A mother and three teenage girls walk into Cinderella’s Closet. Glittering beautiful gowns of all colors hang in rows along one wall, while jeweled shoes and purses line the other. Surrounded by what looks like expensive gowns and accessories, the mother nervously pulls a volunteer aside.
“Is it true? Is it really true that my girls can borrow the dresses on scholarship? Because I can’t afford the rental fee,” the mother asks.
“Yes,” the volunteer replies.
Tears begin to well in her eyes as she hugs the volunteer.
Yes is the answer that everyone receives when they come to Cinderella’s Closet and cannot afford to rent a gown for prom. Cinderella’s Closet is a non-profit service organization that promotes self worth in females by lending dresses and everything a girl or woman needs to go to any dance or special event.
Often times, Cinderella’s Closet is the last hope for some girls and without receiving scholarship dresses they would not be able to go their high school prom. You may be wondering what the importance of a prom is to a girl. To Renata Hansen, founder and president of Cinderella’s Closet, it means building up a young girl’s self esteem by making her feel beautiful.
In today’s society, young women are bombarded with images of anorexic models and constantly attacked with ads telling them how to lose weight or wear more makeup.
“My goal is to give women self esteem so that they can see themselves differently. I try to be as positive as I can and give the message that you are beautiful,” Hansen said.
Girls that receive scholarship dresses do have to write why they want to go to the dance and what it means to them. One girl wrote, “My parents both lost their jobs, my brother is living somewhere else and I am a fifth wheel. Thank you for helping me feel beautiful.”
Helping Cinderella’s Closet fundraise is YEF, an organization that supports youth in their pursuit of excellence. YEF’s mission is closely aligned with Cinderella’s Closet mission of helping youth which is why Hansen joined YEF.
“I just saw it as a win-win and I especially liked that they are helping youth. I also see it as a variety of ways to raise money. Felt like a no-brainer yah know?” Hansen said.
If you would like to support Cinderella’s Closet you can volunteer, donate dresses, go online to http://ccn.yefsite.com/, and go to The Masquerade Ball at The Landmark in Tacoma May 14th, 20100. You can get 10% off a tux at Top Hats in Tacoma for the event and your ticket includes dinner, an auction, live music, dancing, wine, and dessert.
What message are you sending to your daughter?
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Whats Trending: Sock Monkeys!
So to lighten things up a bit, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the new sock monkey trend.
Here is an example, I was shopping on CSN stores, (it's another Amazon that has contemporary coffee tables to sock monkey slippers) and I noticed these slippers!
When I was at the Tacoma Food and Gift Festival, the sock monkey's were everywhere! Kudos to CSN for keeping up on the trends, but you know who I think started it? A couple guys from Canada. They were at the Tacoma Food and Gift Festival last year and had these sock monkey hats.
What makes them so popular? Is it that they are a classic comforting character or is it that it's such a funny thing, it makes a perfect gift for a kid. I was tempted to buy one at the festival, but find it hard as an adult, to buy it. My boyfriend might wear a sock monkey hat or slippers, seeing as he sees life a little lighter than I do, but still I don't know if its a reasonable buy. I think it is just something popular, classic and trending right now. Of course the definition of trending, includes something that people are no doubt...buying.
When I was at the Tacoma Food and Gift Festival, the sock monkey's were everywhere! Kudos to CSN for keeping up on the trends, but you know who I think started it? A couple guys from Canada. They were at the Tacoma Food and Gift Festival last year and had these sock monkey hats.
What makes them so popular? Is it that they are a classic comforting character or is it that it's such a funny thing, it makes a perfect gift for a kid. I was tempted to buy one at the festival, but find it hard as an adult, to buy it. My boyfriend might wear a sock monkey hat or slippers, seeing as he sees life a little lighter than I do, but still I don't know if its a reasonable buy. I think it is just something popular, classic and trending right now. Of course the definition of trending, includes something that people are no doubt...buying.
Homeless By Choice Because He Was Homeless By Default
Disclaimer: Sensitive material
Roy Juarez Jr's dad was a roofer by trade and his hero. One day, his dad promised him a fishing trip. The next day, at age 7, his dad left with his cousins, family and dog to go get “ice”. They left Roy at his aunt’s house and came back 2 days later to gloat about what a great time the trip was. That was his first lesson, how to be angry, to hate and hold a grudge. So he built a relationship with is mom. But in the middle of the night, she would call out, “Me Ho, Me Ho” which means “my son, my son,” than she’d cry out in Spanish for help. The last night he remembered, his dad broke her jaw.
So his family moved into hiding from place to place trying to avoid his abusive dad, but his dad always found them though. The police were at the house so much for domestic calls that the cop started dating his mom. The cop said come live with me, but I don’t want any kids. So at 14, Troy became homeless and a couch surfer. He had a 9 year old sister and a 2 year old brother to take care of.
Family after family adopted him and would tell him, “You are just like a son to me” and he said “No, you don’t know me!” and built barrier after barrier. Finally, he took a notepad and pen and wrote two letters to be read at his funeral. One letter was to his dad and he said, “I forgive you dad.” After Roy finally did learn the lesson of forgiveness through mentors, he went to college, graduated and got a job.
One day Roy’s boss tells him “If you work for me, you’ll never do what you are called to do. In three months you don’t have a job.” Fresh out of college that is a frightening thing to hear, but his boss was right.
So he asked God, “What do you want from me?” That night Roy had a dream that he was walking into an arena with young kids and a band playing come on in and together we can make a difference. Then he went to Denny’s to work on his tour. His tour is 24 months and he is going across the nation to tell his story. Check out his site here, http://homelessbychoice.com/.
Roy believes in young people, encourages young people to keep on dreaming and wants to remind adults to never make children feel like a burden.
“If you grow up in a hard life and learn lessons you’ll never learn in a book. The greatest lesson is forgiveness and becoming the change you wanted to see in the first place,” Roy Juarez said. Let’s make some change for the homeless kids in Olympia.
You can help by donating socks, underwear, sleeping bags, tarps, flash lights and winter coats to Standup For Kids-Olympia, http://su4k.yefsite.com/. These items are not just on a one time giveaway, but a bridge for volunteers to communicate with homeless kids and build relationships with them, relationships that lead to trusting volunteers to help them get off the streets.
Here are Some Fast Facts about Homelessness:
- 13 kids die of disease, suicide or abuse every day on the street
- There are currently an estimated 1.3 million homeless and street kids in America
- 2/3 kids on the street try to commit suicide
- Children makeup 27 percent - the fastest growing segment - of the U.S. homeless population.
http://www.standupforkids.org/about/faqs.aspx
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Bringing Up A Leader
To pick up where I left off, at Capitol Playhouse, when a new kid walks through the door, they are walking into an accepting community. Someone who is shy and may not say boo to the other kids in the hallway at school will find friends and get the chance to sing and become a leader at KIK. One such leader is Alayna Deatherage.
Alayna grew up singing with Kids in Koncert. In her first year, she sang at the 9/11 memorials. She was eight years old. In the following years she sang in places around the world, including Japan, France, Washing DC and Disneyland. She turns eighteen next month and is now the choir president. This is her last year with the group.
“It’s always good to make connections with people in other countries,” Alayna says. Even now she is still in contact with her Japanese host family and is good friends with some other youth from France.
Connections in Japan and friends from France only come after working hard to raise funds needed to travel. Last year, the kids sold YEFkard discount cards. A YEFkard membership provides discounts at local businesses.
This year they are encouraging supporters to visit their new YEFsite, an online community and fundraising website from Youth Enrichment Foundation. (KIK.YEFsite.com) Friends and family can visit the interactive social website to stay informed about Kids in Koncert and show support by purchasing from an array of items such as coffee, movie tickets, buttons and other merchandise including the new, even better, YEFkard.
Kids in Koncert is a community where kids from ages 8 to 18 spend a lot of time together singing, traveling and developing close friendships built on trust and accountability that last for a lifetime. The YEFsite social community takes the close knit friendships online, bringing friends, family and other supporters into the KIK world. Check out the site here, http://KIK.YEFsite.com to support the Kids in Koncert community.
This post was previously posted at YEFTalk's blog.
Alayna grew up singing with Kids in Koncert. In her first year, she sang at the 9/11 memorials. She was eight years old. In the following years she sang in places around the world, including Japan, France, Washing DC and Disneyland. She turns eighteen next month and is now the choir president. This is her last year with the group.
“It’s always good to make connections with people in other countries,” Alayna says. Even now she is still in contact with her Japanese host family and is good friends with some other youth from France.
Connections in Japan and friends from France only come after working hard to raise funds needed to travel. Last year, the kids sold YEFkard discount cards. A YEFkard membership provides discounts at local businesses.
This year they are encouraging supporters to visit their new YEFsite, an online community and fundraising website from Youth Enrichment Foundation. (KIK.YEFsite.com) Friends and family can visit the interactive social website to stay informed about Kids in Koncert and show support by purchasing from an array of items such as coffee, movie tickets, buttons and other merchandise including the new, even better, YEFkard.
Kids in Koncert is a community where kids from ages 8 to 18 spend a lot of time together singing, traveling and developing close friendships built on trust and accountability that last for a lifetime. The YEFsite social community takes the close knit friendships online, bringing friends, family and other supporters into the KIK world. Check out the site here, http://KIK.YEFsite.com to support the Kids in Koncert community.
This post was previously posted at YEFTalk's blog.
Get Rythem When you get the Blues
This blog was previously posted on YEFTalk blog:
In a community where everyone is accepted, leadership is encouraged, you get opportunities to travel and have a mentor, I can think of no greater place for a young one to blossom. The community that glows safeness and opportunities at the same time is Kids in Koncert (KIK) put on by the Capitol Playhouse located downtown Olympia.
“It’s a place for kids to showcase their talent, gain leadership skills, self discipline and a new family,” Cathie Shaughnessy said, Business Manager of Capitol Playhouse.
When Cathy told me this, it brought up memories of when I was a kid. I was often the shy and unpopular kid in elementary and especially middle school. In fact in middle school I was picked on quite a bit. My sister who is now in elementary school has told me the kids aren’t any different. If you know any kids in public school you know they have encountered bullying at some point or know of it. That is why the KIK is so vital to our community and our youth.
At Capitol Playhouse, when a kid walks through the door they are walking into an accepting community. A kid who is shy and may not say boo to the other kids in the hallway at school will get friends and the chance to sing solos and become a leader at KIK.
Also, what makes this choir community unique is that there are kids from 8 to 18 that sing together. In most choirs, only kids that are closer in age are put together. With KIK older kids mentor the younger kids, which is important in a young one’s development.
The kids have gone together to France and sang with the Army band at Fort Lewis. Last year the Army band was in Iraq so they did a live webcast concert with them. Talk about learning important real world knowledge at a young age about our troops and the world in general from traveling.
Helping the choir raise money to travel and operate is Youth Enrichment Foundation. Last year, the YEF Kard fundraising campaign help offset the cost of traveling to France and this year the YEFsite will help offset the cost of travelling nationally next year.
Cathy at Capitol Playhouse is excited about the site because it will suit multiple needs. Such as fundraising and creating a family community online since the families can upload pictures, videos and share information on their YEFsite. Their YEFsite is http://KIK.YEFsite.com. Check them out!
In a community where everyone is accepted, leadership is encouraged, you get opportunities to travel and have a mentor, I can think of no greater place for a young one to blossom. The community that glows safeness and opportunities at the same time is Kids in Koncert (KIK) put on by the Capitol Playhouse located downtown Olympia.
“It’s a place for kids to showcase their talent, gain leadership skills, self discipline and a new family,” Cathie Shaughnessy said, Business Manager of Capitol Playhouse.
When Cathy told me this, it brought up memories of when I was a kid. I was often the shy and unpopular kid in elementary and especially middle school. In fact in middle school I was picked on quite a bit. My sister who is now in elementary school has told me the kids aren’t any different. If you know any kids in public school you know they have encountered bullying at some point or know of it. That is why the KIK is so vital to our community and our youth.
At Capitol Playhouse, when a kid walks through the door they are walking into an accepting community. A kid who is shy and may not say boo to the other kids in the hallway at school will get friends and the chance to sing solos and become a leader at KIK.
Also, what makes this choir community unique is that there are kids from 8 to 18 that sing together. In most choirs, only kids that are closer in age are put together. With KIK older kids mentor the younger kids, which is important in a young one’s development.
The kids have gone together to France and sang with the Army band at Fort Lewis. Last year the Army band was in Iraq so they did a live webcast concert with them. Talk about learning important real world knowledge at a young age about our troops and the world in general from traveling.
Helping the choir raise money to travel and operate is Youth Enrichment Foundation. Last year, the YEF Kard fundraising campaign help offset the cost of traveling to France and this year the YEFsite will help offset the cost of travelling nationally next year.
Cathy at Capitol Playhouse is excited about the site because it will suit multiple needs. Such as fundraising and creating a family community online since the families can upload pictures, videos and share information on their YEFsite. Their YEFsite is http://KIK.YEFsite.com. Check them out!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Web Innovator Raves about Success of Startup Weekend
Thubten Comerford first attended a Startup Weekend in September of 2009 when he was invited by the web developer for Startup Weekend Seattle, and now he is volunteering his time to lead the Startup Weekend in Olympia this weekend. As a Startup Weekend veteran, he knows that Startup Weekend is as real as it gets when it comes to starting a business.
“I’ve been a part of several technology startups and this is really the startup experience. It’s meeting deadlines, coming up with something exciting and new, and getting into revenue,” Thubten said.
He also says it is similar to running a 54 hour sprint and at the end you have something to show for. At the end of the sprint, you’ll have more than just a business idea though. Startup Weekend is about meeting people you didn’t know and coming up with something that is marketable, then having that experience continue on. Thubten’s project continued and actually split into to spin off companies that are still going a year later.
One such company is CluePad which helps make sense of SEO for business owners. CluePad gives daily recommendations to business owners on how to improve their business online. The recommendations are based on data about their website, and take anywhere from one to 30 minutes to complete. That is just one example of a technology startup that was created from a Startup Weekend team. Not everyone in the team was a technology person, but they were a part of a team and that is what counts.
“Most people aren’t going to be part of a technology startup, but you can get a feel for the training and be in the environment. It’s like going to space camp, only afterwards you get to be an astronaut. I’ve seen a lot of people hired out after the weekend. Small businesses are the source of new jobs and innovative creations in this country right now. Larger companies aren’t designed to innovate so they buy out smaller companies that were started by a team of people,” Thubten said.
Startup Weekend was started by a small team out of Seattle and now reaches across international borders. To date, Startup Weekend has helped educate more than 17,000 entrepreneurs at over 120 events worldwide, and has facilitated the launch of over 560 new startup ventures around the globe, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the nonprofit’s biggest sponsor.
Olympia is fortunate enough to have this worldwide event come to St. Martins University this weekend and have Thubten as the facilitator. Thubten will be facilitating, providing business, technology and social media knowledge to the teams. As well as being a technology startup veteran, he is a social media expert with as many as 80,000 Twitter followers. Look forward to the next article about how important Twitter is to a business. For now, to register for Startup Weekend Olympia, go to www.olympia.startupweekend.org
“I’ve been a part of several technology startups and this is really the startup experience. It’s meeting deadlines, coming up with something exciting and new, and getting into revenue,” Thubten said.
He also says it is similar to running a 54 hour sprint and at the end you have something to show for. At the end of the sprint, you’ll have more than just a business idea though. Startup Weekend is about meeting people you didn’t know and coming up with something that is marketable, then having that experience continue on. Thubten’s project continued and actually split into to spin off companies that are still going a year later.
One such company is CluePad which helps make sense of SEO for business owners. CluePad gives daily recommendations to business owners on how to improve their business online. The recommendations are based on data about their website, and take anywhere from one to 30 minutes to complete. That is just one example of a technology startup that was created from a Startup Weekend team. Not everyone in the team was a technology person, but they were a part of a team and that is what counts.
“Most people aren’t going to be part of a technology startup, but you can get a feel for the training and be in the environment. It’s like going to space camp, only afterwards you get to be an astronaut. I’ve seen a lot of people hired out after the weekend. Small businesses are the source of new jobs and innovative creations in this country right now. Larger companies aren’t designed to innovate so they buy out smaller companies that were started by a team of people,” Thubten said.
Startup Weekend was started by a small team out of Seattle and now reaches across international borders. To date, Startup Weekend has helped educate more than 17,000 entrepreneurs at over 120 events worldwide, and has facilitated the launch of over 560 new startup ventures around the globe, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the nonprofit’s biggest sponsor.
Olympia is fortunate enough to have this worldwide event come to St. Martins University this weekend and have Thubten as the facilitator. Thubten will be facilitating, providing business, technology and social media knowledge to the teams. As well as being a technology startup veteran, he is a social media expert with as many as 80,000 Twitter followers. Look forward to the next article about how important Twitter is to a business. For now, to register for Startup Weekend Olympia, go to www.olympia.startupweekend.org
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Story of Kimberly Bey, President/CEO of KB Associates Bookkeeping
After being in the financial industry for 11 years, Kimberly Bey, President/CEO of KB Associates Bookkeeping, LLC decided to leave a high end credit union position in July, 2010 and start her own business assisting small business owners with their books.
As a passionate woman who enjoys working with people to find resolutions to their challenges, Kimberly started out helping people as a student in college. While earning her undergraduate degree in English from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, she volunteered as a “defense lawyer”, gradually building her way up to a Chief Justice, fighting on behalf of the students in Student Traffic Court. She’d nail the situation down and fight on the student’s behalf. Kimberly won all of the cases that she fought and had many of the student’s traffic fines lowered.
After college, Kimberly’s first job was at a bank working in customer service. After five months as a customer service representative, she progressed to become a junior underwriter and loan processor for a finance company. Eventually Kimberly ended up running the Closing Department at the bank for four and half years in Columbus, Ohio.
Keeping her family priority though, Kimberly moved to Washington State to support her brother’s ministry. Olympia is where she continued her career and went to work for a local credit union. During her time at the credit union, Kimberly managed the Lending Operations and lead the department in a developing their new core loan origination system. In Lending Operations Kimberly managed policies and procedures, lending trainings, and many other critical operating tasks. She enjoyed her time at the credit union, but noticed a problem that had arose during the peak of her career.
“While working on the development of the new core loan origination system, I realized that I was spending so much time away from home and my kids. I missed them so much and they were so very patient and understanding during that crucial project period. My 7 year old daughter would get up at 5:30 am all by herself and she would get dressed so that she could see me off to work. So I set out with a determined mind and heart that I would find a way to be at home more; spending more time with my children while still enjoying a satisfying career.
That’s when I started KB Associates Bookkeeping, LLC. It was as if I was a magnet for other mothers who were like minded. We’d discuss our dreams, visions and goals. We encouraged each other to go after each of them by setting personal attainable goals. My motivation is my desire to be at home with my children. And I promise to grow my business enough to hire and bring other mothers and fathers home too. Our children need us and we need our children.” Kimberly said.
The solution to the problem was a business license, a plan and a few other women with the same mind and heart and it is called KB Associates Bookkeeping, LLC. KB Associates’ mission is to bring mothers and/or fathers home who want to be home, happy with a great career and where they belong.
“I am able to spend more time with my kids. They are happier, I am happier and I love my new career as full time bookkeeper,” Kimberly said. The kids she is referring to are her two children, Niko, age 4 and Kaleb, age 7.
KB Associates has five associates who are all mothers and all operate from home. Just like the other women who work with numbers, Kimberly has fit her passions and priorities together, just like a budget.
“Putting numbers together and making them work is like putting together a beautiful puzzle. You can’t stop until it’s finished,” Kimberly said. The KB Associates office will be in the Business Center at the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce on the corner of Plum and Legion Way in Olympia, WA in October, 2010. Stop by and visit!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
New Study Shows Eating Raw Chocolate Will Help You
By: Monica Jonen
New research is showing that eating raw chocolate and the Acai berry can help people lose weight, look younger and fight off diseases and diabetes. Trial members that are part of the clinical study sponsored by XOCAI Chocolate gained have lean muscle, lost weight and reset their body shape without getting any flabby skin. The clinical study found that patients had a reduced blood pressure and cholesterol, and evened out their blood sugar. The clinical trial is a 12 week study on 50 subjects and right now it's in the fifth week. Other benefits people are experience include, increased energy, no hunger, their skin is clearer and they look 10-20 years younger.
One local example is Matt Moore who consumes the XOCAI chocolate on a regular basis.
"I have more energy and I am less fatigued," Moore said. "When I first started using it, my stomach problems went away and now my acid reflux is gone."
Moore also said that it has helped his muscles heal faster after long hikes.
"It is a blast to see those kinds of reactions with people," Robin Lee said, a local XOCAI distributor.
How does the product work? Well consuming oxygen is essential to live, but when molecules in our body come in contact with oxygen, they oxidize and turn into free radicals. Then those free radicals will assault whatever cells are nearby. So in essence, our body is "rusting" a little bit every day. Antioxidants are good for you though, because they burn fuel and stabilize cells.
"Once those molecules are attacked, their structure and function are changed and they don't work as well," said Joe Vinson, Ph.D, a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton. (CNBC, 2010 & XOCAI: Healthy Chocolate)
The free radicals are also encapsulated by fat molecules to protect our body from them. So not only is the process of oxidation releasing disruptive free radicals, but it is keeping us overweight as well, according to Robin Lee, a XOCAI chocolate distributor. The only way we can combat the oxidation process and the harmful free radicals is by consuming antioxidants. If you flood the body with antioxidants, it will help burn fat quicker too.
The Government says you need 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC (the measurement of antioxidants) a day. How do you get all those anti oxidants? Well consuming fruit and vegetables is a good way to get anti oxidants, but how can you eat that many in one day?!
If your reading this right now and don't believe you consume enough antioxidants each day, then you might want to try XOCAI Chocolate. XOCAI has combined raw cocoa and the Acai berry to produce the most potent antioxidant product on the market. If you are interested in trying it, contact Robin Lee at lee@giftofhealthychocolate.com
New research is showing that eating raw chocolate and the Acai berry can help people lose weight, look younger and fight off diseases and diabetes. Trial members that are part of the clinical study sponsored by XOCAI Chocolate gained have lean muscle, lost weight and reset their body shape without getting any flabby skin. The clinical study found that patients had a reduced blood pressure and cholesterol, and evened out their blood sugar. The clinical trial is a 12 week study on 50 subjects and right now it's in the fifth week. Other benefits people are experience include, increased energy, no hunger, their skin is clearer and they look 10-20 years younger.
 |
| Official Quote from Dr. Mike Kennedy M.D., D.P.A |
One local example is Matt Moore who consumes the XOCAI chocolate on a regular basis.
"I have more energy and I am less fatigued," Moore said. "When I first started using it, my stomach problems went away and now my acid reflux is gone."
Moore also said that it has helped his muscles heal faster after long hikes.
"It is a blast to see those kinds of reactions with people," Robin Lee said, a local XOCAI distributor.
How does the product work? Well consuming oxygen is essential to live, but when molecules in our body come in contact with oxygen, they oxidize and turn into free radicals. Then those free radicals will assault whatever cells are nearby. So in essence, our body is "rusting" a little bit every day. Antioxidants are good for you though, because they burn fuel and stabilize cells.
"Once those molecules are attacked, their structure and function are changed and they don't work as well," said Joe Vinson, Ph.D, a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton. (CNBC, 2010 & XOCAI: Healthy Chocolate)
The free radicals are also encapsulated by fat molecules to protect our body from them. So not only is the process of oxidation releasing disruptive free radicals, but it is keeping us overweight as well, according to Robin Lee, a XOCAI chocolate distributor. The only way we can combat the oxidation process and the harmful free radicals is by consuming antioxidants. If you flood the body with antioxidants, it will help burn fat quicker too.
 |
| Official quote from Dr. Mike Kennedy M.D., D.P.A. |
The Government says you need 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC (the measurement of antioxidants) a day. How do you get all those anti oxidants? Well consuming fruit and vegetables is a good way to get anti oxidants, but how can you eat that many in one day?!
If your reading this right now and don't believe you consume enough antioxidants each day, then you might want to try XOCAI Chocolate. XOCAI has combined raw cocoa and the Acai berry to produce the most potent antioxidant product on the market. If you are interested in trying it, contact Robin Lee at lee@giftofhealthychocolate.com
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Olympia Coffee Roasters Find Perfect Blend
The Olympia Coffee Roasters have found the perfect blend of pleasure and work. I discovered it one Friday night while I was downtown and this is my story.
While networking at Einmaleins one Friday night, chatting with Mathias, a young chap known as Panda, came into the store to invite us all to a party with free drinks and food at Olympia Coffee Roasters. My reporter’s nosy nose started burning, so I had to go.
Strolling into Olympia Coffee Roasters I learned that Olympia Coffee Roasters serves 100% organic coffee bought directly from coffee farmers internationally and locally.
“They are innovative and their coffee is bar none the best among the west.” Chad Akins said, a loyal customer. “It’s a total perk.”
Chad Akins follows their updates on the website where the owners share new developments fresh from the field.
Bryan Dibble, who is a co-partner of Kobos Coffee Company from Portland, Oregon, was one of the first coffee roasters in the northwest, even before Starbucks. Kobos has been around since 1973, take that overpriced coffee milking giant.
Charles Weber, who came all the way from Eugene, Oregon, is the web designer for the Northwest Roasters Group. A position he volunteered for at the first meeting.
Over a cold beer and coffee, he explained the whole coffee networking venue to me and said that the Northwest Roasters Group meet twice a year to size up their competitors and roast each other, ha, ha, no, no, just kidding, he really said they meet to bounce new ideas off each other and network.
“They are a very cohesive volunteer based community,” Weber added later.
Of course, every North-Westerner is different, which is why I believe Pemco Insurance loves doing profiles on us. Weber too, has his own passions besides coffee roasting, which make him a great example of a modern northwest coffee guru. Weber has been diving in Kona, Maui, Hoodsport and up and down the West coast.
Besides diving in the Northwest waters, he is also a self-professed hardware geek, in the cool way though. As a licensed contractor, he installs and builds coffee equipment.
In addition, Weber manages his own website, where he makes two-thirds of his sales from distributing whole sale coffee. The other third you were wondering about comes from selling coffee in the Market of Choice stores in Portland, Eugene and Ashland, Oregon.
For the first five or six years though, his business was a 100 percent online. His first customer said,
“I might as well light my money on fire,” because he was buying coffee from a website and didn’t trust online shopping. Of course after Weber delivered good customer service and a high quality product, the guy became a 10 year loyal customer.
Weber has sold coffee to some rather unique customers. He said that he has shipped his coffee to a privately contracted military vessel floating in the waters surrounding Japan and Guam.
“I’d ship them 40 pounds of coffee at a time and they’d always be in a different place,” Weber said.
As we ended our conversation, I gave him my business card. He smiled and suggested I change my title from Human Marketing Flotation Device to Business Buoyancy Control Device, a scuba joke. I told him I was a certified scuba diver as well and first dove in Tacoma, WA.
You never know who you might meet when you wander downtown Oly. But, way to go coffee roaster guys. Keep being green and innovative.
Olylites: when you are downtown, I strongly urge you to check out Olympia Coffee Co on the corner of 4th and Cherry St, simply put, because they are the best of the west and stop by Einmaleins to meet some neat people.
While networking at Einmaleins one Friday night, chatting with Mathias, a young chap known as Panda, came into the store to invite us all to a party with free drinks and food at Olympia Coffee Roasters. My reporter’s nosy nose started burning, so I had to go.
Strolling into Olympia Coffee Roasters I learned that Olympia Coffee Roasters serves 100% organic coffee bought directly from coffee farmers internationally and locally.
“They are innovative and their coffee is bar none the best among the west.” Chad Akins said, a loyal customer. “It’s a total perk.”
Chad Akins follows their updates on the website where the owners share new developments fresh from the field.
Bryan Dibble, who is a co-partner of Kobos Coffee Company from Portland, Oregon, was one of the first coffee roasters in the northwest, even before Starbucks. Kobos has been around since 1973, take that overpriced coffee milking giant.
Over a cold beer and coffee, he explained the whole coffee networking venue to me and said that the Northwest Roasters Group meet twice a year to size up their competitors and roast each other, ha, ha, no, no, just kidding, he really said they meet to bounce new ideas off each other and network.
“They are a very cohesive volunteer based community,” Weber added later.
Of course, every North-Westerner is different, which is why I believe Pemco Insurance loves doing profiles on us. Weber too, has his own passions besides coffee roasting, which make him a great example of a modern northwest coffee guru. Weber has been diving in Kona, Maui, Hoodsport and up and down the West coast.
Besides diving in the Northwest waters, he is also a self-professed hardware geek, in the cool way though. As a licensed contractor, he installs and builds coffee equipment.
In addition, Weber manages his own website, where he makes two-thirds of his sales from distributing whole sale coffee. The other third you were wondering about comes from selling coffee in the Market of Choice stores in Portland, Eugene and Ashland, Oregon.
For the first five or six years though, his business was a 100 percent online. His first customer said,
“I might as well light my money on fire,” because he was buying coffee from a website and didn’t trust online shopping. Of course after Weber delivered good customer service and a high quality product, the guy became a 10 year loyal customer.
Weber has sold coffee to some rather unique customers. He said that he has shipped his coffee to a privately contracted military vessel floating in the waters surrounding Japan and Guam.
“I’d ship them 40 pounds of coffee at a time and they’d always be in a different place,” Weber said.
As we ended our conversation, I gave him my business card. He smiled and suggested I change my title from Human Marketing Flotation Device to Business Buoyancy Control Device, a scuba joke. I told him I was a certified scuba diver as well and first dove in Tacoma, WA.
You never know who you might meet when you wander downtown Oly. But, way to go coffee roaster guys. Keep being green and innovative.
Olylites: when you are downtown, I strongly urge you to check out Olympia Coffee Co on the corner of 4th and Cherry St, simply put, because they are the best of the west and stop by Einmaleins to meet some neat people.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Head on Collision Sends 18-year-old to the ER
(This happened Friday at 3pm outside of the AIM Mail Center. I was not involved in the accident)
Headed to pay bills in the AIM Mail Center, Rose Willis, 22, was pre-occupied worrying about how to split her room mates rent. After judging the distance of a car in front of her and turning on her blinker, she turned into the Safeway parking lot easing on her breaks.
"I thought I had enough room to turn, but the cop says I was flying. I've turned this corner a bazillion times," Willis said. Willis is a waitress that lives in Lacey. After taking a deep breath, tears come to her eyes realizing what happened.
Kory Pearce of the Olympia Police Department said that the vehicle that spun was heading Southbound on Cooper Rd in the 400 block. The other driver was heading Northbound on Cooper and clipped the South bound driver causing her to spin.
"The North bound vehicle had the right away," Pearce said. Firemen at the scene used the jaws of life to remove the driver side door and remove the driver. The driver suffered minor bumps and bruises and put on a stretcher that went into the ambulance. The female driver who was injured is a newer driver who is just 18 years old. Witnesses report that the South bound driver was driving at an accelerated speed.
The first on the scene was the state trooper heading home off duty. He was obligated to stop however. The rest of the police and ambulance were called by dispatch.
Headed to pay bills in the AIM Mail Center, Rose Willis, 22, was pre-occupied worrying about how to split her room mates rent. After judging the distance of a car in front of her and turning on her blinker, she turned into the Safeway parking lot easing on her breaks.
"I thought I had enough room to turn, but the cop says I was flying. I've turned this corner a bazillion times," Willis said. Willis is a waitress that lives in Lacey. After taking a deep breath, tears come to her eyes realizing what happened.
Kory Pearce of the Olympia Police Department said that the vehicle that spun was heading Southbound on Cooper Rd in the 400 block. The other driver was heading Northbound on Cooper and clipped the South bound driver causing her to spin.
"The North bound vehicle had the right away," Pearce said. Firemen at the scene used the jaws of life to remove the driver side door and remove the driver. The driver suffered minor bumps and bruises and put on a stretcher that went into the ambulance. The female driver who was injured is a newer driver who is just 18 years old. Witnesses report that the South bound driver was driving at an accelerated speed.
The first on the scene was the state trooper heading home off duty. He was obligated to stop however. The rest of the police and ambulance were called by dispatch.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Northwest Business Venues
The idea of a business venue or shared office space has been replicated around the country in many different ways. However, there are none quite like The Biz Venue, a whole new work environment soon to open in West Olympia, a suburb of Seattle.
This will be a work community that networks together on a daily basis to assist each other and their small business in many facets. The goal of Visionary in Chief, Russ Alman, is to help small businesses realize the benefits they deserve to make their businesses thrive and prosper.
The Biz Venue offers marketing through social media, printing, "anchor" businesses that can help your small business, and a network of professionals who are plugged into the online business venue.
There are other shared office concepts in the Pacific Northwest. In Redmond, WA, there is a shared office space called thinkspace,which is a community of entrepreneurs, high-tech star tups, non-profits, and small businesses. They offer the usual private office, desk and chairs, internet access, coffee, fully furnished lobby and conference rooms. However, they charge $200 per month for two days a week in your own private office.
Another local business venue that is in Tacoma, Suite133, shares an office with telecommuters and "anyone that craves the creative energy from working alongside other people". They offer natural light, wood floors, and a loft-style interior in a historic building. Derek Young is one of the co-founders of Suite133, who originally built the website Exit133.com which is a Tacoma forum and blog about Real Estate, Politics, the Arts and Urban Development.
In old town and downtown Portland, OR, are NedSpace locations. NedSpace holds true to the Portland culture by offering bike parking for its members who are technology savvy and environmentally friendly. One company that uses NedSpace is a water delivery company that delivers 5 gallons of water to local offices via bike. Their tagline is, "Drink the change you want to see in the world". An online marketing consultant, web and iPhone application developer, a web designer and graphic designer also occupy the brick building, making NedSpace a great place for a small business to find help to achieve an online presence.
Sharing the similar interest is The Biz Venue that provides a number of unique products and services to create a small business ecosystem designed to catalyze the growth of small businesses. With a bookkeeping firm, a computer support company and a marketing agency, any small business that works in The Biz Venue will undoubtedly enhance their business. At an affordable rate, The Biz Venue not only offers meeting space, work space, a coffee shop and presentation room among other things, but also a hand up in business services that large corporations take advantage of having.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Goats, Wine and Small business
On a cloudy Tuesday morning in Lacey are five professional business people bright eyed, coffee in hand, ready to learn. They have come to Classic Winemakers where the strong aroma of the beginning stages of grapes being fermented, hangs in the air.
After introducing themselves, they sat quietly listening to a webinar telecast from Fran Tarkenton. You may recognize that name and associate with his NFL career, but more recently he has been striving to help small businesses become successful through gosmallbiz.com
Today, he talked about a small business in Georgia that differentiates itself by having goats on it’s roof. Fran was excited about this small business and told us that it is all about differentiating your business in the market place. Because that is what keeps people coming into your business and coming back after they leave.
Goats on The Roof sells other things besides a roadside attraction, they also sell Amish made products, furniture, jams, jellies, soups and stews, funny t-shirts, gifts and gags. The business itself is family friendly and had about 3,000 people walk into their store this weekend.
Fran also told us that entrepreneurs work nine days a week because they are immersed in their business and the customer experience. That is true and that is because I think entrepreneurs know that nobody can make it happen but themselves.
Picture taken from Goats-on-The-Roof.com
What a great advice to start my day. Thanks for the tips and advice Fran and shout out to Classic Winemakers and their beautiful store.
After introducing themselves, they sat quietly listening to a webinar telecast from Fran Tarkenton. You may recognize that name and associate with his NFL career, but more recently he has been striving to help small businesses become successful through gosmallbiz.com
Today, he talked about a small business in Georgia that differentiates itself by having goats on it’s roof. Fran was excited about this small business and told us that it is all about differentiating your business in the market place. Because that is what keeps people coming into your business and coming back after they leave.
Goats on The Roof sells other things besides a roadside attraction, they also sell Amish made products, furniture, jams, jellies, soups and stews, funny t-shirts, gifts and gags. The business itself is family friendly and had about 3,000 people walk into their store this weekend.
Fran also told us that entrepreneurs work nine days a week because they are immersed in their business and the customer experience. That is true and that is because I think entrepreneurs know that nobody can make it happen but themselves.
Picture taken from Goats-on-The-Roof.com
What a great advice to start my day. Thanks for the tips and advice Fran and shout out to Classic Winemakers and their beautiful store.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Personal Assistant Wades through Heavy Showers for Home Buyer
While at Leads at Lunch last Tuesday, Ron Hanson of Madrona Mortgage wore the hat of a weather man alerting local professionals to the mortgage forecast of the futureGathered together in the Olive Garden every Tuesday are professionals referring leads to each other and making everyone aware of their business. The event, known as Leads at Lunch, is sponsored by the Thurston County Chamber. Tuesday, July 13th, everyone sat quietly eager to hear Hanson's presentation.
He began by explaining how lending works.
Lending used to be a stool that stood on four legs. From 1993-2006, the expanding mortgage industry made it easy to get loans, all you had to have was qualify for a couple of the legs. Such as good credit, income, property and a down payment.
Now, it is the opposite, it is harder to qualify for a loan and you have to meet all four legs of the stool. Even if you have an income, you also have to show the ability and stamina to keep the loan. In fact, one fourth of foreclosures happen simply because the owner chooses not to pay any more, regardless of their income.
“It takes an intentionally stout character to pay a mortgage every month, especially when the value of the property goes down,” Hanson said, “right now 37 percent of real estate are foreclosures.”
Things are changing too, when it comes to physically buying a loan. In 2006, you had to sign off on about 20 pages of paperwork showing you knew what you were agreeing too.
Now, your loan package will be about 45 pages since it is more heavily regulated and the government has more to warn you about.
“The problem is that because the packages is bigger, no one is reading it and instead they are just scanning and signing it because they just want to get through it,” Hanson said.
Continuing on, Hanson kept everyone enthralled with his clear understanding of the mortgage forecast.
Another change in the mortgage industry is the appraisal process. Before, an appraisal person would come out to your property, upon the request of the mortgage agent, and appraise your property. Well due to increased government regulation, mortgage brokers now send a message to corporate and corporate sends appraisers out to appraise your property.
“I think it will be an automated system soon though,” Hanson added.
Even though technology is slowly taking over, the best way to buy a mortgage is to talk to someone about the reality of your situation and your needs, when it comes to buying property. I recommend talking to Ron Hanson, he is a personal and friendly guy that you can trust to tell your deepest fears about buying a house.You can email him at rhanson@madronamortgage.com
Friday, July 16, 2010
Local Artist Shows his Stuff at Sizzis in Oly
I just met local artist David Joel and wow is his work amazing. That is on wood!
Check out more of his work here, David Joel.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Puget Sound Energy Develops New Energy Programs for Home and Work
By: Monica Jonen
Your local Puget Sound Energy (PSE) works much like a bank when it comes to saving and expanding energy. One PSE goal is to develop more renewable energy, much like a fruitful savings account that produces interest naturally. Another PSE goal is to help customers save as much energy as they can, which reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. Puget Sound Energy expects to help customers by saving more than 4 million therms of natural gas in 2010 and by conserving, more than $16 million in natural gas cost.
Some of those renewable energies include wind, solar and bio-mass. A great example of the latter is poop. Poop? Yes, poop. According to PSE, there are several farmers in Washington who own what is called a Dairy Digester. This Dairy Digester machine converts the methane gas from poop into electricity that farmers can use to power their farm. That shouldn’t surprise us though there is an Iphone app for poop called Poop the World.
Among the less strange technology is the smart energy saving device, the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). They are pretty common now and you can find them for a pretty good price and CFL’s use 75 percent less energy. If a home owner replaces five regular incandescent light bulbs with five CFL light bulbs, then they will save around 60 dollars per year in energy costs. If you don’t have a buck to save, Puget Sound Energy will give you a rebate for buying the CFL at Costco.
Another interesting relatively new technology that is utilized to help home owners and business owners is the infrared heat censoring technology used in energy assessments. Imagine walking through a room and spotting red bubbles where you are losing money in terms of energy leaks. PSE offers a $350 rebate on these types of assessments to qualified customers through its HomePrint program. Since the government is on board with the national green trend, they are also offering grants and rebates to help pay for any repairs you would have to make to make your house or business energy efficient. To check it out for yourself, go to their website at Puget Sound Energy.com
A local example of this is Archibald Sisters downtown on Capital Way. They participate in the Green Power Program, a voluntary program offered to PSE’s residential and business electric customers, giving participants a way to guarantee the amount of energy they use in matched in the grid with electricity from wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy sources. The amount paid by customers goes to support the local development of renewable energy, like dairy digesters.
“One of the cool things that we do is refill bottles (with Archibald Sister products) that customers bring in and we give discounts to customers who do that,” Sophie Edwards said, who is an Archibald Sisters Sales Associate. The Archibald Sisters also participate in Green Power Programs, Green Power Rewards, a benefit offered to Thurston County Green Power Program customers, the rewards card offers residential Green Power customers discounts on products and services at local businesses that participate.
“Customers love it that we participate in Green Power too,” Edwards said. Well that looks like the current and latest trendy thing to do to be environment friendly and I charge you to jump on the train heading towards the future.
Your local Puget Sound Energy (PSE) works much like a bank when it comes to saving and expanding energy. One PSE goal is to develop more renewable energy, much like a fruitful savings account that produces interest naturally. Another PSE goal is to help customers save as much energy as they can, which reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. Puget Sound Energy expects to help customers by saving more than 4 million therms of natural gas in 2010 and by conserving, more than $16 million in natural gas cost.
Some of those renewable energies include wind, solar and bio-mass. A great example of the latter is poop. Poop? Yes, poop. According to PSE, there are several farmers in Washington who own what is called a Dairy Digester. This Dairy Digester machine converts the methane gas from poop into electricity that farmers can use to power their farm. That shouldn’t surprise us though there is an Iphone app for poop called Poop the World.Among the less strange technology is the smart energy saving device, the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). They are pretty common now and you can find them for a pretty good price and CFL’s use 75 percent less energy. If a home owner replaces five regular incandescent light bulbs with five CFL light bulbs, then they will save around 60 dollars per year in energy costs. If you don’t have a buck to save, Puget Sound Energy will give you a rebate for buying the CFL at Costco.
Another interesting relatively new technology that is utilized to help home owners and business owners is the infrared heat censoring technology used in energy assessments. Imagine walking through a room and spotting red bubbles where you are losing money in terms of energy leaks. PSE offers a $350 rebate on these types of assessments to qualified customers through its HomePrint program. Since the government is on board with the national green trend, they are also offering grants and rebates to help pay for any repairs you would have to make to make your house or business energy efficient. To check it out for yourself, go to their website at Puget Sound Energy.com
A local example of this is Archibald Sisters downtown on Capital Way. They participate in the Green Power Program, a voluntary program offered to PSE’s residential and business electric customers, giving participants a way to guarantee the amount of energy they use in matched in the grid with electricity from wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy sources. The amount paid by customers goes to support the local development of renewable energy, like dairy digesters.
“One of the cool things that we do is refill bottles (with Archibald Sister products) that customers bring in and we give discounts to customers who do that,” Sophie Edwards said, who is an Archibald Sisters Sales Associate. The Archibald Sisters also participate in Green Power Programs, Green Power Rewards, a benefit offered to Thurston County Green Power Program customers, the rewards card offers residential Green Power customers discounts on products and services at local businesses that participate.
“Customers love it that we participate in Green Power too,” Edwards said. Well that looks like the current and latest trendy thing to do to be environment friendly and I charge you to jump on the train heading towards the future.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Writer Dives into an Alternative Pool of Work
In a cool, air conditioned office on the West Side of Olympia, Washington are Monica Jonen’s new piping-hot-off-the press business cards rolling off the die cut board. The business cards hold an unusual title of Human Marketing Flotation Device. The picture above the title is a woman in red scuba goggles and a yellow snorkel accenting her black wet dive suit keeping her warm in the chilly Puget Sound waters.
The position of the Human Marketing Flotation Device with Alternative Marketing Connections means Jonen will keep small business “afloat” by creating content for their social media networks, blog (an online journal), newsletter and website, in turn broadening their marketing plan through human connections online.
Monica Jonen, Freelance Writer and Content Creator at Alternative Marketing Connections “I couldn’t have imagined beginning my writing career with a better opportunity,” Jonen said about her new position. “I love technology and writing, and this position welds the two together.”
Jonen just graduated in June with her Bachelors in Communications from the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT). Before moving to Tacoma to complete her Bachelors at UWT, she lived in Olympia where she learned about alternative ideas and the world-wide-web.
“I went to Avanti High School, which is an alternative high school here in Oly and that is where I first learned about the unending possibilities of technology and the intranet,” Jonen said. “I absolutely loved the freedom I found in writing and interacting with others about the things I wrote about too.”
As the newest team member with the business, Alternative Marketing Connections, she joins a team of social media and online experts who also share a passion for technology and communication.
The folks at Alternative Marketing Connections create edgy business cards, social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter, create newsletters, design websites, and create blogs for small businesses. Their business venue is located in the AIM office next to Safeway on the West Side of Olympia.
“What makes this marketing company different is the fact that they are a digital referral service, meaning they refer customers to businesses via social media.” Russ Alman said, Visionary in Chief of Alternative Marketing Connections.
Alman also noted that the problem with using social media, newsletters, websites and blogs for marketing is that it takes time to constantly update everything and small businesses do not have the time to write content for their many online facets, which is where Jonen comes in.
As a writer by trade and technology communication guru by choice, she will keep the online presence for Olympia’s businesses up to date with current fresh and compelling content. Be sure to look out for this new Human Marketing Flotation Device. If you are interested in Alternative Marketing Connections, visit www.AMCSocialMedia.com or you can email Monica at monica@amcsocialmedia.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The position of the Human Marketing Flotation Device with Alternative Marketing Connections means Jonen will keep small business “afloat” by creating content for their social media networks, blog (an online journal), newsletter and website, in turn broadening their marketing plan through human connections online.
Monica Jonen, Freelance Writer and Content Creator at Alternative Marketing Connections “I couldn’t have imagined beginning my writing career with a better opportunity,” Jonen said about her new position. “I love technology and writing, and this position welds the two together.”
Jonen just graduated in June with her Bachelors in Communications from the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT). Before moving to Tacoma to complete her Bachelors at UWT, she lived in Olympia where she learned about alternative ideas and the world-wide-web.
“I went to Avanti High School, which is an alternative high school here in Oly and that is where I first learned about the unending possibilities of technology and the intranet,” Jonen said. “I absolutely loved the freedom I found in writing and interacting with others about the things I wrote about too.”
As the newest team member with the business, Alternative Marketing Connections, she joins a team of social media and online experts who also share a passion for technology and communication.
The folks at Alternative Marketing Connections create edgy business cards, social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter, create newsletters, design websites, and create blogs for small businesses. Their business venue is located in the AIM office next to Safeway on the West Side of Olympia.
“What makes this marketing company different is the fact that they are a digital referral service, meaning they refer customers to businesses via social media.” Russ Alman said, Visionary in Chief of Alternative Marketing Connections.
Alman also noted that the problem with using social media, newsletters, websites and blogs for marketing is that it takes time to constantly update everything and small businesses do not have the time to write content for their many online facets, which is where Jonen comes in.
As a writer by trade and technology communication guru by choice, she will keep the online presence for Olympia’s businesses up to date with current fresh and compelling content. Be sure to look out for this new Human Marketing Flotation Device. If you are interested in Alternative Marketing Connections, visit www.AMCSocialMedia.com or you can email Monica at monica@amcsocialmedia.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sympathy in Asking
A young woman sits on a couch reading the book Woman Warrior in a quiet cove on her college campus. Distracting her from reading is an Asian girl crying softly. Looking sternly around for the teary-eyed girl, intending to express a bit of confusion and annoyance, she meets the eyes of a young boy who was sitting next to her. He looks at her briefly and then drops his head; planting his forehead in his palm. Sitting next to him is the crying girl hiding her face under a broad baseball cap.
Disregarding the situation as none of her business, the young woman returns to reading about the Chinese warrior known as Maxine Kingston, who wrote a story about an aunt committing suicide, due to the cultural pressure at the time to conform to the idea of being a loyal wife, even if one’s husband has left for another country. The aunt became pregnant by a man other than her husband and on the day of her baby’s birth drowned herself and the baby in a well.
As time passed, the boy became increasingly uncomfortable. Laying his hand on her leg, he whispered “I am sorry.” The girl nodded her head but continued weeping, beginning to lose control as he tried to get close to her. When he stopped and turned around perplexed, it was easy to read his mind. The ultimate question every man asks himself after an argument is “What did I do wrong and how can I fix this?” and that question must have swirled within his brain at that moment.
In between changing songs on her ipod, her only current solace, she pulled the large baseball cap down further. The boy who was obviously confused and embarrassed, left and walked out. As the Asian girl continued to weep painfully to herself, the young woman finally put down her book, turned to her and asked,
“Are you okay?”
It was as if a large boulder was lifted off her shoulder. She began to breathe deeply in and out, then a new waterfall of tears gushed from her eyes. This was a freeing mourning, though, where she accepted the pain she was trying to bury.
Unsure if she did the right thing, the woman quickly said she would listen, but the girl didn’t have to say anything if she didn’t want to.
Determined to stop crying, the girl pulled out tissues from her bag and breathed deeper. Collecting herself, she turned to the woman and said, “Thank you” and then moved closer to her eager to talk.
“What happened?” the woman asked.
In a few quiet words, she told the woman that she had reason to doubt her boyfriend’s loyalty. Starting to heave, preparing to burst into tears again, she recounted the story of when she saw her boyfriend personally email his old girlfriend.
“I am sorry,” the woman said, only this time it was followed with an explanation. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a reminder to pick up a left behind belonging?”
The girl paused and considered the possibility and deciding it was a possibility that would hold her over until he came back, she decided to stick with it.
“Where are you from?” the woman asked.
“Hong Kong” the girl replied solemnly.
“Is the shopping any good?” The woman asked a bit relieved that they changed subjects.
“Yes and there is no sales tax.”
“That is wonderful.
They both pause for a second, laugh and sigh together. Then they continue their conversation about boys, not paying sales tax and how much they don’t like giving tips to undeserving waiters.
Deeply in touch with the other’s feelings, as women co inhabiting, dealing with life’s curveballs and hitting homeruns with great shopping deals, they lost track of time. The women notice the clock on the wall that told them it was time for class, where they would continue their endeavors in becoming strong women, backed with communal knowledge and the power to become independent.
Disregarding the situation as none of her business, the young woman returns to reading about the Chinese warrior known as Maxine Kingston, who wrote a story about an aunt committing suicide, due to the cultural pressure at the time to conform to the idea of being a loyal wife, even if one’s husband has left for another country. The aunt became pregnant by a man other than her husband and on the day of her baby’s birth drowned herself and the baby in a well.
As time passed, the boy became increasingly uncomfortable. Laying his hand on her leg, he whispered “I am sorry.” The girl nodded her head but continued weeping, beginning to lose control as he tried to get close to her. When he stopped and turned around perplexed, it was easy to read his mind. The ultimate question every man asks himself after an argument is “What did I do wrong and how can I fix this?” and that question must have swirled within his brain at that moment.
In between changing songs on her ipod, her only current solace, she pulled the large baseball cap down further. The boy who was obviously confused and embarrassed, left and walked out. As the Asian girl continued to weep painfully to herself, the young woman finally put down her book, turned to her and asked,
“Are you okay?”
It was as if a large boulder was lifted off her shoulder. She began to breathe deeply in and out, then a new waterfall of tears gushed from her eyes. This was a freeing mourning, though, where she accepted the pain she was trying to bury.
Unsure if she did the right thing, the woman quickly said she would listen, but the girl didn’t have to say anything if she didn’t want to.
Determined to stop crying, the girl pulled out tissues from her bag and breathed deeper. Collecting herself, she turned to the woman and said, “Thank you” and then moved closer to her eager to talk.
“What happened?” the woman asked.
In a few quiet words, she told the woman that she had reason to doubt her boyfriend’s loyalty. Starting to heave, preparing to burst into tears again, she recounted the story of when she saw her boyfriend personally email his old girlfriend.
“I am sorry,” the woman said, only this time it was followed with an explanation. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a reminder to pick up a left behind belonging?”
The girl paused and considered the possibility and deciding it was a possibility that would hold her over until he came back, she decided to stick with it.
“Where are you from?” the woman asked.
“Hong Kong” the girl replied solemnly.
“Is the shopping any good?” The woman asked a bit relieved that they changed subjects.
“Yes and there is no sales tax.”
“That is wonderful.
They both pause for a second, laugh and sigh together. Then they continue their conversation about boys, not paying sales tax and how much they don’t like giving tips to undeserving waiters.
Deeply in touch with the other’s feelings, as women co inhabiting, dealing with life’s curveballs and hitting homeruns with great shopping deals, they lost track of time. The women notice the clock on the wall that told them it was time for class, where they would continue their endeavors in becoming strong women, backed with communal knowledge and the power to become independent.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
A Profile published in the Math Science Learning program Newsletter
If you have trouble reading the image, click on it to enlarge it.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Immigration Court
While I have researched the amount of money Geo Group makes off of the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC), the food poisoning in the NWDC and other documents. I don't think I grasped the full situation until I attended hearings in immigration court.
When I first arrived, it was at the tail end of hearing where a detainee just received his voluntary deportation. He was ordered to be deported from the country within a week. I was kind of shocked. That is a big leap backwards for him. My shock wore off though and turned to dismay as detainee after detainee was given the "privalege" of voluntary deportation. The judge would grind them through an interrogation of questions. Did you enter the U.S. without inspection? Have you been arrested? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then the detainee is going back to the country he came from. Whether that be Guatemala, Mexico, Tonga or any other place on earth.
Out of the probably 20 hearings I witnessed today, only one had an attorney present defending him. His claim? He has a wife, three children, a job and a life here in the states. He has been in the NWDC for two years. Another man similar to his case did not have an attorney, but did have a fiance, a child and another family member present fighting for him to stay. The fiance told the judge that he provided for her and their child. Walking out with at the end of the day, his child wept as his case was not progressed, because he had a conviction of forging a green card.
As he left the court room, he looked over trying to get a glance of his fiance. She didn't know he was looking at her until he was out the door and then she looked for him. The simple pleasure of eye contact was denied.
Immigrants asked for the voluntary deportation at times and were thankful for it. Partly because it means that they can come back. I wonder how much of that voluntary deportation option is a way for them just to get out of the detention center.
I wonder what it would be like to be away from your family for so long.
When I first arrived, it was at the tail end of hearing where a detainee just received his voluntary deportation. He was ordered to be deported from the country within a week. I was kind of shocked. That is a big leap backwards for him. My shock wore off though and turned to dismay as detainee after detainee was given the "privalege" of voluntary deportation. The judge would grind them through an interrogation of questions. Did you enter the U.S. without inspection? Have you been arrested? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then the detainee is going back to the country he came from. Whether that be Guatemala, Mexico, Tonga or any other place on earth.
Out of the probably 20 hearings I witnessed today, only one had an attorney present defending him. His claim? He has a wife, three children, a job and a life here in the states. He has been in the NWDC for two years. Another man similar to his case did not have an attorney, but did have a fiance, a child and another family member present fighting for him to stay. The fiance told the judge that he provided for her and their child. Walking out with at the end of the day, his child wept as his case was not progressed, because he had a conviction of forging a green card.
As he left the court room, he looked over trying to get a glance of his fiance. She didn't know he was looking at her until he was out the door and then she looked for him. The simple pleasure of eye contact was denied.
Immigrants asked for the voluntary deportation at times and were thankful for it. Partly because it means that they can come back. I wonder how much of that voluntary deportation option is a way for them just to get out of the detention center.
I wonder what it would be like to be away from your family for so long.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
On Monday, I had all day to investigate Geo Group. Here I will log what I do for my investigative reporting class.
I started out my day by listening to an hour long conference call where Geo Group announced their fourth qaurter earnings. I learned of the many expansions they have planned for this upcoming year and how much they made last year. Which was over a billion dollars by the way. There was also a direct correlation between the more beds eqauling millions of dollars more in profit. At the end of the conference call, a caller asked if the construction in Tacoma had been completed and the chairman said yes it had. This is a lie, because if you go down to the detention center, you will see incomplete side panneling, construction trucks going in and out and cranes within the fencing.
After a call with a local activist, I learned how much they make per detainee per day, which is $60. This activist also reminded me of the food poisoining that occured in 2007 which made 300 people ill. So I got on the phone to the local health department asking if they had given employees (detainees working for a $1 a day) food handlers permits. They had no record of holding a training for them.
The Tacoma News Tribune retrieved the inspection by the health department of the detention center. This article, while a secondary source, provided good information of the food poisoning outbreak.
In the following days, I read the audit by ICE and the One America report of the detention center.
I started out my day by listening to an hour long conference call where Geo Group announced their fourth qaurter earnings. I learned of the many expansions they have planned for this upcoming year and how much they made last year. Which was over a billion dollars by the way. There was also a direct correlation between the more beds eqauling millions of dollars more in profit. At the end of the conference call, a caller asked if the construction in Tacoma had been completed and the chairman said yes it had. This is a lie, because if you go down to the detention center, you will see incomplete side panneling, construction trucks going in and out and cranes within the fencing.
After a call with a local activist, I learned how much they make per detainee per day, which is $60. This activist also reminded me of the food poisoining that occured in 2007 which made 300 people ill. So I got on the phone to the local health department asking if they had given employees (detainees working for a $1 a day) food handlers permits. They had no record of holding a training for them.
The Tacoma News Tribune retrieved the inspection by the health department of the detention center. This article, while a secondary source, provided good information of the food poisoning outbreak.
In the following days, I read the audit by ICE and the One America report of the detention center.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Reporting on Detention
Today I went down to the Northwest Detention Center that detains over 1500 immigrants and deports over half of the immigrants that come through the center.
I went to collect sources for my investigative report at UWT, during a protest.
I still had my camera, reporters notebook and rain coat, but what I witnessed was completely different. It wasn't a family friendly environment. Families were walking into visit their missing family members and rying to prevent their loved ones from being shipped thousands of miles away.
I talked to an Indonesian Lutheran Pastor who heard about when the NWDC shipped a whole airplane load of Asians out of the country at once, detainees had not signed the voluntary deportation form.
I talked to an activist who was put in jail for being at the center while they would put long term detainee immigrants on bus's and park them in parking lots for a day while they processed immigrants that would be shortly deported.
NWDC makes more profit of long term detainees.
I talked to a One America representative who reminded everyone that coming into the country illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal offense and shouldn't be detained because of it.
This day was very different, then when I took a snapshot of a happy spanish worker at Concrete Tech.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The day in the life of a "reporter"!
Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 9am to 3pm
Today was very exciting.
Concrete Technologies is a company that hires immigrants from Tacoma Community House (TCH) and responsibility (as the Communications Intern for TCH)to highlight them in our upcoming centennial publications. In doing their profile, I interviewed the HR manager, but I also got to take a tour of the company plant.
Concrete Technologies creates giant concrete structures, like bridges, docks, stadiums etc. They are located in the tide flats. Finding them was extremely difficult, because they are really in the heart of the Port of Tacoma (near the water and not near the city center).
With my reporter's notebook, camera, hard hat, glasses and bright vest I felt like a reporter and toured the facility. I met a lot of the workers and saw the interactions. The family owned (third generation immigrants from Norway) business treats their laborers like family and desires only success for them.
When I got back to the office, I wrote up that profile and worked on profiles for other success stories (previous TCH clients). A woman who I did a profile for came into the office to show me pictures of when she was at TCH. You could tell TCH meant a lot to her, because she fondly shared memories with me of how her teachers uplifted her after her self-esteem-busting migration to the states. She told me it was like starting over again. Two pictures she shared with me stuck out in my mind.
One picture is of her family in Austria upset, with all their clothing and cases. Their hotel they were supposed to stay in in Austria was full, so they had to wonder the streets for a few days.
Another picture is of her at Tacoma Community House's summer job smiling with her managers.
Today I learned two things:
1. The importance of the visual elements that show people's faces (working at their job sites, etc) which gives a dynamic story and elements writing can't.
2. The importance of work. The importance of feeling needed, being employed and the importance of company's hiring you and respecting you.
Today was very exciting.
Concrete Technologies is a company that hires immigrants from Tacoma Community House (TCH) and responsibility (as the Communications Intern for TCH)to highlight them in our upcoming centennial publications. In doing their profile, I interviewed the HR manager, but I also got to take a tour of the company plant.
Concrete Technologies creates giant concrete structures, like bridges, docks, stadiums etc. They are located in the tide flats. Finding them was extremely difficult, because they are really in the heart of the Port of Tacoma (near the water and not near the city center).
With my reporter's notebook, camera, hard hat, glasses and bright vest I felt like a reporter and toured the facility. I met a lot of the workers and saw the interactions. The family owned (third generation immigrants from Norway) business treats their laborers like family and desires only success for them.
When I got back to the office, I wrote up that profile and worked on profiles for other success stories (previous TCH clients). A woman who I did a profile for came into the office to show me pictures of when she was at TCH. You could tell TCH meant a lot to her, because she fondly shared memories with me of how her teachers uplifted her after her self-esteem-busting migration to the states. She told me it was like starting over again. Two pictures she shared with me stuck out in my mind.
One picture is of her family in Austria upset, with all their clothing and cases. Their hotel they were supposed to stay in in Austria was full, so they had to wonder the streets for a few days.
Another picture is of her at Tacoma Community House's summer job smiling with her managers.
Today I learned two things:
1. The importance of the visual elements that show people's faces (working at their job sites, etc) which gives a dynamic story and elements writing can't.
2. The importance of work. The importance of feeling needed, being employed and the importance of company's hiring you and respecting you.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Interviewing Activists and Immigrants
Today, I interviewed one of Tacoma's activists against the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) which has seen the equivalent of the population of Bainbridge Island come through their doors since 2004. 80% of the people that go to the NWDC are deported. Children are left without parents and there is little legal representation for the non-English speakers who are citizens of other countries.
This past month, my eyes have been opened and my time has been consumed with this immigration problem. While working at Tacoma Community House(TCH), I have learned what the troubles of immigrating and what its like to start over new. The joyful smiles of the new citizens and now English speaking immigrants/refugees however, weigh ever so lightly on the unequal scale of unjust (Administration) of deporting immigrants and refugees. Where on the other side there are tears of an activist who has seen young children miss their parents, while parents must leave their children behind and are left with little understanding to what the word deportation means.
What does this mean for me? It means I have an obligation to write about everything I have heard. It means my articles and PR for TCH has a significant place in this community. A community that isn't fully aware of the detention center on tide flats.Through my writing, I hope to establish awareness, pool together people for a common cause and inspire change.
This past month, my eyes have been opened and my time has been consumed with this immigration problem. While working at Tacoma Community House(TCH), I have learned what the troubles of immigrating and what its like to start over new. The joyful smiles of the new citizens and now English speaking immigrants/refugees however, weigh ever so lightly on the unequal scale of unjust (Administration) of deporting immigrants and refugees. Where on the other side there are tears of an activist who has seen young children miss their parents, while parents must leave their children behind and are left with little understanding to what the word deportation means.
What does this mean for me? It means I have an obligation to write about everything I have heard. It means my articles and PR for TCH has a significant place in this community. A community that isn't fully aware of the detention center on tide flats.Through my writing, I hope to establish awareness, pool together people for a common cause and inspire change.
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