Get The Lead Out !
We have developed a realistic approach that will reduce lead poisoning and increase economic development among the disenfranchised in Burlington City, New Jersey. Lead-based paint, in older homes in the US, remains a problem. Burlington City, New Jersey's York Shire district has many older homes and is an impoverished community whose residents are low income, unemployed/under-employed with little marketable skills. We will reduce the number of homes with lead-based paint--a major source of lead poisoning among children and adults, while helping its residents acquire marketable skills abating lead. Abating lead is easy enough but most abatement companies do not want to service poorer neighborhoods. The need is great and those trained can start their own lead abatement micro-enterprises.
A propos de vous
A propos de vous
Prénom
Lewis
Nom
Speight
Profil sur Facebook
A propos de votre organisation
Nom
Sankofa Builds Pathways to Success, Inc.
Site Web
Téléphone
1-609-531-6303
Adresse
526 York Street
Pays
États Unis, NJ, Burlington County
Pays dans lesquels ce projet crée un impact social
États Unis, NJ, Burlington County
Votre organisation est-elle une
organisation à but non lucratif
Depuis combien de temps votre organisation opère-t-elle ?
1‐5 années
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Innovation
Titre du formulaire de participation
Get The Lead Out !
Quels changements pensez-vous apporter ?
We have developed a realistic approach that will reduce lead poisoning and increase economic development among the disenfranchised in Burlington City, New Jersey. Lead-based paint, in older homes in the US, remains a problem. Burlington City, New Jersey's York Shire district has many older homes and is an impoverished community whose residents are low income, unemployed/under-employed with little marketable skills. We will reduce the number of homes with lead-based paint--a major source of lead poisoning among children and adults, while helping its residents acquire marketable skills abating lead. Abating lead is easy enough but most abatement companies do not want to service poorer neighborhoods. The need is great and those trained can start their own lead abatement micro-enterprises.
Quelles sont les principales activités mises en place par le projet ?
We will work with select able-bodied residents of Burlington City, facilitate training and certification in assessing the presence of residential lead-based paint and safely removing it from older homes in the York Shire section. Four individuals representative of the York Shire community in Burlington City will be trained as abatement specialists and a fifth person will be trained and certified as abatement site supervisor.
• Our initial aim is to alleviate the burden of lead-based paint on the health of the young and elderly in impoverished communities. A secondary aim is to facilitate the acquisition of a marketable skill in lead-based paint abatement for those who are unemployed, underemployed and who generally face employment barriers in the Yorkshire Community and lay the foundation for starting their own small enterprises in lead-based paint abatement in an industry that lacks skilled workers willing to handle smaller residential communities. We will facilitate training and OSHA certification for 5 residents (4 for residential work and a 5th for site supervision). Working with the city administrator, we will select the homes and provide the service, followed by an evaluation of the city's license and inspection division. The service will be made affordable and/or subsidized by the housing bureau.
En quoi votre initiative est-elle innovante ? Dans quelle mesure apporte-elle une contribution originale dans son domaine ?
The innovation is that it is do-able, able to be duplicated in low-income communities around the country, creates marketable skills, lays the foundation for the development of micro-enterprises by those with employment barriers, reaches long forgotten communities that most major abatement companies do not want to bother themselves with, reduces the occurrences of lead poisoning, disease and death from lead-based paint consumption by the young and the old and creates a sense of ownership and buy-in among the residents of lower-income, often blighted communities.
A quel étape votre projet en est-il ?
En place depuis moins d'un an
Comment décririez-vous la population auprès de laquelle vous travaillez ? Parlez-nous, par exemple, de la situation économique, des structures politiques, des normes et des valeurs, de l'évolution démographique, de l'histoire ou des précédentes expériences d'engagement communautaire.
The community that I engage is the York Shire section of Burlington City, New Jersey. It is an impoverished area. The residents are a mixture of ages with high rates of unemployment and underemployment. The homes are older. There are a few organizations but none are addressing lead abatement which is a major health issue for the very young and elderly. Although Burlington City is historic and has aesthetic charm, its people are struggling to remain in their communities. They have a desire to make a difference but no trusted community leadership to guide direction. Because the community is near the river that separates thriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Burlington, New Jersey, there is the potential to attract those with higher incomes but this small community of York Shire just seems to be in the way. The political leadership says they want to see change but nothing aimed at building value and community buy-in from within among its residents. There are no social services in the community making a major impact. Abating the lead is an initial step to rebuilding the health of the community. Other grassroots projects are being conceptualized.
Racontez l'histoire du fondateur et ce qui l'a inspiré à démarrer ce projet
My name is Lewis Speight. I have chosen to live in the community that I have described. I am a recently retired corrections officer but as a way of making a difference in poorer communities, for more than 15 years, I have been rehabilitating salvageable homes making them available to those unable to qualify for home purchase. I did this without outside funding. It was my way of trying to give back. I have always worked with those less fortunate. As an officer working in corrections, I understand the employment barriers for those who are released and other disenfranchised individuals. Many are not able acquire a marketable skill and get hired. This concept will help them obtain a much needed skill and start their own micro-enterprises while investing in their own communities. The core mission of the nonprofit, I started, is to create affordable housing and eliminate urban blight and to assist the disenfranchised in obtaining a means to empower themselves. In addition, I am trained and certified in lead-based paint abatement and erecting and completing high quality modular homes. I am also a certified green building professional and aging in-place professional.
Impact social
This Entry is about (Issues)
Décrivez les résultats positifs obtenus par votre projet ainsi que la façon dont ils sont mesurés.
We have implemented this effort on a very small scale. We abated a house owned by a sickly elderly couple that did not have the resources to hire a traditional company. The president of our nonprofit is certified in lead abatement and did the work himself as a role model to his workers who assisted on a small scale and all of which are disenfranchised with employment barriers but willing to work. It was successful. The work exceeded expectation and passed inspection by the city's license and inspection as a clear measure of success. We need to expand this to the next level and get more certified. The need is great in removing lead-based paint as a health risk in older homes and poorer communities.
Combien de personnes ont été touchées par votre projet ?
Moins de 100
Combien de personnes pourraient être touchées par votre projet au cours des trois prochaines années ?
1,001-10,000
Les projets gagnants possèdent un programme solide indiquant leurs prévisions de croissance. Identifiez l’objectif à atteindre au bout de six mois pour accroître vos résultats.
Month 1: identify 4 community residents, train & certify
identify 1st home for abatement. Month 2: identify 2-4 homes and hone revenue development plan. Month 3-6, four homes abated and inspected.
Tâche 1
Identify, train and certify 4 residents and a 5th as site supervisor.
Tâche 2
Evaluate work, arrange inspections and prepare performance reports
Tâche 3
Arrange micro-enterprise development sessions for those trained and certified and repeat tasks 1 thru 2
Identifiez l’objectif à atteindre au bout de 12 mois.
Year 1: Twenty-one (21) individuals trained, working in teams of 3 & the creation of 7 individual micro-enterprise entities specializing in lead abatement services expanded from the city to the county
Tâche 1
Secure revenue with the support of the city municipality, corporate donations and grant funding to continue training, certification and home identification. Begin a "How To" manual for replication.
Tâche 2
Conducting formative evaluation to hone the project's process as well as assess and resident satisfaction
Tâche 3
Continue to arrange sessions on micro-enterprise development and sustainability for those already trained and working a abatement specialists.
Quelle va être l'évolution de votre projet lors des trois prochaines années ?
We will increase in the number of trained abatement specialists and geographic area served with the goal of reaching other impoverished communities. We will provide an easy-to-use "how-to" manual with proven demonstration of successful lead abatement activities from within disenfranchised communities. We will work with established programs already providing social services within target communities in order to identify potential trainees. By year three, those trained in the first year will be transforming their 3-man micro-enterprise into a small business with a sustainability plan in place.
Viabilité
Quels sont les obstacles qui pourraient entraver la réussite de votre projet et comment comptez-vous les surmonter ?
Many of our staff are willing and able to work, however as they are disenfranchised (underemployed, have employment barriers), they do not have the funds to get the comprehensive training and OSHA certified. In addition, the process to be placed on the list of recognized vendors within municipalities is prohibitive. However, once trained our staff will be able to implement the project as a fee-for-service costing less than traditional contracted sources of which there are not enough because many of the homes are in blighted neighborhoods and high risk. We are training resident who live within the communities and who want a chance to make a difference.
Quels sont vos différents partenariats ?
We are currently in talks with the Burlington City administrator who likes our idea of starting with small do-able projects at the grassroots level and will provide letter(s) of supports for our fund-seeking activities. We have identified one of the few organizations within the York Shire and had discussions, The Sister-Hood and spoke with their funding entity who is interesting in more discussion to see how they can support the effort.
Actuellement, quel est votre budget annuel (USD) ?
$1 000‐$10 000
Expliquez vos choix.
At this juncture, our workers are volunteer. The nonprofit is repairing small jobs on homes and lawn care that provides a stipend for the volunteers on some projects as they are learning other aspect of community improvement. The lead abatement service is the phase of the nonprofit services that we want to grow.
Comment pensez-vous pouvoir consolider votre projet au cours des trois prochaines années ?
We need to secure funding, and formalize a three year strategic plan. We will seek funds for Board Development, Leadership Development, Community Engagement, marketing and promotion as well as a corporate sponsorship plan. Most of all, we need to shift our volunteers to paid staff in order to demonstrate their value to the growth of the nonprofit and its community development activities. We will develop a fund-seeking calendar, secure larger office space, donations of financial management hardware and software and training of our staff to hone their skills in this area. This will allow us the build the organizational capacity for sustainability. We will incorporate evaluations for all of our projects and use them to fine-tune our services and activities.
Enjeux
Quels problèmes liés à la santé et au bien-être votre projet tente-t-il de résoudre ?
Veuillez sélectionner trois réponses par ordre d'importance (notées de 1 à 3 par ordre de pertinence).
PRIMAIRE
Accès limité aux outils ou aux ressources préventives
SECONDAIRE
Incitation à un mode de vie malsain
TERTIAIRE
Autre (veuillez spécifier)
Veuillez décrire la façon dont votre projet s'attaque spécifiquement aux problèmes cités ci-dessus.
Disease, disability and brain damage from lead poising is preventable. The resource is human capital willing to work in high-risk impoverished communities--a resource that has not been available to this community. Many of the unemployed and underemployed have a sense of hopelessness for lack of being able to obtain a marketable skill and to find jobs. Involving the community to fix their own problems restores a sense of ownership and lessens the community lethargy while restoring physical movement and exercise toward healthy living. As the homes are being abated and the impact of lead-poisoning lessening, physical and mental problems from lead poising is also reduced as a barrier to well-being.
De quelle façon faites-vous croître l'impact de votre organisation ou de votre projet ?
Veuillez sélectionner trois moyens potentiels par ordre d'importance (notés de 1 à 3 par ordre de pertinence).
PRIMAIRE
Croissance géographique: au sein du pays d'origine
SECONDAIRE
Influence sur d'autres organisations et institutions grâce à la diffusion de meilleures pratiques
TERTIAIRE
Autre (veuillez spécifier)
Veuillez indiquer les activités actuellement en place ou devant être mises en place dans un futur proche pour stimuler votre croissance.
We have completed a small lead abatement project successfully, therefore our growth activities are planned for immediate future performance. We want to increase the number of houses that we are able to abate of the presence of lead poisoning. As we are successful, we will expand beyond Burlington city to include, Burlington Township and then Burlington County.
Êtes-vous en collaboration avec : (plusieurs réponses possibles)
Organisme gouvernemental , une ONG/organisation à but non lucratif.
Si oui, dans quelle mesure ces partenariats ont-ils contribué à la réussite de votre projet ?
We have been in discussions with the city administrator (government) who is very interested in this lead abatement activity as well as lot clean up and other grassroots efforts that involve the impoverished community. We have also had initial conversations with funders for The Sisterhood, Inc- a nonprofit currently situated in the target community.
 | il y a 91 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 91 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 93 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 94 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 94 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 94 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 94 semaines Lewis Speight updated this Competition Entry. |
| il y a 95 semaines Lewis Speight submitted this idea. |