Our next volunteer orientation is Wednesday, September 8th from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Worcester Public Library (Banx Room).
RSVP to worcester@standupforkids.org to receive an orientation packet.
Welcome Amber Dudley and Amanda Ethridge!
We are pleased to announce we have two new volunteers: Amber Dudley and Amanda Ethridge. Both are trained as outreach counselors and Amber has already jumped into weekly street outreach.
What would you like to hear about?
As this is a weekly blog, I'd love to get some feedback and suggestions on what you would like to hear about. In the next couple weeks, I'll be talking about local services in a "Did you know" theme to help promote awareness of all the great services out there for youth, but would really love recommendations for the months to come. E-mail me at kristinae@standupforkids.org.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
SUFK Worcester Volunteers are the Best
Just in case we don't say it enough, SUFK Worcester Volunteer are the best!
Our volunteers not only donate several hours to street outreach. Many also help keep us going on the administrative end with fund development, time tracking, marketing, etc.
The Grants team continues to be hard at work researching grants for us. Both Liz Burrows and Donna Katsoudas (Co-Executive Directors) are helping the grants team establish proposals for future services that could use some funding.
The team is also working on ways to improve our outreach center. Donna K. and Kathy Senior (Outreach Counselor) have reached to Community Health Links to find out where there are possible gaps in the services offered to youth.
Also, the team did a great job organizing our first big fundraising event: The Community Fundraiser at Moe's Southwestern Grill). Thanks to Rob Donnelly (long distance volunteer) for creating the flyer for this event. And a special thankyou to Moe's Southwestern Grill for hosting the event for SUFK - Worcester!
Grab a Burrito on Thursday, September 16, 2010 (Your Purchase Helps SUFK - Worcester!)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Moe's Southwestern Grill
Shrewsbury, MA
Print the flyer and bring it with you.*
http://www.standupforkids.org/worcester/Fundraising%20Flyer.pdf
*You must present a flyer for 10% of your purchase to go to SUFK - Worcester.
Our volunteers not only donate several hours to street outreach. Many also help keep us going on the administrative end with fund development, time tracking, marketing, etc.
The Grants team continues to be hard at work researching grants for us. Both Liz Burrows and Donna Katsoudas (Co-Executive Directors) are helping the grants team establish proposals for future services that could use some funding.
The team is also working on ways to improve our outreach center. Donna K. and Kathy Senior (Outreach Counselor) have reached to Community Health Links to find out where there are possible gaps in the services offered to youth.
Also, the team did a great job organizing our first big fundraising event: The Community Fundraiser at Moe's Southwestern Grill). Thanks to Rob Donnelly (long distance volunteer) for creating the flyer for this event. And a special thankyou to Moe's Southwestern Grill for hosting the event for SUFK - Worcester!
Grab a Burrito on Thursday, September 16, 2010 (Your Purchase Helps SUFK - Worcester!)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Moe's Southwestern Grill
Shrewsbury, MA
Print the flyer and bring it with you.*
http://www.standupforkids.org/worcester/Fundraising%20Flyer.pdf
*You must present a flyer for 10% of your purchase to go to SUFK - Worcester.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Youth Homelessness Exists
Here's a request.
Search the web this week for youth homelessness articles.
Over the past two weeks, I've been searching google each day for relevant articles pertaining to youth homelessness. When I find an article that covers National youth homelessness or an important theme on youth homelessness, I post the article to our Facebook Fan page.
What I didn't expect to find was so many articles. Articles all across the country talking about the same thing - the growing numbers of youth finding themselves on the streets.
How do they find themselves on the streets?
Some articles discuss the growing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer population (referred to as GLBTQ for short). Kicked of their homes for coming out, they have no where to go but the streets with the lack of services out there for them.
Other articles focus on kids that have aged out of foster care. They turn 18 and lose all the services and support they've been accustomed to as kids. They have no family, no one to go home to or to call just to talk. How many of us call our parents on the way home from work just to chat and hear their voices? These kids are missing that support system.
The articles range in theme but one thing is clear - youth homelessness exists. The problem is that so many want to solve this issue, but how do we solve it? We need to get out there, find the kids, assist them.
They need a family. A support structure. They need someone who says "I care about you".
They need someone to say they have a life worth living and that they can live it.
Think about it.
The solution isn't an overnight solution. It's a commitment to our youth that will take years. But it's a commitment that needs to happen.
worcester@standupforkids.org
Search the web this week for youth homelessness articles.
Over the past two weeks, I've been searching google each day for relevant articles pertaining to youth homelessness. When I find an article that covers National youth homelessness or an important theme on youth homelessness, I post the article to our Facebook Fan page.
What I didn't expect to find was so many articles. Articles all across the country talking about the same thing - the growing numbers of youth finding themselves on the streets.
How do they find themselves on the streets?
Some articles discuss the growing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer population (referred to as GLBTQ for short). Kicked of their homes for coming out, they have no where to go but the streets with the lack of services out there for them.
Other articles focus on kids that have aged out of foster care. They turn 18 and lose all the services and support they've been accustomed to as kids. They have no family, no one to go home to or to call just to talk. How many of us call our parents on the way home from work just to chat and hear their voices? These kids are missing that support system.
The articles range in theme but one thing is clear - youth homelessness exists. The problem is that so many want to solve this issue, but how do we solve it? We need to get out there, find the kids, assist them.
They need a family. A support structure. They need someone who says "I care about you".
They need someone to say they have a life worth living and that they can live it.
Think about it.
The solution isn't an overnight solution. It's a commitment to our youth that will take years. But it's a commitment that needs to happen.
worcester@standupforkids.org
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Latest Update from Worcester
The Worcester team has been hard at work in several areas:
- Our grants team is currently created a fund development spreadsheet and working on some grant applications. This team is fairly new (Brian Finley and Jason Goranson joined in Spring 2010). It's amazing to see how much they've done in such a short time.
- The outreach team is growing! This means we can expand our outreach hours and days. Several outreach counselors have been trying new times and new locations. We still ensure we go to the same location on our regular Tuesday night outreach, but we have also found another busy location in Worcester to start outreaching.
- Cleon McClure, Co-Director of Adult Training, successfully facilitated his first Basic Volunteer Training this month.
- We have two new volunteers: Amber Dudley and Amanda Ethridge. Both will join the outreach team after outreach training this Saturday. Welcome to the group, Amber and Amanda!
- The group is looking at other ways to raise funds. Stay tuned for more information on our Moe's Southwestern Grille Day!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
What is the McKinney-Vento Act?
Just last week, an article appeared in The Times Record entitled "Teens on their own". The article tells the story of Trina, a young girl living in a homeless shelter. Trina became homelessness before the age of 18.
So how did Trina stay in school and finish her high school degree? Luckily for Trina, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act exists for homeless youth.
What is the McKinney-Vento Act? Well, I could give you the whole low down but that here's item 1 of the McKinney-Vento Statement of Policy:
"(1) Each State educational agency shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youths." (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg116.html)
This act allows great people such as the shelter worker and school counselors in Trina's life to support homeless youth and provide them with the resources they need. How do schools help students that are homeless (whether with family or on their own)? Each school and district has a McKinney-Vento Representative. That representative ensures that all students identified as homeless receive basic resources such as food and clothes. They support them and ensure students can stay in school.
Local services as shown in The Times Record article often provide assistance to McKinney-Vento Representatives, such as providing them with resources needed for the youth.
StandUp For Kids - Bremerton (http://www.standupforkids.org/bremerton) in Washington is a great example of a program supporting youth protected under McKinney-Vento. They provide various services to over 400 kids a week within the Bremerton school system. As part of their backpack outreach program, they distribute backpacks full of supplies on a weekly basis to the representatives that are then distributed to the youth.
The StandUp For Kids - Worcester program is currently launching our own backpack outreach program. We need the help of our community to get this program started. We need groups and schools to volunteer to host food and supply drives for our backpack outreach program.
Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org for more info on how you can help.
In the St. Louis area? They're launching a backpack outreach program too. In the Bremerton area? I'm sure they'd love a helping hand, too!
Or think about starting a StandUp For Kids backpack outreach program in your community...
Read up on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg116.html.
You can also get local information about Massachusetts McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance at http://www.doe.mass.edu/mv/.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Outreach - What is it?
Outreach can really be broken down into three types of outreach at the SUFK - Worcester chapter:
1. Scouting. When we kicked off the outreach team, this was the first thing we did. We visited various different locations in Worcester trying to determine where the kids were. Now that we have a regular location, we don't necessarily have to scout. But it's good to survey new locations, especially when you have a good number of outreach counselors. Six outreach counselors scheduled for one night of street outreach? Send four of them out to explore and keep two familiar faces at the regular location to talk to youth. Those who go scouting then engage in street outreach with youth they meet during scouting.
2. Street Outreach. Quite simply, street outreach is getting out there and talking to youth. We go to a regular location once a week. Every week we approach new and regular youth. We provide them with immediate resources and also encourage them to set long term goals. We also provide them with information about local services, such as food pantries and GED Programs. Do you know where the closest food pantry is to your house? No. Then chances are an at-risk or homeless youth doesn't either.
3. Outreach Center. Once a youth has set his or her long term goals, we set up an appointment with him or her at our outreach center (or a location convenient to the youth) and assist the youth in identifying the steps needed to complete that goal. For example, a youth wants to apply for a job. The basic step to start with is what is the youth interested in doing? What is his or her skills? And then start to expand on that with asking if the youth has ever developed a resume, job searched, etc.?
We are also adding a 4th Type of Outreach to our program!
4. Backpack Outreach. We'll provide immediate resources such as food and clothes to McKinney Vento Reps at the local schools. These supplies will then be distributed to youth identified as homeless within the school system. We are currently working with our first school to kick off this program. We also need to get local support to provide supplies and pack backpacks (no training needed to do this... just your time and energy!).
Of course, that's just a brief description of each type of outreach we do. Want to learn more about our program? Want to help out? Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org to attend our next Volunteer Orientation (Wednesday, August 11th).
1. Scouting. When we kicked off the outreach team, this was the first thing we did. We visited various different locations in Worcester trying to determine where the kids were. Now that we have a regular location, we don't necessarily have to scout. But it's good to survey new locations, especially when you have a good number of outreach counselors. Six outreach counselors scheduled for one night of street outreach? Send four of them out to explore and keep two familiar faces at the regular location to talk to youth. Those who go scouting then engage in street outreach with youth they meet during scouting.
2. Street Outreach. Quite simply, street outreach is getting out there and talking to youth. We go to a regular location once a week. Every week we approach new and regular youth. We provide them with immediate resources and also encourage them to set long term goals. We also provide them with information about local services, such as food pantries and GED Programs. Do you know where the closest food pantry is to your house? No. Then chances are an at-risk or homeless youth doesn't either.
3. Outreach Center. Once a youth has set his or her long term goals, we set up an appointment with him or her at our outreach center (or a location convenient to the youth) and assist the youth in identifying the steps needed to complete that goal. For example, a youth wants to apply for a job. The basic step to start with is what is the youth interested in doing? What is his or her skills? And then start to expand on that with asking if the youth has ever developed a resume, job searched, etc.?
We are also adding a 4th Type of Outreach to our program!
4. Backpack Outreach. We'll provide immediate resources such as food and clothes to McKinney Vento Reps at the local schools. These supplies will then be distributed to youth identified as homeless within the school system. We are currently working with our first school to kick off this program. We also need to get local support to provide supplies and pack backpacks (no training needed to do this... just your time and energy!).
Of course, that's just a brief description of each type of outreach we do. Want to learn more about our program? Want to help out? Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org to attend our next Volunteer Orientation (Wednesday, August 11th).
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Hot Days of Summer
Summer is normally the busiest time for us during street outreach. The weather is great which means more kids are outside. This time of the year always becomes a great time to recruit new volunteers as well.
Of course, with record high temps in the last couple weeks, we actually had to conduct our most recent training in a room with no air conditioning at about 95 degrees. So we'd like to do a special shout out to new volunteer Sarah Blondin for withstanding 3 hours in a quite toasty room.
Also, congratulations to Cleon McClure who conducted his first Basic Volunteer Training. Cleon will be co-training new volunteers with Kristina England.
Kristina England also conducted the July Volunteer Orientation. We had two prosepctive volunteers attend: Amber and Amanda. Both Amber and Amanda are interested in outreach counseling. We look forward to having them both as members of our outreach team. Amber and Amanda will attend training later this month.
Of course, with record high temps in the last couple weeks, we actually had to conduct our most recent training in a room with no air conditioning at about 95 degrees. So we'd like to do a special shout out to new volunteer Sarah Blondin for withstanding 3 hours in a quite toasty room.
Also, congratulations to Cleon McClure who conducted his first Basic Volunteer Training. Cleon will be co-training new volunteers with Kristina England.
Kristina England also conducted the July Volunteer Orientation. We had two prosepctive volunteers attend: Amber and Amanda. Both Amber and Amanda are interested in outreach counseling. We look forward to having them both as members of our outreach team. Amber and Amanda will attend training later this month.
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