One of the workshops that was held called “Eye 2 Eye,” gave participants a chance to reflect on how they perceived themselves in relation to the world around them. The task was to paint an eye, and within that eye, depict the inner “you”. It was an eye opener (pun intended) to see people from differing backgrounds come together and share their amazing artwork as they described themselves and reasoning for why they painted what they painted. Speaking personally, it was a fun and relaxing way to end the day while supporting the growth of others.
Mini Grant Triad Impacts: --
Mini Grant SenseMaker Project Story or Micro-Narrative
How This Person Interpreted Their Story or Micro-Narrative
Note: Responses which fell closer to the middle (between two or three options) are shown as two dashes.
Individuals aging out of…
Individuals aging out of the foster care system got to engage in art and music therapy activities. It was amazing to bring these young people together in a creative way to learn coping skills and express and process their experience.
A Natural Approach to Wellness…One Bath At A Time
Hello, my name is Danielle Morris and I am the founder of Glowrious Bath & Body which is an all natural company specializing in whipped butters, hand-crafted soaps, scrubs, salves and other bath and body essentials. And ultimately, we would love for everyone to have a natural approach to wellness and in our case, one bath at a time. And so my experience with Healthier Neighbors’ mini grant has been phenomenal on a couple of levels. One, I am very grateful for the trainings that were provided, some of the insight, some of the education, because, as a small business owner, that helped me to refine my decision as to how things were going to be allocated. And with that, with my funds through the mini grant, helped me to, again, reallocate my finances, but also to reallocate my focus on how I can better serve my community with the funds that I’ve received. And so, again, this has just been a downright pleasant experience. It has been beneficial for me, again, as a small business owner because sometimes you don’t know what direction to take, so with that, I believe that it’s just been great in a sense of fostering community, providing education, providing insight, and then also giving us the means to do so. So, again, I’m very grateful for the mini grant experience. I think it has been relatively smooth. And with that, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Glowrious Bath & Body is healing…
Glowrious Bath & Body is healing our community one bath at a time. Using A Natural Approach To Wellness, Glowrious Bath & Body provides individuals with an opportunity to use quality natural ingredients for skin care and self-care. The vision is to not only be a product based business, but additionally an informational and education platform in helping others find natural and therapeutic remedies to meet their needs. With that said, COVID was a game changer. I was and still am presented with the question of How am I going to have meaning exchanges with my consumers? And with this question in tow decided that a more interactive e-commerce platform is needed to share and exchange information and insight. The mini grant has allowed me to highlight others strengths by calling upon them to help with this fulfillment.
So far the Celebrating Diversity project…
So far the Celebrating Diversity project has been able to conduct the first two workshops of the year long project. As one of the facilitators it has been amazing to see the artwork that that the have created by the youth during the workshops. So far we have been able to discuss topics related to using art to express you inner self and how art can be used as social commentary. During the last project a majority of participants reported that they learned something new about themselves, learned something about expressing themselves through art, and feel that they can express themselves better then they could before the workshop.
On November 10, SPARC was able…
On November 10, SPARC was able to complete its first online training with over 60 Early Head Start center owners and staff under the Early Learning Coalition. The training was a professional edition of an earlier training presented to families last year at BRIDGES Riviera Beach (also thanks to the HN Mini-Grant). With this year’s grant, I was able to upgrade the training, the Zoom platform membership, and utilize new technology (a tablet) to offer a more stable and engaging online training experience. The participants loved the training! As the presenter, any anxiety I had was whisked away as I engaged with such an amazing group of professionals dedicated to the the children and families they serve and help. When I finished the workshop and signed off, I wiped away happy tears. This, I knew, was at the heart of what SPARC Guidance can and will do for the community. My goal with this business is to continue to offer the 4 A’s (Awareness, Acceptance, Affirmation, and Advocacy) for families affected by autism/developmental delays, and the professionals who work for and alongside them.
Sister to Sister had it’s first…
Sister to Sister had it’s first Mentor Training Experience. We had 3 staff, 17 Mentors (black, Hispanic, Asian, and mixed race) of women and a trainer through Zoom to learn about how to work with their mentees. It was discus what techniques Mentors could use to connect with their mentees. In addition, Mentors were informed that they would have a folder that they could access to review what was discuss during the training with further resources. Actually, a comment was given by a participant that it was well organized and they felt that it would help them with being a good Mentor to their mentee.
Family Promise of South Palm Beach…
Family Promise of South Palm Beach County through the BeWell DoWell mini-grant began our series of speakers for “Sharing Survival Stories Saturday” on November 7, 2020. The purpose of the series of eight speakers over the next twelve months is for formerly homeless mothers to share their story of how they overcame extreme adversity and challenges and draw from their strength to become successful women, business leaders and mothers.Our first speaker was Shandra Stringer, who left the care of her grandmother at 16 years old, to escape a harsh life and to focus finishing high school. She went on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management and then a Masters in Non-profit Management all the while raising her daughter. She worked two jobs and at one point she had to make the financial decision of either paying her rent or her car payment. Since she needed a way to get to work, she decided they would have to live in the car for a few weeks. Shandra stressed that she never felt like a victim and that through her village – her church and her friends, Shandra went on to become a successful motivational speaker, an entrepreneur of three companies and above all else an excellent example of what one can do in life. Her motto is .If I Can Help Somebody along the Way then My Living is not in Vain
This mini grant experience has allowed…
This mini grant experience has allowed Youth Empowered to Prosper to roll out a vision that the Director has had to enrich youth in Palm Beach County. Future Leaders Prep Course is designed for high schoolers and youth up to age 22 that focuses on leadership development, financial awareness and job preparedness. This course is designed to provide knowledge and tools for life after high school. We will achieve this through destiny activation development courses that focus on purpose, leadership, entrepreneurship, financial awareness, internships/apprenticeships, career exploration and the like. The goal of these courses is to equip our next generation with self-awareness and knowledge to help make better decisions as productive and responsible leaders in the community.
With the grant, I was able…
With the grant, I was able to receive all required licenses with the city and county to operate. I was also able to secure a domain name for my website and have a logo created for my business that is eye catching. I have the required software needed to create Proposals, Presentations and Documents to present my information in a professional matter.