Project Grow members have a workshop on how to make paper.
|
responsibilitesVolunteering at Project Grow came about because of my involvement in Student Leaders for Service (SLS) through the Student Community Engagement Center (SCEC) at Portland State University. Within the program, it is my responsibility to promote a culture of community engagement by connecting opportunities with everyone at PSU to partner with, serve at, and reflect on community-based experiences at, in particular, Project Grow.
Personally, I help create community. I provide and ensure a safe space, I am also trusted to offer safe relationships with the members of Project Grow. I encourage camaraderie. With individual projects (archiving, etc.), I maintain a professional work space. I also seek out enrichment and growth opportunities for Project Grow members through various avenues in the local art and farming communities. |
my reasons |
There was a time in my life that I lost a lot of what I thought made me who I was. It was then that I realized that I who I am was yet to be discovered. In the midst of a life upheaval and without any means, I had first volunteered with the Holden Heights Restoration Project. It was renovating a home of a stranger and his family to the moment when they were so thankful with heartfelt smiles upon their faces that they wanted to help us finish the work, that began to make me. It was also connecting with the two young daughters without uncertainty. They were eager to show me every one of their little-league cheers.
Nearly a year later, I traveled to Antigua, Guatemala where my perspective on the world would be forever changed. I was exposed to a third world lifestyle, interacted with the homeless, restored the grounds of an orphanage, and planned a 'first' birthday party for a beautiful four year old girl. I found myself continuing doing work for the same experience. Not only to experience it myself, but to be a part of the experience, just full of hope to make someone else's life just a little better. I immerse myself into my safe place, a place where I put myself forward without any expectations. It is with an open heart, vulnerability and without expectations that amazing things happen. |
unmet needs |
Funding for materials at Project Grow are always accepted. Volunteers are especially needed. Aside from the mundane but necessary work, volunteers provide great community for the members at Project Grow. Acknowledgement as a professional artist is something that is necessary but not always provided by the local community. Our goal is to foster independence and create doorways with in order to conserve the member's professionalism. We cultivate relationships between the Arts community and members. Nevertheless, the more exposure, the more the artist will continue to flourish, sell their work and provide for their livelihood with doing what they love.
|