Research Essay Draft
Please post your research essay here Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
Assignment:
Respond to minimally one classmate's essay. Look at how well he or she answered the questions, after stating the problem. Did the writer define social entrepreneur? Are there any questions you want answered? If so, ask them. Is the essay well-organized, if not, ask clarifying questions so the writer can address your concerns. List five things about the essay that the author does well. Oh, how is the MLA?
Make sure you include the outline and the works cited page.
Please post your research essay here Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
Assignment:
Respond to minimally one classmate's essay. Look at how well he or she answered the questions, after stating the problem. Did the writer define social entrepreneur? Are there any questions you want answered? If so, ask them. Is the essay well-organized, if not, ask clarifying questions so the writer can address your concerns. List five things about the essay that the author does well. Oh, how is the MLA?
Make sure you include the outline and the works cited page.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 9:00 PM
8 Comments:
This semester in English 1 A has been a long journey. I feel okay right now nut it would help if you were more specific about what you expect in aaignments, and collect them when you say they are due. i do appreciate you giving us extra time to complete and resubmit assignments.
Evans, Rebecca
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1a
11 May 2009
The Positive Outlook on Loving One’s Body
“81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat and 91% of college students have taken unhealthy measures in an attempt to be thinner.” Connie Sobczak and The Body Positive are working to change these statistics by teaching self love and acceptance within the community. Connie Sobczak is a social entrepreneur, a woman making positive changes with a grass roots theme. She is inspired to fight the epidemic of self hate, body hate, and eating disorders. Sobczak herself was not immune to body dissatisfaction and self hatred; throughout her adolescence and early college years she developed the deadly eating disorder, Bulimia.
Eating disorders are directly defined as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). There are criteria one must fall under to be diagnosed with any of the above however, any negative relationship with food, body or self is dangerous and an illness. As defined by the DSM-IV-TR, (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders), “Anorexia is the refusal to maintain one’s body weight normal for their age and height, maintaining a body weight of <85%, less than deemed healthy, an intense fear of becoming fat, and in women the loss of one’s menstrual cycle. Bulimia is defined as recurring episodes of eating an amount of food larger than what most people would eat during a rapid pace of time, a lack of control over one’s behavior, and the compensatory behavior of eliminating the food through: self induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other mediations, fasting, or excessive exercise. Binge eating disorder encompasses the same behaviors of bulimia without behaviors to rid one of the food ingested. EDNOS is defined in many ways and is no less threatening or dangerous than anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder. For female patients, all of the criteria for anorexia nervosa are met except that the patient has regular menses. Another branch is for the patients to meet all of the criteria for anorexia nervosa except that, despite significant weight loss, the patient's current weight is in the normal range. A bulimic branch encompasses patients who meet the criteria for bulimia but the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory mechanisms occur less than twice a week or for less than 3 months. Another form of EDNOS is when the patient has a normal body weight but regularly uses inappropriate compensatory behaviors after eating small amounts of food. A less common, but still prevalent eating disorder is ‘chew and spit’ which is comprised of repeated chewing and spitting out, but not swallowing of large amounts of food.”
Connie is aware of these deathly diagnoses and equates much of her struggle to the time in which she grew up. Sobczak grew up in the 1970’s during the second wave of feminism when women were attempting to control their bodies to fit into molds like men, in hopes of obtaining higher positions and status. The “fat-free” fad entered in the early 1980’s in an attempt to combat heart disease and rising obesity. The cause of these illnesses however was not an influx of fat but an influx of ignorance to listening to one’s body. After the birth of her daughter, Sobczak lost her older sister to bulimia. She decided that she must take action against the body and self hatred taught and inherited by women. Eating disorders were becoming an epidemic and the key to healing began with self love. Out of the dust Sobczak began working with friend and school psychotherapist, Elizabeth Scott to develop the Body Positive. Sobczak sees the hatred women hold as a disease that physically and emotionally cripples and disables them. “A simple trip to the grocery store is no longer safe. One is bombarded with weight loss items, low fat options and hundreds of magazines pushing the latest diet craze, slim star, or overweight celebrity.” Connie is full time leader toward body and self satisfaction. She tours schools, conferences, and treatment centers spreading knowledge and insight on the importance of self love. Although eating disorders are on the rise, Connie Sobczak’s program The Body Positive is promoting change and producing leaders, because of her dedication and the positive change she has witnessed among young women.
The Issue Connie Sobczak confronts
Due to media influences, developing nations are also creating obsessions and unrealistic stereotypes. The human body is a vehicle in which to live out one’s life, yet over the millennia it has become a show piece and a litmus test for ethical and moral status. Throughout history a larger waste line indicated wealth, health, and good fortune. If one was “overweight” they had enough money to purchase food and hire help. The waiflike commoners often died from malnutrition or diseases that infected a weakened immune system due to the lack of essential Arthur Hughes, The Union of Earth and water, by Peter Paul Rubens, and ‘La Gioconda’ also known as The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci” highlighted the essence of the larger, healthier and wealthier woman of the past. Only in recent years have women begun to rage against their bodies natural patterns.
In the “roaring twenties” women where fighting for the right to vote and finally received it! With voting they began to work toward equal pay, better jobs, seats in government, and higher education. Men were considered to be in the utmost power hence women began to develop a style and body closer to a man’s. As Margo Maine states in her book, The Body Myth, “Media was becoming prevalent in every household and workplace. The flapper image became a popular ideal. Fashion began to take on a prominent role. Women dawned suites and used their svelte bodies to ease their way up on the social and business ladder.”
The 1940's and 50’s brought another change to the ideal female body image. The despair of the Depression had dwindled and the winning of WWII was near. This brought hope and prosperity to Americans. The ideal female body image then changed to become glamorous with a sensual appeal. This new image was pronounced: a higher bust, a defined waist, and rounded hips.
The second wave of feminism came in the 1960’s and 70’s when the popular model, Twiggy, came onto the scene at “five feet and six inches she weighted a mere 91 pounds” body myth and provided an impossible picture to portray. By the 1970’s women had access to more education, birth control, and jobs. Women continued to fight for their right to equality by transforming their bodies into “male look-alikes” as well as sensual images to males. Television sets, radios, movies, commercials, and magazines were, and continue to be, a large commodity for body image influence as most homes had a television, radio, and subscription to a newspaper. A marketer’s strategy consists of three levels. First, they find and convince the consumer of a problem, second, they create a product to fix the problem and finally the consumer purchases it. The “problem” body size and shape envelop society and marketers have created multiple “fixes”. U.S. citizens spend “40 billion dollars a year” on diet fads and fashion trends in an attempt to look like models who represent less than 1% of the actual human population and are consistent in having lower body mass indexes (bmi) of average woman.
Today new media such as the internet and fashion shows cater to the old battles of body insecurities. On almost every website advertisements buzz the screen to fund the website. These advertisements range from credit cards to diet schemes, makeup plugs, liposuction, and breast implants. A simple click leads unsuspecting women to a harsh battle ground of judging and fear.
Women’s bodies have become manufactured objects. The United States spends 20 million on makeup annually. Plastic surgery is on the rise to please men and receive better job positions. Insurance companies are well known to cover cosmetic surgery procedures while denying coverage for an eating disorder sufferer.
The media promotes and reflects the current mainstream culture's standards for body shape and size to determine their self esteem. For example,”90% of all girls’ ages 3-11 have a Barbie doll, an early role model with a figure that is unattainable in real life.” “The average she/he is 60 years old. One of every 11 commercials has a direct message about beauty.”
The media uses imaging software, camera angles, and makeup artists to revel “picture perfect” specimens. Models, actresses, actors, and celebrities spend thousands of dollars and hours sculpting their bodies and following strict diets, this is time the average American spends working, taking care of family, and education.
Body image and eating disorders were thought to only affect white and wealthy young women. This presumption is however false.
In an article appearing in Essence magazine (a publication aimed at the African American audience) commented, “largeness...once accepted-even revered-among Black folks, now carries the same unmistakable stigma as it does among Whites."
Essence magazine conducted an eating disorder study, examining a sample of 600 female respondents. “Sixty-six percent of the respondents reported dieting behavior, 39% claimed that food controls their lives, and 54% were at risk for an eating disorder.” A recent study by physiotherapist, Striegel-Moore, found that Black adolescent girls demonstrated significantly higher drive for thinness than White adolescent girls. The study also found that Black girls drive for thinness was significantly correlated with having been criticized for being too fat. The study reported that “40% of the 2000” girls surveyed reported wanting to lose weight, with no significant difference between Black or White girls.
The Outlook and Guidance of The Body Positive
The Body Positive is a non-profit organization run out of Berkeley California. It has created two videos disturbed to schools and organizations to teach and promote positive body image and healthy lifestyles. The main component of the program focuses on the Healthy at Every Size (HAES) campaign. HAES focuses on the acceptance of all body shapes and sizes, the ineffective results and dangers of dieting, the method of relaxed eating and enjoyable physical activity in response to internal body cues, and the physical, emotional, and spiritual contribution to health and happiness. The HAES approach suggests that one’s health is not so much determined by numbers but overall heath in terms of vital signs, happiness, and immunity. Dieting is dangerous and addictive. It is capable of causing physical traumas such as: hair loss, malnutrition, poor circulation, heat arrhythmias, and loss of menses (in women). Dieting is almost always a set up for failure. With HAES one must listen to their body, feed it, and move it in response to its true cues and wishes, this will ultimately keep one’s weight and health steady.
The HAES model has been backed up by therapists, doctors, and educators. Jonathan Robison holds a doctorate in health education/exercise physiology and a master of science in human nutrition from Michigan State University. He has authored numerous articles and participated in research in the HAES approach. He determined that HAES has significantly helped people who participate so long as they go without giving into societies false claims and miracle “fixes” on body weight and health concerns.
There is a current war on obesity, and dieting is not the answer! The goal is to start with children and adolescents which is the goal of The Body Positive. If children can learn to love and accept their bodies and listen to their physical cues then the need for obesity prevention is obsolete.
The Body Positive uses the “Body Aloud”, which is a program created by its founders Sobczak and Scott. Body aloud caterers to high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, universities, community-based agencies, hospitals, clinics, youth groups, and churches. Sobczak comments, “It is our goal to provide all youth with the opportunity to voice their feelings about the conditions in their lives that cause eating and body image problems, and with the tools and support necessary to invent their own solutions to the problems caused by those conditions.” The Body positive uses several modes of education including videos, and seminars.
Director Connie Sobczak has produced two videos. The Body Talk videos are comprised of interviews from local schools, with real children who have gone through the program and have been transformed by the positive outlooks on one’s self and body. The Body Positive traveled to Illinois in 2002 to help implement the Body Aloud program. The state granted 525 Illinois school districts to improve the health of its youth. The state has expanded and almost all the school districts in Illinois are now participating in the Body Aloud approach.
The Body Aloud is a comprehensive handbook and curriculum that provides teaching methods to the lay representative. In elementary and middle schools the curriculum focuses on helping children listen to their bodies’ internal cues of hunger, fullness, and needed activity. Children are prompted with questions: what is love, what is fear, and how does love and fear interact with one’s view of themselves? Connie also implements a two week challenge in which she encourages students to only spread positive concepts of their bodies and to speak out against body hate, bulling, determined by one’s appearance.
With a world full of advertisements of quick snacks, video games, skinny movie stars, and cartoon figures Sobczak teaches children to uses a filter on media. The key is for children to understand that media is an interpretation of a select few views on beauty. Children learn the basics of false advertising such as the use of green screens and computers to change to look of the people they see on TV and in movies. They also learn that celebrities live in a different world where they are not free to be kids but have chosen to work, and each celebrity also can choose how to portray themselves. Positive role models such as athletes and community leaders are offered to balance the influx of celebrities and move stars.
The Body Positive focuses much of its attention on changing children’s outlooks on health and body wellness.
Some key findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation, surveying 1,200 children of all ethnic groups and ranging from ages 10 to 17 showed staggering evidence of body hate and lowered self esteem. The study showed, “Both girls (61%) and boys (53%) said that the characters on TV are thinner than women in real life.” The majority of girls wanted to resemble a character on TV and 31% had changed something about their appearance to be more like the character. Children spend hours watching TV and are bombarded with advertisements, celebrities, hate and destruction.
“The Social Learning Theory, developed by physiologist Albert Bandura in 1963, suggests that humans learn behavior by observing others.” The act of watching TV is an observation process. With most parents working and attending to household duties there is little time for positive role modeling and hence children pick up on T.V. stars to imitate. The American Psychological Association Task Force on Television and Society presented research that indicated that by the end of elementary school, the “average child viewer will have witnessed approximately 30,000 acts of violence on TV.
At the rate children are exposed to violence they are also exposed to body image and body ideals. Every other commercial shows a get fit quick trick or a beauty regime to adopt.
The American Psychological Association Task Force on Television and Society discovered direct correlations of T.V. and real life scenarios. When exposed to positive and kind behavior children practiced pro-social behavior and less aggressive behavior. The thoughts and feelings held by the viewers are being glamorized and supported by appearing on television and in other forms of media.
Sobczak also works with high school students in order to make an impact on bulling, teasing, and body hate. A study of high school students from 80 high schools showed a theme of using body size and physical characteristics with to determine friends and social status. Body size and appearance affects how adolescents, especially girls, view themselves and others, which shapes the nature of high school peer networks. “Larger adolescents tended to be teased and ridiculed more than their smaller (and) thinner counterparts. With less involvement in school sports, student government or clubs, due to fear of ridicule, the “larger” students feel isolated and have higher rates of depression.” The study also found that when asked to nominate “the top” or “choice” friends (five male and five female) nearly all 90,000 students chose thinner, “beautiful” students. The fact that these girls and boys were sought out left many alone and when a person feels rejected the rates of depression, suicide, and other issues surface. If one can confidently and safely express their feelings and hardships and then receive guidance and help, the chance of acting out using: food, drugs, alcohol, or self harm often lessened. Sobczak not only teaches students but educators and therapists as well. Lectures include information identifying cultural myths and combating them with core principles that lead to healthy and joyful living. Lectures at colleges and universities include: “How to eat without Mom: Navigating the college cafeteria, Prevent eating disorders: Create a ‘Body Positive’ environment in your dorm, Make peace with your body: Cultivate intuitive eating and intuitive exercise at college.” At corporations the Body positive offers: “Healthy living: The Body Positive's approach to weight and health, and Healthy eating on the run: How to eat intuitively and healthfully on a busy schedule.” In Women's Group lectures Sobczak and Scott offer: “Why diets don't work: The Body Positive's approach to weight and health, and Tell your body story: Write, dance, paint and move to improve your relationship with your body, health, and concept of beauty.” Bp web For the Mental Health Professionals Sobczak personally trains participants during the seminar: “Resolve body hatred with self-love: The Body Positive's approach to helping your client make peace with her body.”
The Body Positive also offers three hour seminars in which, participants have the chance to share their personal stories related to body image such as bulling, self esteem, or eating disorders. Sobczak leads the group to search for the deeper meanings behind body hate and then teaches supportive tools to aid in health and happiness. These tools include, positive affirmations, knowledge of the media’s tools to change image, links to websites and books promoting healthy choices and loving acceptance, journaling, and talking honestly with other women most likely experiencing the same feelings but to afraid to share or admit their struggles. Like seminars workshops have become a hot commodity as women are recognizing the strength in themselves when they can accept their size and shape. During workshops participants engage in activities such as body tracings, meditations, and art to unearth their deeper connections with food and heath.
The Body Positive also offers individual coaching. Person coaching is a form therapy, where Sobczak and Scott are able to focus with the patient one on one. Andrea, a client, comments on her experience with personal coaching, “The Body Positive's approach is as unique and unconventional as the things they teach. Their process is multifaceted and relies equally upon reading, writing, verbal communication, physical activity, emotional support and a very strong philosophy that we all have the ability within us to learn how to truly love, accept and respect ourselves”.
Sobczak’s recent activity has been in colleges where she is creating leaders of tomorrow. A main program in process is occurring at UC Berkley. Students have come together to learn and teach others, body acceptance, and feminine strength.
UCB is participating in the Alterations Art Project, started by the Body Positive and currently spreading to multiple campuses. College students, directed by Sobczak, come together to analyze the relationship between themselves and their clothing. Birgit Gehrt, an artist working with Sobczak and Scott, notes the functions clothes play on one’s psyche, “People, especially youth, are highly susceptible to and easily tormented by the whims of fashion, especially in relation to body size and cultural definitions of beauty. These garments (created through the project) act as visual manifestations of the constituents' stories about their bodies in a larger body—society.” Clothes are tailored to certain body types and ethnicities, usually the white and slender. Mannequins in stores illustrate unrealistic body compositions and “cookie cutter” shapes. The Alterations Art Project asks collegiate students to bring forth their clothing that encumbers them. Women bring clothes they forced themselves to fit into such as: “skinny jeans”, skin tight tank tops, miniskirts, and clothes that only come in sizes 0-4. It is rare to find the latest fashions in all shapes and sizes. Fashion designers make clothes that look good but are impractical. Beautiful works of poetry, art, and photography have been created through Alliterations due to the feelings of rejection by society’s designers. Women are beginning to fight for their style and their right to clean, and beautiful fashions no matter their shape or size.
Sobczak is a leader and an inspiration but without the community the Body Positive would be nonexistent. The Body Positive was the first non-profit organization in California to receive a grant for eating disorder prevention. The money however was inadequate lasting from 1998-2002. Sobczak is currently applying for additional grants and sponsors to support the upcoming two adult body image videos and an upgrade to the website. She has hit a road block as government funding grant agencies still do not see eating disorders as a threat to society.
The Community as Stewards
The Body Positive relies on the community to support them and keep them dedicated and committed. In a sense the community owns the organization because without the brave young women willing to look into their deeper issues and learn healthy coping alternatives there would be no lectures, movies, or projects. It is difficult to admit one’s defeat from social pressures, but the Body Positive is willing to aid women to become the best they can be and spread the pros of positive body image. The Body Positive engages with the community, offering its movies, Body Aloud curriculum, and the Alterations project book for sale. The money assists the Body Positive to continue its curriculum.
Sobczak as a Guide and Community Leader for Change
Sobczak’s individual contribution to the community is completely voluntary. She spends hours a day focusing on teaching children and women the HAES philosophy. She has helped women open up about their internal struggles with sex, media influence, bulling and depression, expecting nothing but a smile and at least one changed attitude.
Every woman that has participated in the Body Positive curriculum has gone away with an ability to sort out media’s distorted myths form factual evidence. Participants walk away with tools: knowledge of their body’s inner cues, positive thinking and a filter of the media’s tricks. Students begin to create a group of friends to fight body hate and receive support. Women have gone on to work as eating disorder counselors, nurses, doctors, and community activists. Sobczak visits hospitals and communities burdened by eating disorders. Her methods to: accept one’s body, listen to its cues, recognize society’s false claims and lies, and create larger communities of steadfast women have helped the women’s recoveries.
Connie is supported by the community by seeing women’s attitudes change. She is also becoming more motivated due to the urgency needed to reach women before society can brainwash them. Society has evolved to think of thin as “in” and powerful. Beauty has become skin deep and chosen by a select few. She is upset that eating disorders are ignored and thought of as a vanity disease and a way to receive attention.
The media has hidden eating disorders and their dangers. In 2005 Terri Schiavo passed away from a seven year battle with her life. Her situation became a national news story when people began questioning her husband’s motives to keep her on life support in her vegetative state. Schiavo slipped into a coma in 1998 due to her electrolyte imbalance caused by bulimia. This fact was not known to the public in fear that the community might see her illnesses as a plea for attention and brush it aside. Sobczak is disturbed by these instances and is dedicating her life to change the community and provide proper treatment of eating disorders. Connie has gained a sense of self stewardship, accomplishment, and motivation in her serious work of saving lives.
Sobeck is not quitting, even as eating disorders are on the rise. She has wonderful plans for the Body positive including the publishing of a recipe book, Recipes for Body and Soul. This book will include recipes that reflect intuitive living concepts, anything from actual favorite recipes to stories about eating and moving intuitively to essential restorative practices. The organization is also introducing two new videos and plans on taking a trip to more schools.
Sobczak remains hopeful in her battle against eating, body, and self-esteem issues. With limited government funding Sobczak not only struggles against the media and false interpretations but also with the financial sector. Government funding is allocated to, “For the 10 million suffers of eating disorders only $12,000,000 is allocated toward research and treatment while the 4.5 million suffers of Alzheimer’s receive $647,000,000, and the 2.2 million suffers of Schizophrenia receive $350,000,000.” Eating disorders are the deadliest physiological disease, killing thousands annually. Connie stays motivated by seeing the progress made by the leaders of the Body Positive. Since the start of the Body Positive, fourteen years ago, the first women are now in their late twenties and have gone on to change their communities. Numerous members of the Body Positive have graduated college with psychological degrees, others have gone into holistic healing, and others into community activism. She has changed lives and seen recovery. With her own daughter she perhaps witnessed the most fervent change. While Connie never directly taught or lectured her daughter on body and self love, through osmosis and mirroring positive role models she learned through observation and integration. Sobczak’s daughter mingled with the positive actions and feelings of women around her. Instances of talking against diets, eating when hungry and stopping when full, exercising for friends, fitness and fun, and using one’s time to volunteer, enjoy nature, or educating the mind. Connie Sobczak is continuing her work with the Body Positive by putting out two new movies for adults on body image, expanding the website, and traveling to numerous conferences throughout the United States offering tips and trainings on teaching self love and acceptance. There is hope for self love and in turn love and respect for the earth and all its beings.
Andre Stephens
English 1A – 9:00 – 9:50
Social Entrepreneur Outline
1. Introduction
2. Who is the social entrepreneur profiled?
Mimi Silbert
3. What problem did the person profiled identify?
A high percentage of criminals that are released end up going back into the system within three years. There needed to be a rehabilitation program that provided people with the skills they need to make a positive difference in the community.
4. What is the name of the organization they started?
Delancey Street
5. Describe their relationship to the community that they serve.
The program does not cost anything to taxpayers. Silbert, who is the President and CEO, also lives at the San Francisco headquarters and follows the same rules and regulations as the people in the program.
6. Why did they decide to address the issue?
In order for the residents to be contributing members of society, they must be accountable for their previous actions. They have to become a part of the solution instead of just the problem.
7. What is the local component?
The San Francisco headquarters has been in existence since 1971. They also have facilities in New York, New Mexico, North Carolina and Los Angeles.
8. How does the community own the process?
The community benefits from the businesses that the organization runs such as a trucking business and restaurant.
9. What does the social entrepreneur gain?
The knowledge that she has made a difference in the lives of the people in the program and the community.
10. Conclusion
Andre Stephens
Professor Sabir
English 1A
8 May 2009
Mimi Silbert and Delancey Street
According to The New Heroes, “A social entrepreneur identifies and solves social problems on a large scale. Just as business entrepreneurs create and transform whole industries, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss in order to improve systems, invent and disseminate new approaches and advance sustainable solutions that create social values” (pbs.org). Mimi Silbert is a social entrepreneur. Although Mimi Silbert’s Delancey Street Foundation is involved with the homeless, substance abusers, prostitutes, ex-felons and those who have no where else to go, she is making a difference in their lives and the community, because the residents receive the tools they need to successfully contribute and live in society.
Delancey Street was started by John Maher, a former addict and convict. He met Mimi in the early ‘70s and she became a powerful force in moving the foundation forward. At the time there were four residents living in a small apartment in San Francisco. Mimi was asked to help prepare the application to apply for a NIMH grant for $1 million. She chose not to because she thought that it would hinder Delancey’s growth. She also felt it would be against the Foundation’s belief in self-reliance. The people in the program needed to feel like they belonged and the money that they earned from the different business ventures was vital in order to keep the Foundation going forward (Sales 107). Silbert named the foundation Delancey Street from a street on New York’s lower east side. It was the place at the turn of the century where European immigrants who came to America called home. When Silbert talks about the people Delancey Street serves, she says, “We take people who don’t know how to live in America – whether they’re loaded on drugs or have been in prison most of their lives” (Readers’s Digest). Since the residents of Delancey Street come from all walks of life and different background, they are also like immigrants.
A high percentage of criminals that are released end up going back into the system within three years. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, out of 296,752 people at risk of being re-incarcerated in California, 81,431 returned to prison (Probation and Parole in the United States, 2007 Statistical Tables). From Delancey’s Street beginning, Mimi felt there should be a rehabilitation program that provided people with the skills they need to make a positive difference in the community. Silbert says, “Imprisoning criminals at someone else’s expense, providing all their food and lodging and letting them just sit there with no responsibility is absurd. If you care about people, you hold them accountable” (Metzer 17). Unlike a lot of the people in society, Silbert does not believe that when you make a mistake, you should spend the rest of your life being punished. She believes that you should be accountable for your actions and make a positive change.
When Delancey Street first began, it started with a loan of $1000 and four residents in an apartment. Silbert used what she learned from her family growing up in Boston as the example for the way to run Delancey Street. She says, “I’ve duplicated here what worked for me in that neighborhood, where everybody looked out for everybody else as we struggled upward. It was like holding hands while climbing a mountain. Together we rise or together we fall” (Parade Magazine). The people in the program operate as a team so in order for them to succeed they must work together for the good of all and not just for themselves.
The Delancey Street program does not cost anything to taxpayers. The program uses the money from the many businesses it runs and from private donations, which makes it self-sustaining. Silbert serves as the Foundation’s President and CEO. She receives no salary and also lives at its San Francisco headquarters, which means she has to follow the same rules and regulations as the people in the program. Delancey Street has a great relationship with the community. For example, they have worked hard to develop a positive relationship with the community by assisting in police training activities where the residents enact crime scenes; speak at schools about drug and crime prevention; take senior citizens on day trips; and use former thieves to show business owners how to prevent theft (delanceystreetfoundation.org). Since the organization is active in the community, the community is more accepting of having this type of program in the neighborhood. Delancey Street has been a part of the San Francisco community for over 37 years. Two of the goals they focus on for the community are teaching the residents to interact positively with the public and educating the public about the positive changes the residents can make.
In order for the residents of Delancey Street to be contributing members of society, they must be accountable for their previous actions. They have to become a part of the solution instead of just the problem. The minimum stay at Delancey Street is two years, but most people stay for four years. During this time, the people in the program must learn a marketable skill and earn a high school equivalency degree if they didn’t graduate from high school. Several of the residents use a partnership Delancey Street has with Golden Gate University and San Francisco State to earn their BA degrees. To ensure the residents can survive when they leave Delancey Street, they can take advantage of several training programs such as accounting and bookkeeping; automotive & truck repair; construction and property management; moving and trucking; warehousing; and restaurant, catering, event and wedding planning. The residents are also exposed to museums, ballets and recitals. The residents live together in dorm rooms located at the San Francisco headquarters they built themselves, and work together using the belief that “each-one-teach-one” (delanceystreetfoundation.org). This means that each resident is responsible for helping another person. It might be tutoring someone in a subject they are having trouble with or picking up the slack in the restaurant they run for someone who is falling behind.
Silbert has achieved many accomplishments. She oversaw the construction of the Foundation’s facility in San Francisco and served as the developer. She has several honorary doctorate degrees, has been honored by many organizations, and has appeared on 20/20, Oprah Winfrey, Good Morning America and many other shows. Over 14,000 people have been helped by the work Silbert does at Delancey Street. According to Silbert, “90% of those who have completed the program now lead law-abiding lives” (People Weekly). In addition to holding jobs in construction, trucking, sales, business and law enforcement, the Delancey Street graduates are contributing members of society.
Mimi Silbert is definitely a social entrepreneur. She really takes pride in improving the lives of those who are at the bottom end of the spectrum. While interning as a prison psychologist, she learned that the prison system doesn’t work because the people who are incarcerated aren’t responsible for anything, everything is given to them, and paid by the taxpayers. That gave her the inspiration to come up with a better system. With her educational background and determination, she is able to help the residents of Delancey Street turn their lives around. Even though Silbert and the Delancey Street Foundation deal with substance abusers, ex-felons, prostitutes and the homeless who have no other options, she is the driving force in their lives and community. When the residents leave the program, they will be equipped with the tools they need to be assets and contribute to the community in a positive way.
Works Cited
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Males, Caroline, and Raskin, Julie. “Delancey Street’s Road to Success.”
Reader’s Digest March 1989.
Metzler, Barbara R. Passionaries, Turning Compassion Into Action.
PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2006.
Sales, Grover. John Maher of Delancey Street. Toronto: George J. McLeod
Limited, 1976.
“What is Social Entrepreneurship?” Pbs.org. 5 Apr. 2009 http:www.pbs.org/
thenewheroes/whatis/p_index.html
Whittemore, Hank. “Hitting Bottom Can Be The Beginning.”
Parade Magazine March15, 1992.
Yes Sabir is a good teacher she must have more organization then she'll become a great teacher. The people who aren't complaining about doing so many assignments are the students that either Unemployed or don't have a life. If you do Not have a child, your opinion doesn't count Point Blank Period. Iam a married woman with children and is currently employed, that should tell you alot.
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Angela Sterling
English 1 A
Professor Sabir
5 May 2009
Social Entrepreneurs: Kristin Peterson
Imagine what it would be like to live in a rural place with no cell phones, no ipods, no computers, no technology of any kind, not even any type of power. There are many places in the world that lack 21st century technologies. So maybe it’s not a big deal to you not to have the newest blackberry or the fastest internet connection, but some people have no technology accessible to them let alone any electricity or power sources at all. People that live in these bucolic areas have no other choice but to communicate through snail mail and landline phones (which aren’t necessarily unpleasant if you do have access to them). So how do the people living in these areas find out what else is happening in the rest of the planet? If there is no newspaper or any form of media, they most likely won’t be in tune to everything occurring in the rest of the world aside from where they live. This could be a problem because people and societies further develop by communicating and exchanging ideas with other places and even sometimes copying what strategies, methods or technologies are effective for these other places and are helping them thrive or prosper. The people who exist in poor and underdeveloped communities are socially isolated from the rest of the planet which could be a cause of why they are not flourishing like other nations, villages, towns, or cities in the rest of the
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world are.
That’s where Inveneo and Kristin Peterson come in. Inveneo, a non profit
organization provides developing communities around the globe with low power, energy efficient technologies to provide learning and communication. Inveneo believes that communication through technology can change lives. The reasons that their organization provides information communications technologies (ICTs) is to provide education, communication, help improve economies, and to aid in enforcing human rights. Inveneo has done numerous projects for villages in Africa, Brazil, and other places where they have built solar powered, low energy computer labs that can be accessible to the whole village to use for a small fee (its free for the students). Inveneo makes sure the revenue earned from the computer labs stay in the country in which it was made so the profit can contribute to making the economy better there, or sometimes the funds will be donated to the schools there. One example of a project that they did is when they went to Gomoa-Nyanyano, a village located in Ghana, Africa. Inveneo built a solar powered computer lab for the Kempshot Grammar Academy so the students would have computers to use. They also did for Kilwa Masoko’s Secondary School in Tanzania. So far Inveneo has helped people in twenty-two different countries and two hundred sixty-eight varying communities.
Kristin Peterson is co-founder and chair and chief development officer of Inveneo. She has had experience working in communications industry business development, new market development, and marketing for a time span of more than eighteen years. She
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currently lives in San Francisco, CA but her job causes her to travel all around the world. In September 2004, Kristin along with Bob Marsh and Mark Summer started Inveneo. In an interview with Humaninet, she explained “…we strongly believe that these technologies can make a huge difference in people’s lives when deployed as sustainable projects. We started Inveneo to design systems with the idea that today’s lower cost technologies could be adapted to the specific needs of NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) who work with the most under-served communities in developing countries. These communication solutions are designed to help extend the NGO’s ability to provide all types of services and access to ICT in remote villages and locations.” Kristin was named a CNN Principal Voice in innovation and technology for 2007. Kristin Peterson believes technology can “improve lives in simple yet profound ways…” and this is what motivates her to do this type of work.
Kristin and the Inveneo organization gained the community’s support by working hand in hand with the community. Majority of the communities Inveneo has done projects in were genuinely interested in the process.
The community gains several things from the project. First and foremost, they gain a new computer lab. With this lab, they can gain knowledge as well as communicate with other people. They can even use the internet to generate income and earn money. Mark Summer, a co-founder of Inveneo stated “The woman got together and started a weaving cooperative for baskets and things like that, which they are now selling through another organization they have connected to by e-mail over the internet, which buys their
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goods and sells them then through various channels in a fair trade type of way.” Inveneo’s projects besides impacting groups as a whole have also leave an impression on individuals directly as well. Father Joe, a priest from Gulu, Uganda discussed how his life
improved after Inveneo came and made internet access possible in his village. He said
that he was relieved he no longer had to drive to the post office to retrieve letters. He also said that the faster form of communication “changed the life of his institution” as well as his own. There are endless possibilities to what each community can gain from the internet because it’s like an open book.
Kristin had gained many things from her experiences traveling and doing the work that she does. She most likely learned about different places and their people, cultures, and customs through traveling to so many different countries. She also has expanded her knowledge regarding human relations and probably learned more about the technology systems she has been working with for so many years. She must have had many personal profits as well.
It is obvious that this organization is successful in their line of work, and that Inveneo will continue to thrive and help many more people along the way. Kristin Peterson had a great idea and developed it into something real and sustainable. It’s motivating and remarkable how something that was once only a vision can become a reality.
Jennifer Gonzales
English 1A
13 May 2009
Purchasing Products Produce a Pretty Picture
Introduction: Americans are known for buying large quantities of products from coffee beans to beaded necklaces. Everyday money is spent to purchase thousands of items in stores, via the internet, and on television. Americans spend without limitations while many countries are suffering from wealth deprivation. There is a simple solution to what can be done to help. Purchasing wisely is an easy conscious decision that can help someone in another country gain wealth and happiness. Priya Karim Haji is a social entrepreneur who helps alleviate global poverty. Haji has been instilled with social justice since she was a child. She helped her father open up a “Free Clinic” in Texas when she was just in High School. She is a graduate from Stanford University and has a MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School. After graduating from UC Berkeley she came up with the idea to start an organization called World of Good that connects ethical artisan sellers who have little education, that live in underdeveloped countries with buyers in developed countries. World of Good creates employment and proper living so that the artisans can provide education for their children and make improvements in their community as well. World of Good supports fair trade standards, which make sure the workers are taken care of and well compensated. Although Priya Haji’s World of Good organization focuses on improving economic and social conditions in underdeveloped countries by selling artisans handmade crafts and using fair trade guidelines, as consumers we need to be more conscious of the products we buy, because not all products make a significant impact on the world.
1st Major Point: Priya Hajis steps towards social entrepreneurship, accomplishments and the founding of her World of Good organization.
Evidence: Priya Karim Haji is an exceptional social entrepreneur. She comes from a family who believes in social justice. Haji was raised by her Indian mother and East African father, who are both physicians. She has a family history where her maternal grandmother was involved in Mahatma Ghandi's movement in India, and her paternal grandfather was a revolutionary in Tanzania. Her passion for innovation has put her in a position that will change lives forever. In 1992 while Haji was a junior at Stanford University she volunteered for an AIDS program in San Mateo, California where she educated drug addicts and at risk people about hygiene and safety. In 1993 she co-founded and was the executive director of a non-profit organization called Free At Last in East Palo Alto, California. Free At Last offers a full range of services to victims of substance abuse. The services include: street outreach, intervention, bilingual substance abuse treatment, transitional housing and long-term aftercare. As executive director, Haji expanded the program to 3,000 people a year and a staff of 60 with a $2.5 million annual budget. Although Haji does not work for Free At Last anymore she continues to help raise money and change social issues by connecting the organization with government agencies, foundations, and public policy groups. She received the Brick Award in 1996 from the Do Something Foundation as one of 10 outstanding community leaders nationwide under the age of 30 and at the age of 25, she was selected to be in the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame. Priya was also the first recipient of Free at Last's Courage to Change Award, given in September 2001. During 2001, Haji enters UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. There she gained insight and knowledge on all aspects of business. After she graduated in May 2003, she decided to take a journey to South America and Asia to visit poor communities where she found many local artisans living off of $4 USD a day. She was very amazed at the crafts created, that is when she decided to use the knowledge she learned from University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business to establish something that can help these artisan’s gain a decent living by selling the products to a larger consumer base.
2nd Major Point: What the organization does and why they do it.
Evidence: After her 6 month long adventure visiting the poverish communities in Asia and Latin America, in 2004 she founded World of Good. Priya Haji is the CEO and president of World of Good Inc. Her internet based corporation which has partnered with ebay sells an array of products from across the globe. The website contains many helpful and informational links for consumers and supporters. It gives consumers a better understanding of how her business helps artisans in other countries gain a better living. Haji’s website says, “(M)any of them living in rural areas of the developing world, and working in what is known as the "informal economy" -labor that goes unregulated and unmonitored by government and legal institutions.” (World of Good Inc.- 1) World of Good Inc. makes sure that these artisans, who are mainly women, are not taken advantage of by the “informal economy.” World of Good acts as shelter because it provides a trustworthy approach to maintaining a healthy lifestyle by making certain these women get what they deserve. In the economy today, World of Good has already taken the steps to alleviating poverty. In addition, she has a team of developers that control what is called the World of Good: Development Organization. It is a non-profit organization whose mission is maintaining fair levels of trade. It is continuing its effort in improving the standards by working with fair trade organizations. The development organization keeps up to date with the fair trade standards so that they can build a more orthodox and clear plan. It also educates other businesses about fair trade so that it will encourage them to put fair trade practices into their own operation, therefore the business can then create a plan for fair trade and boost prospects for the artisans. World of Good: Development Organization also connects with many contributors and sellers to get donations. It invests in projects that create a system to change the way the artisans live. It makes improvements in their communities such as: communication, transportation, roads and rail networks. They also have a project called The Fair Wage Guide Project which is a web-based tool that allows artisans and buyers to retrieve information about fair wage. They have partnered with a donor called Network for Good where you can make a donation to significantly make a difference.
3rd Major Point: What is fair trade? Why Haji’s organization uses it.
Evidence: Fair trade is an organization that helps producers in developed and underdeveloped countries get fair treatment. Fair trade originated in Europe in the 1970’s. It supports producers by promising decent earnings while making sure their living and working conditions are at reasonable levels. Fair trade goes by specific standards which include: utilizing a marginal structure that allows the producer to get what the product is worth plus additional fees that will cover the growth of their product, early payment if needed and it guarantees a lasting relationship between producer and consumer. Fair trade audits the producer to make sure they are following the standards as well. Fair trade strongly encourages producers to be aware and driven to altering the rules and practices of conventional international trading. Fair trade standards are developed by the FLO Standards Committee. The committee takes into consideration all aspects and views of each stakeholder when developing these standards. The producers and workers will then be able to progress in the direction of gaining financial independence and gain power over their lives.
4th Major Point: How fair trade impacts people and the communities that use it.
Evidence: There are many communities that benefit from fair trade.
5th Major Point: Why it is important for consumers to be conscious of their purchases and how it impacts them.
Evidence: When consumers purchase fair trade products they are contributing to a slowly developing economy in another country. It also supports the producer in terms of fairness, wage and security. The producer gets a fair price of what their product is worth depending on skill level, product appearance and quality. The workers will also receive a decent wage that will help support their family, so by purchasing these products that will give children the opportunity to go to school so that they can get a better education. The producers can also give back to their communities by improving it ecologically and changing it socially.
Conclusion: World of Good is an expanding business that demonstrates good fair trade practices and informs consumers of the benefits of purchasing from fair trade producers. Now that Haji has a solid business that accumulates profit and still benefits the poor she is even more inspired to do better. Haji continues to support the fair trade organizations and will carry on with joining makers all over the world with a chance to expand their own businesses. Supporting organizations like the World of Good will ensure that poor communities get the assistance they need. It also encourages and motivates future entrepreneurs to continue to follow the vision in hopes of ending global poverty. Until then, it is up to consumers to make more conscious decisions about the products bought because one never knows how the dollars spent can help an entire community achieve success and happiness.
Hong Tang
Professor Sabir
English 1A
12 May 2009
Marc Gold
Every moment of the day in the world people are either making it better or making it worse. In ways of making others happy is curative in itself. Even if it is hard to make one individual happy, making other people happy will distract the individual’s mind. When human finds its peace then they can deliberately finds happiness outwards. One way in which a person can help people in everyday situations is to save a child from a life of poverty. The benefit’s a person help provide extend to each child’s family, community, and other children in need. 100 Friends plans and works in all different countries to find solutions that will change the future of the poor people that are living in poverty.
Marc Gold is the founder and director of the 100 Friends Project. 100 Friends is an organization that gives small grants to individuals and groups in Asia . Marc Gold raises money and delivers it by hand to the poorest people in the world he finds. This project help builds school, provides medical treatment for children and the elderly, protects girls from being sexually harass, and helps poor families to start businesses and much more. Often the donations he makes are not money but practical materials. For, example, he purchases new building, clothing, and toys for many orphans. These materials ensure a better quality of life for the recipients. Marc Gold travel to areas that are or have suffered from wars or natural disasters to bring relief. He visits Indonesia numerous times after the tsunami incident in 2005. He also do a lot of productive works including providing a better living to over fifty families, support for several orphanages, and medical expense for children in hospitals. In the United States he organize presentations where he tells people about his achievements of the project and how the donations he have received are being put to work. He also makes many presentations in school around the country, in which he tells the students about his project and involve them in fundraising activities. This is a very important part of his work because it raises people awareness of these situations of people living in extremely difficult conditions. The time when he is in the United States he continuously send money back to the people he is supporting. When he makes a donation to someone or helps them start their own business, he asks them to continue the cycle of giving. This involves them to perform their own positive actions in their community. These people who are receiving help must help those around them who are also in need.
As a child, Marc Gold learned many examples of his parents who demonstrated the importance of helping others in numerous ways. His father was a photography who often made donations and would spend most of his time with the seniors at the Jewish Retirement Home. His mother volunteered at local hospital and provided charitable services to the community. When he was six he read many books about travel and world cultures. Many of his happiest memories were associated with trips he took as a child. Although Marc Gold witnessed poverty and need is the one conviction in developing in many countries, Marc Gold know as an undeniable fact that the 100 Friends Project
benefits those he had reached through his work; having the opportunity to help people, saving lives and creating brighter futures has brought him a real fulfillment.
At the age of sixteen Marc Gold left home and had traveled across the United States several times by the time he turned eighteen. Shortly in his teenage years, Marc Gold went to Europe and North Africa and was in love with these countries. The first time when he traveled to India he met a local woman who was suffering from an ear infection. She was unable to afford medical treatment and was suffering terribly. Gold brought her to see the doctor for treatments and with one dollar he was able to purchase the antibiotic that cured her infection. Also, with thirty dollars he was able to buy a hearing aid that saved her hearing. It was amazing that so little money could save a person’s hearing; even possibly her life. However, many people were dying for the lack of it. After this situation Marc Gold returned home and started his project of 100 Friends. He first went through his address book and he came up with one hundred names of business contacts, friends, and relatives. He then sent out letters to one hundred people and in those letters his talked about his experiences in India . He had decided to return to India next year with funds to help those with similar situations as the woman with ear infection. Therefore, he asked his one hundred friends to make a contribution towards this trip. He expected the donations would be about three hundreds or four hundreds dollar but he ended up with two thousand and two hundred dollars. Thus, Marc Gold created the 100 Friends Project and with this project he discovered how much good he could do with a very little amount of money in the poor places.
During the seventies Marc Gold was living in New York . While living in New York , he produced a radio program for several years on WBAI called Global Music. He was particularly interested in Indian Classical Music so he studied the Indian’s musician and the Indian vocal music for several years. He later became a concert manager for an Indian musician named Nikhil Banerjee. After he gave up being a concert manager, he became a public school teacher in Harlem . In 1977, he was voted teacher of the year in Manhattan . He was presented with the award by Rev. Martin Luther Kind Sr. In 1979 he moved to Berkeley, California to attend graduate school at U.C. Berkeley. During these years he was able to work as a psychology intern which worked with terminally ill and dying cancer patients. He helped his patients to try to discover links between emotion, psychological attitudes and survival of cancer. He was also involved in programs to work with the elderly, homeless, people that are addicted to drugs and others that needed help. On the side of his job he ran workshops for the International Health Program in Santa Cruz , California and Weaiden House Drug Treatment in San Francisco . Shortly after the HIV test was approved in 1985 he was responsible for developing the first AIDS counseling and testing program in California .
Marc Gold is now currently a professor in community colleges in San Francisco Bay Area, teaching a wide variety of courses on subjects including health, psychology, social work, human sexuality, college success, AIDS and psychotherapy. He has raised two sons who are now twenty five and twenty nine years old. They both love to travel as well. By now, he have been to over fifty countries including India, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, South Africa, Kenya, Laos, Cambodia, China, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia , Israel, Mozambique, Turkey, Costa Rica, Mexico, and various destinations in Europe . He has built a large network of people worldwide who share a part in his story. Marc Gold has a personal goal which is to donate or give away a total of one million US dollars and distributing it to the poor and to build one hundred schools. Two decades had passes and he had raised over eighty thousand dollars in 2007. Gold’s 100 Friends Project helps maintain orphanages in all around the world. He does not just give away money but he also makes loans to help people set up businesses so they can earn a living. Yet, when the loan is paid back he donates it to help others. Marc Gold’s next destination is to Africa, but before that he will be advising other travelers on how to start their own projects.
Rebecca Evans eng 1a 9-10 response to Jennifer
The essay is very comprehensive. WE did a comment switch in the lab and went over a few grammatical errors. I would suggest adding some personal insight into the subject, the proccess and organization's impact on haji, and what her plans are for the future.
Very good!
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