Blog Plan Stage 1

Key West Homeless (Photo credit: cayobo)

I am planning an internship for the summer of 2013 that will include an independent study of the causes of homelessness and the examination of some entrepreneur solutions. I will make my first formal entry into the business of homeless outreach which coincides with my long term career goals. I would like to create a blog that will allow me to research this subject and post my findings. My audience will be the directors of outreach programs and other interested parties. I would like to use the voice of a researching student possibly continuing with questioning people about their view or how it might feel if they were homeless.

Potential topic will include:

• Life on the ground – Basic research of the causes of homelessness
• EMERGENCY- A look at life in emergency shelters and situations leading people to this resource
• Transitional Housing-Facts about transitional housing including outcomes
• Prevention-what is being done? What can we do?

Phase one construction of this blog includes research on the causes and solutions for ending homelessness and providing for the immediate needs of the homeless. Incorporating information from other blogs will provide current data on the issues. Coalition For the Homeless Blog

To add a slant to the research I will examine the effectiveness of the current resources by including opinions of homeless people. This will be stated with blogs similar to those of The Adventures of a Once Homeless Girl.www.thehomelessgirl.com.

This is my summer internship one page proposal:

An Entrepreneurial Study of Homelessness Solutions:                                                                                                                                             

 TARGET: To make my first formal entry into the philanthropic community; increase my understanding of the administrative process of homeless outreach; conduct a study of the causes of homelessness and explore some proven entrepreneurial solutions. The study, An Entrepreneurial Study of Homelessness Solutions, will offer an evaluation of the community resources through interviews and facility tours. I will work as a full time volunteer intern at the St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Foundation, Inc. dba Star of the Sea Outreach Mission (S.O.S). I will conduct interviews and take tours to examine other facilities in my off hours.

• To develop my skill set through my work at S.O.S intake processing, clothing closet inventory and any administrative processes offered for completion by the foundation’s Executive Director, Tom Callahan.
• To create a study of the causes of homelessness and entrepreneurial solutions through interviews with the homeless population, and directors of the 5 or 6 other homeless helping organizations in the city.
• To offer suggestions for mobilizing resources through social media marketing and by applying entrepreneurial solutions to help improve quality of life for homeless people.
• If my strategy is successful I will conclude with a presentation to community and organizational leaders. Suggestions will be drawn from the study of the area’s current resources and offerings. I will consider ways to add value and to improve the assistance given to homeless people.                                                                                                                                             

St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Outreach Foundation and St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen work to feed and clothe not only homeless but low income people and families as well. Some of the other organizations include the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition and the Salvation Army. Because of the great need in Key West there have been solutions created to provide transitional housing. My study will include many of these operations.                                                                                                                                                        I am a Business major in my second year of progress at Berea College. I am an Entrepreneurship for the Public Good (EPG) Cohort 9 candidate. I am interested in the learning administrative processes and conducting a study of the causes of homelessness and entrepreneurial solutions.                                                                                                                                       I will contribute to the position a strong skillset in the areas managing ambiguity and uncertainty, organization, effective communication, the ability to recognize opportunities and mobilize resources. I am also a highly effective motivator and a hard working team member with a strong work ethic. 

STATUS:  My entrepreneurial leadership skills were developed through my work with the EPG Program in the summer of 2012. My team conducted a study of the Appalachian (K.R.A.D.D.) region evaluating community assets and developing a plan to create new possible revenue streams in the impoverished communities.  EPG’s Summer Institute mission is to promote social media as a way to market small businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout rural Appalachia. The EPG program taught me to utilize online digital resources to direct tourism revenues to the communities I was working in. I traveled through three states in the Appalachian region to gain an understanding of the need for increased tourism dollars to the area and learned how a tourism system is created. I reviewed 23 businesses on yelp, 15 posts on Word Press, 49 Face book Posts about businesses and 4 reviews on Gogobot. 737 readers have read my 19 reviews on Trip Advisor.                                                                                                                                                                                                      

ACTION:  To execute the proposed study/ internship as an agreement (previously negotiated) between Tom Callahan (S.O.S.), Ed McCormack (Berea College #1 Advisor), Dr. Peter Hackbert (EPG), and Donna Reeves (Student).                                                                                                                                                          _____________________________

Donna Reeves, January 19, 2013