We encourage people to explore their creative selves through participatory projects that help bring the community together, lift spirits and have a focused message on making change.
Leader
Paula Coggins
Location
Lee Road @ Harvard Avenue Cleveland, OH 44128
OH Sew Powerful, Inc. (OSPI) will host a free virtual crafting introduction and focus group for members of the Lee-Harvard-Miles-Seville community. Male and female, young and old are encouraged to participate. OSPI will utilize a virtual communications platform for video and audio conferencing to engage participants in learning their specific needs and opinions about crafting to guide implementation of future programming. Craft kits will be delivered to registrants in advance and OSPI will instruct (virtually) how the craft is assembled, as each participant adds his or her own artistic perspective.
The free virtual crafting introduction and focus group titled “CRAFTING CONNECTIONS” will engage our community and inspire youth and adults to further their creative interests. Exposure to crafting allows participants to explore artistic talents inside themselves, which can ultimately be used in an employment opportunity or as a therapeutic hobby. Individual artistic expression within a purposefully multi-generational virtual event will bring the community together, help to fight isolation, lift spirits, and help neighbors connect.
Via virtual instruction, participants will use strainers and paint pouring to create a fluid and marbled effect on canvas. The beneficial effects of creating this canvas are not dependent on the participant's skill or talent. By the end of the 3-hour program session, each participant will have a beautiful, completed craft project. A mindfulness exercise will be included as another take-away of this program to teach meditation and emotional balance.
Donated funds will fill a unique need in our community. Our schools no longer offer courses where students use hand skills in concert with evolving technology to advance artistic traditions. Funding will be used to create the infrastructure necessary to produce crafting programming offered FREE to participants. Specifically, funding will be used to arrange a virtual focus group and crafting introduction, establish an online social media presence with a website and other critical virtual media formats, professional development for staff and volunteers on utilizing electronic registration, online contributions and other software, design of graphics for printed materials, and board of director training and recruitment.
The goals of this program are to (1) engage the community in crafting to instruct and inspire youth and adults to further their creative interests, (2) advocate the topic of crafting and artistic creation as it relates to psychological well-being, and (3) raise awareness of the benefits of crafting and educate the community to OSPI's cause.
Right now we have the opportunity to unlock a dollar for dollar matching grant from Neighbor Up Match Fund, so EVERY DOLLAR DONATED IS DOUBLED until we reach our goal!
WED 12/30/2020
Test drive on-line registration software and phone registration systems.
THU 12/31/2020
Finalize printed and social media graphic designs
MON 01/04/2021
Announce event on social media. Distribute flyers/posters to community grocery stores, drug stores, community centers, churches, and schools.
WED 01/06/2021
Email/mail community organizations, friends, and neighbors a flyer announcing the event.
FRI 01/08/2021
Purchase supplies for crafting kits.
MON 01/11/2021
Finalize focus group and survey questions.
TUE 01/12/2021
Staff training of virtual question tabulation software.
WED 01/13/2021
Announce event again on social media.
FRI 01/15/2021
Trial run of focus group questions and crafting kit instruction via virtual platform.
MON 01/18/2021
Contract with third party to analyze focus group and survey results.
FRI 01/22/2021
Purchase gift cards and door prizes for participants.
WED 01/27/2021
Finalize purchase and packaging of craft kits.
FRI 01/29/202
Mail craft kits to participants.
FRI 02/05/2021
Verify craft kits received by all participants.
FRI 02/12/2021
Focus group moderator’s and craft kit instructor’s rooms staged for virtual broadcast.
SAT 02/13/2021
CRAFTING CONNECTIONS – Virtual focus group questions and crafting program
FRI 02/26/2021
Appreciation letters generated and mailed.
SAT 02/27/2021
Focus group responses tabulated, report generated and posted on OH Sew Powerful, Inc.’s website.
COVID-19 isolation caused OH Sew Powerful, Inc. (OSPI) founders to reflect on what kept them grounded as they maneuvered through the practical and emotional aspects of the world’s “new normal.” They used crafting as a method to cope and three phenomena were always present: (1) developing a crafting project utilizes critical thinking skills (2) supplies are not readily available in neighborhoods most impacted by systemic inequities, and (3) crafting is beneficial because it encourages connecting with others and provides a non-medicinal way of getting a feel-good high!
The founder’s friendship was forged through sewing classes at JFK High School. Artistically inspired clothing, crafting, artwork, and home decorating projects evolved through their need to have unique and ethnically inspired pieces in their homes and wardrobes. In August 2020, the founders formed a nonprofit. They maintain strong ties to the community through homesteads and alliances with churches and businesses.
Lee-Harvard-Miles-Seville was once a thriving area with all the suburban perks, yet within city-limits, but it has become an urban desert. Residents of this community are people who have been most impacted by systemic inequities and have faced multiple obstacles and barriers to opportunities. Before COVID-19 there we no retailers offering crafting supplies, no outlets for crafting instruction, and few groups offering crafting camaraderie. COVID-19 has exacerbated this situation by lessening alternatives or exposure to outlets not only within, but also away from the community that once held the possibility of crafting.
Many families experience multiple obstacles of isolation, loneliness, chemical dependency, mental illness, etc. and economic dilemmas such as joblessness, food insecurity, and transportation. What were once grueling scenarios have become more and more isolating and traumatic for this community, especially children, young families, and senior citizens. OSPI’s goal for CRAFTING CONNECTIONS is to empower people facing obstacles as they endeavor to use crafting as an emotional outlet while staying safe within their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.