Friday, December 20, 2013
It comes to a close....
After 7 weeks of working to improve the holiday season for homeless female Veterans, and to bring much-needed attention to their cause, our project is coming to a close. Tomorrow, I will be at school bright and early to hand off the tree and accompanying gifts to a representative from Final Salute Inc. While nothing we can contribute will ever be enough to help this deserving group, we feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to become more familiar with this group and with the people at Final Salute who are working tirelessly to help them. As Final Salute's founder emailed recently, "Giving is never too small, everything makes a difference in their lives". This is a sentiment we should all carry with us. It's easy to think that we cannot, as individuals, make a difference for a group or cause. It's important to remember that every little bit helps in the lives of those in need. This is such a great way to finish up the semester and head into the holidays. Hopefully our small effort will help to improve the holidays for homeless female Veterans in the DC area!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Have you seen this posterboard?
I still would really like to know what happened to the posterboard. It was a great accessory to the tree, and had some more information both the Giving Tree and Finale Salute, as well as team member names in case inquisitive minds in the Commons wanted to know more. It just disappeared and I guess I am a bit in disbelief that we weren't notified about it. This is because I suspect whoever took it down didn't appreciate that it was covering the Connelly Commons plaque.
That aside, I know that our project caught the attention of many. When I was putting up the posterboard, some first year students actually came up to me and began talking about the tree and the project. The best moment by far was when our classmate came back from the Georgetown bookstore and handed over a gift card for $25, announcing it was for the Final Salute project. Realizing that people were touched and that our concept of the Giving Tree actually had such positive reactions was an amazing feeling. It really does give me hope that, if the right message reaches the right people, the hardships of many people will be lessened. It also gives me hope that, now that more people know about the concept of a Giving Tree, it will be implemented more commonly. It really is such a great idea and a perfect vehicle for helping others during the holiday season.
As we come to the conclusion of this project, I realize it was great to see many of the principles of creative thinking at play. As I commented to a team member, its easy to think these concepts are easily executable, but they do in fact require conscious implementation and maintenance. It was really wonderful to put them to use in an exercise that revealed their value, and also made a contribution to people who really deserve it.
That aside, I know that our project caught the attention of many. When I was putting up the posterboard, some first year students actually came up to me and began talking about the tree and the project. The best moment by far was when our classmate came back from the Georgetown bookstore and handed over a gift card for $25, announcing it was for the Final Salute project. Realizing that people were touched and that our concept of the Giving Tree actually had such positive reactions was an amazing feeling. It really does give me hope that, if the right message reaches the right people, the hardships of many people will be lessened. It also gives me hope that, now that more people know about the concept of a Giving Tree, it will be implemented more commonly. It really is such a great idea and a perfect vehicle for helping others during the holiday season.
As we come to the conclusion of this project, I realize it was great to see many of the principles of creative thinking at play. As I commented to a team member, its easy to think these concepts are easily executable, but they do in fact require conscious implementation and maintenance. It was really wonderful to put them to use in an exercise that revealed their value, and also made a contribution to people who really deserve it.
Preparing for the Hand-off
We are entering the final days of our project; the Giving Tree's days are numbered. (At least in its current location.)
This Saturday, December 21, representatives from Final Salute will arrive at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business to pick up a Christmas tree, and gifts that were collected during our group's "Making a Difference" project.
As Rick mentioned earlier, we are creating a YouTube video to help raise awareness of Final Salute's worthy cause.
Here's a link to the work-in-progress version (we'll post the finished version soon):
Click Here
We look forward to presenting the tree and gifts to Final Salute, and hope that they will help to raise spirits during the holiday season!
You can find more information about Final Salute here:
Final Salute Webpage
If pictures are worth 1,000 words, this is a really long post
In the spirit of the 12 Days of Christmas,
12 photos from the creation of the Giving Tree
M tidying up the ribbon
M, R & T in an otherwise empty Commons...because it's 10:30am on a Sunday
T hard at work on donation ornaments
Each ornament with a specific gift meeting the needs of homeless female veterans
The ornaments start finding their way to the tree
But only after they get hooked by M
Progress...
Our star is ready to make its way to the tree top
But we're going to need somebody taller than T
Front and center, the purpose of the tree is displayed
With those antlers, M is about as tall as the tree!
The finished product....minus the donated gifts
Filming
We're currently in the process of wrapping up our project to bring attention and awareness to the issue of homeless female veterans. Since I was involved in filming the clips that became the tail end of our YouTube video, I'm going to speak a little about that.
As a group, we knew that we wanted our video to tell some type of story. We also wanted to motivate others by illustrating that giving back or getting involved did not require some type of Herculean effort.
I was watching TV a few days prior to filming and saw a commercial where the actor seamlessly moved through various phases of life by simply walking through a series of doors. I thought the idea was kind of clever and wanted to see if we we could use a similar strategy for our video. On the way to school to set up the tree, I also heard a song on the radio that had an appropriate tone for the message we were trying to convey.
We filmed a series of short clips to illustrate how the tree worked. In the first clip, I took a paper ornament from the tree and walked out the door. From there you see me going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to retrieve the items and then back home to wrap them up. In the final scene, you see me walking back into school and placing the gift at the foot of the tree where several others are located.
To provide a little more context about our cause, Teri and Marin decided that our video needed a brief introduction, and they created a set of slides to give the viewer more context about Final Salute and our project.
Finally, with some clever editing, Marin brought the whole thing together into the finished YouTube video.
As a group, we knew that we wanted our video to tell some type of story. We also wanted to motivate others by illustrating that giving back or getting involved did not require some type of Herculean effort.
I was watching TV a few days prior to filming and saw a commercial where the actor seamlessly moved through various phases of life by simply walking through a series of doors. I thought the idea was kind of clever and wanted to see if we we could use a similar strategy for our video. On the way to school to set up the tree, I also heard a song on the radio that had an appropriate tone for the message we were trying to convey.
We filmed a series of short clips to illustrate how the tree worked. In the first clip, I took a paper ornament from the tree and walked out the door. From there you see me going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to retrieve the items and then back home to wrap them up. In the final scene, you see me walking back into school and placing the gift at the foot of the tree where several others are located.
To provide a little more context about our cause, Teri and Marin decided that our video needed a brief introduction, and they created a set of slides to give the viewer more context about Final Salute and our project.
Finally, with some clever editing, Marin brought the whole thing together into the finished YouTube video.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
The Reel Deal
The filming process began today. As a part of our project, we will present a first draft of a video to our classmates on Thursday. The objective of the video is simple. It is an easy-to-use form of media that can be used by Final Salute in their own promotional efforts of this very serious issue.
In discussing our vision for the video, we realized that its an effective way to communicate how easy to it is to make a difference in the lives of others. It will trace the steps we will be taking with the Giving Tree and further highlighting the reality facing many veterans.
As we began filming today, many of the creative concepts we discuss in class came up. We realized that different perspectives add a level of richness that makes messaging that much more resonating. We also saw firsthand that with more iterations come a more developed end result. Finally, we understood the importance of storytelling, in order to create a clear picture that will have an impact on the viewer, so that he or she is moved to make a difference.
Our filming will continue throughout the week and we are excited to have a final product that can be used toward a greater good. Stay tuned ...
Today we delivered a Christmas tree to a common area of the business school building at Georgetown University. The tree will serve a duel purpose; it will help to add holiday cheer to an otherwise mundane space, and much more importantly, it will be a Giving Tree.
The Giving Tree will be covered in colored paper ornaments, each with a gift request. The gifts will help support Final Salute, Inc. We are working to bring awareness to the organization and to help these amazing women and their children have a better holiday season.
http://www.finalsaluteinc.org/
We are hoping Georgetown MBAs will help us to provide:
- Gifts cards to grocery stores, Walmart, Target, etc.
- Towel sets for use in their transitional housing
- Twin, full and queen sized bedding for use in their transitional housing
The Giving Tree will be covered in colored paper ornaments, each with a gift request. The gifts will help support Final Salute, Inc. We are working to bring awareness to the organization and to help these amazing women and their children have a better holiday season.
http://www.finalsaluteinc.org/
We are hoping Georgetown MBAs will help us to provide:
- Gifts cards to grocery stores, Walmart, Target, etc.
- Towel sets for use in their transitional housing
- Twin, full and queen sized bedding for use in their transitional housing
We are very excited to support this worth cause, and hope people give generously to those in need during the Holidays!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Eliminating the "I didn't even know"
I just made a donation (it's super easy via PayPal on http://www.finalsaluteinc.org)...to an organization supporting a group I didn't even know existed until recently. The first banner on the front page of Final Salute openly admits lack of awareness of the homeless female veterans population.
This reality is...crazy. It is also sad. It needs to be fixed.
That's where we come in. We know our limitations. We're just six people working on a class project, but we're hoping if we can reach enough people who can, in turn, reach enough people and so on and so on, awareness will increase and eventually lead to a measurable increase in donations and volunteer hours and a measurable decrease in homelessness for the female veteran population.
It's a lofty goal given the short time window, but we're focused on creating something that has sustainability. It might be a viral video. It might be a group on campus taking notice and connecting with Final Salute. It might be some of us continuing to work with Final Salute beyond this project. No matter what the method, the goal is clear: have less people saying, "I didn't even realize homelessness was a problem for female veterans."
That's the short term mission, the foundation for eradicating this problem long term. See you on the other side.
This reality is...crazy. It is also sad. It needs to be fixed.
That's where we come in. We know our limitations. We're just six people working on a class project, but we're hoping if we can reach enough people who can, in turn, reach enough people and so on and so on, awareness will increase and eventually lead to a measurable increase in donations and volunteer hours and a measurable decrease in homelessness for the female veteran population.
It's a lofty goal given the short time window, but we're focused on creating something that has sustainability. It might be a viral video. It might be a group on campus taking notice and connecting with Final Salute. It might be some of us continuing to work with Final Salute beyond this project. No matter what the method, the goal is clear: have less people saying, "I didn't even realize homelessness was a problem for female veterans."
That's the short term mission, the foundation for eradicating this problem long term. See you on the other side.
The Creative Process
“Make something happen that brings awareness and attention
to your disadvantaged or disenfranchised group and its interests and needs.”
So open-ended. So devoid of the defined deliverables. It's the type of assignment that could bring fear into the hearts and minds of a group of MBAs who are accustomed to order and structure.
So our team decided to meet and get the ball rolling. We spent some time thinking about what we were attempting to achieve with our project. We identified a few key objectives:
1. Bring attention to Final Salute and homeless female veterans
2. Provide something tangible to the female veterans
3. Utilize course skills that focus on imagination and creativity
We then started brain-storming to generate some ideas for how to accomplish our objectives. Rather than cutting ideas down too quickly, we focused on adding to or improving them. We also remained open to outside inspiration. Several teammates spoke to friends and family about our project to continue generating and refining our ideas. Eventually, we have arrived at a point where we are debating the merits of two great ideas that we are confident will meet all of our objectives. We are going to be making a final decision between the two in the next 24-48 hours.
To be continued...
So open-ended. So devoid of the defined deliverables. It's the type of assignment that could bring fear into the hearts and minds of a group of MBAs who are accustomed to order and structure.
So our team decided to meet and get the ball rolling. We spent some time thinking about what we were attempting to achieve with our project. We identified a few key objectives:
1. Bring attention to Final Salute and homeless female veterans
2. Provide something tangible to the female veterans
3. Utilize course skills that focus on imagination and creativity
We then started brain-storming to generate some ideas for how to accomplish our objectives. Rather than cutting ideas down too quickly, we focused on adding to or improving them. We also remained open to outside inspiration. Several teammates spoke to friends and family about our project to continue generating and refining our ideas. Eventually, we have arrived at a point where we are debating the merits of two great ideas that we are confident will meet all of our objectives. We are going to be making a final decision between the two in the next 24-48 hours.
To be continued...
Monday, December 2, 2013
Hitting Close to Home
“Make something happen that brings awareness and attention
to your disadvantaged or disenfranchised group and its interests and needs”. So
went the instructions for our team’s class project. But first we had to
determine which disadvantaged group to focus on. We agreed that we wanted to identify
a group that is often overlooked – perhaps a subset of a more widely recognized
group? After throwing around a number of ideas, I remembered hearing about an
organization that focuses exclusively on helping homeless female Veterans
find both temporary and more permanent housing.
While there are Grant Per Diem (GPD) programs nationwide
that provide housing for homeless Veterans, approximately 60% of these do not
allow children and 70% of the programs that do allow children have restrictions
on the ages and number of children. Because many female Veterans are also the
sole caregivers for their children (over 30,000 single mothers have deployed to
Iraq or Afghanistan), this gap in available services is a growing problem. In
addition, the number of female Veterans is increasing. In fact, the number of
homeless female Veterans doubled between FY2006 and FY2010
(Source: "Homeless Female Veterans." National Coalition
for Homeless Veterans. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.nchv.org/images/uploads/HFV%20paper%281%29.pdf>.)
As the wife of a Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, these
statistics are particularly troubling to me. Many of my closest friends are
either military spouses or Veterans themselves. I have attended multiple
homecoming ceremonies where families have been reunited after 12 long months
apart. I will also never forget standing in a cold airplane hanger watching
sons and daughters say goodbye to a parent and sending them off to war. The thought
of an entire group of Veterans falling through the cracks after having made
such sacrifices for their country really resonated with me and I knew this was
a cause I could get behind. Fortunately, the rest of the group agreed, and
Final Salute, Inc. was happy to have our help in bringing more attention to
this worthy cause.
We are so excited to work with this amazing organization to
help an especially deserving group. Stay tuned to see our progress and impact
over the next 3 weeks!
See below for an article that speaks to the specific plight of homeless female Veterans:
Home from a long 12 months in Afghanistan. These soldiers should never have to worry about where they and their children will live....
A family reunited....
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Where it all begins...
6 Georgetown MBAs
3 Weeks
1 Mission...
GET FEMALE VETERANS OFF THE STREET
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| Image Credit: http://womenslifestyle.com/epidemic-homeless-women-veterans/ |
Across the next 3 weeks, we will tell our story and theirs. Homelessness is a silent epidemic.
Female veterans face challenges when returning to civilian life that are different from those of their male counterparts. Women vets are three times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts. Of the female veteran population, 47.3 percent are under 30, and an additional 31.7 percent are under 40. There are reasons that many homeless women veterans don’t make it to 41. With no health insurance and unsanitary living conditions, homeless vets face life-threatening illnesses. Extreme weather is a serious threat, as is starvation and dehydration. Sources: US department of Veteran Affairs, Department of Defense and National Coalition for Homeless VeteransHere we will document:
- our creative brainstorming process for how we can make a difference
- design, production, and filming of a youtube video to generate broader awareness
- our impact in 3 weeks working with partner organization Final Salute
What is Final Salute?
Final Salute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the mission of providing homeless women Veterans with safe and suitable housing. It only costs $25 daily to provide safe and suitable, housing, food, clothing, and supportive services for a woman Veteran in need. Final Salute places women Veterans in transitional housing and also helps provides rent and deposit assistance for eligible women Veterans in MD, VA, and DC via interest free loan or grant.
Why Female Vets?
It's estimated that there are currently 55,000 homeless women Veterans in the United States on any given day. For the sacrifices they and they families have made, this is unacceptable. We and Final Salute Inc. believe that unique needs of women Veterans should not be overlooked. Heroes need a home- why not give HER a home for the holidays?
Read stories about women veterans helped by Final Salute: Click here for testimonials
Who are we?
We are MBA students at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business committed to
serving others
thinking creatively &
acting locally!
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| Image Credit: Georgetown University, Teri Delgado |
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