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!!!!

Fun Stuff Going On!

In the recent weeks much has been happening here at HOME! We had free haircuts given in the basement 2 weeks ago, a hit like always. We also had a volunteer group from Chemeketa come and do some much-needed work around HOME. They organized the clothing closets, which definitely needed it! Now they are clean and organized so youth can easily see what is in there and be able to find the things they need/want. This group also organized a pool tournament in the basement that took place  Monday the 7^th. They had a bracket and multiple games with the winner getting the glory of 1^st place as well as a candy bar. It was a lot of fun and a big hit! Not much to report from the Blog Book but hopefully we will get some more comments soon. Thanks for reading!

HOME's Blog Book

Hello HOME Blog Readers!

My name is Alex and I am a student over at Willamette University. This semester I am interning here at HOME Youth and Resource Center and have agreed to take over the task of updating the blog =) What this means is that there will now be semi weekly posts updating you on what is going on here at HOME! We have created what we call "the blog book" where throughout the week volunteers, staff and youth can write about what has been going on at HOME and what they would like to share with you. I will then post some of this information to the blog so you can stay up-to-date and informed. Please feel free to comment; what you thought, what you liked, what you would like to hear more about. 

With the blog book out last week we got some responses from the youth who wanted to share what HOME means to them:

“Well, HOME has done a lot for me the 5 years I’ve been here. AT the beginning one of the staff let me cry on her shoulder about a silly break-up. Then, during Christmas time, I got a warm jacket that I ended up really needing. They give me a safe place to come when I’m downtown and I know I don’t have to worry about drama and all that BS. The Drop-In has opened a place in my heart for me to meet new people and make new friends. I don’t know where I’d be without the Drop-In. <3”

“I had a rough day but when I got to the Drop-In I had fun. I love HOME!!!”

There were about 5 more youth who shared what HOME meant to them in the book all saying how they appreciated HOME because it was a safe and fun place for them to be with friends.

In celebration of Valentines Day there was a Valentines craft day (last Friday) and a special Valentine’s Day cake will be served with dinner tonight!

Look for more information about the happenings at HOME soon!

Holiday Giving

I've just finished - I think!- getting off all of our thank you's to the groups and individuals who so generously donated to HOME over the holidays.  Since some of the people do not wish their name to be published, I will only list here the groups who helped out.  This will still not be a complete list as often someone would drop off items and then leave without our getting their names.  So, in alphabetical order, here is a list of the wonderful folks who helped make the holidays brighter and happier for more than 50 at-risk and homeless teens here at HOME.  Some donated money, others donated items from our Wish List...they all helped immensely.

BIG THANK YOU TO:
Awana Club
Blanchette School
Capitol Forum
Chemeketa Business & Industry
City of Salem Community Development Dept.
Comfort Suites
Exit Real World
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
First Christian Church
First Church of the Nazarene
First United Methodist Church
Marion County Juvenile Dept.
The Lunch Bunch
Madrona Hills Knitting Group
Mid-Valley Quilt Guild
Oregon State Penitentiary/7 Step Program
Salem Bridge Club
Salem Emblem Club
South Salem High School Freshman Advisors
Southside Speakeasy
The Springs
Walker Middle School Counseling Dept.
West Salem Dream Center
Willamette University

We're sure to have left out folks and, in anticipation, apologise now for any omissions.

Here are a few pictures of those who helped:

Shawna and Sophia from HOME on the right welcome our neighbors from Chemeketa's Center for Business & Industry bearing the last load of many wonderful gifts.

Festively dressed, Cassie Heffley and co-worker from the Center for Business & Industry, return to work with their empty cart.

Carly Garrison, left, presents Peggy Kahan, HOME's Program Director (me) with special gifts for individual youth selected for the Giving Tree which Carly, an intern with the school district, coordinated.  We'd always avoided a Giving Tree because 

we felt it would be too difficult to just pick a few teens to benefit.  However, Carly was willing to volunteer and get gifts and our staff felt it was an idea worth pursuing.  And so it happened and Carly succeeded in her solicitations beyond all expectations.  Exit Real World was an awesome contributor, as you can see, along with Jambo Juice and individuals who donated to this effort. 

Members of First Christian Church prepared a delicious ham dinner for about 50 youth plus staff and volunteers.