HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SEEED--SIX YEARS STRONG

Hi Guys!!!
TGIF!! After yesterday's fantastic celebration of Seeedville's birthday, we're still rejuvenating. Hence, this week's post won't be as lengthy as others.

It's been two weeks since we last wrote. We didn't do an update for last week because not much had happened around the organization due to how terrible the weather was.

But as the saying goes, "after the storm, there's a calm." This past week has been a tremendous week for us. The organization is doing well. We just CELEBRATED our SIXTH year anniversary, which was on March 12th. We had a huge Open House Birthday Fundraiser Extravaganza. The turn out was tremendous. We reached 1/4 of our target goal. It was really great to see all people who have been supporting us throughout our six years of being in existence.

Though we may not have reached our desired goal in its entirety, the celebration in itself was a success.

Here are a few photos just in case you wanted to get a sense of what happened yesterday.

Now with that said, we still want to reach our target goal ($2,500) by the end of March, which is 18 days away. So, you can still donate to our cause to ensure that our windows get fixed so we can stop wasting so much energy. Again, please donate to help us reach our target by donating on our Go Fund Me page: www.GoFundMe.com/seeedopenhouse. Remember, no donation is too small. 

As for our Job Readiness Program, now that our celebration is over, we will resume to recruiting and getting geared up for our first day of class which is scheduled for Monday, March 23rd. So far we have done some recruiting, had a few interests, and so we just hope that we can gain some more this upcoming week, and then see where things go from there. 

If you're in the local Knoxville area, and know anyone who might be interested in a FREE job training program, please feel free to send them our way. We want to make sure we reach as many young people as we possibly can.

That's all for this week, folks. If you're still sad about missing our event, or want to recap with us about how fun yesterday was, please drop by our facebook page: facebook.com/seeedknox.

We wish you all a very productive remainder of your Friday afternoon, and a very relaxing weekend. 

Cheers, 

Staff +Seeed Knox 

BUSINESS AS USUAL... AND SOME NEW

Hi Guys!

Since our previous post,not much has happened at SEEED due to weather conditions. However, we’d like to provide a refresher just to make sure we are all up to speed and then focus on what we have been up to since the last time we wrote.

Here at SEEED, a lot of interior changes have taken place. We have renovated the inside of the building, redid our bulletin boards, painted the inside walls to a brand new, and more people-friendly color(s), as well as installed our computer lab. The “junk” from our soon-to-be classroom is dissolving at a slow, but stead rate. We can honestly say that since the renovations, SEEED’s stability within the Morningside Community Center has become noticeable. For more in-depth details about our renovations, please feel free to refer to the previous posts.

Now for more new and enticing matters, a few board members have move on. They have successfully and selflessly completed their term of service to SEEED. We are sincerely grateful to have had them at our service. The ideas, structure and passion that they’ve brought with them has given the organization a push in right direction. It is safe to say that we are successful due to their willing contributions to the organization.

As far as programming goes, we are currently getting geared up for the launch of our spring Job Readiness Program. Like we have stated in our previous post, the program has been revised, some classes have been eliminated, others have been added, and so this spring session will be the first time that we are trying out our new and (hopefully) improved program. The goal—equipping young adults with job-ready skills—has not changed, but the ways in which the program is delivered has been. Because of the revisions that have been implemented, we have gone ahead and updated our brochures, re-evaluated recruitment strategies, as well as revised the overall message the organization is trying to send.

In previous posts, we have also discussed the organization's efforts to create new partnerships that will potentially serve as employers for your graduates. Since a lot of SEEED’s efforts have been spent renovating and revising the Job Readiness Program curriculum, our efforts for partnership creation has been rather slow.

And as we have also mentioned, because we are implementing a new curriculum into the program, we are creating avenues for our young adults to become responsible individuals; meaning that they will become active stakeholders in their job searching processes.

As for things on a more personal note, there’s TOO much snow in Knoxville. We know it shouldn't make it a big deal, but it is! It is a very big deal!! Recruitment has been a bit slow due to the weather, but hopefully things will pick up once the weather permits. Our goal is to recruit and train 15-20 young adults this spring. We are relying on you, our local supporters, would take it upon yourselves to send any potential candidates our way.

Just a little insider, SEEED is celebrating its 6th BIRTHDAYYYY on March 12th!! It is also a fundraiser for purchasing new windows. Our goal is to raise $2,500.00 for this event. We hope to have people come out and support us, but if you can’t make it, you can definitely donate right from the coziness of your couch through our Go Fund Me: www.gofundme.com/seeedopenhouse. We are relying on you all to assist us in obtaining this goal. It’d mean a lot to us.

That’s everything SEEED-related that is worthy of sharing, folks. We hope you all have a great weekend! Hope you enjoy the read.

Until next time,

JOB READINESS PROGRAM PREPARATION: THE SEEED-(MAKE)OVER CONTINUES

Greetings to you all on this (hopefully) wonderful Friday afternoon!!

For this week's post, we have a few things that we'd like to share with you all: (1) Thank-You; (2) Computer Lab installation; (3) Funding; (4) Program Recruitment; and (5) Upcoming Events 

First, we at SEEED would like to take this time to say a huge "THANK-YOU" to everyone who's been supporting us. Last time we checked, we have viewers from Indonesia, Germany, Russia, and don't forget the US. We are tremendously grateful to everyone who's been reading. We are happy to know that we have people who are interested in the things we are posting; whether at home or abroad. Thank-you to all of you!

Second, we'd like to, as usual, provide some updates about things that have happened at Seeedville this week. We are SO excited to share with you the small, but great things have happened throughout the week. We FINALLY got to install our long-overdue computer lab! Yes, we did it! Seeedville has installed its computer lab!!! Soon we will be installing actual computers to add to the interior remodeling that has been taking place. Our friends from First Baptist Concord Church came out on Tuesday to get us in motion for what will soon become a designated work space for our program participants, but also a hub for community residents. 

The photos below provide a visual glimpse of what we started with and what the final product is. It is, indeed, an amazing feeling to have the ground work covered for the computer lab. We are thrilled to know that our young adults will have a space that they can call their own, a space that gives them a sense of freedom, and a space that will, potentially, in the end, make most of their dreams come true. 

In addition to finishing the ground work for installing our computer lab, we are also working on getting the heating system fixed. Inspectors from Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) came by to look at what can be done to ensure that we get to stay warm and cozy during the cold seasons. SEEED is super pumped to be able to finally call the Morningside Community Center a home. This renovation gives a sense of stability, it also helps us tell our community members that we'll be around for a while. 

Third, we are in need of support for the projects and tasks that we are undertaking in preparation for our job readiness program. Upon completion of the computer lab, our next task will be fixing all the broken windows and blinds that are taking a toll on our energy usage; especially during the winter season. To help our cause or to learn more about SEEED's renovations needs, please feel to check out our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/seeedmakeover or visit our website at: www.seeedknox.com. You can directly donate to our "call for new windows" on our GoFundMe Page: www.GoFundMe.com/seeedopenhouse. Here is your chance to see what SEEED sees whenever it looks outside of its windows. And on a side note, the view is really beautiful during the nighttime :)

Fourth, not only are we busy with renovating the interior of Seeedville for our Job Readiness Program, but we are also pulling the necessary strings to get our program off to a great start, which is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, March 10th. This week marks the official start of our recruitment. So, we will be hitting up the nearby communities to pass out information about our program, and hope that we might snug a few potential interested candidates. On Thursday, we hit the streets and recruited around the Morningside community. If you missed us, we'll be back again. In addition to recruitment, we have been writing grants and looking for potential ways that we might be able to fund our program so that our young adults do not have to. Again, if you'd like to know more, please visit the links posted above. 

Fifth, and last, Upcoming Events:
February 19th (6:30-8:00): SEEED's Open House Fundraiser @ the SEEED building. If you're in the Knoxville area and want to learning about the new and exciting things that are happening, this is a great opportunity to learn!

That is all for now, everyone! I wish you all a productive rest of the day and a wonderful weekend.

P.S. For those of us who do celebrate Valentine's Day, I wish for you nothing but an extra day filled will love & laughter. And for those of us who don't, I wish for you the very same.

Until next time,
Take care