News
Experiential Team Building Brings Awareness to Homelessness Within The Community
April 07, 2022
Team building from an experiential learning perspective is the core of MGT 345-Team Building class and how Tina Allen, adjunct professor at GVSU’s Traverse City Regional Center, brings her passion for experiential learning and love for her community together. After retiring from Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness after 8 years, Tina decided to continue making a positive impact within the community through teaching the next generation. She now introduces her GVSU Traverse City Regional Center students to community outreach programs so they can choose their semester-long team building projects, with applied experiential learning practice.
This semester, both student teams chose projects to support homelessness awareness within the community through the Coalition's Welcome Home Basket Program. Welcome home baskets support individuals and families moving from homelessness into new homes. There are over one hundred people on Traverse City’s streets any given day. The Coalition houses about two hundred households per year and welcome home baskets are given if baskets donations are available.
Both student teams chose the Welcome Home Basket initiative, however their approach was uniquely crafted by their separate team members. Students spend part of their semester collaborating in teams to identify what works, what doesn’t work, analyze, then take those things learned and put them into practice.
Tina Said, “This is the fifth time teaching a team building class… homelessness is a complex societal problem that cannot be solved unless people are willing to work as teams and have people from a variety of perspectives help solve the problem.”
Each team’s approach reached different audiences within the community.
Team One reached out to West Middle School faculty for approval to bring Ryan Hannon, Housing and Homeless Services Community Engagement Officer for Goodwill Northern Michigan, to speak at student council about the issue of homelessness in our community and the need for welcome home baskets. West Middle School students were shocked to know some of their own peers were homeless. They created a challenge for most donations within their classes and were able to support the assembly of several welcome home baskets. GVSU Team One students picked up all donations and assembled the baskets.
Team Two chose a more public approach. They reached out to local business owners for permission to set up tables outside of their locations to hand out flyers for awareness and needs along with asking shoppers to consider buying some of the welcome home basket needs and dropping them back at their tables.
Through experiential learning, both teams improved their team building skills individually and as a group, but also found an intrinsic value doing the work. Collectively, they were able to provide over 25 full Welcome Home Baskets along with additional supplies for those moving out of homelessness and into a home. More importantly, team members developed and analyzed the teamwork skills they need to be part of successful teams in the future whether they’re going into health care, construction management, or business.
When people move into a home after homelessness, often they do not have anything. Having a home to feel safe in again, and a welcome home basket of essential items shows their community cares for them. Simple acts of donated kindness bring awareness, hope, and transforms lives. Learn more about opportunities to donate and help end homelessness, https://www.endhomelessnessnmi.org/opportunities-to-help.
If you would like to learn more about GVSU Traverse City Region center programs and classes aligned with our local community, talk to our team here, https://www.gvsu.edu/traverse/lets-get-started-42.htm