Onward and Upward: Hear from Kenisha & Summer's experiences as VISTAs and Meet the 2015-2016 AmeriCorps VISTAs

HAPPY FRIDAY, EVERYONE!!! 

We know it's been awhile since we last wrote, but to be honest, you haven't missed much that has happened around the organization. For the most part last week everyone was mostly in and out of the office-either visit family and/or attending graduations. So, not much time was really spent at Seeedville all of last week.

These last two weeks at Seeedville are seeming to be bitter-sweet. Summer and I (Kenisha) are entering our final week with us. May 22, 5:00pm will mark our final day here at SEEED. We are sad to be leaving, but we believe that we have done some much for SEEED, and we are positive that everyone is eternally grateful to us for the contribution that we have made over the last year. SEEED won't be the same without us, but that doesn't mean that the organization won't continue to prosper--if anything, we believe that SEEED is on the verge of becoming something bigger than what it was these past year, and Summer and I are extremely excited, and are remorseful that we won't be a part of if; although we'll be sure to stay informed on up to date on the organization's accomplishments. We will miss Seeedville dearly and we are positive that we'll also be missed by everyone who has ever interacted with the organization. 

But on a more positive and sweeter note, SEEED is blessed to have two more VISTAs to join in the place of Summer and Kenisha. And no, these VISTAs are not the new Kenisha and Summer. They are John and Lee. These two young man come to us as graduates from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. SEEED was so lucky to have had these two young man who have been living and working in the local area; hence they seemed to be better equipped with knowledge about local community that Summer nor I had. Therefore, we believe that SEEED will be in great hands come May 29th when these two young men begin their journey as AmeriCorps VISTAs at Seeedville. I do not doubt that they will be equipped with the resource that Summer and I have left behind for them as well as their own knowledge and resources that they have gained while attending their undergraduate university and living in Knoxville. 


If I have to be honest, I think that when me and Summer started our journey as VISTAs, we came with not much knowledge about Knoxville or the communities we intend on serving. While Summer attended Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, TN and frequented Knoxville on the weekends, her interaction with the City was mainly based on shopping excursions, eating and enjoying the nightlife. Hence, she wasn't well-informed about the issues that plagues the inner-cities--low- to moderate-income communities. As for me, when I first learned about this VISTA opportunity, that was the first time I would have learned about the City of Knoxville. I had been the Nashville a while back and so Tennessee was not completely new to me. Quite frankly, Vanderbilt was in my top choices for schools to attend for my undergraduate degree, but decided to go elsewhere when I learned about how massive the institution is. Hence, when I decided to live and work in Knoxville for a year, I didn't really fully grasp what awaited me, nor did I fully understand the issues of poverty, race, class, homelessness, education and various other social in/justices that affect such a small City. I did do my research and so I was "well-informed" based on the statistics that were laid out on the internet. But if we are completely honest with ourselves, we'd really come to learn that not because it's on the internet, it doesn't make it true. Or we'll also acknowledge that a live-experience is worth much more than any book/research. 

Therefore, when Summer and I came to Knoxville, we were taken aback by some of the issues we ran into: lack of familiarity with surrounding communities, lack of understanding regarding the cultural idioms of the City, and various other lack of knowledge when it comes to what Knoxville is really about and who the people are whom we serve. 

Don't get me wrong. I do think we have made a positive impact and we have made an effort to really get out there and meet the people, learn about the City and gain a broader perspective of the work we do here. But I do think that when we have people coming in who are deeply rooted in Knoxville and have been a lot exposed to the issues that affect the City, it can get a lot more done for the organization and for those whom we choose to serve. 

So, as we've mentioned earlier, we have two amazing young men who will be joining Seeedville this year and we are sincerely grateful to them for saying "yes" to accepting the challenge to make Seeedville more successful over the coming year. The services that VISTAs provide to the organization are tremendously crucial to the success of SEEED. Hence, we are very excited to know that when Summer and I leave, that SEEED will be in great hands and that organization will be moving a different and positive direction. So, here are our two new added members of the Seeedville family: 


Meet Lee:

Hi all! I’m Lee Owen, and I will be serving as the program coordinator at SEEED this year. I am finishing up at UT (Knoxville) where I have been studying history and political philosophy. A lot of my involvement of campus has been coordinating informative lectures and public events at UT, so I’m looking forward to applying that experience in a whole new way. I was also on the quidditch team, which isn't much of a professional qualification, but it was very fun! I’m very involved with my church, Tyson House, where I’m very fortunate to be taking part in an intentional living program for the next year. I was thrilled to be accepted into the C-N Vista program because it seems like a great way to grow professionally while jumping right into serving the Knoxville community. To be honest, I don't have a set plan laid out for my career, but I know that programs targeted at building and supporting community have helped me so much, and I am thrilled to be part of that process. I’m impressed by the work I’ve seen at SEEED and the other sites, and I am especially looking forward to meeting my cohort and getting down to business!

Lee will be serving as the Program Coordinator for our Career Readiness Program, as well as working closely with Stan to merge Knoxville's Smarter Cities Campaign into what SEEED is doing. Lee will be entering the role that I (Kenisha) currently occupies, but will have his hands full with the Smarter Cities initiative. I hope that you'll give him the same (or even more) support that you have given me over the year ;)

Meet John:

Hello everyone, my name is John Gough and I'll be working with SEEED as the social media and events coordinator. Originally, I am from Michigan, but have lived in Knoxville for the past the five years. Prior to pursuing my undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee I served in the United States Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer with the 1431st SAPPER Battalion. With the 1431st I helped provide security for the Mackinac Bridge Walk, assisted in the Upper Peninsula Wildfires, and deployed Afghanistan in 2008 to conduct Route Clearance Patrols around the notorious Khost-Gardez pass. Upon returning home I spent some time traveling in Europe, South America, and Central America. During this time my parents had moved to Kingston, Tn to retire. With no immediate family left in Michigan I made the move to Knoxville, Tn in order to be closer to "home." Since my time here I have grown to love and call East Tennessee home, which has sparked my aspiration to serve the community in which I am apart of. I believe Americorps will give me the unique opportunity to make a real difference in our local community and lay the groundwork to eventually make a difference in the national and global community. As Martin Luther King once pronounced, "We must not be concerned merely with those who commit violence, but about the system, the way of life, and the philosophy which produced the violent." Moreover, I'm looking forward to meeting and working with everyone in the upcoming year. Until then, all the best, John!

John will be serving as the Coordinator of Communications, Event Planning, and Social Media. He will be continuing SEEED's capacity-building efforts in the same ways that Summer has been for this past year. Hence, we do ask that you continue to support, not just John and his efforts, but that you also continue to support SEEED in a way that shows how much you all care and love SEEED.

Summer and I sincerely thank you all for your kind support throughout our year of service. If we were to individually name each person who's made this year a success, we wouldn't have room left. So, we do hope that if you believe that you have touched our lives in any way past year, please know that we are grateful to you in more ways than one. And we cannot ask for anything more than for you to continue to give that same support to our incoming VISTAs, because they we are only as successful and effective to the organizations we serve when we know we have a lasting support system that won't give up on us and the work we set out to do. 

Thanks again for a year well-spent. We sincerely hope that we have in turn touched your life in a positive way and we do hope that our incoming VISTAs will too. 

That's all for this week, folks. I know that was a rather long post, but I do believe it was needed; at least for this time. We promise we won't do another post this long (maybe, LOL)!

FYI, next week is me and Summer's last week. So, if you haven't stopped by to bid your goodbyes (or see you laters), we encourage you to come by and do so. It's really suck if we don't get to see most, if not all, of you before we leave. So, please come by! We always love to you all around the building :) 

Stay tuned for my very last blog post on 05/22/2015. 

Until then, 
+Seeed Knox

LET THE EARTHLY FESTIVITIES BEGIN....

Hi Everyone!! 

We hope you all have had a wonderful week thus and are looking forward to what the weekend has in store for us. 

Like we have informed you all, SEEED attended Knoxville's Earthfest this past Saturday at the World's Fair Park. We had a lot of fun! It was really great to see other folks and talking to people about what we do. There were some people who were living in Knoxville who had little to no idea that our organization exists and so we realize that we definitely need to start stepping up our outreaching game. Other than that, everything else was great! We got some goodies to take home. Here are few photos and a little video for you to feast your eyes. And if you didn't attend, you missed out on a whole lot, but hey, there's always next next, which we can't wait for!

On another note, Seeedville celebrated Earth Day, which was on Wednesday, by having volunteers from Knox County Sheriff's Office coming out and pressure wash the facility, mow the grass, painted the retainer walls, and fixed our broken doors out back. It took up pretty much the entire day, but, hey, why complain, when they are doing this out of this kindness of their hearts. And so, we want to give them a huge shoutout for taking the time out of their day to help us get the exterior of our facility to look more appealing. 

We are grateful to all of you for your continuous support of the organization. The views on blogs are significantly increasing. We have over 400 views, in not just the U.S., but various other parts of the globe. So, we encourage you to continue your view support. As for social media, we are still just an inch away from reaching our 1000 LIKES for the year. So, be a good sport and like our Facebook Page. We have a lot of good stuff happening on their. Things that we haven't put into these posts. So, stay current and informed. You can also visit our website for any news/upcoming events around the organization. 

That's all for this week, folks. We sincerely hope you all are having a great work week, and that your weekend will be a tremendous one. 

Until next time. 

+Seeed Knox 

LET'S TALK GREEN....

Hi, Guys!!! 

How's everyone doing today? Enjoying the beautiful day? We hope you all are!

As for this week's update at Seeedville, SEEED has been up to fun and exciting stuff. We attended the Knoxville Home Energy Fair, hosted by CAC. It was really cool to see all the other businesses that are providing the same services that we do. Most importantly, we were extremely impressed to see homeowners taking the time out of their busy Monday afternoon to drop in and learn some really cool energy saving techniques or to even just support the organizations that they are already familiar with. One thing that we thought could have made this more appealing to community member; since we were targeting mostly low-to moderate-income communities, was to host the event in a more remote location that would have bring in more residents. Other than that, everything went well. SEEED has a few people stopped by our table, wanting to learn about what we do. So, it felt good being able to share what our organization does best.  Here are few photos to show you how much fun we had at the Energy Fair. 

As for other exciting things that are happening in SEEED's world, Stan, our executive director, was invited by Appalachia Funders to serve on a panel discussion about the future of the green economy and what roles do organizations, like SEEED, will be playing this. Below are a few photos of Stan and his fellow panelists. Also, there is a photo of Stan and Josh Outsey, one of our four founders of SEEED. Josh is currently serving as a Highlander Fellow. So, now he's in Kentucky, with hopes to be back at the start of summer. Hopefully, his return will help SEEED get back on track and in the direction it needs to do. 

In our list of photos from the event, we'd like to bring your attention to the photo of a tweet from the Appalachia Funders, quoting Stan on the importance of connecting people to issues that are currently on the discussion table. This says a lot about where Stan's passion comes from and why he's driven to ensure that the voices of the people are being heard. 

This week is going by extremely fast. It's already Thursday, which means that the weekend is fast approaching. Do you guys have anything fun planned for the weekend? Interested in learning what Seeedville will be doing this Saturday? Well, since you asked, we'll be in attendance at the Knoxville Earthfest, which is on Saturday at World's Fair Park. It should be starting around 10 and end around 6-ish. So, if you're in Knoxville this Saturday, and you're looking for something fun and exciting to do throughout the day, we strongly encourage you to come by. We'll be at one of their tables. So, stop by and see what we have going on. 

That's all for this week, folks. We're still raising money to fix our facility's broken windows. So, we are still accepting donations on GoFuneMe. Also, Our goal is to reach 1,000 like on Facebook. So, we strongly encourage you to go on over to our page. Check us out. We are staying relatively current with our updates. So, do help our Social Media Coordinator, Summer Gregory, reach her goal of 1,000 likes. 

Seeedville wishes for you all a very productive rest of the day and a very funfilled weekend. Whatever you do, be sure to stay safe and look out for each other; whomever they may be. 

Until next time. 

+Seeed Knox 

HAPPY EARTH MONTH (APRIL IS EARTH MONTH... )!!!

Hi Guys!!

We hope that for those of us who are experiencing Spring/summer seasons are enjoying the beautiful sunshine that we're getting here in Knoxville. 

Not much has happened at Seeedville this past week. We have been really trying to increase our efforts to renovate the facility. So, mostly this week has been a lot of walking around outside and looking at what needs to be done both on the interior and exterior of the building.

We're really HAPPY this it is spring! The flowers are looking magnificently beautiful!

But like most of us know, April is Earth Month!! We don't know about you, but SEEED is sincerely grateful to have at least one month dedicated to truly acknowledge the earth and all that she has been doing for us. 

Fun Fact: Did you know that Earth Day was first introduced by the EPA on April 22, 1970? 

On this day, millions of Americans gathered to partake in the various celebrations that were put forth to recognizing the earth. In addition to having Americans fully invested in this new-found ideology, politicians, even started including "environmentalism" into their political platforms. 

Now, 4 and 1/2 decades later, the Earth is still subjected to the capitalistic ideals of man. But on the brighter side, we have come a long way in terms of protecting the earth. Now there are policies put in place that basically prohibits man from destroying. And while that is sign of process, we still have long ways to go, if we want this Earth to be sustained for future generations. 

Looking for things to do throughout the month of April to show your appreciation of Mother Earth? Well, here in Knoxville, Earthfest will be on Saturday, April 18th, Downtown; starting at 10:00 a.m. It's not impossible to find local events around your communities that are dedicated to celebrating Earth Day. So, get out there and join in the celebration. Dont forget to take those #selfies and those #hastags #EarthDay :)

That's all for this week, folks. Still looking for ways to continue supporting Seeedville? Well, please LIKE us on Facebook-we can't stress how important it is to have facebook supporters. Also, we are still dormantly fundraising for our building renovation. So, feel free to donate. No amount is too small. 

Have a fantastic weekend. 

+Seeed Knox 

When Your Service Does More Harm Than Good...

Hello, Everyone!

It’s been awhile since we last wrote, but we're am sure that you haven’t missed much; since we are constantly trying our best to keep you all up-to-date about what’s been happening at SEEED on our social media.

As you were already made aware, SEEED celebrated its sixth birthday, and the turnout was tremendous. We reached ¼ of our targeted goal, but since the event, we have been steadily making progress towards hitting that mark. For this post, we'll talk more about the minor, but impactful strides that we are making in regards to our renovation efforts. We'll also talk about bit about our Job Readiness Program, which at the moment seems to be a huge drag.

In previous posts, we have made some inclining to the fact that we are trying to install our computer lab. Since we last wrote, we had the desks installed and we had some gorgeous bar stools donated to add to the décor of our lab. At the turn of the new year, SEEED had been working with the University of Tennessee for computer donation. Last Thursday, we received a total of eight desktop computers free of charge. Now, we just need to work with our friends over at Neighborhood Nerds to get the software for each computer updated, and we should be good to go. With the desktops and a printer added, the lab looks sophisticated. See for yourself:

In addition to fully installing our computer lab, we have been working with Tennessee College of Applied Technology to “modernize” our heating and air systems. This is also tied into our building renovation efforts. And so, we are hoping that by the time we get closer to summer, we’ll have our HVAC system fixed and functioning like it should. Right now, we were told that the total cost will be $4,373.00, which itself could call for another fundraising event.

As for the organizational atmosphere, SEEED has been putting in a lot of effort into writing grants. SEEED’s partnership with the Morningside Housing Association is to serve as a Green Hub for all of East Knoxville. This hub is for residents to gain access to resources that focus on energy efficiency, sustainability and other initiatives that promote environmental literacy among our communities. Hence, we've written a grant to Bank of America for assistance in funding this project. Although we did not receive to total amount requested, we are grateful for the Foundation’s generosity in supporting SEEED’s efforts. We are also looking at other funding opportunities that will support to Morningside Revitalization Project that SEEED is in the process of spearheading. This project is also tied into our current interest—both the interior and the exterior renovation of the facility.

In regards to programming, we have run into yet another stumbling block. We've spent the last three months planning and coming up with recruitment efforts that will ensure the success of the program. Yet, after hours of recruiting in surrounding communities, and many phone calls, we had a total of 8 individuals showing interest in our program. However, when the first day came around, we had only two showed up. It’s been really stressful to see that all that work resulted in naught.

As the VISTA in charge of programming, it’s like I have spent this entire year trying to build something that will eventually be sustained, but on not one, but three tries, I seemed to have failed miserably. Now, with all of this, I am starting to question why I am even here in the first place. It really sucks when you are constantly being reminded about the successes that the program has had, but since I have been here, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. When I do something, I expect result because I am a results-driven individual. But that hasn't been happening for some time now. Don’t get me wrong, I do love being here. I do enjoy my job. I think that this experience is teaching me a lot about myself.

As VISTAs, we’re always being reminded that the experience is worthwhile, but is it really worth anything when I am probably doing more harm than good to the organization?

On the bright side, I am trying to find ways to remedy any potential damages that I may have caused the organization. I am currently looking into other ways that SEEED could potentially grow: through established summer opportunities for children and young adults. I am also looking into ways that we can turn our edible garden into an educational tool for community residents. So, I hope that by the completion of my year of service that I’ll have at least given the organization another reason to prosper.

Side note: it’s getting awfully close to May 22^nd! While I am really excited that I am less than two months away from successfully completing my year of service, I know that there’s still a lot left to be done. But in due time, it’ll all come together.

That’s all for now, y’all! For those of us celebrating the Easter Festivities, I wish for a very HAPPY Easter weekend. And for those of us who aren't celebrating, I wish for you a very relaxing and fun weekend.

Until next time,

+Seeed Knox 

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 

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