Bright Horizons

Rachel Rose-Sandow — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:12:58 +0000

Good news!!!!! SEDC finally has a new, permanent Board of Directors and a permanent Executive Director. We recently got our new Board of Directors in April, and we just heard the news about the Executive Director yesterday. Having permanent leadership will help the organization to move forward. Basically, a lot of donors don't like to give money to an organization that doesn't have a permanent ED because that makes it look unstable. Now that we have a permanent ED, hopefully we will be able to receive more funding.

Also, I have a new idea for a way that SEDC can help clients to earn some additional income. My idea is that SEDC should open a store and sell Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, and Vietnamese items created by the clients. SEDC can take a 10 or 15% cut (we actually have to for legal reasons), and the rest of the profit can go to the clients. It would be kind of like the store Ten Thousand Villages that offers fair trade to people in other countries, only with people in America. I've already seen some birds they made for one of the caseworkers, Thida, and the birds are really amazing. I'd buy one, and I think other people would, too. I asked two caseworkers if they think their clients would want to do this, and they said yes, definitely.

One caseworker, Toua, had an idea that we could have classes at SEDC where the clients teach other people how to make the birds. He said we could charge a registration fee for the classes and use that money for SEDC's programs. I think it's a great idea! I plan to bring up both ideas at the next staff meeting and see what people think.

The only downside to the store is who would be in charge of running it? Would we be able to pay someone? Would the administrative assistant be able to do her own work and run the store too? Or maybe we could find volunteers to run it? I will bring up these questions also at the staff meeting and see what everyone says.

Also, here is a link to a video I put on You Tube of a volleyball tournament:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKFPtk-B3Ow

Unfortunately, right after this game the students on the losing side tried to beat up the students on the winning side...well, we are trying to teach them good sportsmanship, but it's a work in progress!

Preparing for Summer

Rachel Rose-Sandow — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:25:29 +0000

Josefina Luna is one of the kindest, warmest, friendliest women I've ever met. We started talking one day when we were both waiting to be let into the office, before I was given my own key. She speaks fragmented English, but it's a thousand times better than my broken Spanish. Still, she's been nice enough to teach me Spanish words and speak slowly to me in longer sentences so that I can understand her.

Yesterday, she told me the story of her life. In the Dominican Republic (her native country), she was an accountant. She said she focused mainly on auditing, which she loved. She had her own car and her own apartment.

Then the IMF decided it was time for the Dominican Republic to pay back its debts. The DR government didn't have the money, so it taxed middle and upper class people (Josefina was middle class). She became impoverished, so she moved to the United States. Here, she tried to get several accounting jobs, with no luck. Then, she tried to work as a manager at a factory, but she was rejected as being "overqualified." She removed her accounting experience from her resume and tried again. This time she was hired, but as a laborer. She had to get up at 5 a.m. to take the bus to the factory for work.

Now, she works at SEDC as a meal site worker. She prepares and serves food to elderly Meals on Wheels clients who are transported to SEDC three days a week during the lunch hour. She works only part-time, and she can't afford a car. She needs to take a test to be certified as a public accountant in the U.S., but her English is too limited for her to score well.

I feel like there must be a solution somewhere, but I can't think of it.

Anyways, right now I'm trying to make the file of the SEDC logo larger. It's a .jpg file now, and it has a low resolution, and I've been told that what we need is the original vector file. If we have that file, then we can blow up the logo as big as we want on a sign, poster, etc. Unfortunately, there's been so much staff turnover here that we have no idea who originally designed the logo. I called a local print company, and they said they can redraw the logo for us and put it into vector form, but the charge will be $100/hour. They estimate the time at 2-3 hours. We can't afford to pay that, and I certainly can't redraw it myself, so I don't know what we can do.

Also, I'm updating the website with new events, and I wrote a new version of the newsletter describing the SEDC Cambodian and Lao New Year event in April. I'm working on putting together an informational movie about SEDC and the work it does in the community.

Fortunately, we have a new 15-member Board of Directors, and we should have a permanent Executive Director by the end of the month. My supervisor is one of two candidates for the position, so I'm rooting for him, but we'll see what the Board decides.

Digital Arts Service Corps - board of directors

Bright Horizons

Preparing for Summer