alternative breaks spring 2013
As each academic year comes to a close, Alterna ve Breaks finds itself in the midst of many exci ng transi ons. It was so wonderful to hear passionate accounts of transforma ve spring break experiences from our par cipants at our final All‐Community Mee ng in April. Choosing next year’s break leaders and directors was an inspiring but difficult process because there were so many wonderful candidates. At the end of April, we began the process of transi oning from this year’s leadership team to next year’s, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what this new team will bring to the table. We’re all very proud of the work we’ve done this year, including: Recrui ng more applicants than ever before Strengthening community partner rela onships through our “anchor or‐ ganiza on” concept Drama cally increasing our direct service hours over break Adding local service projects with relevant Bay Area organiza ons throughout the semester Planning to expand our program to commit year‐round to community partners, beginning with winter cohorts of the Urban Health in LA and New Orleans trips in January 2014 We strove to live into a theme of “Solidarity in Ac on,” our way of deepening our work and the way we connect to social jus ce. Check out the rest of this newsle er to learn about this theme and the rest of our accomplishments this year!
Accomplishments
Presented on voluntourism and cri cal service‐learning at IMPACT Na onal Conference at the Univer‐ sity of New Mexico
Created a “Disorienta on Guide” to cri cal service‐learning for cam‐ pus service groups and beyond
Revitalized and strengthened pre‐ trip cultural humility/risk manage‐ ment workshop
Refocused on meaningful direct service and provided 3,501 service hours, represen ng a 28%increase from last year
In this Newsle er…
Fundraising Updates: Piggybackr & Sarah’s Smart Foods Solidarity in Ac on Update What did you learn that you did not anƟcipate learning? Community Partner Spotlights: El Quinto Sol, Sanctuary One, “I realized during my trip that there are similar issues going on in my Petaluma Bounty own neighborhood and home and that perhaps I should return home Reflec ons from Urban Health and try to make a difference. I think there needs to be more people Par cipant Tes monies inspiring ac on in their own communi es.” How to Get Involved 1
Fundraising Updates—Piggybackr & Sarah’s Smart Foods by Danielle Ngo ‘14, Resource Director As a program, Alterna ve Breaks fundraises our en re $50,000 budg‐ et each year to make sure everything runs smoothly and that we can offer affordable and accessible service‐learning experiences to stu‐ dents from all socio‐economic backgrounds. A lot of money is re‐ quired to ensure 140 students are properly housed, transported, and taken care of for a full week of meaningful service, learning, and rela‐ onship‐building! This year, we began a partnership with Piggybackr, a crowdfunding start‐up that empowers young and new fundraisers to raise support for their teams, communi es & causes online. Bri any Murlas, Piggy‐ backr’s VP of Community, worked with the Cal Corps Public Service Center during her me as a Cal student and has helped this year with connec ng Alterna ve Breaks to this new tool. Piggybackr’s model, which helps students learn about, experiment with, and gain experi‐ ence fundraising, has proved hugely successful for us this year. We raised $14,565 through this tool, which is almost 30% of our annual budget. What an incredible boost for our program! We also con nued this year to partner with Sarah’s Smart Foods, a women‐owned small business located in Oakland, CA. Our annual cookie dough fundraiser alone brought in $3,535, more than enough money to cover the costs of one en re trip. Fundraising has and will always be a cri cal component to Alterna ve Breaks. We believe that fundraising is a tool for organizing, a method through which we can spread awareness about the social injus ces we address and tell our friends and loved ones about the work we do. We are excited to see how fundraising partnerships will con nue to help deepen our vision of social jus ce! Check out this Wall Street Journal blog, featuring Piggybackr and Alterna ve Breaks! h p://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/04/17/ piggybackr‐gives‐kids‐a‐kickstarter‐of‐their‐own/
Solidarity in Ac on by Ka Hinman ‘14, Community Partnerships Director Alterna ve Breaks embraced a new theme this year: “solidarity in ac on.” We wanted to move beyond the transac onal nature of short, two‐hour service projects so that we could build real rela onships with our commu‐ nity partners and community members. We also strived to deepen our understanding of direct service and ensure that in our limited me in these communi es, that work was as beneficial as possible. To do so, we asked all our break leaders to choose an “Anchor Organiza on,” which was an organiza on doing outstanding work in their community that aligned with community values and truly engaged with the people they served. The break leaders contacted these organiza‐ ons in the fall and con nued to speak with them regular‐ ly throughout the fall and spring semesters, so that the organiza ons understood our mission and values and vice ‐versa. Each trip served with their anchor organiza on for eight to ten hours of their week, usually over the course of two days. By connec ng to these organiza ons that are already standing in solidarity with communi es, students were given more opportuni es to meet community mem‐ bers and hear their stories first‐hand, as year a er year students come back from the trip and recall that hearing those stories was the most impac ul part of their experi‐ ence. We hope that our rela onships with these amazing an‐ chor organiza ons will only con nue to grow in the com‐ ing years, as they are doing the work every single day that we strive to do during our short trips!
The Alterna ve Breaks Environ‐ mental Jus ce Trip worked with the Landscape Appren ceship Program at Alameda Point Col‐ labora ve to plant an apple or‐ chard for APC residents to enjoy. Here, Deborah Lindsay (le ), the Landscaping, Hor culture Trainer & Volunteer Lead, is helping hold up an apple tree as (L to R) Priscilla C, Melissa J, and Kailyn K pack soil to the base of the tree to stabilize it.
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Community Partner Spotlight: El Quinto Sol de América
El Quinto Sol de América (EQS) is a grassroots organiza on that works in Lindsay and surrounding unincorporated com‐ muni es in California’s Central Valley. They mobilize resi‐ dents, primarily low‐income farm working families, to engage in policy‐making and the decisions that directly impact their quality of life. EQS exists to build the capacity of communi es to engage in the regional policy processes that determine their access to clean water, protec on from airborne pes ‐ cides, and other infrastructure decisions. Their ac vi es in‐ clude mobilizing residents to take civic ac on as well as cre‐ Reflec ons from Urban Health a ng opportuni es to celebrate culture through local art and by Jonathan Baio ‘13, Urban Health Break Leader kids programs. They build momentum through solidarity with The green palm trees shot up past the sea of ivy that lined the LA highways. They flicked past the mini‐van windows as twelve other organiza ons, linking up with coali ons that work to‐ Berkeley students drove redly towards the All People’s Communi‐ wards a wide array of similar jus ce‐promo ng goals. ty Center in South Los Angeles to begin a week of service‐learning. Star ng with Community Coali ons, we worked with members of the community to refine food access surveys, phone bank for a community mee ng, develop a fact sheet for PPACA enrollment, research prison and educa on spending, and go door‐to‐door to enroll people in this community‐based coali on. We also worked with Community Health Councils (CHC) to aid in the development of a neighborhood assessment survey in Koreatown. Using both their school‐developed cri cal lenses and their refined sense of partnership with the community, we ventured out and chronicled the built landscape wherein people find their homes. CHC works relessly to bring about improved health for the vari‐ ous communi es of LA through health advocacy, policy, and edu‐ ca on. They engage the community through councils and help coordinate resources to bring about improved sustained and im‐ proved health. They produce publica ons, such as the South Los Angeles Health Equity Scorecard, that holis cally assess the well being of a community with respect to the healthcare and physical environment. As service progressed, we began to feel provoked in our ideas of service. At Venice Family Clinic, we had the opportunity to assist in moving boxes of health records so that the clinic can convert them to electronic health records. The clinic was grateful for our work, but some par cipants felt unse led – we had engaged in labor that wasn’t meant for privileged university‐goers. But from this provoca on came meaningful discussion and a transforma on in our collec ve idea of service. While working with agencies, the knowledge of what needs to be done rests with the community. As we grappled with this challenge of their privilege, our idea of ser‐ vice transformed. Throughout our me in Los Angeles, the we found strength in our agency as well as encouragement in the wisdom and power of our host community. We developed a greater sense of what cons ‐ tutes the health of a community and how it is in mately shaped by the geography and environment in which people live. We also found ourselves growing as allies in the cause of greater social and health jus ce. 3
“My Alterna ve Breaks trip was one of the best experiences I've ever had; I made new friends, gained new knowledge, and was able to garner a greater understanding of how the issue of homelessness is being dealt with on both a macro and micro level. I learned that all oppression and suffering is connected, even if not obviously so. Being on a trip surrounded by people dealing with homelessness not only humbled me, but height‐ ened my passion to fight for social jus ce.” ‐Nasha Katrack ‘16, Homelessness & Poverty
“When I first heard about Alterna ve Breaks, I did not, at first, think I would fall in love with the program and Arizona as much as I did, and certainly not that I would end up applying to lead the trip for next year. But a er my experience this year working with individuals who looked like my own family and whom I knew would be trying to cross the desert into the U.S. that night, I was galvanized, transformed. It was then that I realized two things: one—Alterna ve Breaks had taught me something no classroom could teach me and two—I knew I had to come back.” ‐Paulina Olvera ‘15, Arizona
Community Partner Spotlight: Sanctuary One Sanctuary One is one of few care farms in the United States. “My trip to Campo gave me the opportunity to see and experi‐ Essen ally, care farming is the therapeu c use of farming prac‐ ence a part of my hometown that I had never been to before. ces, while also providing schools and different groups with The ar cles, sta s cs, and discussion ac vi es in the DeCal service‐learning opportuni es. Sanctuary One rescues farm ani‐ mals, as well as house pets in the hopes of giving them a loving enlightened me about the issues faced by Na ve Americans. home. What makes Sanctuary One so special is its ability to un‐ This background informa on served to enrich my posi ve ex‐ derstand every animal’s individual personality and their value. perience at Campo in working with members of the Kumeyaay This organiza on is accessible to everyone and works relessly tribe.” to promote the humane treatment of animals, along with the ‐Ka e Chen ‘13, Campo Kumeyaay healing power that volunteering animals can have. 4
Community Partner Spotlight: Petaluma Bounty by Johanna Romero ‘15, Food Jus ce Petaluma Bounty, a volunteer driven non‐ profit organiza on, aims to provide healthy affordable food to low‐income families in the area while also offering opportuni es in a variety of community outreach programs. There are farm volun‐ teer days and there is a victory garden distribu on program. Also, the newest project is a CSA (community‐supported agriculture) system in which several local low‐income families, who are members of the Petaluma People Services Center, are provided food boxes for 8 weeks begin‐ ning in the summer. By crea ng a sustain‐ able food system for the community, Petaluma Bounty is strengthening food self‐sufficiency and awareness of the pos‐ i ve outcomes of urban agriculture. The Alterna ve Breaks Food Jus ce trip was given the great opportunity of working with the community members and lead‐ ers in Petaluma Bounty this past Spring. Eager to put all the knowledge and excite‐ ment I had soaked up the previous sever‐ al months into ac on, I could not wait to get knee deep in manure. Lennie, the current Petaluma farm manager, has been a great, energe c role model for us Berkeley student par cipants and was so welcoming from the get go. Saturday was the first day of service and it was a collec‐ on of introduc ons to the various pro‐ jects we would be working on during the week. We, as a transforming team and eventually as a family, began working on seeding baby tomatoes, plan ng sliced potatoes that were dipped in ash, chuck‐ ing grass for the greens pile, and the greatest ac vity I have ever encountered, making layered compost piles of glorious beauty. I would describe my Alterna ve Breaks experience with Food Jus ce and the determined, inspiring community members with the single word CHANGE. Posi ve change, in Petaluma, in the minds and hearts of us students was created, change con nues to take place, and ac‐ ve change needs to expand. I now feel I have a responsibility to the families of the Bay Area and of the Los Angeles area. This is why healthy and good quality food is more than a product for consump on; it is the sustenance of culture, family, unity, a necessity, a gi , a privilege, a right.
The SD/TJ trip joins San Diego Immigrant Youth Collec ve to raise awareness of the communi es’ struggle in comba ng discriminatory immigra on law. (L to R: Shu L, Giselle B, Candy E, Jessica, Vannessa R, Angie R, Lizbeth D, Selene C)
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Get Involved with Alterna ve Breaks!
Host a dinner for one of our spring break trips
Please consider making a tax‐ deduc ble dona on at nyurl.com/altbreaksfund. Alterna ve Breaks leaders and par cipants work hard through grant wri ng, fundraising, and le er campaigns to maintain the affordability and accessibility of this program. For over ten years, we have been able to provide this pro‐ gram opportunity at a highly subsidized cost to many stu‐ dents from many backgrounds. None of this is possible with‐ out your support. A $25 dona on supports a scholarship for a highly‐qualified student with financial need. A $50 dona on covers course materials for an en re trip. A $100 dona on covers a week of communal housing and $500 feeds a trip of 14 students for one week. We also welcome in‐kind dona‐ ons of course materials, food, and other supplies.
∞ Visit a spring semester DeCal as a guest speaker ∞ Form a community partnership with one of our trips ∞ Cal Corps Alterna ve Breaks University of California, Berkeley 102 Sproul Hall Berkeley, CA 94720‐4550 publicservice.berkeley.edu/ alterna vebreaks
Stay tuned for our fall newsle er to meet next year’s leadership team and learn about what’s in store for our program! 6