I know Vickie Elmer as an Ann Arbor freelance writer. I think I was first introduced to her through John Hilton, the editor of the Ann Arbor Observer, where she regularly contributes pieces.
Vickie runs the Mity Nice frozen ice carts in Ann Arbor, and I'll see her from time to time by the Ann Arbor Farmers Market selling those treats on market days during the warm weather.
We had lunch the other day to talk about a venture that she is putting together to better match up available part-time jobs to workers. The details are still to be determined, but the observation that I had was that there's a challenge to match up the sort of technology that would be appropriate to the task. The search is for good examples of the art of being a matchmaker; Craig's List and AirBNB were examples shared, as was the Seattle Millionair Club. More about that enterprise from Nordicway:
THE MILLIONAIR CLUB first opened its doors on a wet winter day in 1921. The young businessman Martin Johanson believed that the solution to chronic homelessness was work. With the help of a few friends, he set up shop in a borrowed basement on Pioneer Square. Here, he began providing jobs for the unemployed, and meals for homeless men and women who were willing to work. He called his organization The Millionair Club because helping others made him feel like a millionaire, but dropped the “e” so supporters did not need to be wealthy. To date the Millionair Club Charity (206-728-JOBS, millionairclub.org, for hiring or making donations) has served more than 9.5 million meals and dispatched some 730 000 men and women to jobs.
It's always good to talk to people about their projects - Vickie has been writing about the workplace in her WorkingKind weblog, and also working with the Ann Arbor street newspaper Groundcover News to teach workshops about writing.
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