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Opportunities in Lawrence
*The deadline for summer fellowship funding through the MIT Public Service Center is rapidly approaching! You must apply by March 23!*
Many MIT@Lawrence positions begin with a conversation. Look through this website to get an idea of past and present MIT@Lawrence projects. The positions listed are just the tip of the iceberg. We are happy to work with MIT students to create their own projects in Lawrence. Please contact Jesse Kaminsky (MIT@Lawrence Program Manager) at kaminsk@mit.edu, Sally Susnowitz (Public Service Center Director) at susnowit@mit.edu, or Aaron Stelson (MIT@Lawrence Graduate Assistant) at astelson@mit.edu to begin a conversation. Community organizations in Lawrence need your help! Grants and stipends are available to fund projects and positions through the MIT Public Service Center or through the MIT UROP program (See Funding page). There are also several opportunities for volunteers. MIT@Lawrence encourages students and student groups to create their own projects as well. For more information on these opportunities contact Jesse Kaminsky at kaminsk@mit.edu. Groundwork Lawrence, Inc. (GWL) is a locally-based non-profit organization working to create sustainable environmental change through community-based partnerships. Groundwork is committed to "changing places and changing lives" through on-the-ground projects, education, and volunteer programs that help to transform local communities. To accomplish this, Groundwork leads and supports a variety of partnership-driven efforts that bring together the public, private, and non-profit sectors to solve complex environmental problems and sustain a long-term vision for neighborhood change and renewal. Fresh Food Access Intern Microenterprise Intern Scope: Conduct interviews with at least 8 BRH homeowners and approximately 8 Purpose of the audio-visual: To document BRH’s greatest resource: its community of homeowners Timeframe: There is no specific deadline, though it would be preferred that the Our Lady of Good Counsel School Founded in 1921, Our Lady of Good Counsel School is a pre-K to Grade 8 school that serves students from throughout the city and several neighboring communities. Over sixty per cent of our student population receives some type of tuition support. Many of the parents of our children can just barely cover the costs of their tuition, however, they want their children to have chances of achieving economic security that have eluded them for so long. Tutoring
The “What’s Up” project is a technical assistance project that involves a group of youth from Lawrence in building leadership skills and creating a website and telephone network where they and their peers can interact and keep each other posted on current events and issues surrounding their communities. In the summer of 2005 MIT Media Lab student Leo Burd worked with Lawrence youth during the Building Blocks summer camp. Youth Activity Researchers spanned the city interviewing youth about their activities in different places in Lawrence. Youth Activity Coordinators took that information and organized events for youth citywide, including public space clean-ups and block parties. Administrative Development Programmer There are opportunities for undergraduate students to join the following research projects as research assistants. Undergraduate students will work closely with Prof. Lorlene Hoyt and the graduate student working on each project. For more information on UROPs see the service UROP page. Collective Economics: Eric Espino, a graduate student in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, is providing technical assistance to Lawrence CommunuityWorks (LCW) to investigate the potential of collective economic structures to lower the costs of staple goods and services to LCW members. Eric and LCW believe that LCW’s 1,200-plus members can pool their collective purchasing power to negotiate mutually beneficial agreements with businesses and service providers. Groundwork Lawrence Curriculum Development Assistance: Anne Schwieger, a Department of Urban Studies and Planning graduate student, is performing community-based service with Groundwork Lawrence’s Green Team, a group of environmentally conscious Lawrence High School students. Anne is developing curriculum for an environmental education class to be offered to high school students in the spring semester. This course will support the MCAS 10th and 12th grade requirements, provide opportunities for career development, and unite the experiential and thematic work that Groundwork Lawrence undertakes. Alexa Mills, a graduate student in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, is providing technical assistance to Lawrence CommunityWorks to document the stories of victims of predatory lending using digital storytelling techniques. In recent years, Lawrence has seen a devastating spike in predatory lending incidents. Alexa will create a compilation of these victims’ stories to be used as an educational tool to help new homebuyers identify predatory and sub-prime loans, access good loan products, and understand the risks they may encounter. 1. Teaching workshop participants how to write their personal story The UROP includes preparation for the workshop and assistance in distributing the stories and assessing how they can be used to advocate better services for the people of Lawrence. Several other MIT organizations offer volunteer opportunities in Lawrence. Additionally, it is possible to create your own volunteer project (see below).
MIT@Lawrence encourages students and student groups to create their own project. Projects should roughly fit into one of the three main MIT@Lawrence focus areas of affordable housing, asset-building, and youth development. Further, projects should have a clear beginning and end, focusing on developing capacity in Lawrence. Funding for project materials and transportation costs is available through the MIT@Lawrence Public Service Center. You should contact Jesse Kaminsky and kaminsk@mit.edu for contacts in Lawrence and help developing your project.
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