New Orleans Shoe Preserve R&D TRIP!
Donation protected
Hello! I want to start off by saying THANK YOU for taking time out of your schedule to read my story! It is very much appreciated!
My name is Jelani Hankins, I am 19 years old and a born and bred New Orleanian. My grandfather, Jules Edwards, a owned a shoe repair shop on Magazine Street called "Edwards Shoe Service". Growing up around the shop I was imbued with positive ideas pertaining to work ethic, self discipline, honesty and many other values that help build a strong community. Since my grandfather's passing in 2009, the shoe repair business has been failing. Moved by this, I have been crafting a plan to turn the shop into The New Orleans Shoe Preserve.
The New Orleans Shoe Preserve is a non-profit/for-profit hybrid organization with the mission of creating a space for a community of makers to design and realize custom shoes, handbags and leather goods. We will encourage creativity in the local community through fun and educational programming while making shoemaking and leatherworking an accessible hobby/profession to a wider audience by offering resources and assistance to designers. The New Orleans Shoe Preserve will create an economic machine that cycles the excess capital of the rich and wealthy spent on luxury goods back to the community of New Orleans makers.
In 2013, 39% of children in New Orleans lived in poverty, almost twice the national average. This equates to 30,000 kids; 60,000 hands capable of learning to make a living for themselves through shoemaking and leather working. These are trades not offered in a single school in the city and permanent skills that will aid in a child's moral, social, disciplinary, and financial growth.
The New Orleans Shoe Preserve will source production of a portion of its merchandise to New Orleans youth. Based on a contractual agreement, kids will be able to come in on their own time, gain training and produce merchandise like wallets and handbags to be sold by The New Orleans Shoe Preserve. The student will receive a percentage of the sale and will grow from the experience of receiving payment for his/her creative expression.
Along with merchandise sales we will source revenue from memberships, educational classes, private/public events, summer camps, shoe repair service, grant funding, donations, and corporate partnerships.
The first step in the realization of this organization is a research and development trip to New York and Germany scheduled to take place from June 1st- July 4th!
Update (3/31/2016)*: Extending trip to Arsutoria School in Milan, Italy from July 11th-August 5th. There I will attend a Footwear Collection Design and Development class. http://www.arssutoria.com ($5685)
The first destination is The Brooklyn Shoe Space where a community of makers is already creating and educating in Brooklyn, New York. There, I will gain valuable experience and knowledge pertaining to the business of teaching shoemaking and leather working, scalable growth, operations, and other necessary information. I will also be creating many merchandise samples in the Brooklyn studio including wallets, keychains, and mens and women's footwear.
The second destination is Berlin, Germany where fashion designer and former accesories buyer Ashley Marc Hovelle has offered creative guidance in building the New Orleans Shoe Preserve. He will assist in creating ideas for branding, campaigning, fundraising, web design, logo design and many other things that he has done with his brand that will help ensure the success of NOSP as a long term venture. I came in contact with Ashley Marc Hovelle by donating $1,600 to a kickstarter campaign started by him with the mission of creating a sweatshirt that contains 1.5million stitches. (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ashleymarchovelle/15-million-stitch-sweatshirt)
Trip Schedule:
June 1, 2016 - Land in NYC
June 4, 2016 - Mule Making Workshop - $450
June 7, 2016 - Leather Techniques 1 - $110
June 8, 2016 - Leather Techniques 2 - $150
Update 4/7/2016*: June 10, 2016 - Baby Boot Making Class - $135
June 11, 2016 - Leather Slipper Class - $?
June 12, 2016 - Sneaker Sketch Class - $200
June 13 - 17, 2016 - Sneaker Making Class with JBF customs - Paid for
June 20 - 24, 2016 Intensive Shoe Making Workshop - $1100
June 25, 2016 - Weaving with Prisage studio - $215
June 26, 2016 - Depart NYC for Germany
Update 3/31/2016*: June 28 - July 1st - Berlin Fashion Week.
July 1 - 3, 2016 - Ashley Marc Hovelle marketing/campaign presentation/advising in Berlin, Germany
Update 3/31/2016*:
July 3, 2016 - Depart to Florence, Italy
July 7, 2016 - Train to Milan, Italy
July 11-15, 2016 - basic concepts of the construction and hand drawing of different styles of footwear
July 18-22, 2016 - dedicated to the use of Adobe Illustrator® to create technical drawings and Photoshop to create illustrations of footwear.
July 25-August 5, 2016 - shoe collection development: from market analysis to the application of the important activities of merchandising, structures of collection, families of products, materials and their applications. , Timing of collection development, designing and building a moodboard, creating a collection through freehand drawings, rendering and application of materials and colors to be presented to the teachers and to the other participants for a final evaluation.
August 6, 2016 - Return home
Things that need to be paid for:
Plane to NY - $230
Plane to/from Germany/Italy - $1200
Plane to Florence - $60
Stay in New York - $2500
Stay in Germany - Paid For
Classes - (Listed Above)
Footwear Collection Design and Development Course (1 br stay included): $5685
NOSP Schedule:
June 1 - July 4th, 2016 - R&D Trip
July 2016- January 2017 - Campaign planning, R&D
2017 - Campaign execution, fundraising
Spring 2018 - Begin Renovation of building
Fall 2018 - Grand Opening!
Donations of any size toward this trip will be greatly appreciated. However, if you choose to sponsor a class to help further my knowledge of the craft, I will attend, make the item, and then send it to you!
Investment opportunities in the New Orleans Shoe Preserve are also available. I would be happy to meet personally to answer any questions you have.
Help me encourage, enlighten, and empower my community!
The following is an excerpt from a gofundme campaign that took me 5 minutes to find. This is a prime example of the problem as well as the type of kids I am searching for.
"I have to tell you all this story.
Put tears in my eyes and brought me to my knees.
I have this student. Almost everyday at dismissal I see him walking from classroom to classroom. Never really paid to much attention to it. He's a smart kid. Worst thing I have had to correct him on is uniform infractions or coming to class unprepared. No belt, wrong shoes, shirt untucked, (if he is even wearing a uniform shirt), no supplies, etc. I don't know why, but he never pegged me as a kid to be up to any real mischief. Nothing has ever come up missing or anything so I just let it be.
Dismissal is somewhat hectic for my middle school kids. More often than not, I teach bell to bell so they won't have much down time. It minimizes the chances of conflicts if they are constantly busy in my professional opinion. With that, my classroom can be somewhat of a mess at the end of the day if I don't cut time to get them to pick up. As long as I can get a quality lesson in, I'll take that loss though...haha!
So last Friday at dismissal as I was walking some kids out, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "man, this room is a mess!" Pens, paper, highlighters, pencils; you name it lol.. EVERYWHERE! I walked the kids outside and when I return about 10 minutes later the room is cleaned. I thought, 'well dang, guess the janitors want to go home early on a Friday too!'
Today, I walk some students out and head back to my class. I see that same student in my room again. Out of curiosity, I just stand and watch because now I want to know what it is he actually does in these rooms.
Y'all... This boy walked around my room, picked up all the paper. Any paper that was trash, he threw it away. Any good paper, he kept. He kept all of the pencils. I watched as he picked up pens and tested them. All of the supplies that were of use, he kept and placed them in his torn back pack; everything else he could have just left on the floor, but he didn't.
I lean on the doorway, knock on the door, smile, and with a chuckle, I ask him what he's doing. I can sense he's a bit embarrassed. He looks down and says "nothing Ms. G."
Then it hits me and I'm embarrassed. Of ALL people, I should know better!! I've been teaching long enough to realize a child in need. It all made sense in that moment. What an inconsiderate idiot I was. Smh..
After a brief conversation, he explains that sometimes his uniform is dirty and he can't wash it. He doesn't wear it so his classmates don't rib him for being dirty or smelling bad. He doesn't wear a belt because it doesn't own one. He wears the same shoes because they are the only pair he has. He doesn't have supplies because he doesn't have the money to buy them and sometimes the rooms get cleaned before he has a chance to salvage whatever he can find.
Heartbreaking, right?! But he isn't alone.
I explain to him that he has not a DAMN thing to be embarrassed over! He is doing WHATEVER he needs to do to have a better life."
Support Mrs. G aswell!! (https://www.gofundme.com/msgskids)
There are many more kids like this in the city. This kid showed the initiative to do what he needed to do in order to get the supplies he needed; This spirit exist even in poverty.
THANKS FOR READING, I KNOW IT WAS KINDA LENGTHY BUT THE PASSION IS REAL!
My name is Jelani Hankins, I am 19 years old and a born and bred New Orleanian. My grandfather, Jules Edwards, a owned a shoe repair shop on Magazine Street called "Edwards Shoe Service". Growing up around the shop I was imbued with positive ideas pertaining to work ethic, self discipline, honesty and many other values that help build a strong community. Since my grandfather's passing in 2009, the shoe repair business has been failing. Moved by this, I have been crafting a plan to turn the shop into The New Orleans Shoe Preserve.
The New Orleans Shoe Preserve is a non-profit/for-profit hybrid organization with the mission of creating a space for a community of makers to design and realize custom shoes, handbags and leather goods. We will encourage creativity in the local community through fun and educational programming while making shoemaking and leatherworking an accessible hobby/profession to a wider audience by offering resources and assistance to designers. The New Orleans Shoe Preserve will create an economic machine that cycles the excess capital of the rich and wealthy spent on luxury goods back to the community of New Orleans makers.
In 2013, 39% of children in New Orleans lived in poverty, almost twice the national average. This equates to 30,000 kids; 60,000 hands capable of learning to make a living for themselves through shoemaking and leather working. These are trades not offered in a single school in the city and permanent skills that will aid in a child's moral, social, disciplinary, and financial growth.
The New Orleans Shoe Preserve will source production of a portion of its merchandise to New Orleans youth. Based on a contractual agreement, kids will be able to come in on their own time, gain training and produce merchandise like wallets and handbags to be sold by The New Orleans Shoe Preserve. The student will receive a percentage of the sale and will grow from the experience of receiving payment for his/her creative expression.
Along with merchandise sales we will source revenue from memberships, educational classes, private/public events, summer camps, shoe repair service, grant funding, donations, and corporate partnerships.
The first step in the realization of this organization is a research and development trip to New York and Germany scheduled to take place from June 1st- July 4th!
Update (3/31/2016)*: Extending trip to Arsutoria School in Milan, Italy from July 11th-August 5th. There I will attend a Footwear Collection Design and Development class. http://www.arssutoria.com ($5685)
The first destination is The Brooklyn Shoe Space where a community of makers is already creating and educating in Brooklyn, New York. There, I will gain valuable experience and knowledge pertaining to the business of teaching shoemaking and leather working, scalable growth, operations, and other necessary information. I will also be creating many merchandise samples in the Brooklyn studio including wallets, keychains, and mens and women's footwear.
The second destination is Berlin, Germany where fashion designer and former accesories buyer Ashley Marc Hovelle has offered creative guidance in building the New Orleans Shoe Preserve. He will assist in creating ideas for branding, campaigning, fundraising, web design, logo design and many other things that he has done with his brand that will help ensure the success of NOSP as a long term venture. I came in contact with Ashley Marc Hovelle by donating $1,600 to a kickstarter campaign started by him with the mission of creating a sweatshirt that contains 1.5million stitches. (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ashleymarchovelle/15-million-stitch-sweatshirt)
Trip Schedule:
June 1, 2016 - Land in NYC
June 4, 2016 - Mule Making Workshop - $450
June 7, 2016 - Leather Techniques 1 - $110
June 8, 2016 - Leather Techniques 2 - $150
Update 4/7/2016*: June 10, 2016 - Baby Boot Making Class - $135
June 11, 2016 - Leather Slipper Class - $?
June 12, 2016 - Sneaker Sketch Class - $200
June 13 - 17, 2016 - Sneaker Making Class with JBF customs - Paid for
June 20 - 24, 2016 Intensive Shoe Making Workshop - $1100
June 25, 2016 - Weaving with Prisage studio - $215
June 26, 2016 - Depart NYC for Germany
Update 3/31/2016*: June 28 - July 1st - Berlin Fashion Week.
July 1 - 3, 2016 - Ashley Marc Hovelle marketing/campaign presentation/advising in Berlin, Germany
Update 3/31/2016*:
July 3, 2016 - Depart to Florence, Italy
July 7, 2016 - Train to Milan, Italy
July 11-15, 2016 - basic concepts of the construction and hand drawing of different styles of footwear
July 18-22, 2016 - dedicated to the use of Adobe Illustrator® to create technical drawings and Photoshop to create illustrations of footwear.
July 25-August 5, 2016 - shoe collection development: from market analysis to the application of the important activities of merchandising, structures of collection, families of products, materials and their applications. , Timing of collection development, designing and building a moodboard, creating a collection through freehand drawings, rendering and application of materials and colors to be presented to the teachers and to the other participants for a final evaluation.
August 6, 2016 - Return home
Things that need to be paid for:
Plane to NY - $230
Plane to/from Germany/Italy - $1200
Plane to Florence - $60
Stay in New York - $2500
Stay in Germany - Paid For
Classes - (Listed Above)
Footwear Collection Design and Development Course (1 br stay included): $5685
NOSP Schedule:
June 1 - July 4th, 2016 - R&D Trip
July 2016- January 2017 - Campaign planning, R&D
2017 - Campaign execution, fundraising
Spring 2018 - Begin Renovation of building
Fall 2018 - Grand Opening!
Donations of any size toward this trip will be greatly appreciated. However, if you choose to sponsor a class to help further my knowledge of the craft, I will attend, make the item, and then send it to you!
Investment opportunities in the New Orleans Shoe Preserve are also available. I would be happy to meet personally to answer any questions you have.
Help me encourage, enlighten, and empower my community!
The following is an excerpt from a gofundme campaign that took me 5 minutes to find. This is a prime example of the problem as well as the type of kids I am searching for.
"I have to tell you all this story.
Put tears in my eyes and brought me to my knees.
I have this student. Almost everyday at dismissal I see him walking from classroom to classroom. Never really paid to much attention to it. He's a smart kid. Worst thing I have had to correct him on is uniform infractions or coming to class unprepared. No belt, wrong shoes, shirt untucked, (if he is even wearing a uniform shirt), no supplies, etc. I don't know why, but he never pegged me as a kid to be up to any real mischief. Nothing has ever come up missing or anything so I just let it be.
Dismissal is somewhat hectic for my middle school kids. More often than not, I teach bell to bell so they won't have much down time. It minimizes the chances of conflicts if they are constantly busy in my professional opinion. With that, my classroom can be somewhat of a mess at the end of the day if I don't cut time to get them to pick up. As long as I can get a quality lesson in, I'll take that loss though...haha!
So last Friday at dismissal as I was walking some kids out, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "man, this room is a mess!" Pens, paper, highlighters, pencils; you name it lol.. EVERYWHERE! I walked the kids outside and when I return about 10 minutes later the room is cleaned. I thought, 'well dang, guess the janitors want to go home early on a Friday too!'
Today, I walk some students out and head back to my class. I see that same student in my room again. Out of curiosity, I just stand and watch because now I want to know what it is he actually does in these rooms.
Y'all... This boy walked around my room, picked up all the paper. Any paper that was trash, he threw it away. Any good paper, he kept. He kept all of the pencils. I watched as he picked up pens and tested them. All of the supplies that were of use, he kept and placed them in his torn back pack; everything else he could have just left on the floor, but he didn't.
I lean on the doorway, knock on the door, smile, and with a chuckle, I ask him what he's doing. I can sense he's a bit embarrassed. He looks down and says "nothing Ms. G."
Then it hits me and I'm embarrassed. Of ALL people, I should know better!! I've been teaching long enough to realize a child in need. It all made sense in that moment. What an inconsiderate idiot I was. Smh..
After a brief conversation, he explains that sometimes his uniform is dirty and he can't wash it. He doesn't wear it so his classmates don't rib him for being dirty or smelling bad. He doesn't wear a belt because it doesn't own one. He wears the same shoes because they are the only pair he has. He doesn't have supplies because he doesn't have the money to buy them and sometimes the rooms get cleaned before he has a chance to salvage whatever he can find.
Heartbreaking, right?! But he isn't alone.
I explain to him that he has not a DAMN thing to be embarrassed over! He is doing WHATEVER he needs to do to have a better life."
Support Mrs. G aswell!! (https://www.gofundme.com/msgskids)
There are many more kids like this in the city. This kid showed the initiative to do what he needed to do in order to get the supplies he needed; This spirit exist even in poverty.
THANKS FOR READING, I KNOW IT WAS KINDA LENGTHY BUT THE PASSION IS REAL!
Organizer
New Orleans Shoe Preserve
Organizer
New Orleans, LA