Outreach at Pullman Porter Park

A group of eleven students, Sang, and I spent one of the last warm and sunny days of the year helping out at Pullman Porter Park in East St. Louis. First, we heard the history of the park from Willie and Jean, two of our community partners. The two women have been working for many years to convert a strip of land running along the railroad from a dangerous dumping ground to a beautiful park with many trees, flower beds, and a gravel exercise trail. Students helped out by clearing brush along the edge of the park, transplanting ornamental grasses, and weeding the flower beds.

Outreach Weekend, Opal's House

We left Champaign early on a chilly, rainy Friday morning and were greeted in East St. Louis by a break in the weather and a sunny afternoon. Arriving at the Mary Browne Center the students met with leaders working with Eagle’s Nest, Fisher Theater, the East St. Louis Parks District, and Opal’s House. Billie Turner provided a tour of East St. Louis and then groups split up to work for the afternoon. My group of students from FAA 291 worked with Essie Calhoun at Opal’s House. Opal’s House is a nonprofit organization that is preparing to open a domestic violence shelter in East St. Louis. The students took a tour of house and talked with Essie. Then we headed outside and worked in the yard to trim hedges, remove weeds from the fence, and landscape around the driveway. The students were able to use power tools and work as a group on the yard work. On Saturday morning half the group returned to Opal’s House to finish up and the other half headed to Virginia Park to lacquer park benches and prepare for lunch. Heavy rains forced us stop early and head back to Champaign.

Bringing visibility through a logo

The East Side Health District provides preventive health care services to residents of East St. Louis, Stite Township. After Elizabeth shared the core principles of the East Side Health District, we projected the logo onto the blank wall and began tracing it. Throughout the process we consulted with each other about our progress, from asking for feedback on how we painted a letter or figure, to offering suggestions on how to efficiently complete a task. It was an interesting path of collaboration on so many levels. First, we materialized Elizabeth’s vision by partnering with her to create the logo. Secondly, as volunteers, we worked together to complete the project. Through cooperation, focus, and a bit of patience, everyone involved in the ESHD logo project worked together to materialize a vision four-years in the making.

ESLARP students help install smoke detectors

About 18 University of Illinois students worked with the Lessie Bates Davis House of East St. Louis to install smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and change air filters in over 60 homes at the last Outreach Weekend. The Belleville News Democrat newspaper published an article about Lessie Bates Davis House's efforts.

Entrepreneurship Workshop

During the weekend, I went to Berkeley. While there, I made an unexpected trip to the People's Park. In 1968, local community residents turned a parking lot into a park and community garden for everyone to enjoy. The park provides a safe place for people who are homeless to fellowship, garden, rest, and receive food and clothing.

Entrepreneurship Workshop

On January 5, 2009, I accompanied a delegation of 23 students from the University of IL to San Francisco, CA. We were the inaugural group to spend two weeks in Silicon Valley learning about entrepreneurship and start-up companies in Silicon Valley. The students ranged from undergraduate to graduate, the majority engineering students, with a few business students, and me, an architecture student. I went with an open mind, curious about what I might learn, what I might have the opportunity to one day share with others. We spent the first week of the workshop at the Plug and Play Technology Center in San Jose, CA. The Tech Center is the equivalent of a community center for a “technology-minded” neighborhood. Start-up companies and venture capitalists lease office space and network with each other. Representatives from these entities, including lawyers, gave presentations on topics ranging from how to start a company to how to market and sell a product. During week two, we travelled to various start-up companies, small firms and large firms like Google. From the experience, I gained a new set of vocabulary – venture capitalist, angel investors, early adopters, and term sheet to name a few – new insight on entrepreneurship and how it can be applied to social change, and a new sense of connection that engineers, business people, and architects share – we are all designers, we all create, we can all affect change together.

Upon arriving in San Jose, CA, we drove to the Plug and Play Technology Center. This center is an incubator space where start-up companies lease office space while they work on their product and garner funding. Venture capitalists also have office space in the Center, many of them are referred to as “Angel Investors.” Angel investors invest in a start-up at the beginning stages. Doing so requires a high level of faith on the part of the investor for the company has yet to establish a track record of success and overcoming failure. Residents of the Valley value failure, in particular how one overcomes the setbacks is an esteemed asset. The first week of the workshop was held at the Center. Different speakers shared their start-up story, and advice from how to manage the growth of a business to the details of launching a start-up such as obtaining a patent and a lawyer. Also, we learned how to market and sell a product from seasoned professionals, many alumni from the University. Speakers stressed clarity and brevity when delivering the sales pitch. Additionally, entrepreneurs conduct market research and relay this knowledge to investors. The research builds credibility which is the most important aspect of managing a start-up. Investors invest in a team of people, not the idea. To that end, a start-up is not the creation of one person, but the concerted effort of knowledgeable people. A smart founder is one who acknowledges their deficiencies and connects with people who supplant those weak areas. In essence, it is the incubator community which supports the creation of start-ups. People collaborate and share their pitches or ideas inside the space. The practice draws parallels to the architecture studio, both academically and professionally, where designers ask for feedback on their work from colleagues. The creative process is a collective act and an incubator space fosters that process.

The first speaker who introduced the concept of the “network” was the founder of the Plug and Play Technology Center, Saeed Amidi. Mr. Amidi’s networking efforts with venture capitalists, investors who have a vested interest in the start-up companies housed in the Center is one of the reasons for the Plug and Play Technology Center’s success. Most importantly, he views the potential in everyone he meets, envisioning their contribution to the big picture of cultivating start-ups. For example, he liked the personal skills of the barista at his local Starbucks and hired her to become the Business Relationship Manager at the Technology Center. Everyone, from venture capitalists to employees in a start-up engages in a reciprocal relationship – it is win-win for everyone. This symbiosis is reflective of the natural ecosystem. In essence, the Center is a microcosm of the Silicon Valley ecosystem. It is a community center for a technology community.

The entrepreneurial mindset can be incorporated into the strategy of an individual engaged in social action. The key principles are to foster a network of individuals and groups who have a vested interest in the issue pursued and to foster awareness of the oneness people share. For example, an issue such as hunger affects people who are homeless and people without access to healthcare. Thus, the social entrepreneur will craft a “pitch” to garner the support and involvement of agencies that target these particular populations by communicating the common thread that unites them – hunger affects everyone. This method also incorporates taking a risk, a practice inherent to the traditional entrepreneur, for the social entrepreneur, by building relationships with unlikely collaborators, is innovative in their approach to social change.

The most critical thing I learned on the trip was the importance of community in entrepreneurship. Although my exposure to Silicon Valley was short, I observed a correlation between the success of the Valley and relationship building. One of the presenters stated that the "cream of the crop" live and work there, and this is not taken for granted. In fact, the crop is tilled continuously through networking events and in fertile growth environments like technology incubator spaces. In the air is a common unity, centered on materializing ideas, a dedication that can be replicated in many fields, not just technology. Like a natural ecosystem, symbiotic relationships centered on mutual appreciation and exchange, engaging a diverse talent pool, and fortified connections between people and ideas built Silicon Valley – the foundation for any sustainable community.

ESLARP highlighted in Imagining America's fall newsletter

Our own Abby Harmon (graduate assistant) and Vicki Eddings (staff) were interviewed in Imagining America's fall newsletter. Check out pages 5-6!

Eagle's Nest continues preparations for opening shelter

Eagle's Nest's, a longtime community partner of ESLARP, has had some set-backs that have delayed the opening of the much needed veteran's shelter, but they have been able to continue moving forward. This article interviews Martha Watts (Eagle's Nest president) and Don Johnson (ESLARP alum).

Im Memory of Wyvetter of Younge

ESLARP mourns the passing of Illinois State Representative Wyvetter H. Younge on December 26th, 2008. It was her challenge to the University of Illinois to get involved in East St. Louis that prompted the creation of ESLARP, over twenty years ago. Her dedication and passion for the people of East St. Louis will be remembered for years to come.

See the Belleville News Article.