Pietro's Pizza Supports HOME: Join in the Fun!

Have you made plans for Spring break yet? If not, how does pizza, beverages, laser tag, family fun, and a chance to win an awesome prize sound? Make your way down to Pietro's Pizza  March 28th, 2013 to enjoy all this and in the process support your local Community Action Agency's HOME Youth and Resource Center, as 20% of the day's proceeds will be donated to our organization! We would like to thank Pietro's Pizza for their tremendous generosity, as we deeply appreciate their support! 

Youth Aspire Spring Field Trip: Fundraising in Progress

If you were to enter HOME a few weeks ago, it is very likely you would have encountered a large group or two of youth gathered together, handcrafting duct tape flower pens. The youth were taught a brief  “how to” tutorial at a CREW meeting and then the pen frenzy took off! Youth were on a roll, constructing multiple pens a day, and even teaching their peers how to make them as well! It was quite astonishing to see how quick some youth became at constructing the pens and how much of their daily time they devoted to the routine. Staff at HOME greatly enjoyed handcrafting pens with the youth and being able to witness the their creativity objectively as they each chose different color schemes and designs for the pens. It was extremely refreshing and exciting to see the youth choose to actively engage in this project, rather than other norms such as surfing the internet or playing video games.

What's the source of this craft craze you may ask? Well, the participating youth aspire to partake in a field trip to the Salem State Hospital this Spring! Not only will this be a fun adventure, but an educational experience as well! This project is a valuable demonstration of the relationship between work ethic and reward, as the students participate in fundraisers to earn their attendance to the field trip. 

These unique pens are currently being sold at Fresh Start Market and Espresso to raise funds for the filed trip. Fresh Start Market is a new program of the Marion County Juvenile Department that offers employment to youth as well as the opportunity for them to pay back restitution to victims of crime. A majority of the pens have already been purchased, so head on down to 3020 Center St. NE. in Salem and pick up one of these neat pens while they last! Also keep your eye out for handcrafted garden signs for retail at the same location, as this is the youth's next fundraiser. A most sincere thank you to Fresh Start Market for enabling these fundraisers! 

 

Best of Luck Molly!

We are sad to say that Molly Schreiner has left her position as a valued staff member of HOME. Molly is pursuing an exciting career opportunity in southern California, and we wish her the absolute best! Molly brought much enthusiasm, dedication, and caring to her work for us. She was a wonderful spokesperson for HOME in the community. Her ability to establish and maintain contacts with local schools and other organizations made possible partnerships that were mutually beneficial to both HOME teens and our partners. Molly’s can-do spirit and care for our youth helped establish paid internships at several sites , helping the youth involved to gain job and service experience, and make positive connections in our community. Molly’s outreach efforts at Parrish Middle School succeeded in allowing many youth, who were previously unaware of HOME, to enjoy and benefit from HOME services.

Throughout all of Molly’s year-plus time at HOME, her genuine concern for, and belief in the potential of the youth we serve gained her their trust, respect, and admiration. She was a positive role model, and a sought-out mentor for many. The youth of HOME will miss her, and the contributions she made to the HOME family. Good luck, Molly!

CREW in Action: A Doghouse to “Fences for Fido”!

CREW’s latest service project was to construct a doghouse and donate it to the organization “Fences for Fido”. Fences for Fido originated in Portland in 2009, actively promoting the safety and wellbeing of dogs in the community. The organization especially strives to build fences, enabling dogs that would otherwise be chained up to live within the boundaries of a fence. The organization has already unchained more than 235 dogs! Other commendable services of the organization include providing resources such as dog food, doghouses, and even veterinary care or training to those in need.

We are extremely proud of the youth who stepped into action to support this worthy cause. Under the supervision of CREW’s program director, about ten youth contributed an estimated total of forty hours cutting wood, hammering nails, and painting the doghouse. This project implemented some exceptional teamwork! It was truly a beautiful sight to see the youth take such exemplary initiative to help a cause they are passionate about.

Reflecting back on the experience, one of CREW’s members, Beau, stated, “Hammering the doghouse together was my favorite part. I have a lot of fun at CREW.” This is just one example of how this program not only positively impacts the community, but personally impacts the youth in a constructive manner.

Opportunities such as this continue to enrich youths’ perspectives regarding the needs of the world around them. CREW would like to send a shout out to Nick Lopez, of Franklin’s Bottle Shop, thanking him for supporting this project via donating lumber for the doghouse!

Fences for Fido recently visited HOME and picked up the doghouse. We are looking forward to finding out where the doghouse got placed! 

Volunteer Spotlight: Judy Completed Over 300 Hours at HOME!

HOME would not be thriving as it is today without the contributions of passionate, dedicated volunteers like Judy Ferguson. Judy recently completed over 300 volunteer hours at HOME and we could not be more grateful for all that she does! Her work at HOME is primarily sorting through donated clothing and organizing the clothing closets at the facility, which she has been devoted to weekly, but that is not all she does; she actively seeks to fill in necessary roles as they arise, such as washing dishes.

When asked why she got involved with HOME, she explained, “I liked the concept, it was good. It gave me a second area to keep busy.” Volunteering at HOME has become one of Judy’s hobbies now that she has retired. Her perspective is that her work here is like an extension of her life. Being a grandmother and not able to be around her own grandchildren very often, the youth at HOME have become like family to her. She enjoys seeing youth come in with needs and being able to equip them with the resources to fill that need.

Besides volunteering at HOME, Judy is active in the community as the unit treasurer of the Salem Bridge Club. The Salem Bridge Club supports the needs of HOME and it was there that Judy first learned about HOME. Through this awesome connection, Judy has essentially become a representative of HOME to the Salem Bridge Club, regularly updating the club about the needs of HOME. This active mediation between the organizations has resulted in a lot of donations that have contributed to providing resources to the youth at HOME.

According to Judy, “It’s a lot of fun, people should think about doing more volunteer work.” A volunteer of her caliber is priceless! Thank you Judy for devoting yourself to enriching the lives of countless youth! We greatly appreciate all the commendable work you do!

Grant Community School Partnership: Cutting-edge Work Experience!

HOME Youth and Resource Center recently partnered with Grant Community School of Salem, a pre-kindergarten through fifth grade two-way immersion/dual language school. Through this partnership seven youth from HOME had the extraordinary privilege of being the first Grant Intern Cohort at the school, working as Program Assistants for the after-school program. Each of the youth committed to one afternoon per week for ten weeks in which they will assist teachers with supplies, classroom management, and any other tasks which help the program function optimally.

This program was designed to assist youth in entering the workforce and emphasizes the teaching of “soft” employment skills including filling out time-sheets, reporting to a supervisor, being punctual, and developing a work ethic. Most of these youth will also gain tutoring experience throughout the internship. The cohort has already submitted background checks, attended a training event, and is currently working on the initial phases of their internship.

We would like to extend a big thank you from HOME to Grant Community School and Terra Naught, Outreach Coordinator at Grant, for this phenomenal opportunity to equip ambitious youth with experience that will not only enhance their employment skills, but also empower personal achievement. As HOME continues to expand and change, our hope is that this will be just one of the several opportunities our youth will have to gain employment skills and build up their resumes. We are extremely proud of this remarkable cohort of youth and are excited to see their skill development continue to escalate!

Work Experience Programs: They really work!

During the past years at HOME Youth & Resource Center, we have been focusing more and more on job experience and job skills training for our youth.  Entering the work force can be a daunting task for any youth regardless of financial and home-life instability which are factors which affect many of our youth at HOME. As a group, youth face the highest rate of unemployment (17.1% in July 2012 as reported in the Wall Street Journal). Individuals who are unemployed during their adolescence are much more likely to face unemployment in their adult years and can face lower potential wages while working (BBC News). Many cases of teen homelessness can be attributed to unemployment or under-employment and unaffordable housing for the youth’s parents or guardians (National Center for Children in Poverty, 2009). 

The importance of work experience in the teen years is clearly high and thus we are implementing a variety of programs here at HOME which allow for our teens to gain job skills and experience. Partnerships with Center 50+, the Humane Society Thrift Store and recently Grant Community School, in addition to the employment opportunities for youth here at HOME, have helped to bolster many youths’ resumes. 

One example of the importance and effectiveness of these programs is found in a youth who started coming to the drop-in last year. Jessica* first started to add to her resume by participating in Crew volunteer activities, including playground clean-ups and emergency sandbag assistance. She then participated in a work experience internship at Center 50+ and the Humane Society Thrift Store. These experiences and her employment as the HOME janitor led to her being employed as a parking attendant at the Oregon State Fair. Just over a month ago Jessica completed three months of working as the cook at HOME. These experiences gave her a variety of skills and a solid resume which allowed her to be hired as a part-time employee at Chuck-E-Cheeses just a few weeks ago. Jessica said: “…having a bunch of jobs helped me to get the job at Chuck-E-Cheeses and having cash register experience from the Humane Society Thrift Store helped a lot…” We are so proud of Jessica and all that she has accomplished! 

Jessica provides just one example of the importance and success work experience programs provide and as the programs continue to develop and grow here at HOME we hope to assist more youth in entering the work force and thus ensuring themselves a brighter and more financially stable future.