Join Our Outreach Team

Honestly, right now, the Worcester program could use a few more people as outreach counselors. We have a dedicated group of counselors but we could never have too many.  The most important part of outreaching is our kids.  We talk to kids 21 and under on the streets.  Often we run into the same kids on a regular basis.  We check in on them, find out what's new in their life, show that someone cares, and they can count on us to be there on a weekly basis.

Outreach Counselor Expectations:

• Volunteer as little as 2 hours a month.
• Attend basic and outreach training.
• Partner up with another volunteer (You never do outreach alone).

Come to our Volunteer Information Session on Wednesday, September 30th @ 7:00PM in the Banx Room of the Worcester Public Library if you are interested in joining our outreach team.  

Plus, if you don't think outreach is your thing, join one of our many other teams: Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Community Resource Development, etc.

What if I can't make it to the September info session?

Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org and we'll keep you posted on the next information session.

Last Week's Street Outreach Stats

Number of Regular Kids Assisted: 4

Number of New Kids Assisted: 10

Number of Kids Provided a Meal: 6

Getting the Word Out

For our volunteers, raising awareness of youth homelessness is a big part of what we do. Yes, we conduct street outreach every week to connect with the youth. But we also need to make our community aware that youth homelessness is real. 13 kids will die each day on the streets. Our job and your job is to make sure kids understand their other options before they runaway.

Don't Runaway Program
The Worcester program is actively participating in the National Don't Runaway Taskforce. Our hope is to help enhance the program and eventually start programs within our own community. These programs allow college and high school kids to take action in preventing youth homelessness. The DRA Program should be implemented in every city and every town. But we as an organization need the help of the community to do this. Find out more here: http://www.dontrunaway.org/.

Awareness Events
While we would definitely like to implement the Don't Runaway Program in the Worcester schools, we are still getting the word out with the volunteers we have by attending awareness events:

Rob Donnelly (Director of Volunteer) and Kristina England (Executive Director) attended the Wesley United Methodist Church Ministry Fair on Sunday, September 13th. They handed out information about the program and wish lists. A few people even signed up to volunteer with the program. We definitely hope to see them all on Wednesday, September 30th at our next Information Session (7:00PM @ Worcester Public Library, Banx Room). Thanks to Chris Flagg (Director of Community Resource Development) for getting us a table at this event!

Allyson Trull, Director of Outreach, will present to Alpha Gamma on Thursday, October 8th about StandUp For Kids.

Get the Word Out
You don't have to be a StandUp For Kids volunteer to spread awareness about youth homelessness. Tell your family and friends about us and our mission. Remember - Every voice counts!

The Outreach Center is Open

As the blog sometimes gets a bit long, here are the topics you'll find below:

• The Outreach Center Update
• Weekly Food Basket Request
• Food Bags Needed
• The August Street Outreach Numbers

The Outreach Center Update

The Outreach Center is now open every Saturday.  Thank you to the following outreach counselors for volunteering throughout the day on Saturday:  Jose Alvarez, Oz Diaz, Rob Donnelly, Kristina England, Ken Latham, and Ally Trull.

Weekly Food Basket Request

We've been looking at our food supply and thought it might be a good idea to have a basket of "healthy" food such as fruit, cheese, trail mix, etc.  Basic healthy food for the kids to eat at the center or take with them.

If anyone is interested in preparing a food basket for us, let us know.  You can sign up for one week, once a month, whatever you like.  Contact Oz Diaz, Director of the Outreach Center, at ozd@standupforkids.org.

Food Bags Needed!

We are now collecting food bags for distribution during street outreach.  A food bag contains the following items:

• Juice Box/Water
  
• Candy Bar
  
•  Pudding/Fruit Cup (pop top)
  
• Cup of ravioli, spaghetti, etc. (pop top)
  
• Bumblebee Chicken or Tuna Salad with Crackers
  
• Granola Bar
  
• Napkin and plastic ware
  

Contact worcester@standupforkids.org if you would like to donate food bags.  This can be a great project for students, youth groups, etc.

The August Street Outreach Numbers

So you are probably wondering how many kids we assist each month.  Here are the numbers from August:

• 15 Regular Kids Assisted
  
• 41 New Kids Assisted
  
• 20 Kids Provided with Meals

This is the total amount of kids we saw in four weeks (one day outreach a week).

The Outreach Center Opens in Two Days!

That's right!  Only two more days until we open the Outreach Center!  We have been very fortunate over the past few months.  Thank you to everyone who has made the Outreach Center possible.  A big thank you to Crystal Bowman from National for helping us throughout the whole process!

The volunteers have been planning away but we also know that this center is going to be a learning experience for us and for the kids.  As we move forward, you'll get plenty of updates on the outreach center and our continued growth as a program.

What's Happening

Rob Donnelly and Donna Katsoudas presented information about our program to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation last week.  Great job, guys!

Tracy Altan and Beth Connors from StandUp For Kids - Boston will stop by Worcester in the near future to attend our next training session.  Tracy and Beth plan to start conducting training for the Boston program.  SUFK Worcester is looking forward to their visit.  Boston has a great group of volunteers.  If you are in the Boston area, check out their Program Website or join their Facebook Group.