SEEED MAKEOVER

Hello Everyone,

We hope you all have had a wonderful work week, and are looking forward to whatever it is that you have planned for the weekend. And if you haven't yet decided on what your plans are, don't worry, you still have time. But whatever you decide, we at Seeedville hope that it relaxes you.

Since our last, and first, blog post, A LOT of exciting things have happened here at Seeedville! And we are SOOOO excited to let you in on the scoop. First, we (more like our Social Media and Events Coordinator, Summer Gregory, who also happens to major in interior design) renovated the organization's lobby. We turned the SEEED lobby from being a cold dark passageway to a more welcoming and people-friendly space. We have new and update bulletin boards- boards that provide a feeling of stability, success, and welcome. They provide information about what's currently happening at SEEED and/or around the City and offer information on local resources for community members.

Here are a few pictures to give somewhat of a tour:

Board providing information about events happening at Seeedville or in the community, as well as highlighting SEEED's moments in the News.

In the process of adding local resources that will benefit visitors, however they see fit.

Our Social Media and Events Coordinator hard at work. Also, one of our two AmeriCorps VISTAs.

Couches rearranged to offer a more welcoming space for visitors. 

Bookshelves stacked with books to add to the welcoming atmosphere that the lobby/organization as a whole provides.

In addition to making Seeedville more welcoming and friendly, we have painted the inside of the facility with the help of volunteer from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Bank of America, and various others. This was done in the spirit of MLK's Day(s) of Service. Now, the inside of the building looks tremendously great. The paint color compliments the building's interior. 

Bank of America crew applying painter's tape around the trimmings.

CTV's camera collecting footage of the day.

A glimpse at what the inside looks like after being painted. 

This is everything that has happened at Seeedville this week. We hope you've enjoyed the tour of what seems to be the newly made-over SEEED. We'd love to have you stop by to check out what we do! Please, we'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions you may have.

SHOUT-OUTS: 

1. To Summer Gregory for creating and publishing our brand new website: www.seeedknox.com It's fantastic. So check it out and become familiar with it. 
2. Kermit Hayes, our dedicated volunteer for taking on the role of documenting all of SEEED's building renovation progress via CTV's camera.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Tuesday, February 10th, 9:00-NOON: Computer Lab Installation
• Tuesday, February 10th, Job Readiness Program Recruitment Commences

Welcome to SeeedVille

Happy Friday Everyone!!

With all the changes that are currently happening with the organization, we have decided that it is about time that we start keeping a weekly blog to update our followers about all the many blessings that SEEED receives. 

Since this is our first blog post, we'd like to kick things off by welcoming each and everyone of you to SEEEDVille! Yes, you got that right, SEEEDVille!! We are excited to share our journey with you for the year ahead, and we sincerely hope that you will continue to support us or start supporting our cause for this year. SEEEDVille is in reference to the organization's facility-it includes the day-to-day of SEEED. So, get comfortable with this name because we will refer to the organization as such from now on. 

Again, because this is the initial post, we'll try to keep it as short as possible and do our best to get you all up to speed. Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development (SEEED) is a nonprofit organization here in Knoxville, TN. We are currently located in the Morningside Community Center, also known as Turnkey 3. SEEED's mission is to create opportunities for pathways our of poverty for Knoxville's young adults through job readiness training, while equipping communities with environmental literacy skills. 

The job readiness program is for young adults between the ages of 16-28 years old. We mostly work with high school dropouts, but strive to ensure that everyone, as long as they meet to specific age requirement, is given a chance to become job ready. This nine weeks program focuses on resume-writing, interviewing techniques, budgeting application completion, time management, and various other skills that are crucial to succeeding in any job. 

SEEED's environmental awareness community workshops are designed to properly inform low- to middle-income community residents about energy saving opportunities that will potentially lower their utility costs, equip residents with community organizing skills that will enable them to become more engaged citizens, and provide a space for social capital to prosper. 

SEEED Cores Values:

• Empowerment

• Sustainability 

• Community 

• Pathways to Development 

This is how we define #pathwayoutofpoverty:

Thank you to all of you who have been a support system to SEEED, and we hope you'll continue to do so. And to our potentially newest supports, we want to welcome you to SEEEDVille, where it's always green on this side!

We leave you with this quote: 

"The fate of the living planet is the most important issue facing mankind." - Gaylord Nelson

Until Next Time...

SEEEDVille Staff