Map-A-Thon Week 4 - Pictures Telling The Story

Well the first few weeks of our fundraiser have gone pretty well... a lot of people really stepped up for Mapping For Justice. We're currently 1/3 of the way there, and while your generocity has been so appreciated, we need to find new donations to meet our goal of $5000 by October 15.

A few thoughts as we move into the second month of the fundraiser:

1. While greatly appreciated, you don't have to donate $25, $50, or the whole $5000... ANYTHING helps. If $5 is all you have to give to tutor/mentor programs and this mapping project, it will help move us toward our goal and be extremely appreciated.

2. Please continue to spread the word to friends in your network who have an interest in fighting poverty, and an interest in student advocacy. Have them contact me personally, or send them to this blog, via your personal social networks (like facebook)... this is something that is free and easy, and is extremely helpful!

3. Realizing that pictures might help tell the story of "How Do These Maps Help?"... here is a fun little sequence of pictures for you:

These three students work with me Tuesday Nights in "Tech Club" at Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor program. I volunteer, off the clock, and have gotten to know each of them really well. See if you can guess which 9th grader here is an aspiring rock star, which is writing a fantasy novel, and which has created a video game? They also continue to learn mapping skills, and with this skill, might one day advocate on their own behalf, due to the Mapping For Justice connection, which you can help support by contributing what you can to the fundraiser.

The maps you help support show where High Poverty + Low-Performing Schools = Need for Tutoring/Mentoring.

The news tells us of violence everyday, further stigmatizing neighborhoods where aforementioned novelists, musicians, game creators, and future community advocates live. The maps you help support tell "the rest of the story": It's a story of where community leadership needs to provide more mentor-to-career support for capable kids who might otherwise turn to the street for guidance.

Our maps help political and business leadership visualize the lack of tutoring/mentoring options for youth, and serve as a starting point for the formation of strategies and alliances that work to SOLVE THE PROBLEMS related to crime, poverty, and workforece development, not simply expose it. You might not have to dollars these guys do, but every little bit helps us continue to provide supporting maps.

You can also help us continue to produce maps and strategies that provide community assets, like faith-based groups, with new ways to help the poor and needy - either in their congregation, or in neighboring communities.

The maps you support are gaining the attention and recognition of important leaders. Don't let this momentum die! Just recently, this map was hung in President Obama's barbershop, and currently generates discussion, action, and heightened community awareness and involvement... pointing Hyde Park's citizens and community leadership (and maybe the President himself when he needs a trim) to existing tutor/mentor programs that need support through volunteers, student recruitment, supplies/talent, and funding.

But ultimately, it's YOU that can make a difference - big or small... our maps show YOU how you can find a program that helps students in Chicago near your home or communter stop... these students are YOUR future employees and neighbors... future participants in the Democratic process... future leaders with the innovative and creative minds needed to help think outside the box and address the national and local issues that affect us all.

Help us keep making maps to draw support and continue rallying attention to these important programs.

Donate to our fundraiser today... $5, $10, $25... whatever you can afford to offer. Remember, it's tax deductible - we're a non-profit organization!

Special Thanks To Those Who’ve Stepped Up For Mapping For Justice

We’ve been running a Map-A-Thon to raise $5000 before October 15, in order to continue Mapping For Justice.

(The blog I wrote last week speaks as simply as possible to why this fundraiser is essential.)

This past week, CBS dropped by to interview Dan Bassill, president of Tutor/Mentor Connection. Dan says a few words about why "we're broke," but they also do something that is far too uncommon... they use their media reach to focus on why tutor/mentor programs like Cabrini Connections (one of 140+ programs I feature in my maps) are vital. Watch it to meet a few of the kids and learn from CBS coorespondants and the kids themselves why this is a program that needs your support.

I want to thank those who have taken the time to talk with me since the fundraiser started... those who have looked into why these programs are important... and those who have stepped to the plate and given what you can afford to give, in our effort to raise $5k. This means a lot to us in our fight against poverty and for students, and I’ve been making an effort to thank each of you personally. (“Bob” and “Shoba”… shoot me an email… not sure who you are and want to thank you!)

At the time of this posting, we’re only about 1/4 of the way there. We need more help!

I’d also like to bring attention to some of the people who have found creative ways to help.

Thanks again to CBS for taking time to give you an inside look at a tutor/mentor program, but again, this treatment from a selective media is rare. We need to spread the word the old fashioned way - by joining hands and promoting important causes with grass-roots techniques.

Even if you’re out of work or dirt poor or whatever, if this is a cause that interests you, you can help spread the word, create a discourse, and mobilize action.

How?

The Dakota Inn in Alsip, IL, for instance (map of Alsip coming soon!), took a night and promoted a bean-bag tournament, with the procedes going to Mapping For Justice. The customers of this biker bar rode in on their Harleys, entered the tournament, had fun, and learned about what we do.

The process toward change can’t begin without those who want to help knowing where to turn. The beanbag tourney guided locals to the maps. The maps guide them to programs. This is the way this country worked for almost 200 years prior to CBS News and text messaging. This is grass roots organizing at a public place.

Thanks to Debbie and Angele at Dakota Inn for creating a community meeting on behalf of community issues!

But we’re in the digital age, love it or not, and most of us spend more time in fromt of computers and TVs than we do at bars and town halls. Gregg Ott used his personal blog to spread the word to his network. This is something you can do for free. You all have Facebook and/or blogs, right?... Social Networking on behalf of the community... Cross-promoting your causes with ours... Strength in numbers! Thanks, Gregg!

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to learn about what we do, use their social networks to advocate on behalf of our cause, and help us meet our fundraising goals.

Please contact me with any questions...

And please donate and spread the word today, so that we can continue Mapping For Justice!

We're only 1/4 of the way there!

Map-A-Thon Week 2 - A New Look At The Issues

I've been working with volunteer marketing people to determine why people have a hard time digesting our mapping project, and its importance TO YOU (not just the students).

When I talk face to face with people, and am given an opportunity to discuss case studies - students, programs, and volunteers whose lives have been changed through tutoring/mentoring, the audience is always enthused and impressed. Yet when I blog or network online, the message is seemingly lost.

So let me take another stab at it, using cleaner and doctored language, courtesy of an alliance between Mapping For Justice and a marketing volunteer (did I mention your individual talents can help students, as much as your time and money?).

Please read, and consider a donation to help us meet our goal of $5000 this quarter, to keep this community service operational:

THE ISSUE

Students raised in high-poverty, high-crime, and underprivileged neighborhoods typically lack access to non-school resources that aid their development and help put them on a path toward college and career.

Tutor/Mentors programs pair volunteer mentors from the professional ranks with capable students who aspire to reach their potential.

The problem is that potential volunteers, students, parents, and community leaders/donors who want to support this solution-based approach to poverty and violence likely don’t know where to look to find programs to help in their communities or beyond.

THE SOLUTION

Mapping For Justice maps the locations and prevalence of tutor/mentor programs in relation to factors such as poverty level, “failing” schools, churches, hospitals, banks, drugstores – and other businesses and organizations.

OUR MAPS AND THIS BLOG CONTINUE TO:

• Heighten community awareness and involvement, pointing citizens and community leadership to existing tutor/mentor programs.

• Direct potential volunteers and donors to programs, to ensure program growth and longevity for students.

• Draw attention to the need for new non-school tutor/mentor programs where none exist, but where poverty is high and students are struggling in poorly-performing schools.
  
  


• Supplement crime news stories with maps to guide concerned citizens to programs who work to solve crime, not just expose it.

• Help build alliances among businesses, politicians, faith groups, and other leaders who serve communities, by providing maps that help potential partners find each other.

• Guide tutor/mentor advocates and supporting alliances, through associated blog stories, to strategy documents that provide templates for action.

• Encourage accountability among community-minded organizations and individuals who seek to contribute to their communities in sustainable ways, by making their student advocacy efforts quicker and easier.

THE CHALLENGE

Mapping For Justice maintains its infrastructure – including data collection/maintenance, map production, an online presence (map gallery, this blog, and real-time Google-based interactive map), and a marketing effort – all on a $50,000 grant received more than a year ago -- all with a staff of one.

This money is gone. Mapping For Justice needs financial help to sustain these innovative tools that bring communities closer together and help develop our workforce.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Please help up meet & exceed our goal of raising $5,000 to continue map development.

Additionally, If you know of any benefactors looking for a philanthropic tax write off, with an interest in the wars on poverty and crime please guide them our way. We ultimately need a sustainable long-term cash flow to work for more students in the future.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://www.giveforward.org/mappingforjustice/ OR http://tutormentorprogramlocator.net/

MAP-A-THON - Your Very Small Contribution to Maintain a Priceless Community Service

Unfortunately, it's come to this. I get the feeling when I talk to people in these hard economic times about the dire financial situation faced by the non profit where I work, people chalk it up to just another charity whining for more hand outs.

I wish it wasn't worse than that.

I can't emphasize enough how close our mapping service is to disappearing... and if you've never taken the time to read through what it is we do, and why we are so important to families and students in Chicagoland, please make this the first time you've taken a hard look and read all the way through.

We are running a Map-A-Thon. We need just a couple hundred people to donate $25 or thereabouts, to keep our heads above water for the rest of the year.

http://www.giveforward.org/mappingforjustice/

Your $25 will help us continue to fight against crime and poverty… and provide invaluable strategic resources to students, families, volunteers community leadership, and - I believe - you and me.

Let me explain quickly why this important mapping effort needs to continue, and why its existance is in jeopardy.

Our maps directly support the growth of new and existing tutor/mentor programs… programs that pair professional volunteers with impoverished students who want to move away from a path that leads to desperation and hopelessness, and "catch up" to those on a path to a bright future that includes college and productive careers.

In the end, through tutoring and mentoring, students are equipped with life skills and guidance.

But the volunteers grow spiritually and emotionally as well, as they get to know kids they otherwise only hear about via associations with negative news, but find - once they meet - that these students are largely capable and often brilliant. The students often just need additional tutoring and mentoring.

The problem though, is that often no one knows these programs exist - volunteers, students, parents, and neighboring leaders who want to work toward solutions to poverty and violence don't know where to look to find programs like these - programs that work on shoestring non-profit budgets with overwhelmed staffs and little to no marketing.

We maintain a directory/database, and map locations of programs, in spatial relation to poverty and failing schools and community/business resources.

With one of our maps in hand, potential allies can find each other and work to increase support for new programs where none exist (and our maps show this need, and these locations, clearly).

Our maps also show neighboring community leaders where they can direct potential volunteers and much needed dollars, to ensure the growth of programs.




And therein lies our second BIGGER problem:



Our customers - the programs themselves - have no money to support our efforts!

We built and maintain our infrastructure (which includes a map gallery, strategy documents, this blog, and a real-time interactive map on Google technologies) - ALL on a $50,000 grant we received almost two years ago.

The money is gone.

As we begin to finally get the message out (we were featured on WLUW radio and in the June 2009 issue of Youth Today recently, and President Obama's Barbershop and Webster Wine Bar display our maps to customers at their locations)... as we finally begin to make a difference (several program representatives at a May Conference on Tutoring/Mentoring told us they find supporters through our maps)... the money has run out.

The economy is not getting better. There is more violence and frustration than ever.

More than ever, our efforts need to continue to help communities come together in tough times to guide kids off streets and onto productive paths.

This Map-A-Thon is hoping to raise the money we need to keep the effort going for a few more months. If you have any money to help us maintain our goal, please consider helping us meet our goal of $5000. Just a few dollars will help toward this goal.

(Of course, if you know benefactors looking for a philanthropic tax write off, with an interest in the wars on poverty and crime... in the sad phenomenon of "failing schools" ... in children and education... please guide them out way. We ultimately need a sustainable long-term cash flow to work for students into the future... and to not have to bother you with fundraisers.)

This is a community effort, and more than ever, we need your help to keep working to help the community come together through maps.

Support from Obama's Barber, a Chicago Bear, and WLUW... Join Our Team!

Wow what a month. Seems everyone is rallying for Tutoring/Mentoring.

We still need YOUR support though... Please review what we have going on below and consider either a small contribution yourself... or pass the word to somebody who has the means to keep us mapping for justice into 2010 and beyond. Our goal is $50,000. Every bit helps.

So, what has happened this month?

Well, last week, Dan and I visited Hyde Park Hair Salon where President Obama goes to get his hair cut! We hung the following map on the wall, which the barber will use when talking with his customers:

If you click on the map, it will expand to show the location of the barbershop, in relation to all known tutor/mentor programs, high-poverty neighborhoods (with struggling schools), and many of the area's businesses and community resources. The barber will use this to drum up conversation, and ultimately tutor/mentor support for local students.

This is the sort of partnership we are looking for. We don't live in Hyde Park. We need local business leaders like the barbershop to communicate the advantages of tutoring/mentoring to parents, potential volunteers, and businesses in EVERY neighborhood.

My maps help facilitate this process. We need your help to continue building these partnerships. Contact me to learn more.

We also hosted a successful Golf Benefit, which was attended by several community leaders, and some NFL Players, including Bears linebacker Nick Roach, shown in this photo with Cabrini Connections eighth grader, Savon.

Savon is an amazingly talented Cabrini Connections eighth grader who attends Tuesday night Tech Club (where I log my volunteer hour each week). At Tech Club, Savon works with me and professional graphic designer (And volunteer) Christine Kochevar. He is currently learning marketable Photoshop skills and will soon be making maps himself.

Cabrini Connections Administrative Coordinator, EL Da' Sheon Nix (former Northwestern wide receiver himself) wrote a blog this week that features Savon's reflection on the event and what Cabrini Connection and Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) means to Savon.

(Interestingly, Nick Roach and President Obama are connected indirectly to T/MC outside of the hair salon and the golf benefit. Check out Dan's blog this week: "NFL Players Association Joins President Obama in Call To Service." Therein, he references Roach, Bears lineman Orlando Pace, and other athletes... and explores how they and YOU can help "put a tutor/mentor team on the field." )

One final exciting thing to report at the end of the month. The media finally took an interest in my story! Hopefully this is just the beginning! Mike Stephen at Outside the Loop RADIO on WLUW 88.7fm, podcast an interview that told my story as mapmaker, volunteer, and indie rock musician.

Again, it's podcast, so please download it and listen to it if you haven't.

In the interview, I make a call to action to all artists and musicians who have a dream to help your community, but are too afraid to make the commitment... or not sure how. I hope it inspires you to take action.

Contact me to learn how to get involved, to learn more about my maps or music (and how your skills and talents can combine to help kids through tutoring/mentoring.)

And please forward this update to anyone with an interest in education, workforce development, the wars on crime/poverty... anyone can help us meet our goal of $50,000, one small donation at a time.

Breaking News! Maps to Help You Fight Crime and Poverty!

I woke up today to "Breaking News" that proclaimed at least 8 people had been shot overnight in Chicago. As usual, I read names of kids who died, and recognized addresses from some of the same high-crime neighborhoods I've mapped before. I came into the office and mapped the locations, as I always do, to try and get a picture of where non-school tutoring/mentoring programs are offering guidance to youth, in proximity to the violence last night and low-performing schools.

Please click on the map to see a larger, higher-resolution, and more detailed view.

When you look at the map I made, try to locate the green stars. These are non-school tutoring/mentoring facilities. If you go to our interactive, online mapping tool, you can click on the stars and get contact information that will tell you details and contact information about each program.

If you use our map tools - either my Map Gallery or the Interactive Asset Map - try to do some quick and dirty math. Try to think about how many kids are packed into a typical struggling Chicago Public School. Assume that each of the green stars/programs has a limited capacity - limited by a lack of funding and a need for volunteers... and well, x > y in most cases where there is high-poverty and inevitable crime.

(See this discussion for much more detail as to "where and why tutor/mentor programs are needed most.")

Then ask yourself if you think it's a good idea to mentor youth who are living with challenges that come from low school performance, poverty, and survival... challenges that, without guidance can turn to anger and violence. Like it did last night.

Here's the great thing if you do think it sounds logical to tutor and mentor kids who need a little extra guidance...

You can help!

How?

* For starters, you can use your social network. Most in your network might not yet know there are opportunities in tutoring/mentoring to meet and coach great kids with tons of potential but uncertain futures...

You can exponentially raise awareness of the problem and educate/mobilize an army of those with the time to volunteer an hour or so a week.

* But not everyone will have an hour to consistently spare... perhaps instead they have personal means or a charitable connection that would welcome the tax write-off that comes from donating to a non-profit... thus ensuring that those with the time to volunteer have places to do it.

* And hey - don't let me stop YOU from getting involved yourself!

I think both you and your network should join me here at this blog to consistently discuss The Rest Of The Story... and other tidbits related to maps... and education, community, social justice, and problem solvers like Tutor/Mentor Connection. Please bookmark my blog and come back for new maps and discussions.

* I also know YOU would love the experience of volunteering with a kid you'd otherwise never have the chance to meet... and very possibly could change your life as much as you change his/hers.

Please contact us to volunteer... or donate at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/donate.

* One last - but hugely important thing you should do:

Our growing mapping capacity (as evidenced today by my ability to turn out a map within hours of a request - for discussion of the news in this case... but just as easily for those whose strategies/partnerships need a map of locate assets, resources, or programs) is not-for-profit, and supported by benefactors and donations.

If you know someone with a charitable interest in causes that combine social justice, kids, education, workforce development, and the war on poverty... we need their help to continue our efforts into 2010 and beyond. Please pass the message to any potential benefactors who can help us reach our $50,000 goal. Have them contact me or http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/donate for details.

Did I mention by the way that the last generous $50,000 grant we received bought the interactive, online mapping tool that will help you find a place to volunteer when you get done reading this? Chris Warren even created a tutorial called Anyone Can Make Maps (That Means You!) to get you started...

Check it out...

And again, please lean on your network... Here's an article of interest: 10 Ways to Support Charity Through Social Media.

Unfortunately most people rely on "the news" for community information. And unfortunately if you're relying on Breaking News, all your getting is half the story - the problem... day after day... negative news.

Social networking allows you to fill in the Rest of the Story... that you and your network have the ability to help solve those problems.

New Map Gallery Launched! A One Stop Shop For Tutor/Mentor Support

Apologies for not posting in a couple weeks, but rest assured I've had my sleeves rolled up, creating an all-inclusive Map Gallery... a one-stop shop for all the maps I've produced, with links to each map's associated Mapping For Justice blog story.

Here's a quick screen capture of the Map Gallery:


Notice that the left side features links to everything we do with maps: How-to documents and interactive animations, the interactive Google maps, the Tutor/Mentor Institute's strategy documents, the Program Locator. There is also a link to the awesome maps other volunteers made prior to my arrival at Tutor/Mentor Connection in 2008.

But the highlight is of course, the new gallery of all our maps:

Each of the 7 map categories in the Map Gallery have text that explains that category's significance in the overall mission of T/MC and its strategic use of maps to support tutoring/mentoring programs. If you read from top to bottom, you'll get a clearer sense of why maps are so important in our mission.

Click on a particular map's thumbnail, and the full map will load in high resolution:


At the bottom of each expanded map, there is a blurb from that map's associated blog (posted on Mapping For Justice)... with links to the blog if you want to read the full story.

In a nutshell, everything you need to find and then support a program is here, whether you are a media, political, business, spiritual, or other community leader... or perhaps you are looking to start a program where the maps show there is a need... or maybe you're just a volunteer looking for a program near your home or commuter route...

No organized and successful journey starts without a good map!

A few important words before you go and look through the maps:

1. Thank you for your support over the past year and a half while our mapping resources were being developed. These maps, the interactive project, and this gallery wouldn't exist without a generous $50,000 act of charity from an unknown benefactor.

We really need to find a new source of income to continue this not-for-profit map work... for the improvement of our workforce and economy, and for the welfare of our children and communities.

If you know any potential benefactors, with an interest in community and workforce development... education... social justice... or simply "maps," please forward this to anyone with the capacity to help us continue our work.

2. I will be continuing to add new maps weekly, so remember to bookmark http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/mapgallery.html and come back each week!

3. And last thing - realizing there are still probably a few issues here and there with the Map Gallery, since I just launched it... I invite you to take a look around and give me feedback as I tweak and improve the design... is it user-friendly? Are there things you'd like to see added or modified? What else do you like or not like?

Thank as always for returning to this site, and for your continued support for tutoring/mentor programs!