HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING (OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE CELEBRATING TODAY)!!

Hello, Seeedville Family, 

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING (for those of us who are experiencing spring around this time of the year)!!!!!!

This will be another short, but sweet post; as there isn't much to report on because we've been laying low this past week. 

Since our last post, not much has happened at Seeedville. As we mentioned previously, SEEED celebrated its 6th birthday and now that the celebration is over, it's time to move on to other significant business--our Job Readiness Training Program. Starting on Monday, March 23rd, we will be having our spring training session. So far, we have five young adults committed. But we're still hoping to recruit a few more into the program. Everything is already in place, and so we should be off to a great start. We've spent this past week recruiting in the surrounding communities. We're looking forward to hitting some of the other local hot spots where young people hang out.  

Below are a few photos of us recruiting in communities surrounding the SEEED office. 

The individual in this photo is yours truly, Kenisha W. I am also one of the two AmeriCorps VISTAs working at Seeedville. I am currently serving as the Program Coordinator for our Job Readiness Program. I have been living in Knoxville for less than a year. I moved here for my year of service in May and will be leaving once my term ends. I am truly liking the experience here. There is a lot to learn about the people and the culture, as well as how my passion for service fits into the mission of SEEED. An interesting fun fact: I am also the author of Seeedville's weekly blog posts. I'd personally like to say a HUGE THANK-YOU to everyone who has been reading our posts. We have readers from Indonesia, France, Germany, and of course, the United States. It's really an honor to know that our blog is reaching a wider audience. 

In this photo is our executive director, Stanley Johnson, and a volunteer, who is also the mother of one of our program graduates. It is really great to see how people are invested in SEEED and the work that we do. 

On a rather slightly different note, our fundraiser for windows is coming along well. We've reached over a quarter of our goal. So, if you haven't yet donated or have some extra change in your wallet, I'd recommend that you go ahead and donate on our gofundme page: www.GoFundMe.com/seeedopenhouse.

That is all for this week, y'all. We don't necessarily have any upcoming events planned at this moment; except for the program. But we will definitely make sure to update you on whatever events we plan in the near future. 

Once again, the staff here at Seeedville will like to extend its sincere gratitude to all of you for being so dedicated and staying informed with the work that we are doing in our communities. It is because of our supporters like you, that we are able to continue to be successful, even after 6 years!

We'd like to wish for you all a relaxing and fun-filled first day of spring (or whatever it is that you are celebrating today). 

As always, we can always use more LIKES on our Facebook Page, so please take a moment to check us out: facebook.com/seeedknox. We'd sincerely appreciate you liking our page. 

In the spirit of spring cleaning, we'd like to challenge you to do more than just spring clean your home(s), but to reflect on yourself as an individual and see what aspects of your life needs "spring cleaning". Today we leave you with this quote: "If your life is a mess clean it up. THROW AWAY your excuses, SWEEP the negative people out of your life, FIX the problems that you CAN fix and PICK up the pieces of your life one at a time." ~Sonya Parker

Until next time, 

+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

Job Readiness Program Updates

Hello Seeedlings!

A very happy Friday to you all! This week's updates are relatively shorts; as there aren't much that had happened this past week. 

This past week was spent in preparation for the job readiness program, which is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, March 10 at 1:30PM. A lot of time has been spent on trying to create a more up-to-date brochure that included all the necessary changes that were made to the program and the organization as a whole. 

Furthermore, the month of February is dedicated to program recruitment, as well as getting the facility in preparation for our first day of classes. 

Below is are the inside/outside of the tri-fold brochure and a copy of our recruitment flyer. 

Seeedville would greatly appreciate the efforts of our Knoxville locals who might be able to assist us in our recruitment efforts. Should you know anyone who's currently unemployed or underemployed, someone whom you think could benefit from the services that SEEED offers, then please feel free to pass our information along. 

Upcoming Events: 

February 10: Computer Lab Installation courtesy of First Baptist Concord

February 19 (6:30-8:00): SEEED's Open House

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