www.WasteNots.org

The World Through My Eyes

waste nots projectAn Innovative Idea

Combining

M e d i t a t i o n + P h o t o g r a p h y + I n s t r u c t i o n

waste nots project

Segregation From Opportunity

Certain communities are isolated from opportunity & access to real life experiences are reduced or non existent

Opportunity@Healthcare

@Employment@Education@Services

@Healthy Environment

Barriers of Opportunity in Poor Urban

Neighborhoods@less Political Influence@less Racial Diversity

@less Economic Diversity@less Quality Parks@High Exposure to violence, toxic soil,

pollution

Public schools, typically organized and funded by residential districts, means that the quality of educational opportunities depends directly on where one lives.

waste nots project

Living in poor neighborhoods often mean living in an environment that is:

✤Unhealthy✤Violent✤Poor learning opportunities

Only a small % of white children live in high poverty neighborhoods compared to a majority of black children

1985-2000 * Raised in poverty of at least 20%* Black Children 66%* White Children 6%

waste nots projectChildren who experience a reduction in their

neighborhood’s poverty rate have greater economic success in adulthood.

Programs which invest in disadvantaged neighborhoods and reduce the concentration of poverty could enhance upward economic mobility for the children in such neighborhoods

Investments in children’s environment potentially facilitate economic mobility among those living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods

If We Know: The majority of children of color live

in communities of declining opportunities

Lack of opportunities depress life chances of not only poor but middle-class families living there

Investments in these neighborhoods reduce the concentration of poverty, providing powerful effects on the economic mobility for those children

Why Then:➡ Does the racial gap in economic mobility

continue?➡ In four decades have the inequality in

children’s neighborhoods persist?➡ With all of the programs designed assist

the disadvantaged how does segregation continue to exist?

waste nots project

7

waste nots project

Our Thoughts on how we can help

Bring Opportunities To Our CommunitiesTake

Communities To

Opportunity

We’re Not Waiting To Be Invited

In

waste nots project Introducing M For Meditation

Intervening with a unique program of Relaxation Techniques for stress-reduction

Children facing Extreme Hardship are experiencing a rise in diagnoses of mental health problems

UCLA Studies have shown that Mindfulness Programs help elementary-school students regulate their behavior, control impulses, focus and plan ahead.

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waste nots project

Photography

After Relieving the minds of the students from the stresses of the day

Through the use of photography, Students will have an opportunity to “tell their truth”

By Photographing their communities

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Traditional Tutoring

Following the documenting of their neighborhoods

Students return to the class for individualized instruction

Covering the use of technology, writing enhancement, reading & community analysis

Closing the session with meditation

waste nots project

waste nots projectInnovation Towards Endless Opportunities

Opportunity

Community Involvement The Arts

Mental Health Preservation

Reading/Writing

Build Coalitions

Community Awareness

Help Reduce Inequality In Education

Upward Mobility

Stress ReductionInclusivity