Opportunity Details
TeamWorks: Media Access & Empowerment (age 18+) *Hands On*
Join a TeamWorks team of volunteers for a series of done-in-a-day projects led by a Hands On Greater Portland TeamWorks Leader. TeamWorks offers volunteers the opportunity to make a slightly longer-term commitment to volunteering, delve into a topic or issue-area, and get to know other volunteers in the process.
Take a moment to think about all the ways we consume and share information in our 21st century society. Where do we go to learn about what’s going on in our world, whether on the local or global level? What defines the media we consume? Are there ways we can contribute to it and share our own stories?
Everyone knows the old saying knowledge is power. If knowledge is power, then it follows that the conduits of power are media, technology, and other tools that allow us to gain knowledge, to express ourselves, and to thrive in a connected society.
This Spring TeamWorks series will focus on a number of organizations in the Portland area that are dedicated to providing education and access to information and technology, as well as the opportunity to participate in the media that shapes how we see our world.
Our journey will take us through a variety of media, from audio to visual to digital. We’ll hear from a “story midwife” who has worked on participatory media projects with at-risk youth, designed to support them in sharing their own stories through photography, writing, and documentary making. We’ll help recycle computers at Free Geek as we learn about their programs to get technology into the hands of those who might otherwise not have access to it. We’ll write letters to prisoners to connect them with helpful resources, and help clean books destined for the homes of headstart children to ensure literacy development from a young age. We’ll lend a hand in the office at Well Arts Institute, which facilitates playwriting and oral history theatre workshops for individuals facing physical and mental illness, and we’ll get an introduction to Portland Community Media, and the many ways we can learn from and support local, non-commercial media developed and produced in the community, by the community and for the community.
Along the way, we will explore and discuss media literacy, socioeconomic implications to access, and how low-cost access to various media, tools, and training can help people from all walks of life engage in the world and express themselves, whether creatively or professionally. Throughout the course of the team, we will learn how we can stay involved in supporting these and other such organizations, in and beyond the Portland metro area, in the longer term.
What is TeamWorks? TeamWorks teams consist of approximately 10-15 individuals, led by a Hands On trained volunteer leader, who commit to volunteering for every project in the series, so please carefully check the schedule below before signing up! Signing up for the FIRST session will sign you up for the entire TeamWorks. If you know in advance you'd have to miss one of the projects, let us know and you might still be eligible to join the team. Questions can be directed to Melia Tichenor, melia@handsonportland.org or 503.200.3370.
Please note: All TeamWorks members are asked to pay a commitment fee of $10 at the first project to confirm your participation on the team. Scholarships are available upon request. At the end of the TeamWorks experience, the team will have the opportunity to vote on where to donate the money gathered at the team kick-off.
Team Schedule:
Thursday, May 9th, 6:30pm - 8:30pm: Team Kick-Off & Guest Speaker: Laura LoForti, "Story Midwife" (Downtown)
Meet your fellow team members over dinner (provided) and dive into the topic with a discussion about what media is and its ability to empower (or disempower) depending how it is accessed, used, and consumed by individuals and communities. We will hear from Laura LoForti, a "story midwife" who will share with us some of the work she has done with disadvantaged populations as a multimedia producer and participatory media practitioner. With World Press Photo award winner Brenda Ann Kenneally, she co-founded The Raw File, an ongoing multimedia series of immersive documentary work exploring non traditional approaches to journalism. Their series Back On The Black has been screened at festivals in the US and abroad. Through her collaboration with the Center of Citizen Journalism at UC Berkeley and the Center for Digital Storytelling, Laura adopted participatory media practices to raise the emotional and honest voices which are often misrepresented in traditional media outlets. For the past 7 years she has been designing and facilitating programs supporting at-risk youth in foster care, juvenile facilities, suspension schools, homeless centers, in sharing their own stories through photography, writing, documentary making.
Saturday, May 11, 10am-1:30pm: Recycle Electronics with Free Geek (SE Portland) Free Geek’s mission is “to recycle used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.” We’ll get an introduction to their facility and then try our own hand at electronics recycling as we help prepare materials for a second chance at life. Closed-toed shoes are REQUIRED to volunteer at Free Geek, so please wear them or bring a pair with you to this project!
Thursday, May 16, 5:30 - 8:30pm: Answer Prisoner Mail with the Partnership for Safety & Justice (NE Portland)
For ten years, Partnership for Safety and Justice has been receiving mail from prisoners, and we answer each letter, providing resources and information about laws, policies and civil rights. We'll help answer some of these letters, thereby helping prisoners from Oregon and beyond advocate for themselves and be more successful when they are released. After the shift, we'll head to a local brewery to discuss our experience thus far and connect the dots between our volunteer efforts and the larger issue of media empowerment.
Monday, May 20, 6:30-8:30pm: Get Books to Children at the Children's Book Bank (NE Portland)
For children in poverty, one of the biggest obstacles to literacy development (which begins at birth) is the scarcity of books in the home. And without literacy, the barriers to media access and empowerment are vast. While the ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods is approximately 13 books to 1 child, the ratio in low-income neighborhoods is a mere 1 book to 300 children. The Children’s Book Bank narrows the book gap by providing the community with a place for families to donate the books their children have outgrown, moving thousands and thousands of children’s books into the homes of kids in need. We'll lend a hand by sprucing up community-donated books, which will later be distributed to low-income preschool children in the Portland area! Every gently-used donated book is inspected and cleaned by volunteers. Tasks include wiping covers, taping torn pages, erasing scribbles, covering inscriptions, and reinforcing worn spines. Feel free to bring some gently-loved children's books to donate when you come.
Thursday, May 30, 6:30pm - 8:30pm: Lend a Hand at the Well Arts Office (NE Portland)
Well Arts Institute is a nonprofit, arts organization that explores the health of our community and its members through the reflective lens of the arts. They partner with other organizations to bring professional artists to facilitate playwriting and oral history theatre workshops for people facing physical illness, mental illness, or social trauma. Well Arts helps people heal by supporting them in writing their stories; not only does this promote their own creativity, but it builds empathy in the community as professional actors are cast to perform these collected stories for the general public in stage readings. We'll be helping out for an evening at their office with various sorting, filing, and other office tasks over dinner, as we talk with them about the work they do in helping empower individuals to write and share their stories with the world.
Monday, June 3, 7:00pm - 9:30pm: Orientation to Portland Community Media & TeamWorks Wrap-Up (NE Portland)
For our final session, we'll attend the Portland Community Media Orientation to learn more about this awesome organization, dedicated to connecting people to media technologies, ensuring equitable access for communities to share their stories, viewpoints and culture, and promoting broad participation in our civic and cultural life. Since 1981, they have provided equipment and training courses for individuals and organizations to utilize many forms of media distribution as a means of communication, civic involvement, artistic and cultural expression and community development.
After the orientation session, the group will head to a local restaurant/bar nearby to grab a snack and wrap up with a final discussion to tie together the TeamWorks experience and reflect on everything we've learned.
*TBD Bonus Project*: Independent Publishing Resource Center
Pending further communication with IPRC the group may have the option to schedule a bonus project with Portland's own Independent Publishing Resource Center, if team members are interested. The IPRC's Mission is to facilitate creative expression, identity and community by providing individual access to tools and resources for creating independently published media and artwork.
Click "Sign Up" below to reserve your spot on the team! Need help signing up? Call 503-200-3355.
Age Minimum (with Adult): 18+, Minimum Age:18+
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