Browsing by Author "Rivera, Jolan C."
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Item The common kitchen culinary incubator(Southern New Hampshire University, 2007) Blau, Matthew S.; Rivera, Jolan C.The Common Kitchen is a culinary incubator at Southern New Hampshire University's School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Management in Manchester, New Hampshire. The purpose of The Common Kitchen is to help low-income residents of the Manchester area gain improved financial self-sufficiency through the profitable ownership of small food-based businesses. This will be achieved by providing incubator participants access to various resources often difficult or prohibitively expensive to access on their own. This will allow participants to either start their own business, or allow them to grow an already existing business that needs an infusion of resources to move to the next level. TCK (The Common Kitchen) offers participants' use of a low-cost commercial kitchen provided by the Hospitality School the ability to cut operating costs by ordering raw inputs in bulk through the incubator, and guidance in the licensing and permitting process. Through its networks within the University and throughout the Manchester area, T C K will help clients make the connections necessary to give their businesses the best chance of success. T C K will help them to access valuable training in business through the SNHU School of Business, to get help with marketing and promotion through the SNHU Ad Lab, to help them apply for funding through banks and microfinance institutions and to gain improved knowledge and skills in commercial food production and processing by working with the SNHU School of Hospitality. With these new tools at their disposal, incubator participants will greatly improve their chances of successfully incubating their small food businesses and will after which be ready to move on to their own or shared facilities elsewhere in the community. Graduates of the incubator will move towards experiencing a long-term and sustainable increase in their incomes through profitable small business ownership. The first step in this process is to establish the need for a culinary incubator in the Manchester, New Hampshire area. Are the residents of Manchester ready for this sort of project, and will it help them to gain financial independence? The following sections will establish the existence and degree of need for a culinary incubator within the community. (Author abstract)Item Ensuring economic security for women : integrated pre and post release educational and supportive services for women at the Maine Correctional Facility at Windham(Southern New Hampshire University, 2008) Kimball, Patricia Favro; Rivera, Jolan C.The title of this project is Ensuring the Economic Security of Women (EESW). The target population for EESW is women incarcerated at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham; this number totaled 129 as of July 2007. This project specifically targeted those women living in the Women's Unit that are within 6 months of their release date. The intention of EESW was to increase the number of women released from the Maine Correctional Center that are gainfully employed, as well as to increase their ability to save money, acquire assets and build wealth. By doing this, EESW will ultimately improve the financial status of women released from the Maine Correctional Facility, thereby reducing their likelihood of recidivism. To achieve this, EESW endeavored to increase: the number of employers willing to hire formerly incarcerated women; the knowledge of employment opportunities for women; and the number of pre-release job acquisition and retention skills trainings available to women. The project also intended to increase the number of supports available to assist women in maintaining gainful employment, the number of pre-release financial literacy training programs and asset accumulation resources available to women post release. The problem that EESW intended to address is the high incidence of women released from Maine Correctional Center at Windham that have difficulty finding work that provides a livable wage and economic security. The effect of this problem is that a high percentage of women released from the Maine Correctional Center live financially unstable lives. The causes of the problem are the lack of focused pre-release employment and financial literacy skills development, the lack of post-release community support, and discrimination by employers based on women's history. In order to address this problem, its causes and effects, EESW facilitated the following activities: hosting an annual job fair inside the prison; researching and compiling a job opportunities manual for women; hosting training workshops focused on job readiness and financial literacy; and, advocating for the inclusion of women ex-offenders as a special population for outreach within existing community-based service programs. Volunteers of America Northern New England led this effort, and began formal project implementation in June 2007. (Author abstract)Item Final report for Hispanics in microenterprise(Southern New Hampshire University, 2003) Varela, Sara; Rivera, Jolan C.Demographic changes in the nature of the Hispanic population in Southern New Hampshire (US) have necessitated the need for microenterprise education targeting this emerging population. This project chronicles the implementation of two pilot courses initiated in southern New Hampshire (US) and discusses how short-term results might lead to longer term community benefits. Additionally, there is a discussion on the benefits of small business networking as an adjunct to training and expanded lending opportunities. (Library-derived description)Item High incidence of unemployment among African refugees in the city of Concord, NH(Southern New Hampshire University, 2008) Mbata-Aboro, Philip R.; Rivera, Jolan C.The master project proposal intends to reduce the high incidence of unemployment among the African Refugees in the city of Concord, New Hampshire. From 1997-2006, the State of New of Hampshire received 4063 refugees from more than 30 countries and they represent a diverse group of ethnic minorities. It is estimated that 1512 (37%) refugees were received from African nations and out which, the city of Concord received 366 refugees as the estimated target group for this project. Under the RSA112, refugees are resettled to New Hampshire by the United States Department through Immigration and Naturalization Services and the voluntary agencies. The preliminary process of resettlement begins at the United Nations High Commission for refugees, located in the first country of asylum. The African refugees in the city of Concord continue to experience socio-economic hardships while struggling to adjust into their new home. Lack of immediate intervention, has lead to high incidence of unemployment among these refugees. The project has used variety of studies and applications to collect both primary and secondary data. The project conducted survey/ questionnaire, one- on meeting, group discussion, interview and the review of documents. The project provided essential inputs and partnership had enabled the target community accessed affordable childcare and Driver's license and other basic life skills. The project had further improved participants' Employable skills and the knowledge of English language/proficiency. The project has bridged the cultural gap and improved participants' of American life style. The prospect of attaining stable income and employment will depend largely on competency enhancement and total skills improvement of the African refugees. (Author abstract)Item "Keep the money for yourself"(Southern New Hampshire University, 2008) Ainsworth, Ester L.; Rivera, Jolan C.The Weed and Seed Site is located in west central Jackson, MS. According to the 2000 census, the population for the area was 23,525. More specifically, the demographics of the area include a population that is more than ninety percent African American with a per capita income of less than $13,000 and a poverty ratio that ranges from 30% - 57%. The target population being addressed in "Keep the Money for Yourself" is those residents of the Weed and Seed community whose income is $39,000 or less. Statistics indicates low income residents of the Weed and Seed community and residents with similar demographics often use alternatives financial resources such a check cashing businesses, pawn shops, rent to own, title loans payday loans and rapid anticipation loan organizations. As a result of the exorbitant fees they pay, resources that could be used for improving their quality of life is significantly reduced. This project attempts to identify some of the problems associated with the predatory financial institutions such as the targeting of low-income communities and the negative impact they have on the lives of the residents. More importantly, this project will offer alternative financial resources for the residents that could help to improve their economic quality of life. As a result of the residents having more positive alternatives for meeting their financial needs, they can use the additional resources to help them improve their quality of life. (Author abstract)Item Lead poisoning awareness among children of refugee families from Burundi and Rwanda living in Manchester, New Hampshire(Southern New Hampshire University, 2008) Rugizecyane, Bizimana Samuel; Rivera, Jolan C.The intent of the project is to raise the awareness of parents regarding lead poisoning among children of refugee families from Burundi and Rwanda living in Manchester, New Hampshire (US). The City of Manchester, NH, received 21 refugees from Burundi and 65 from Rwanda between 1997 and 2006 (New Hampshire (US) Refugee Program, n.d.). Most of them came from refugee camps. The project intends to improve the ability of refugees from Burundi and Rwanda to address lead poisoning issues in order to prevent lead-related illnesses and deaths among them. To accomplish this, the project will increase knowledge of the nature and prevention of lead poisoning and also increase availability of information on how to do a visual inspection. Refugees are resettled in Manchester without lead poisoning knowledge. Upon arrival, they do not receive enough education on this issue in order to protect their families. Children under six years old are the ones who are easily affected physically and mentally by lead poison. In order to address the problem, the project will undertake the following activities: Develop didactic material on lead poison, visit refugees in their homes and conduct workshops. This will be done in collaboration with The Way Home, a nonprofit organization helping people with housing issues. (Author abstract)Item Local action committee, TecsChange(Southern New Hampshire University, 2003) Sutton, M. Forrest; Rivera, Jolan C.Small nonprofits working for social change often have difficulty securing and maintaining their computer systems. The TecsChange Local Action Committee has been helping to set up computer networks for nonprofits since 1999, but would have to revisit these organizations as problems arose. Often these groups would spend money without truly understanding the need, or without strategic thinking about their computer needs. The decisions they were making were wasteful of their already limited resources. Over the course of this project from November 2001 until March 2003,I worked with the Local Action Committee of TecsChange to deliver equipment and services to four nonprofit organizations, determine what nonprofits1 technology needs are, and define ways of dealing with the needs that TecsChange cannot deliver. At the completion of this project, TC has a systematic way to deliver goods and services that allows nonprofits to meet their own future needs by giving them the skills to create technology plans that map out their needs for support and maintenance. (Author abstract)Item Post-loan technical assistance : helping create sustainable and healthy small businesses in central Vermont(Southern New Hampshire University, 2003) Kaminsky, Emily J.; Rivera, Jolan C.The Post-Loan Technical Assistance Project, as reported on in this thesis, focussd on improving access to the Central Vermont Revolving Loan Fund by small businesses. The manuscript describes how business owners were assisted in developing the skills and knowledge necessary to improve their chances of obtaining start-up and operating capital. The manuscript provides specific recommendations on the types of resources that emerging entrepreneurs require in addition to financial, including improved business planning and networking. (Library-derived description)Item Wardman Apartments empowerment project : working to unlock the future together(Southern New Hampshire University, 2003) Murray, Gloria; Rivera, Jolan C.The Wardman Apartments Empowerment Project is a CED project that was designed to increase participation and establish a sense of community amongst residents residing in Wardman Apartments through a holistic community-building approach. Wardman Apartments is an 88-unit subsidized housing development that was purchased by the Urban Edge Housing Corporation in 2000.Prior to 2000, there was an absence of unity in the Wardman Apartments community due to a deliberate lack of services, management disinvestment and a community that felt it had no voice to demand changes. Using the Wardman Apartments Empowerment Project as the catalyst, residents established commonalities, organized a resident association, implemented quality-of-life activities and developed effective means of communication in order to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with Urban Edge and make sustainable changes as to the manner in which services are provided to the community.This project was conducted from September 2001 to April 2003 and is a chronicle of discovery and ofa community working together to find its voice. (Author abstract)