have little idea how an organization coul get included.

Make and sell? The glory of flea markets and yardsales

I’m wondering if any of the laborers have the skills to make items suitable for sale at a flea market (or yard sale).  I know there is the occasional market (I’ve known of one in Court House, have heard of some as far away as Fredericksburg -here’s a list: http://northernvirginiaantiquesfleamarkets.nova-antiques.com/).  Would there be any items that the laborers or the women may be able to make and sell?  Wooden art pieces? Braided bracelets? Paintings?

Community event

Awhile ago when we first separated into groups to discuss fundraising ideas, I broke out into a stream of consciousness about a wide-eyed plan to promote activism and awareness in the community, and raise funds for our causes.

In a nutshell, I proposed that we put on a community food event with a partnering organization to promote community participation and awareness about the difficulty of  low-income people to obtain food.  The crux of the idea would be that we’d invite a food-collection group, community members, laborers, and willing chefs to donate and/or prepare meals out of canned goods.  The resulting meal could then be shared/purchased by attendees.

The benefits of this type of event are that you are involving all parties.  By asking community members to donate canned goods which are then used in the preparation of a meal, people feel like they have a stake in the outcome.  Plus, they may see, firsthand, some of the laborers who they are helping.

The planning of such an event would doubtless require networking, resources, lots of planning time, and paperwork.  The following are just a few ideas of how we might pull it off: 1) request that a food-collection group such as our neighbor AFAC partner with us on such an event; 2) request that our adventurous friends (whether professional or amateur chefs) serve as chefs for an event; 3) find a site to prepare food and host a live event (I know from experience- a Senegalese cooking class- that Arlington County has cooking facilities in Clarendon for their adult education courses; 4) request promotion of the event by a student cooking group (I found that American University has a cooking class tv show- click on “Dining on a Dime” after accessing http://www.auatv.com/- perhaps they’d be willing to spotlight an event).

Comments welcome.

Imperfect Merchandise

There were a number of items listed on the October 7th meeting agenda that centered upon an expansion of the “goods and services” that SEEC provides for members.  Two of those items focused on clothing, including gloves, caps, coats, and winter clothes.

An idea dawned on me- does anyone know what a textiles manufacturer does with imperfect or defective clothing merchandise?  I know I’ve seen some imperfect clothing for sale at discounted prices in stores, but do any manufacturers donate to charities?

Comments welcome.

Makin’ money off junk

Two thoughts recently passed my mind that, when merged together, create an awesome opportunity.  The first thought involves craigslist.com and the second involves space at the SEEC office.

It dawned on me that there are lots of items on craigslist that people are GIVING away (read: free).  These free giveaways range from furniture and electronics to books and games.  Some are in need of repair whereas others are in good condition.  My thought is that what if we could pick up these pieces and use them.  I see a couple of “uses”.  For those that are broken, if we had the expertise, we could teach the laborers how to fix them.  Then, we could either stop there, content that someone has picked up a new skill or has kept from a state of idlehood.  Or, we could sell the fixed-up piece to raise money.

The keys to this puzzle involve 1) the availability of transportation to pick up these items (especiallyy those items such as furniture that could potentially be large); 2) the availability of space to store and work on items (I seem to recall that the SEEC office has extra space out in back); 3) the expertise and will to instruct others how to fix up items; 4) a market for the finished items (perhaps a website for online sale, a flea market).

:Let me know yout thoughts.