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Vision: Learning the value of giving back by helping the Bloomington-Normal community.
Goal: To help open a well functioning day shelter for the homeless.
Two classes from the Management Department at Illinois State University came together with the Path Crisis Center to help open a day shelter for the homeless. The classes were divided into eleven teams and each had their own task to accomplish to help the shelter. Here is a summary of what the teams accomplished:
This team was in charge of coordinating suppliers to donate paper products to the center. Currently the team has ten organizations that will donate one month of supplies throughout the year on an on-going basis. The team will continue to find more suppliers to have enough supplies to cover a year.
This team worked together to produce a manual that will be distributed to volunteers who come to the Compassion Center. The manual discusses the common misconceptions that surround homelessness as well as the types of people who become homeless. The group also included statistics about homelessness in the Bloomington-Normal community.
This computer installation team was in charge of fixing donated computers to help the center with record keeping. The main responsibility of the team was to take inventory of the computers and fix the ones that would be most beneficial to the center. The team had to steamline all the computers, make sure the computers had all the same software and were all compatible, and clean out any viruses. The team also helped set up a DSL and installed the computers at the center. Thanks to the wonderful people at Geek-a-Byte, a local computer store, for the donation to purchase a server and other needed computer supplies.
A survey was designed and administered to collect information about the homeless population's views on the Compassion Center and any concerns they have about the center. The group produced the survey, handed it out at Safe Harbor and then analyzed the information they received. The team then took the information that they gathered from the homeless and compiled it into charts, graphs and a paper discussing their findings.
The food donation team is working on ways to supply food for the homeless. One hope is to get stores and other organizations to donate on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. So far the team has been successful at collecting gift cards to grocery stores to get the center started.
This team has been responsible for taking inventory of the church basement, cleaning the church basement, painting tables, steam cleaning cubicles, and assembling cubicles at the Compassion Center. On the move in day, the cubicle team installed the cubicles in concurrence with the furniture dimensions assigned to the cubicle area.
The website team created an easy-to-use, attractive website for the public to educate themselves about homelessness. The website is equipped with all relevant and necessary information needed for anyone who wants to help the community or learn more about homelessness.
The Fundraising Team in MQM 380 has been involved in every aspect that pertains to fundraising throughout the semester. They have solicited businesses for donations, set up activities such as a car wash and a voluntary bagging for tips at a local grocery store, and arranged for the monetary donations to be in an account for the Compassion Center. The bagging for tips raised $750 for the Compassion Center and the car wash will be held April 17 at the Ace Hardware on College Ave. This team is responsible for many donations that will prove very beneficial for the continued viability of the Compassion Center.
The timeline and history team created and maintained an updated timeline with the progress of the Compassion Center project. They also assisted the Media Kit team with the development of brochures by researching the history of homelessness.
The Media Press Kit Team has been working on creating a tri-fold brochure that can be used for the Compassion Center. The team also has worked on compiling a history/fact sheet on homelessness, a complete list of the agencies located in the area, and also a ten second spot on the radio.
Due to the large number of students connected to this project (60), two administrative teams were assembled. The administrative team was in charge of fostering collaboration and communication between the two sections of the class. The administrative team also met frequently to discuss the progress of each team and offered support in any way possible. The administrative team was also in charge of organizing move-in day.
MQM 380 - Teams and Teams Development
Spring 2004
Dr. Dale E. Fitzgibbons
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