CMST &230 Small Group Communication, Green River College
Group: Marketing
Members: Berjaie Henderson, Brande Briseño, Ethan Rogers, Hannah Couch, Kylie Latta, Rinial Kumar
The problem our Marketing group is trying to solve is the number of homeless individuals that suffer from dehydration, heat related illness, and severe skin damage. With summer around the corner and temperatures rising, conditions only get more difficult for the homeless population. Many homeless individuals do not have access to essentials like sunscreen, water and sun hats. For the amount of time most of the homeless population spends outside under the sun, they need even more of these essential items.
Washington State is in the top 10 of homeless people in America. During the summer is a perfect time to help eliminate the problem before it becomes serious. Homeless people are at a high risk of our problem. 2,813 people are homeless in Seattle, this number does not include people in homeless shelters, which is just over 6 thousand (Cetron, 2018). “People who experience homelessness are disproportionately at risk of dehydration and heat-related illness as they spend significantly more time outdoors, and many have limited access to an adequate quantity of acceptable quality water (Myers, et al., 2017).” We chose this topic because our first project dealt with the homeless and their safety and we still wanted to make a small difference in our community.
The solution criteria for the Small Wins group project is that it must be the achievement of a goal or task consistent with the definition of a group from our text. That is, the project includes three or more persons interacting who both influence and are influenced by one another. (Rothwell, 2019, p. 24). The Small Wins project must include a community service component, with our group determining what is both our “community” and who is being “served.” However, the project must have an actionable activity that is conducted by all the members.
Further, the project must be accomplished within the provided timeline of four weeks, along with required documentation and support as described in the assignment.
Lastly, the project needs to be consistent with Green River College’s guidelines for the safety and security of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our group discussed many different ideas at length to help the homeless. We decided on an idea where we could donate items that would be in high demand as the weather gets warmer. Things like water, sunscreen, chapstick, sunglasses and snacks. After we create a small care package with these items we will be distributing them to homeless people in our community. This will help the less fortunate in the hot climate and hopefully relieve some struggles.
There are several ways we can assist our community’s homeless men, women and kids. Our group debated a number of potential ways to assist the homeless, however we ultimately settled on donating care packages including such water, food, sunscreen and personal hygiene supplies to the homeless. Providing a homeless individual a care package solves one massive problem in their lives, which is why we chose the care package approach. Because they endure several challenges, this makes it easier for them to survive.
Our group has been working on the Small Wins project since May 17th. During the proposal our team went through a couple ideas for the project. During that time, we discussed collecting helmets and safety gear from local bicycle shops and thrift stores. The idea was to disperse these items to the community in need who cannot afford proper safety. On May 19th, we went over the project plan where we discussed who’s doing what for the project and dispersing specific roles to each other. On June 1st our team’s new idea/ plan for the project was approved by our professor. The revised project is to make kits for the homeless. June 4th – 6th our team made the kits and included items such as water, snacks, sunscreen, personal hygiene and masks.
In conclusion, our Marketing group sought out to make a difference in the local homeless populations’ health, safety and survival rates this summer. As a group we were able to distribute essential items like sunscreen, water, hygiene products and other summer supplies to make a positive impact on many individuals and even homeless families. While this project started off in a rather different direction, we soon realized that our efforts would be much more appreciated working towards improving the lifestyle of many homeless people through care packages.
Myers, C., Warpinski, C., & Wutich, A. (2017). (rep.). Urban Water Insecurity: A Case Study of Homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona (Vol. 10). Phoenix, AZ: Environmental Justice.
Cetron, A. (2018, November 27). Tent Cities and Seattle’s Growing Homeless Population. Seattle Magazine. https://www.seattlemag.com/article/tent-cities-and-seattles-growing-homeless-population