A Tour Of Maywood

Maywood is rich in history and it is so amazing to have our firehouse right in the middle of it! On Saturday our Co-Founder/Executive Director, Jasmine, led a dialogue on the brand of Maywood.

As a group, our mentees discussed: “What is the narrative of Maywood and how it makes us feel?” She led them through a dialogue in acknowledging that communities don’t just experience disinvestment without a reason, and she encouraged them to look at the root, and then to identify how we can come up with community-led asset based solutions. Jasmine believes to do this well, we need to look back at our history and consider the context of who and what Maywood is today.

We all hopped into a van, where Jasmine took the mentees on a tour of Maywood. This tour allowed for them to “see” Maywood’s challenges, like the lack of economic development, not having a grocery store and more. However, this tour allowed for our mentees to sit in the tension of our challenges while also seeing all the good that has happened in past decades, as well as, what is currently happening on a grassroots level. We often hear from outside communities: “Where are the leaders?” So it’s very important to Jasmine and TFD, that we dismantle this lie by sharing all of the amazing residents, organizations, faith communities, and more who are working together towards a better Maywood.

Some key highlights our mentees were able to learn about was The Freedom House, a home that was a part of the underground railroad. They visited Fred Hampton’s childhood home and they learned all about the contributions he made in Maywood as a teen. They learned about Bessie Coleman, and her flying over Maywood, during a time when in America’s history she wasn’t allowed to get her pilot license because of her skin color. We learned despite Jim Crow laws and segregation, we had a thriving Black-own business community which contributed greatly toward Maywood as a whole. And even after white flight, our Black neighbors have continued to fight and advocate for equity and equality in Maywood, which continues to remain a majority Black community since the 1970’s.

So we celebrate, honor and acknowledge all of it’s beauty here in Maywood.

Photo credit: Mariah

Milkshakes to Marketing

Have you tried the Milkshake app? Well, our mentees did on Saturday! Lu’Cretia, our Creative Project Manager, led a workshop with our mentees and each individual created a free mini website on their phones. After taking some time to design their websites, our Mentees shared their websites with one another. Milkshake is such a great and inexpensive tool for our Mentees to create a website that will benefit them as they create and build their brands.

Photo credit: Mariah

How To Create For Brands

Photo Credit: Mariah

In this workshop, the mentees got a chance to learn more about what a brand is. They discussed what The Firehouse Dream brand means and how that would apply it to different aspects content creation. After this discussion, the mentees got the chance to create ideas for stickers and key chains while keeping in mind what The Firehouse Dream’s brand is all about. There were some great ideas with a lot of thought put behind them! We can’t wait to see which stickers get selected and become a part of our store.

Photo Credit: Mariah

Freelensing Workshop

Photo Credit: Mariah

Our mentees participated in a freelensing workshop led by, Adri @adridelacruz_photographer. This workshop was super interesting and gave the mentees complete creative control over their photos. Freelensing is a technique used by photographers where the lense is 1cm away from the camera body, this effect gives the photo a vintage look and a unique blur. Our mentees got to ask questions, take notes, and put their knowledge to use.

Reuse Depot & Veggie Rx

Our Mentees had the opportunity to photograph two amazing local non profit organizations.

The first one is Real Foods Collective x Veggie Rx, a nonprofit organization who focuses on food justice in the Maywood/Proviso district. Our mentees got to put all that they learned about photography to the test by photographing a farmers market and the on site garden for this amazing nonprofit.

The second is a unique nonprofit known as Reuse Depot, who sells reusable building materials to prevent them from going into landfills, as well as hiring those with past hardships giving them a second chance with employment opportunities Our mentees got to meet and hang out with the two cats who live inside the facility, as well as photograph the beautiful items for sale.

For live behind the scenes or more information on what are mentees are up to during the time of our mentorship, follow @thefirehousedream on instagram and check out our stories!

These Photos were taken by one of our Fall Mentees, Amie @amieisfan, inside Reuse Depot!

Photographed outside during the farmers market and the onsite garden, by Ian @snapshotsanalog