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Catalyst Radio: Home Repair Services fostering DIY culture among homeowners

Catalyst Radio
Catalyst Radio
4/22/11 02:55pm
culture Nonprofit Dispatches

in collaboration with Linda Gellasch and Denise Cheng and WYCE Radio 88.1 FM

This dispatch was added by one of our Nonprofit Neighbors. It does not represent the editorial voice of The Rapidian or Community Media Center.

Home Repair Services started in 1979 with home repair house calls for low-income families and has grown into six additional programs to foster a DIY ethic among homeowners.
Gabrielle Luster, single mom who earned a masters and volunteers to teach Fix-It classes, received Homeowner of the Year Award.

Gabrielle Luster, single mom who earned a masters and volunteers to teach Fix-It classes, received Homeowner of the Year Award. /Click here to learn more about Gabrielle's accomplishments

Underwriting support from:

About Catalyst Radio

Catalyst Radio is the weekly public affairs radio program of Community Media Center, with producer and host Linda Gellasch, along with Denise Cheng. The program is a feature of WYCE and The Rapidian and includes interviews with organizations and people working on social change and community support, examines media and free speech issues, and takes a look at the behind-the-scenes of Rapidian reporting. You can catch it on air at noon every Friday on WYCE 88.1 FM or streaming on the Grand Rapids Community Media Center Website.

Past Catalyst Radio episodes are archived on The Rapidian.

Woodshop volunteers turn out pieces of cabinetry that can be painted to match furniture for purchase at Builder's Abundance.

Woodshop volunteers turn out pieces of cabinetry that can be painted to match furniture for purchase at Builder's Abundance. /All photos courtesy of Home Repair Services

Participants learned how to save on water bills and care for the environment at a Fix-It School rain barrel workshop.

Participants learned how to save on water bills and care for the environment at a Fix-It School rain barrel workshop.

INTERVIEW (9:32)

On the corner of Division and Highland sits a pale pink, art deco building which houses Home Repair Services. The organization started in 1979 with home repair house calls for low-income families and has grown into six additional programs to foster a DIY ethic among homeowners. Tune in as Denise interviews David Jacobs, executive director, about their philosophy to slow declining home ownership rate in Kent County and how the housing crisis has affected HRS' work.

Music this week is by Ultraviolet Hippopotamus with "TJI" from their album, Square Pegs, Round Hole.

 

ANALYSIS (0:00)

In recent months, there have been many photojournalists taken captive while covering war zones, some of whom were lucky enough to be released. Boston Globe's Big Picture shares an overview in pictures of what photojournalists in the field experience everyday as well as some of the images from funerals for those photojournalists.
NYTimes' Lens blog also shares some of the Pulitzer winning photographs of this year's recipients as well as one from 1969 who was recognized for a photo taken during the Vietnam War. All of the photos have the common thread of tragedy.
[More: Big Picture, Lens 1, Lens 2]

Website Statette collects statistics about women in media. A recent statistic looked at the number of female to male writers for late night comedy, with a ratio of 19 women to every 127 men.
[More: Statette]

Last week, Cisco announced it was no longer going to produce its much loved video hardware, the Flip camera. Flips are easy-to-use point-and-shoot video cameras with a USB connection that allows users to easily upload videos on social sharing sites like YouTube and Facebook. Cisco acquired the company in 2009 and has released updated versions of the Flip with improved video quality but stated that since smartphones now have video capturing abilities, it did not make sense to sustain the Flip.
[More: Wired]

Researchers recently discovered that recent versions of the iPhone's operating system has tracked location data about their users. The researchers then created an open source application for those iPhone users to visualize that data. It's not clear why Apple is tracking the data, but iPhone users were not given the choice to opt in or out, the file that contains the data is not deletable and also not encrypted.
[More: Read, Write, Web, iPhone Tracker]

 

CALENDAR (26:54)

Local partners pull together an environmental info expo
10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at Grand Rapids Public Library (111 Library NE)
The Grand Rapids Public Library and the West Michigan Environmental Action Council have partnered to host an Environmental Information Expo at the Main Library. Organizations from throughout the county and beyond will be on hand to share information about their work in the community and ways to get involved. Participating organizations include Local First of West Michigan, Friends of GR Parks, Blandford Nature Center and the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability.
[More]

Brown bag workshop at Johnson Center
12 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27 at The Johnson Center
The Johnson Center has invited a GVSU professor to speak to nonprofit reps and those interested in nonprofit work about the importance and process of conducting a Community Needs Assessment. The event is free, but RSVP ahead of time on the Johnson Center site.
[More]

Wealthy Street Spring Fling
4-9 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 on Wealthy Street
The Wealthy Street Business Alliance businesses are having extended hours and will be having specials all night.
[More]

Queeries Film Series: Out in the Silence
8 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at Wealthy Theatre (1130 Wealthy SE)
GVSU's LGBT Resource Center puts on a monthly film series called The Queeries. This month's screening is "Out in the Silence," which captures the chain of events when the announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson’s wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy in his small Pennsylvania hometown.
[More]

Blandford Nature Center hosts a workday for the state-wide Garlic Mustard pull
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 at Blandford Nature Center (1715 Hillburn NW)
The nature center is looking for volunteers to help remove the invasive plant from our grounds. They will be providing snacks, including pesto made from the garlic pull.
[More]

 

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