WHEN: Monday, May 4, 2009
reception for seniors at 5 p.m. in Lowell masters’ residence
dinner begins at 6 p.m. in Lowell dining hall

WHO: all PBHA directors and volunteers

RSVP: www.pbha.org/PublicServiceCelebration

NOMINATE A VOLUNTEER: Every year, each program can nominate an outstanding volunteer in their program to be recognized at the Celebration. Nominate a volunteer here.

PBHA’s Auction for the Summer Urban Program

Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

5:30-8:30 p.m.

CHECK OUT OUR FANTASTIC AUCTION ITEMS	To plan for your bidding, please download a copy of a program of the event SUP Auction Program 2009
DIRECTIONS TO THE QUEEN’S HEAD PUB	The Queen’s Head Pub is underneath Sanders Theatre in Memorial Hall on the campus of Harvard University. Please visit the Sanders Theatre Website for directions
Purchase Tickets	If you HAVE NOT purchased tickets, click below to make your paid reservation(s). With an online paid reservation, you will be placed on a guest list – no paper tickets are needed.

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Tuesday March 31st @ 5:30pm
Ticknor Lounge, Boylston Hall

Harvard – the world’s richest university – has already started laying off some of its lowest paid employees to cut costs during the financial crisis. Cutting staffing levels by 40% at some work sites.

The City of Cambridge has called on Harvard to save the jobs of its service employees that rely on their income the most.

Join us for a panel where janitors, security guards, clerical workers, and dining hall staff will speak out about the pending layoffs in their workplaces. 

Layoffs are more than just percentage points on a budget, but directly impact hard-working people that are simply trying to provide for their families. Come listen to their stories and show your support for Harvard workers fighting to keep their jobs. 

student.labor.action.movement // slam@hcs.harvard.edu // harvardslam.org

Check out the article and news clip at http://wbztv.com/local/students.volunteer.spring.2.968692.html

Today started in a hurry.

After some of the guys missed our alarm, we had to eat breakfast real quick before heading back to Mary’s house to get to work. 

Back at Mary’s, we set out to complete the task we had started yesterday: the historical renovation of a 101 year old three room shotgun house to be rented out to Mississippi residents still displaced by the Hurricane. Yesterday’s work mainly consisted of the ten of us, scraping old paint of the three room shotgun house at 1910 Bullis Ave for six and a half hours.

Today, when we got there, amidst intermittent rain showers, we began the task of sanding down the stripped wood so that we could prime it for painting later in the week. Our hands became gritty with woodchips, paintchips, essentially any kinda house-chips you could imagine, as we sanded down the two side walls and the front of the house.

Paint chips were soon replace with paint as we started applying primer to the walls. These facades that were once a cracked yellow and then a stripped wood became a glistening white as we primed them for painting later in the week. As we brushed the primer across the wood, standing on ladders to reach the highest parts, we spoke of philosophy, dignity, death and all those interesting topics.

Kristen, one of my tripmates, made an interesting point as we were brushing on the primer. By renovating this small, old house, we are giving historical value to the people who built it and lived in it all these years. Usually when we think of history, we view it through the lens of those in power. When we think of historical buildings, we think of monuments, mansions, homes and workspaces of powerful or important people. By treating this old house as history, we were creating history on the terms of regular people. This was a three room shotgun house, not a mansion, and our work, scraping, sanding, priming, was affirming the value and historical importance of normal people and their experiences. 

These people, people like Mary, people like many of our family members, live the experiences of history. 

Later, when rain came back and we couldn’t prime anymore, we drove over to the East Biloxi Boys and Girls Club and helped the kids there finish their math and english homework for about 30 minutes. After that we went outside to spend time with the five and six year olds: playing tag, hide and seek, kickball, doing some more homework, making friends. 

These kids were only babies and toddlers when Katrina hit. They are the children of the recovery movement. Their lives and experiences, their moments playing with volunteers on the playground, learning academic skills, making friends and growing up, this is the history of the recovery movement, this game of kickball out behind a Boys and Girls Club one rainy afternoon. These children will tell this important story, of people coming together to serve. Maybe they’ll remember the countless volunteers that came through to work with them, maybe they won’t. 

These children grew in a storm. They are Biloxi’s answer to the challenges that this City has faced. They are the builders of a new history.

Read more blog posts from this trip and others at http://harvardservicebreak.wordpress.com/

Please visit MHASP’s website to learn more!

Now, Sanjin considers Sandra a true friend. “She and I can talk about anything – school, our histories, politics, music, you name it.” Sanjin, who currently serves as director for PBHA’s Elderly 1-2-1 as well as PBHA Adult Services PGO, credits the program for both giving him the opportunity to form such a friendship and allowing him to “get out of the Harvard Bubble and see the world as it really is.”

“Elderly 1-2-1” is only one of four programs under the auspices of PBHA’s Elderly Affairs Committee. All programs meet for approximately three hours every weekend and serve nursing homes located in Cambridge. The “1-2-1” program matches volunteers one-on-one with a nursing home resident. PBHA’s Alzheimer Buddies for the Arts volunteers facilitate art projects to be completed by Alzheimer’s patients. PBHA’s “Vernon Hall” members play bingo with residents once a week, and “Pets as Therapy” participants bring dogs to nursing homes for the inhabitants to play with.

Sanjin estimates that the EAC has around 30 volunteers, who currently serve between 50-100 constituents. However, the program always welcomes more volunteers: “There is an unfortunate social stereotype that the elderly are at the tail end of what they can contribute to the world. But people don’t realize that oftentimes, [the elderly] just need someone to have a conversation with. People can help just by providing some companionship.”

EAC seeks student volunteers who are caring, open-minded, and committed to making a difference in someone’s life. New volunteers are accepted at any point in the semester. For more information, see the EAC’s section at http://pbha.org/our-programs.

Donwload a summary of these results here: student-experience-2008

50% reported their volunteer work influenced their career choices. 

When I first started volunteering, I didn’t expect my volunteer work to influence my academic or professional work, but I have found that I am increasingly open to social/public service work or courses.

 - Refugee Youth Term Enrichment Volunteer ’09

I no longer want to do something glamorous, but something that makes a positive different in the world – something that really helps people.

- PBHA’s Elderly Affairs Volunteer ’09

83% reported that their volunteer work increased their commitment to public service and volunteer work. 

My volunteer work is by far the most valuable experience at school so far. I learned two new things about service throug my experiences this year – first, that meeting and serving individuals behind the issue is critical to understanding how (and why) to address a problem; second, that even if there’s very little you can do to tangible improve someone’s situation, your involvement is critically important because it shows that someone wants to help them and believes that there is hope for them.

– PBHA’s Harvard Emerging Literacy Program Volunteer ’11

89% said their volunteer work helped them feel like they made a positive impact. 

I have gotten so much out of AHEAD beacuse I feel like I’ve been actually making a difference in the kids’ lives and I’ve been able to develop relationships with them, which is definitely the most meaningful part of it for me.

-PBHA’s Aiming for Higher Emerson Academic Development (AHEAD) Volunteer ’11

The more I help other people feel like I have something that can reall aid someone, the more I feel in control of my own life. 

- PBHA’s Kids with Special Needs Achievement Program Volunteer ’08

89%  said their volunteer work increased their knowledge about the issue or community served by their program 

My ASB trip had a tremendous impact on my life. Me eyes were opened to racial injustices in this world that I did not realize, or perhaps did not want to realize, still existed. Beyond racial injustices, I also came to understand social and financial injustices that exist in this world. Most of all, though, I learned so much from all the people I was with. I learned about the diversity of world and social perspectives and saw my own perspectives change as a result. There are tremendous injustices that need to be addressed!

– PBHA’s Alternative Spring Break(ASB)  Volunteer ’11