The CREW Gets an Award from the MAYOR !!

Our Crew was nominated for – and won – the very special Mayor’s Youth Achievement Award, given out each year to an individual or group which has done outstanding work for the community.

Members of CREW posing as they wait in the audience.

CREW was in stellar company during the Volunteer Recognition Awards ceremony on Sept. 14, at Salem’s Peace Plaza, where individuals, groups and projects were honored for their efforts.  Mayor Anna Peterson read CREW’s nomination to the audience and then, along with members of the City Council, presented the award to CREW.

Mayor Peterson reads about CREW

Well done, CREW!!  And thank you to the City of Salem for recognizing the work of so many generous members of our community.

2010-2011 - Year in Review

We've recently completed our reporting for our most recent fiscal year, ending June 30, 2011.

We're very proud of the work we do to assist the community's at-risk and homeless youth.  Here is a summary from our year-end report:

• Total youth served                                                  895
• New youth seen last year                                       538
• Youth continued from previous year                         357
• Meals served                                                        6700
• Youth employed as cook & janitor                         10
• Clothing & toiletry items distributed          3420 items to 260 youth
• Food boxes for youth & families                            124
• Volunteers helping at HOME & hours    94 volunteers/2065 hours
• Small grants and donations                         about $25,000

We ask the youth to evaluate our services each year.  This year, 50 teens filled out the survey anonymously.  Some of their responses were:

• 84-86% reported that HOME helped them to "feel good about myself", "get along with others", "make and keep friends", and "learn I could do things I didn't think I could do".
• The top 3 ways HOME helped them were as a safe, positive place to hang out, a place to have a meal, and a place where they could find "someone to talk to".

In answer to the question "How else has HOME helped you?" they responded

• “The Staff has always been there for me when I need someone to talk to”
• “I’ve gotten through a lot of personal problems with the staff’s help”
• “Makes me feel wanted”
• “they helped me get a job and that helped me get job experience”,
• “they encouraged me to stay in school”
• “Helped me get over depression”
• “Kept me comforted from doing something stupid”
• "they're nice, they gave me a trustworthy person to talk to"
• "They're pretty awesome"
• "I love HOME"
• "It makes me so happy when I am here”

                                                  

Japanese Students Visit HOME - THANK YOU!!

Last April I was contacted by the Hands On Volunteer Project Coordinator about HOME being a site for students from Tokyo International University (TIU) participating in summer service trips.

The theme of the trips is Homelessness and Hunger.  The students might clean or prepare a meal and we would take the time to explain to them what we do here at HOME and why it is important, especially around the issues of homelessness and hunger.

We have had TIU students come to HOME each year for several years and it’s been a mutually beneficial experience.  I said yes.

It can be a challenge when we have groups come to HOME to have their needs for productive activity met at the same time our staff and youth don’t feel intruded upon.  We’ve learned to limit the numbers in a group to, ideally, no more than 7 or 8 or they begin to overwhelm our facility.  I also develop a list of tasks to which they can assign themselves.

With a little bit of planning and oversight, volunteer groups bring energy and enthusiasm to tasks that need to be done but which our staff can often not accomplish.  They also come away, hopefully, with some insight into the lives of the young people who come to HOME.

And so it happened with our visit from TIU students.

Right away they were surprised by a welcome sign in English and Japanese done by one of the youth who is taking Japanese in school.  





Incidentally, this young person prepared the sign without prompting by any adult and even had the HOME staff and youth sign it.



It was an excellent meal!






They were a cheerful, industrious group.



Another wonderful experience with TIU students!   THANKS for all your help!!

Thanks, First Christian Church!!

Our very special partners at First Christian Church notified us that they were ready for a Spring Project.  They came by to meet with us and look around, settling on building some much needed shelving in our pantry as well as replacing the ancient shades covering our windows in the dining area and office.  It was a two-part project, one on Memorial Day Weekend and then another Sunday in July for a total of about 45-50 hours worth of hard labor.  The first day they began work on the shelves, dusted, mopped, organized, cleaned, vacuumed, swept inside and out and the place just sparkled!  AND they got us some new blinds to replace the decades old ones.

Window Washing

Building shelves for the pantry

Spiffing up our pantry

The next session was spent finishing up with the shelving AND weed wacking the front yard!   What a great group this is – they’re a bunch of retired folks who aren’t happy to just sit around relaxing.  They work hard and we’re so lucky to have them as friends and neighbors.

Before the weeds were whacked





After the Weed Whacker!



New blinds too - they look great!!  In the office....



And new blinds in the dining room!!

THANK YOU, Ambassadors Club of the First Christian Church!

The CREW Goes to City Council

Since HOME receives funds from the City of Salem, we are required to briefly present our program annually at a City Council meeting.  Advisory board members suggested I bring our CREW along when I spoke early in June.  The CREW consists of youth from HOME who meet regularly and perform community service projects.  The group also received a small grant from the City as part of the Teen Action Team Program, were the only group not affiliated with a high school yet are one of the most active of those teams.

It sounded like a great idea but it meant getting CREW members  to City Hall on a night that HOME had to close early due to lack of staff.   CREW had to get themselves to City Hall from HOME without an adult since we didn’t have staff to walk them the several blocks from HOME to City Hall.

           

There was some confusion during the day amongst CREW as to where City Hall is located and I wasn’t sure who, if any, would show up.   When I arrived I was so proud and thrilled to see there were 8 of them waiting.  I explained that I would introduce them and talk about how wonderful they are.  Which I did.  After my brief speech, I asked CREW members to stand up and the Mayor and City Council members all clapped for them.  I had mentioned that I didn’t “bring” CREW; they all walked there.  The Mayor said to CREW that she hoped that would not be the only time they’d ever attend a City Council meeting and thanked them for coming. 

It was very cool experience for CREW!

A Runaway's Partial Story

(I do miss Alex, our Willamette University intern, who graciously blogged for us - among many other things - during her time at HOME.  Best of luck to her as she graduates and moves on in her life.  I know Alex'll do wonderfully well wherever she finds herself.  I'll pick my blogging pen back up and try to maintain Alex's enthusiasm and commitment.)

“Sara”, a chronically homeless girl aged 15 years who occasionally came to HOME, began associating with a group of homeless young adult males.  After a few weeks, Sara hitched a ride to California with the young men.  With Sara’s history of abuse, drug use, depression, and unsafe sexuality, we were extremely concerned about her safety and kept in close contact with Sara’s family as well as the Salem Police Department.  Sara was soon located in Los Angeles walking the streets alone after being abandoned by her male companions.  A local homeless woman found our girl and took her to a youth shelter.

The family contacted us frantically asking what could be done to get their daughter back safely to Oregon. Our RHY team worked with Sara’s family, the Los Angeles youth shelter and the National Runaway Switchboard to obtain a bus pass for Sarah to return back home where she was reunited with her family. While on the run and traveling to California, Sara was emotionally traumatized by the things she experienced and witnessed.

Just returning home is never the end of the story.  We continue to work with both mom and Sara in obtaining local support and services to address this trauma as well as the underlying factors that triggered her run responses in the first place. 

Some final thoughts from a lucky Intern

Well unfortunately, as the school year draws to an end so does my time as an intern here at HOME. When I first became an intern I didn’t really know what to expect from HOME or what my role was going to be. But as we worked together we figured it out. What I had first expected was basically interaction with the youth, spending time talking with them and hanging out and seeing how I could be helpful. But since I was only here once a week it was a little more difficult to develop those relationships than I thought. I mean I could definitely hang out and have casual conversation but I guess didn’t develop the relationships that I at first expected. However, the longer I was here the more I realized that these youth have wonderful relationships with the other staff here at HOME. The staff that are here every day and have been here a while are great and have earned their friendships with the youth. Even though this part of the internship didn’t turn out quite as I thought, I was able to make myself useful in other ways. I loved being able to do this blog to keep people in the Salem community aware of what goes on here at HOME and all of the awesome youth that come here, and also hopefully raise some awareness about the issues that we as a community are facing. I also enjoyed getting to be a part of some grant writing. Now that doesn’t seem very exciting and I’m sure the more I had to do it the more frustrating it would get, but I really liked that it was something that I could do to take off the plate of the other staff. Peggy, the Outreach Team, and the HOME staff all have sooooo much to do all the time and if I could do something, that would hopefully be beneficial to the HOME program, I was very happy to do so. I learned so much about what it takes to run an organization like this one and how much of a struggle it is to get funding and I am just so amazed at how they do it all. I consider myself lucky to have been able to work here and contribute to this program in any way I could. Thank you for reading and please don’t stop! Just because my time as an intern is done doesn’t mean the blog still won’t be updated and let you know of the awesome, amazing, wonderful, and fun things happening at HOME!! 

Overcoming Adversity

A couple of years ago, HOME’s Outreach workers met an autistic youth who was sleeping in Wilson and Minto Brown Island parks. Life in parks and homeless camps kept him surrounded by abuse, drug addiction, and survival sex. As a result, he felt distrust and disconnected from the community as a whole.

The team established a trusting relationship with the youth who began coming to HOME for the positive, safe environment, meals and other basic needs assistance. Working with the RHY Team and community partners, he was accepted into Job Corps. The experience at Job Corps was quite a challenge and he often wanted to quit.  He frequently called HOME to talk with staff and, when he had breaks, would stop by for visits. With this support and that of the Job Corps staff, along with his personal strong commitment, he recently graduated from the program having gained self discipline, a sense of self worth, and needed employment skills.

He came into our office this month to let us know he has been accepted at Linn Benton Community College. He stated that without the support of HOME and the RHY Program he would still be homeless and living on the streets of Salem. He hopes one day to tell his story to local youth and community members so that he may bring hope and encouragement to youth who have found themselves in similar circumstances.

Accomplishments and New Beginnings

Today we have another story of a youth from the Salem community working to create positive change in her own life. This teen who has experienced both abuse and homelessness, regularly comes to HOME where Sophia, our Outreach Worker, heard her talking about needing help finding a job.  Sophia offered to help and they began working on creating a resume.  They focused on turning in applications to employers, and even conducted mock interviews for practice and skill building.

Later that week, this youth used some of these new skills to seek employment. After turning in an application and resume to a local restaurant, she was encouraged by HOME staff to call and ask about an interview. She did so and was asked to return in two days for an interview.  She recently excitedly announced that she was hired!  We are especially proud of her for her work in overcoming an educational barrier, physical abuse, and a history of depression. This job is more then just a paycheck. It is a first step to accessing safe shelter, rebuilding her self esteem, and promoting the positive future she sees for herself. 

This youth, like so many others we see here at HOME, prove that there are "at risk" youth who are willing to work hard to make changes in their lives. They are not idly sitting by waiting for someone to give them a hand-out or for opportunity to fall in their laps. These youth are actively engaging in ways to create opportunity for themselves and to make change. HOME is a place that provides some logistical and emotional support but the motivation comes from within the youth. 

Hookah: Its popularity and its problems

We wanted to share a little bit with you about the rise in popularity of smoking hookah. Nationwide and in Oregon the popularity of smoking this flavored tobacco is increasing. In a recent article posted on KTVZ.com, students from a high school in Bend were interviewed about the presence and popularity of hookah amongst their peers. One youth stated “’it’s more of a social thing… with hookah you have to set it all up and just sit around in a circle and smoke’” and a survey of the youth showed “hookahs are a common fixture at parties and friends’ homes”.  This specific survey showed that students do not understand the similarities between the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes and those with smoking hookah. For example, “hookah pipes produce much more smoke than cigarettes…and contain dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals and toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide”. This makes smoking hookah not only dangerous for those actually smoking but also puts those in the vicinity at a higher health risk due to second hand smoke. This is just informational but we hope that youth continue to explore these issues before deciding to participate in smoking hookah.

Spring Celebration!

On Friday the 22^nd we had a Spring Celebration here at HOME. There was a ham dinner complete with stuffing, corn, and a delicious fun fetti cake! There were 21 youth who had dinner with us that night! Two of the staff, Sophia and Sara, also made the day fun by having an egg hunt with plastic eggs filled with candy and possibly even prizes. There were ~160 eggs total!!! All in all the day was a fun departure from the norm and ended up being a good time J Girls group also tie-dyed t-shirts in celebration of spring time! They turned out awesome!

Look at all those eggs!!!

Nice Shirt Sophia!

More Stories From the Blog Book

In this post we would like to share a couple personal stories from the blog book. These stories show us what the drop-in means to these youth individually and the variety of services and opportunities it provides for these youth.

“I’ve been coming to the drop-in for about 6-8 months and its my home away from home. I come a few times a week and it will never get boring! I luv this place to death and wouldn’t give it up, even if someone offered a billion dollars!! They helped me in my worst times, they always listen, and the staff is just so great to everybody! It’s like every time I walk in I feel welcome and know almost everyone’s name. I’ve even made a few new friends, and have many more coming.” 

“The drop-in is amazing. Suddenly your enemies at school become your friends. All the staff here are so nice and really great to talk to! Me and my friends come here once or more a week and every time I come here (without fail) I always have a great time. No one is mean and the drop-in is amazing!”

“What can I say about the drop-in? There is so much I can say. I started coming here when I was in HOST. It’s been 4 years and I gotta say the staff here are amazing, they have always been there for me and provided me with stuff that I needed. I know that one day I’m going to get old and not come here anymore! But trust me, I’ll bring my kids here! Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t change! Thanks for everything.”

Keep checking in!

Some Personal Stories of Changing Lives

In the next few posts, we would like to share with you some personal stories from youth here at HOME that will illuminate the struggles that youth in Salem are facing and what HOME and partner organizations are doing to engage with these youth and get them the information, connections, and assistance they need.

First off, we had a 16 year old in need of an Oregon ID card in order to obtain a job. This young man was hesitant to let us know that his family was living in poverty. The sixteen year old wished to begin finding employment to aid his family while continuing to work on his education. Due to our limited funds we asked the youth to attempt to take the less expensive permit test instead of get his Oregon ID because it would reduce our cost by almost half. The youth tried his best, but due to a learning disability he was unable to apply for the permit. “I tried so hard, but just couldn’t do it”, he said when back at the office. “I don’t know where else to go or what to do. My family is too poor to help me get my ID on our own”. As all of the information and multiple barriers came to light our staff decided to fund his Oregon ID card, which he received. 

This story shows the increasing need for preventative measures for youth and families. Every week we hear stories like this one in which local families are struggling. Preventative services can, and do, aid in reducing barriers that can cause family stress, financial strain, and potential run responses.  In Marion County, and across the nation, family conflict is cited as the number one reason for a youth to leave home.  We have found that some older youth are asked to leave home – even if they have nowhere to go - because parents cannot afford to provide for them. ID cards are required in Oregon to get a job, complete a GED, and are a legal requirement after the age of 18. The funds to help these youth are very limited but IDs can mean the difference between a child staying at home or being asked to leave.

 Stories like this one, we hope, are able to show what HOME and other organizations in Salem are doing to assist the youth in our community. Without the financial and emotional support of the Salem community, organizations like HOME and others we work with would not survive. For that we thank you! Check back again soon for some more stories from the Blog Book!

CREW

Some of the most recent news from HOME is the work CREW has been doing. CREW is a group of youth who frequent HOME and do community service oriented tasks for HOME and the surrounding community. In the past they have done things like rake leaves for those in the surrounding community and most recently have been working on “flower boxes”. These large flower boxes were build by CREW youth and are currently in front of HOME waiting to be planted. CREW plans to plant these boxes with all different kinds of vegetables and spices, the things you would need to make a good homegrown salad or salsa. YUM! These foods will be available to the youth at HOME! We are excited to see the work they have been doing come to life J

In other news from the Blog Book, a youth wanted to share that he passed his first placement test on his way to getting his GED!! Congratulations!!!!