In a typical week, Robot Supply and Repair in Ann Arbor, receives a number of people with Rumbas (robot vacuums) looking to have them repaired.  Robot Supply and Repair is no robot repair shop but actually an extension of 826 National, a writing support group co-founded by Dave Eggers.  Dave Eggers is the author of What is the What and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  The first is an autobiographical work about one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  The second is a memoir based off his own life and dealing with the passing of both his parents while he was in college, and the responsibility of raising his younger brother.

Dave Eggers is not only a good writer, but he is an eloquent speaker.  He doesn’t speak with too many words, but he is eloquent and precise all the same.  The story he told tonight is about the beginnings of 826 National.  Dave Eggers and educator Ninive Calegari saw there was a need for a support system for teachers in San Francisco with the overwhelming number of students needing help with writing, so they decided to begin a writing tutoring group.  The puzzle was that the space they were looking at was a retail space, so the logical reaction was that they needed to sell something.  Initially they thought about selling hot dogs in the store front, and offering a writing lab space in the back.  This idea was exchanged for a pirate supplies store, inspired by the ship like outer facade of the store.  So 826 Valencia was born, its address in San Francisco giving it it’s namesake.  They became the one and only pirate supplies store in the area.  At first it was slow running, but today the nonprofit serves 6,000 students each year thanks to the help of 1,700 volunteers.

Other cities have wanted to share in the success of the idea, and now 826 has expanded to have locations across the country, each with a unique store front idea.  For example, the Boston location operates under the store front ‘Boston’s Bigfoot Research Institute.’  And the local 826 Michigan in Ann Arbor features robot supplies.  It is a clever idea which eliminates any stigma a student might associate with an after school writing tutoring center.  The space hides the tables and tutoring in the back, clearly separated from the store.  The space is meant a new community conduit, where educational workshops take place, poetry readings, publishing, along with writing tutoring.  826 also offers traveling tutoring services where schools can request a certain number of tutors to assist in the classroom.  School tour groups are also are invited and given a very special opportunity to tell their own stories and get their work published.  Kids write a story in the store, illustrate it themselves, and have it formally published all in the course of one event.  It reminded me of when I was in kindergarten they published our first stories in a bound book.  I felt proud bringing my book home to show my parents and dedicating the book to them.  It is a validating experience for a young person to have their work published and is an innovative tool of encouragement.

Eggers idea for a nonprofit is something that crosses boundaries between tutoring spaces for young people and opening up to a unique form of community engagement through spatial appearances.  The last half of the talk was dedicated to Eggers acting as moderator to a group of three panelists, each involved in starting their own nonprofits in Detroit.  One was the founder of an elementary school, another was a founder of a jewelry-making business that employed women who have been in abusive relationships.  The talk was very encouraging to hear not only because of all the current social change and engagement going around in the community and the successes they have, but also the new ways people are looking at social engagement and education.  The audience’s resounding support made me excited for the ideas that are coming from future generations and the impacts they will have.