March 2011

The Camden Map Team is hard at work preparing this year’s map.  They started work in February: calling advertisers, creating insets, and working on improvements to the map.  This month the youth will be hard at work designing ads, double-checking roads, and integrating new features. We are also featuring the use of QR codes this year, that allow advertisers to promote their services in a variety of ways.  For more information on how you can get your organization on the map, click here. Keep an eye on our newsletters, Facebook and Twitter for updates.  We expect to have a fresh stack of maps back from the printer by the end of May.  We’re working hard to ensure that this is our best map yet!

On February 17th, five members of the Hopeworks staff attended a GTD seminar in New York City. GTD is the acronym for “Getting Things Done,” David Allen’s method for productivity.  The all-day seminar was presented by GTD master Danny Bader, who taught the attendees how to stay organized, on top of projects, and stress-free in the face of busy schedules and heavy workloads.  The Hopeworks staff members attended to learn not only how to manage their own projects but also how to train our youth to manage the demands of jobs, home life, and college schedules.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our fundraiser at the California Pizza Kitchen in Cherry Hill, King of Prussia, and City Line on February 23rd! Many supporters came from St. Matthew’s, Subaru, and many other organizations.  The money raised from this event will be used to fund youth jobs at Hopeworks.  We appreciate your participation very much.

Erika, who has been with us since June 2009, was accepted by Rutgers University here in Camden.  Erika, a stellar student, has completed five semesters at Camden County College.  She made the Dean’s List every semester.  She is excited to start in the fall of 2011 at such a challenging university.  In her acceptance essay, Erika wrote: “I know I am now prepared for a new challenge . .  .I  thrive on courses, professors, and peers who push me to do my best.  I am energized by new ideas and students from varied backgrounds with whom I will work to build my future.”  Congratulations, Erika!  We are very proud and excited for you.

South By Southwest (SXSW) is one of the largest technology, music, and film festivals in the world.  On March 10, Father Jeff, along with our Web Directors  Tarren Anderson and John Schultz, will be traveling to Austin, TX to attend the SXSW, the technology portion of the conference.  They will learn from some of the industry’s brightest minds and most innovative companies.  The five day Interactive conference features more than 200 presentations and talks, a trade show, and an emerging technologies showcase.  Our goal is to find business solutions for Hopeworks and our clients, learn about the latest trends and techniques in Web development, and connect with other leaders in our industry.  Stay tuned as we discuss, in our next newsletter, some of the things we experienced in Austin, Texas,

In February Hopeworks announced that we will travel to Cuernavaca, Mexico in August for our annual service trip!  Six trainees and two Hopeworks staff are scheduled to serve together with a nonprofit organization called Vamos! Throughout March trainees will apply, interview, and be selected to participate in this exciting leadership and service opportunity.  Then, over the next few months, the team will learn more about Mexico, raise funds, and apply for passports. In Cuernavaca we will connect with local schools,  building relationships with youth and children and serving them.  We are thankful to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, who donated the funds to make this opportunity possible in partnership with our youth.  We believe that this trip will be the beginning of a relationship with Cuernavaca’s youth that will last for years to come.   Stay tuned for some great stories of youth making big choices and taking steps out of their comfort zones while serving as leaders on this trip.

In February, trainees began learning about entrepreneurship through some of the best macaroni and cheese Hopeworks has ever had.  Through a partnership with Rutgers University School of Business funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Hopeworks is offering training in entrepreneurship to its trainees.  The training will take place in two stages.  The first will use food preparation to provide very basic data with which trainees will begin to look at entrepreneurship and to understand the entrepreneurial process.  In the second stage, successful participants will work with the businesses at Hopeworks to design a new project or will create an independent venture that interests them.  Each participant will write a business plan and then receive seed money to test the venture.  Then we will host an entrepreneurial forum, inviting members of the community to examine the work the trainees have done.

Every Monday at 5:00p.m. you’ll find six college students meeting at the C.R.I.B. to review their college courses from the week before and plan for their courses in the week ahead. We call this the College Workshop, and every Hopeworks trainee who is in college comes every week.  In February, Dr. Donavan McCargo, Director of Student Services and EOF at Rowan University,  joined the College Workshop to share on the topic of “Test Anxiety.”  He shared how important it is to combat the habits of procrastination and cramming for tests.  “What are your noises?” he asked the youth,  meaning “What are the distractions that take you away from staying focused on academics?”  “Will you let your noise get in the way of your purpose?” The college youth are already looking forward to having Dr. McCargo back next month.

Hopeworks is a data-driven organization.  We believe that understanding data is crucial to understanding what is happening within our organization and responding to the trends we see.  Because this is part of our organizational culture, it is no surprise that Hopeworks recently created an innovative way for trainees to see their performance data and understand where they are in our program.  Our whole organization runs on salesforce.com, and, through a generous donation from the salesforce.com Foundation, each trainee received an individual account with salesforce.com.  Logging in, they see accounts that feature all their programmatic tasks and key performance indicators displayed in a dashboard. Each day they get from this account all the information they need to plan their days, set their goals, and focus on those goals.  Trainees are using the dashboard to become active partners in their own development.

During February, Hopeworks has been blessed by the presence of many new literacy volunteers.  They give their time to help our youth in their quest to improve academically.  Not only do the volunteers help as tutors but also their positive presence has a big impact on the trainees’ lives outside tutoring sessions. Many of our volunteers are live nearby, and several of our new volunteers are from St Joseph’s University.  They volunteer with us through a service learning class:  “Faith, Justice, and the Spanish-speaking Community.”  Please join us in welcoming the newest members of our Hopeworks community of success!  Read more about our volunteers.