Team Memo Proposal on Service Learning Project

Team Memo Proposal on Service Learning Project


MEMORANDUM
To: Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store
From: Yellow Team
Date: September 27, 2008
Subject: Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store Database



The Habitat for Humanity is famous for building houses for families in need and the corresponding volunteer opportunities. Homes are built using volunteer labor and are sold at no profit. A prospective homeowner must also work to earn his home.
“Homeowners are usually expected to put approximately 500 hours of "sweat equity" into their own or other project homes, although this amount may vary by location, the number of wage-earning adults in each family, and the recipients health issues.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_for_Humanity 9/12/2008 12:54:25 PM
This “sweat equity” can be worked off by actually participating in the construction of the home or volunteering at your Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store. Community Service for misdemeanor offenses is also performed at the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Stores. Volunteers from local colleges and the surrounding area also put in hours of thrift store work that can be written off on their taxes. Currently their method of signing in and keeping track of hours at the thrift store is a blue notebook with signed names that are mostly illegible. With an old donated computer and a simple program users could log in a legible manner and their hours could be easily determined. Keeping track of ones own hours is often fallible, complicated, and dull. With a simple program and one old computer, we could change that for your Habitat for Humanity thrift store. A list of contacts could also be provided voluntarily from the software using the worker’s input. Days and areas where volunteer work was most needed could also be tracked.

My project:
Place a used computer to place in the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.
Install software (freeware or original) for time tracking, etc. on the computer.
Install and maintain the program and the computer hardware at this Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.

Requirements:
The project requires the setup and installation of the hardware and software necessary to operate a database-oriented program to record and track the hours of work performed by your volunteers, community service workers, and prospective homeowners. Our software program will be very simple, very easy to use, and very inexpensive to maintain. The computer hardware your store will use will be donated free of charge for the purpose of the project. Peripherals that may be included are a printer, printer paper, a table for display of the computer, and a tablecloth.

Design and Implementation:
In order to set up the database project that I am proposing in this Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store, a database program would be installed on the donated computer to use in order to keep track of the subject’s working hours. The database program will record the subject’s first name, last name, time in, time out, and area worked in according to the user’s input. The user would also be given the option of recording his/her phone number or address. The database should gather all of this information together in order to produce reports for the thrift store with detailed totals of hours worked for each volunteer. A report also needs to be produced for the total hours of all volunteers worked on a certain day of the week. The reports should be easy to obtain and readily available for all users to view. The volunteer should only be allowed to edit/alter his own information and the group information should be locked to the average user and only available to your staff.

An average scenario involving a prospective homeowner would involve the homeowner walks into the thrift store to do his volunteer work. He walks over to the computer area and signs his name in the book in order to keep the records permanent with ink and paper in case a backup were needed. Then he signs in on the computer so that he can keep track of his hours easier. He inputs his first name and his last name, and the computer records the time and date for him. He does his volunteer work throughout the store. He might focus on one area in particular such as putting out new books and putting current books in order, or he might focus solely on the clothing area. When he finishes his assigned work for the number of hours that he chooses, he can again go to the computer station that has been set up and enter his first name and his last name. The computer will again assign the current time and date to the prospective homeowner. If the homeowner would like to know how many hours he has put in towards his “500”, he can pull up the information from the database. This lets him know how many he has left, and can save him a lot of time and effort required to keep up with the hours. It also makes the process of keeping track of his hours more accurate and precise. I believe that this would also benefit your community service workers because they would also be able to better keep track of their time in and out.

Another benefit to using this method is the ability to gather information pertaining to all of your thrift store workers at the same time. This “store-wide” information is needed in order to gather an accurate statistical representation of hours worked and hours worked in each area. This information is needed in order to determine the times and areas of the store that are most in need of volunteers and workers. For example, if I wanted to come on the days when no one else comes and work in the areas with the least amount of workers in order to better serve the thrift store, I could discover the areas and hours that need help the most with the touch of a button. This information could also serve as a contact list for your thrift store. Those who chose to could enter their names and phone numbers, and members could be contacted when the need was highest. Christmas time is a great example. The store needs extra merchandise and help during this busy season. Thrift store workers or volunteers should be responsible for producing detailed reports each month, and contacting those who wish to be contacted regarding assisting your area Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.

Maintenance and Repair:
Maintenance and repair of the hardware and software services should be an ongoing volunteer service offered to thrift store workers or volunteers with computer experience. The computer specialist’s phone number will be placed beside the computer terminal with detailed instructions on how and when would be the best time to reach the individual. The computer specialist will also provide a detailed instruction manual for the users written in a clear, concise manner. The instruction manual should be placed next to the computer terminal as well for ease of use. Maintenance should include regularly backing up the system, performing file cleanups and other disk maintenance, and routinely checking to make certain that all hardware and software is functioning correctly. Maintenance should ideally be done once a month by a thrift store volunteer or worker with prior computer operating experience.

Timeline:
This project should take three weeks to implement. Required items include a used computer, database software, a table, and floppy disks used to store information. The first week is spent gathering the required items from our team. The second week is spent gathering the required information for and designing the database for the thrift store. The third week is spent on the installation and maintenance of the hardware and software required for the project. This should be done at the beginning of the third week so that the last part of the third week should be spent following up on the implementation of the database. The project should be completed in three weeks.

Your local Habitat for Humanity thrift store needs this service in order to run more efficiently and keep track of hours worked for prospective homeowners, community service workers, and volunteers. The project that we have proposed should only take two to four days to install and less than a week afterwards to have up and running. The idea is relatively inexpensive. It only requires the donation of time, a table, and a spare computer. I recommend this project to your store because it is easy to implement, it serves a clearly defined, real purpose that I believe is beneficial the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store and its volunteers and workers, and provides a contact list for the thrift store to use in times of need. Your volunteers, community service workers, and staff would appreciate the implementation of this project. With a simple program and one old computer, we could change the way that your workers keep track of their hours for your Habitat for Humanity thrift store. The volunteers, staff, and community service workers would be pleased to be able to keep track of their hours more efficiently. Please feel free to contact us at tcyellowteam@gmail.com to set up your computer database system or if you have any further questions.


Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store
532 Barber St Athens, GA 30601
(706) 354-0936