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Featuring 2004 stories from our BFJ Chapters
| Bloomington | Cincinnati | Denver | Flagstaff | Irvine | Portland | Princeton |
| San Diego | Santa Fe | Savannah | Sebastopol | SW Michigan | Wilmington |
The Eagle Horse Foundation
The Eagle Horse Foundation of Ashland is a community of caring and dedicated people who offer children from all backgrounds an opportunity to develop self-esteem and responsibility by caring for, learning from, and riding horses. Bread for the Journey of Ashland's contribution of $1000 is being used to support the foundation's policy of turning no child away.
The Frustrated Warrior
Debra Hurt is a workshop facilitator, an energy kinesiologist, and an artist in Ashland. She has developed a unique educational experience called The Frustrated Warrior for people who are actively engaged in changing the world for the better through an awareness of personal choices. A goal of the workshop is to help minimize stress by offering simple techniques for managing one's life in these challenging times. Bread for the Journey of Ashland fulfilled Debra's dream by giving her a grant of $600 to pay for a full-day pilot session to be offered to high school students. If the pilot works, she will present it to the local school system.
The Abundance Swap
Fueled by a small group of dreamers of new social inventions, the Abundance Swap was started as a way to find and give holiday gifts in a very different way. It offers an alternative to holiday shopping without a money exchange or the need to manufacture more things. The Abundance Swap is an event where people can bring their fun and beautiful items that they no longer fully enjoy or use, but are in good condition, and go home with something else (see www.abundanceswap.org). The event's rules are simple: bring something to give that you'd like to receive, then take something that you'd like to give to somebody else. Bread for the Journey of Ashland was delighted to support the Abundance Swap with its third annual event in Ashland by giving them a grant of $100 to pay for rental space.
One Sky
One Sky is a dream of Christine Parini, who conceived it as a bridge between the people of the Amazon and those of our own culture. One Sky develops educational programs that emphasize the extreme value of an intact rainforest to the global community. Bread for the Journey of Ashland was happy to assist Christine with a grant of $500 to help with the start-up costs of this valuable non-profit organization.
The Dream Team
The Dream Team is a program for survivors of physical abuse and long-term poverty. Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance developed the Dream Team concept based on their experience working with abused women. These women become Dream Team members, and make wearable art out of donated clothing and household items. The goal of this endeavor is to help the women establish a sense of safety and self-sufficiency. Bread for the Journey of Ashland gave them a grant of $1,000 to purchase the needed sewing machines and notions.
Poets for Peace
Bread for the Journey of Bloomington gave Patricia Coleman a $500 grant to expand the Green Dove's "Poets for Peace" project out into the Bloomington community. Green Dove is a website (see www.greendove.net/poetry.htm) with links that help like-minded groups and individuals find and support each other in peacemaking works and activities. "Poets for Peace" is a page on the Green Dove site where poets can share their peace-related works with others. Patricia's additional goal is to create more community events that include poetry readings, so that poets can share their visions for World Peace with audiences in ways that are inspiring for all.
The Young Activist's Funding Network
Robin Tala is a gentle, energetic and enthusiastic member of Bloomington's social activist community. Although barely out of his teens, Robin's clear vision, hard work and dedication to justice have already resulted in many contributions to our local and global communities. Through his volunteer work, Robin has found that many young people want to make a difference in the world, but instead feel isolated and stuck working long hours at unsatisfying jobs. So Robin founded The Young Activist's Funding Network (YAFNet).
YAFNet exists to help dedicated young activists find appropriate part- and full-time employment instead of financially unfeasible volunteer work. YAFNet compiles their submissions into a publication and website, thus connecting the youth with communities and/or individuals that can help them realize their dreams.
Bread for the Journey of Bloomington was extremely impressed with Robin's clearly laid-out organizational plans, and was proud to extend a $525 grant to The Young Activist's Funding Network. This seed money allowed Robin to pay for booth space at the June 2004 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Long Beach, CA. The event will enable Robin to create a major support base for future funding.
Glad House
Glad House is an agency dedicated to providing a holistic approach that helps children from underprivileged and impoverished homes to build resiliency and develop better coping skills. The majority of these children have parents who suffer from mental illness or have addictions. The mission of Glad House is to provide an after-school and summer program for children ages 5-12 that includes mental health counseling services for them and their families, alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs, academic tutoring and recreation.
In November, Bread for the Journey of Cincinnati was delighted to make a grant of $600 to Glad House to fund a music program presented by a multi-talented musician who is also a licensed counselor. The program will include drums, guitar, piano and voice, and one of its goals is to involve the parents in the children's "recital" and have them enjoy making music together. The director of Glad House sees this as the beginning of a permanent part of its program.
One Voice
Bread for the Journey of Cincinnati is proud to announce its second grant, made to Betsy Besl, the founder of "One Voice: The Cheryl Dawson 3k Memorial Family Walk." Betsy was given $500 to promote this event.
On the afternoon of March 25, 2002, Cheryl Dawson was walking her usual route from work to a bus stop in downtown Cincinnati, when she was brutally murdered by her estranged husband. Betsy Besl was an auditory witness to this crime, which happened on the other side of a frosted window within just 15 feet of her desk.
Betsy Besl created "The Walk" to honor Cheryl's life and her efforts to protect her family from continued violence, as well as to ensure that something positive would come from this tragic event. Additionally, it was meant to raise awareness of the domestic violence issue, to promote prevention and alternatives, and to raise funds for support services for all the victims of this kind of violence. The event was held on September 26, 2004.
The Essence of Cincinnati
Bread for the Journey of Cincinnati has made its first grant to a multi-level program that we hope will run for many years! It went to two people who are embarking on a project called "The Essence of Cincinnati."
Deborah Ooten and Doris Jeffers are local photography buffs whose goal it is to capture the essence of the people who inhabit some of Cincinnati's most challenged and overlooked neighborhoods. Sharing our desire to celebrate the strength and determination of these families and individuals, Deb and Doris plan to exhibit the photographs in community centers, one neighborhood at time. Their vision includes involving the city to display these images more broadly, perhaps via banners that hang from streetlights. Our initial grant of $400 is covering the cost of a special class that will teach Deb and Doris how to build their first darkroom, as well as some of the initial costs for supplies.
Ice for the Homeless
Rita Niblack is a volunteer for Senior Support Services, Inc. of Denver, Colorado. She contacted Bread for the Journey of Denver after reading one of Wayne Muller's books. Senior Support Services is a day center that provides meals, clothing, social and recreational opportunities, and other support services for central Denver's homeless and low-income seniors. Rita says she has fallen in love with the people she has met there through her work coordinating the churches and organizations that volunteer to cook and serve the meals. We went to visit and were amazed at how many meals they could serve from such a tiny kitchen!
Rita described how an ice machine would make the lives of the volunteers and clients so much easier. "Especially for the homeless," she said, "having access to ice might not seem like a lot, but if you are living outside in 100-degree heat, a cup of ice is a wonderful treat. I buy a bag of ice for the meals, but during the rest of the day there are several ice cube trays that are cracked and rotated. An ice machine would provide a little extra luxury." Bread for the Journey of Denver was pleased to give Senior Support Services a grant of $421 as a treat for both the volunteers and the clients.
Living Well
Donna Descoteaux volunteers at a nonprofit radio station in San Luis, in southern Colorado. Her "Living Well" program offers a unique perspective on health and well-being by providing information on issues that affect us all. Its premise is that the health of the world, the nation and the earth has a direct effect on the health of each one of us. She interviews people such as Nell Newman (CEO of Newman's Own Organics) on the rewards and challenges of organic living, and Dr. Jay Cohen, MD, author of "Overdose," a book about the improper usage of prescription medications. Through these interviews and her radio program, she hopes to have a positive impact on the health of individuals and the earth. Bread for the Journey of Denver gave her $700 to begin to make this programming available to other nonprofit stations throughout the country.
Earth Force
Cole Middle School in Denver struggles to meet the needs of students in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. This year, they've been collaborating with Earth Force, a national organization that helps children learn how to bring about positive change within their communities. Throughout the school year, sixth graders worked with volunteers to study local issues, with their final assignment to design a community improvement project. Eight student groups presented and carried out their ideas. They painted a mural at a women's shelter, wrote and recorded a rap song about pride in their community, painted trash cans, removed graffiti, painted flower pots for kids at Children's Hospital, and bought personal items for residents of a nearby homeless shelter. They also brought books and ice cream to reading buddies at an elementary school, gardened at a nearby greenhouse and, of course, planned an all-school celebration as a well-earned reward for themselves! Bread for the Journey of Denver gave each hard-working group a small grant, totalling $1,015 for the entire project.
Ethnic College Counseling Center
Pensal McCrae and her husband learned the ropes of how to get a child into college and find scholarships by helping their own four children do so. After learning the system, Pensal saw the need to share her knowledge with other children whose parents may not have been to college themselves. She started the Ethnic College Counseling Center (ECCC), where students in middle school and high school meet twice monthly throughout the school year to learn the skills necessary to get into college and be successful once there. They receive help in ACT/SAT preparedness, and in completing college applications and financial aid forms. They are also offered workshops in test-taking and study skills, and in keeping a positive attitude.
Every other year, the group tours historical black colleges and universities to expose the children to college opportunities. Bread for the Journey of Denver gave the ECCC a grant of $1500 to support their "Spring Break" trip to the south. Pensal's volunteers have been providing this service to the Denver community for over 20 years. When asked when she might retire, she replied, "There is no greater joy that an individual can experience than when he or she has had a part in helping another person to reach their full potential."
Miss Mattie
Mattie Harris owns a day spa and knows how important looking good is to a young woman's self esteem. Once a month, she takes her skills to Excelsior Youth Center, where previously incarcerated girls are being transitioned back into the community. Each visit, she brings a different topic for discussion, such as good eating habits, personal hygiene, or business and organizational skills for everyday living. But what the girls love most is how Miss Mattie pampers them. She teaches them to do their hair and nails, and brings them small gifts to help them begin new lives out on their own. Miss Mattie finds that with a little bit of care she can help to rebuild these girls' self esteem. She also takes them to church and helps them find part-time jobs whenever possible.
Bread for the Journey of Denver gave Miss Mattie $700 to help purchase some of the supplies she needs to support the girls. It was clear to our board that the care and attention that Miss Mattie gives them is invaluable in building their self-confidence and in preparing them for productive adult lives.
Flagstaff Youth Gardens and Greenhouse
With the help of Bread for the Journey of Flagstaff, an historic farm on the grounds of the Museum of Northern Arizona has become an outdoor classroom for a diverse group of local teenagers. The farm had become derelict and overgrown, an uninspiring patch of weeds. The museum's Discovery Program worked with Flagstaff Youth Gardens (FYG) to create an eight-week summer internship to restore the farm. FYG offered wages, job skill training, and leadership development to local high school youth. From an office in an old chicken coop nearby, Johanna Devine and Kate Watters supervised students as they researched what to grow (mostly heirloom vegetables), restored an old greenhouse on the site, started seedlings, and weeded and dug and planted and watered and finally, harvested their produce! Some of the produce went to local food banks, while the students sold some of it at the Farmers Market to raise future operating funds. FYG interns learned principles of biology, nutrition, meteorology, and horticulture as well as business skills and teamwork.
Southside Community Association
(Becky Daggett, Executive Director of Friends of Flagstaff's Future, gives the 2004 Livable Community Award to SSCA Coordinator David Bonnell)
Southside is the oldest neighborhood in Flagstaff, Arizona. Many residents are descendants of the Basque sheepherders or Hispanic and African-American sawmill workers who built its charming cottages and planted its trees. Because it lies in the floodplain of the Rio de Flag, residents have long been barred from improving their property and Southside has been left behind as other parts of town have prospered. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now plans to realign the Rio and redevelopment of Southside is imminent. In 2003, community leaders founded the Southside Community Association (SSCA) to ensure a voice for the neighborhood- in the Rio project, in the city's redevelopment plan, and in how government dollars are spent here. Bread for the Journey of Flagstaff contributed funds to get the SSCA coordinator's office and computer up and running. SSCA has already made strides in beautifying Southside, in restoring and preserving several historic properties, and in establishing a youth garden.
Coconino County Jail Community Quilters
After retiring as a sergeant from the county jail, Theresa Arias couldn't forget the women who remained behind bars. With help from Bread for the Journey of Flagstaff as well as donations of fabric remnants and thread from friends and family, she has taught over seventy women how to sew. The inmates make quilts, pillows, dolls, and aprons out of scraps that would otherwise have been discarded. Just before Christmas, Theresa invited representatives of several agencies and charities to the jail, where the seamstresses gave their quilts to firemen and police officers to comfort the victims of accidents, disasters, and crime. Social service agencies received quilts, too, as well as dolls, pillows, and cheerful aprons to brighten the lives of troubled or low-income families. Theresa has taught these incarcerated women more than the useful skill of sewing. Says one inmate named Maria: "It's a great feeling to give out something you did with your own hands to people who really need it. And there are people out there who really do." Another inmate, Patricia, says: "It makes me feel that instead of doing harm to the community, I'm doing something positive. To be able to do that, to give back, it gives me a very good feeling about myself."
Marlyn Manning MS Project
Marlyn Manning knows first-hand the discouragement that comes along with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). After living with MS for decades, she is also living proof of how a positive attitude and personal determination can alter the prognosis for many who have the condition. Marlyn wrote a motivational book to encourage others in her predicament but after moving her computer, she was unable to retrieve the manuscript from its depths so that she could give it to her editor. Bread for the Journey of Flagstaff paid for a computer whiz to sort out the problem. Marlyn's inspiring manuscript has begun its way through the publishing process!
A Wider World
In the City of Garden Grove, CA there exists a small neighborhood called Buena Clinton known to very few people. To most, it is thought of as an area of crime and poverty. In January of 2004, four boys in Buena Clinton, ages 10-11, came together and decided to form a group like the established teen leadership group at the Family Resource Center. They wanted to help serve their neighbors and have ID cards and T-shirts that would identify them as helpers in the community. With the support of Family Resource Center's recreation director, Thang Le, the boys and girls created the Buena Clinton United Helpers (BCUH). BCUH had its mission and guidelines, but still needed an identity that would increase their cohesion as a team.
With a $1,500 grant and encouragement from Bread for the Journey of Irvine, BCUH received a shipment of shirts, caps, and visors that boosted their pride and brought them closer together. No longer were they just a group of kids; they were now distinctive members of The Buena Clinton United Helpers, all sharing a single vision that is stated on their shirts: "Make Buena Clinton a Better Place."
The Kids Who Care Club
Eight-year-old Reisha Shukla has opened her heart to all hospitalized children. With the help of her mother Anisha, she has started the Kids Who Care Club. Reisha had been in the hospital far away from home with only her parents as visitors. The walls of her hospital room were bare, and she felt lonely, until she received a quilt of cards made by her friends and schoolmates back home. So Reisha now wants to do the same for kids in hospitals that are having major surgeries by making giant quilt cards with the help of her sister Rhea and members of the Kids Who Care Club.
Bread for the Journey of Irvine gave them $650 to help create the website www.kidswhocareclub.org and to help the club become a nonprofit organization. Using this website, children can make cards for others, or people can tell Reisha of a child in need.
Toy Story
The Orange County Woodworker's Association is a group of mostly retired men who enjoy the art and skill of working with wood. They meet twice monthly to share fellowship and learn from guest artists/woodworkers who are invited to demonstrate their special talents and skills. Wanting to also give back to the community, they started a "toy project" some years ago, when a group of these men started building toys to give away at Christmas. Each year, more and more of them have joined the project until last year, when there were 3,000 toys made for needy children. This year, they have pledged 4,000, with 30 Orange County charities waiting to distribute these beautiful, sturdy toys. With most of the wood being donated, Bread for the Journey of Irvine wrote a check for $400 to get them started on the purchase of wheels, axels, hinges and other non-wooden parts.
Hoops and Hope
(Nothing But Hoops leaders Hamdi Ali, Zachary Yusuf, Safia Hussein and Faduma Tahlil)
It starts with a bouncing orange ball, but it doesn't stop there. Nothing But Hoops (NBH), a three-year-old organization that "brings students together through basketball," serves close to 50 high school youths of different racial backgrounds and neighborhoods in Portland, Maine. Before, during or after a game, the students discuss and tackle close-to-home issues, such as domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, police brutality and drugs. They also benefit from curricula addressing social justice and life skills, as well as college prep courses.
In the spring of 2005, Nothing But Hoops director Sandy Wright started an SAT preparation course for more than a dozen high school juniors. He enlisted the help of a local university professor, Prashant Mittal, who hopes to have as high a degree of success with these students in preparing for the SATs as he did with students in his native India. In the future, Mittal and Wright anticipate that students whose families can afford to pay for the course will help make it self-sustaining. Until then, the new NBH program needs funding. Bread for the Journey of Portland granted them $500 for the necessary books, study guides and software.
Their Story, in Moving Pictures
Many of us have had the thought at some point during our adolescence, "There should be a movie about my life!" Well, some high school students in Portland, Maine's Riverton Park neighborhood didn't just think it … they're doing it! A group of students from an after-school program at the park have started shooting "A Day in the Life of Riverton Park," a non-fiction film documenting the opportunities and challenges of growing up in a racially, economically and culturally diverse community. They plan to show the finished film at various venues around the city, from schools to community centers to performance spaces. The viewings will be followed with discussions of the issues raised, including among others, racism, drugs, and growing up with split cultural allegiances as first-generation immigrants.
The youths - from the People's Regional Opportunity Program Peer Leader program - got an initial grant from another local (and youth-run) social justice foundation. They started shooting digital video footage, and even found some guidance at a community television station. But the group needed an up-to-date computer with video-editing capability, as well as an experienced adult who could teach some of the subtler points of film production. Bread for the Journey of Portland granted $1650 to the Peer Leader program for an Apple iBook computer with a DVD burner and necessary software. They also hooked the group up with a friend of theirs with the experience, technical skills and personality to act as a "creative advisor" to the Riverton Park film team.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this grant relationship is that it won't end with the finished film this June. The computer will find steady use in other student-directed creative projects at Peer Leader.
Princeton
Delaware River Steamboat Floating Classroom
Bread for the Journey of Princeton gave a grant of $500 to the Delaware River Steamboat Floating Classroom, www.steamboatclassroom.org. Bart Hoebel, the founder, has solicited funding to establish a "floating classroom" in a refurbished genuine riverboat that will travel up and down the Delaware River. The project is designed to teach children about ecology, engines and inventions, as well as the history of the Delaware River, the canal, coal, immigration, human rights and the Civil War. Ongoing project support will come principally through participation fees. The contribution made by Bread for the Journey of Princeton will be earmarked for a fund that will subsidize participation by disadvantaged urban school children.
A Brighter Future for Grieving Kids
Bread for the Journey of Princeton gave Ken Talbert a grant of $500 to help with start-up costs for the Quarter Back Initiative (QBI). Inspired by the death of his mother when he was sixteen and the void that the loss created in his own life, Ken's vision is to support children who have had a parent die. By building relationships between these children and area churches, as well as with civic groups and organizations, Ken will endeavor to "bridge the gap from heartbreak … to giving these young people what it takes to be tomorrow's leaders." The QBI will provide registration fees for the children to participate in safe, structured programs that will help them heal, grow and flourish in their lives.
Musical Chairs
Bread for the Journey of Princeton gave a $1,000 grant to Tamara Keshecki to found Musical Chairs, a musician's organization in Staten Island, New York, www.mcensemble.org. Their mission is to provide an organizational and resource hub for local musicians to perform and compose music. Tamara is a flautist with a Masters in Music degree from New Jersey City University and a BA from New York University. She and her award-winning chamber ensemble have performed at various venues, including NYC & Co.'s CultureFest 2001 in Bryant Park and the New York Historical Society. The group has currently been booked for four concerts this year at the Museum of Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences.
In addition to welcoming established musicians from New York and New Jersey into the group, Tamara intends to include a mentoring program for young musicians from disadvantaged, urban communities.
SOFIA - Poverty and Social Justice
With the third-largest immigrant population in the U.S., San Diego is a gateway for newcomers from over 50 different countries. Lana Khoury, Esq., and her small staff at SOFIA (Services Offered for Immigration Advocacy) provide services to those needing help in legalizing their residency or immigration status. In addition to naturalization and citizenship applications, the group submits requests for work authorizations, waivers and travel documents. They also help those seeking asylum and temporary protection status, family reunification, and battered spousal immigration support. SOFIA also offers another important service by helping would-be immigrants weed out deceptive offers from organizations who would take advantage of their limited knowledge about our customs and language.
Their services are offered on a pro bono basis or sliding scale fee. INS fees (which have recently risen substantially) are paid in full. Last year, SOFIA submitted 2,500 applications, 1,200 of which were successfully completed. Bread for the Journey of San Diego was moved by SOFIA'S dedication and kindness to the immigrant community, and offered a $500 grant to further their efforts.
People for Trees
Due to San Diego's recent devastating fires, the San Diego chapter of Bread for the Journey decided to help People for Trees, a non-profit organization that places trees throughout the community. Their goal is to bring more greenery and beautification to San Diego, as well as to help the environment ecologically. They come out to a home or specific area, assess where the tree should be planted, check the soil, and offer some recommendations as to which trees would be best for that location. It is then up to the receiver to dig the hole, plant the tree and maintain it.
Each tree costs People for Trees $70 - $80, and Bread for the Journey of San Diego was happy to offer help in the form of a $500 grant.
An Apple A Day Keeps Hunger Away
Jose and Dottie Montoya, of Velarde, New Mexico, are longtime friends of Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe. This past year, they wanted to share their bumper crop of apples with people who could most benefit from them. Dr. Ben Whitehill, Santa Fe BFJ board member, knew Maryknoll Sister Gloria Ruiz, a nurse, since the 1970s when they worked together in Hong Kong in the area of community health. Since then, Dr. Whitehill's family has kept in touch with Sister Ruiz, who is now working with AIDS patients in El Salvador. With most of her patients living on less than 1,000 calories per day, the apples would be highly appreciated. Jose and Dottie washed, cut, and dried many pounds of apples to send to Sister Ruiz. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was happy to give them $200 so that the apples could be shipped to El Salvador.
The Other Las Vegas
Las Vegas, New Mexico, has a population of approximately 16,000 people, most with low to moderate levels of income. One way to deal with the high cost of clothing is to shop at thrift stores. Duane Durant is the director of Samaritan House, which provides food and shelter to homeless people in the area. For years, he has had a humble thrift store in a 120-year-old vacant mission church that was not centrally located. He recently obtained a 5,800-square-foot building in an area with high foot traffic, and began renovating it to house a new thrift store.
The proceeds from the store will not only be used to assist people in the existing program, but also for a 144-bed shelter with transitional housing units, which will help manage the anticipated influx of returning veterans from Iraq. Both the homeless and the veterans will be able to work in the program until they are ready to move into other employment. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe gave $2,000 toward the costs of opening the new store.
Sparking Memories: The Alzheimer's Poetry Project Anthology
Gary Mex Glazner coaches a dynamic, "precision poetry" drill team of high school students. He had the idea of trying to "reach" Alzheimer patients through poetry and has been getting very positive results. Under the guidance of a physician, he has begun cataloging responses to the effectiveness of poetry as therapy with these patients. Wanting to share his experiences, he has developed an anthology called "Sparking Memories: The Alzheimer's Poetry Project." Along with this is a guidebook that he will offer free of charge to Alzheimer's centers in New Mexico and to every family dealing with this special challenge at home. It's all online at http://www.alzpoetry.com. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was very pleased to offer a grant of $1,500 toward this project.
Everything but the Kitchen Sink
Shortly after Nancy McDonald moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, she began to volunteer in a soup kitchen. Nancy soon discovered there was a real need for a second facility to serve mid-day meals to the homeless. Once her priest offered use of their church, she found an organization who agreed to supply the food. After recruiting volunteers, all she needed was a three-sectioned sink, as required by the health department. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was happy to provide $1,000 to purchase the new sink.
Lullaby and Good Night
Anita Gerlach, a popular high school science teacher who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Ned Place, a professional musician who lives in Texas, are involved in "The Lullaby Project." They plan to spend considerable time over the next two years in northern New Mexico to record a broad base of lullabies that represent the historical, cultural, and ethnic mix within the state, in an effort to preserve them before they are lost. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe granted $800 to help with the expense of visiting the homes of mothers and grandmothers and recording them as they sing traditional lullabies in their native languages. Each singer is given a recording of her lullaby as a gift to her family.
Turn on the Radio
Clark Case speaks with great enthusiasm about his dream for a limited range, non-commercial radio station in a 500-square-foot studio at the Dixon Public Library in Dixon, New Mexico. The mountains in that region make regular radio reception nearly impossible, and two years ago he received his license for low-frequency transmission. He talks about how this radio station will enable the people in Dixon, Embudo, Rinconado, and other small villages in the valley to be connected in a way that has never before been possible, airing local news, topics of interest in the valley, and programs written and produced by students. The station's golden rule will be that anyone willing to produce a show will get one. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe applauds Clark's leadership in the many creative fund-raising events he has spearheaded, and was happy to contribute $200 to buy equipment for the future KLDK - a true community radio station.
Passionate About Science
Susan McIntosh is a kindergarten teacher with a passion for science. She started the Santa Fe Science Initiative, which supplies teachers with kits that contain materials for demonstrating science projects in the classroom. She also arranges for mentors to talk with teachers about ways to incorporate science into all aspects of learning. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was happy to give her a grant of $500 for this outstanding project.
School's Out
Robb Hirsch is the Program Coordinator for the Pueblo of Tesuque After School Learning and Leadership Program. This program is for the English/ Tewa speaking students from the pueblo, in grades Kindergarten through 12. He wanted to develop a multimedia library for the students to use after finishing their homework at the center. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe arranged for the donation of books and other educational materials from the personal collection of a teacher who was no longer doing classroom work. We added a grant for $200 for educational software as well.
It's a Small World After All
People who know high school poetry teacher Judyth Hill of Sapello, New Mexico, say that she has an exceptional ability to help children feel valued. She has had amazing success with poetry projects for children in special circumstances, giving them something more than one-stop entertainment. She offers them "something they will have for the rest of their lives - to know what territory lies between heart and hand, pen and paper, and the skills to explore and expand that territory."
She has started the New Mexico Poetry Bridge to connect students in New Mexico with some girls in the Sri Yasodisa Orphanage in Sri Lanka who have lost their parents in the ongoing civil war. She will be spending a month at the orphanage, and the childrens' poems will be written and translated into both languages. A multicultural, multilingual anthology called "Hands Across Clouds" will be published, followed by a public reading. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe has given Judyth $1,200 to help publish the anthology.
Passing the Torch
The Chimayo Cultural Preservation Association, in north-central New Mexico, started a group called Los Maestros del Norte (The Teachers of the North), whose goal is to pass their artistic heritage on to future generations. Through a monthly workshop taught by local artists for youth, ages 9 to17, instruction is given in straw inlay, hide painting, colcha embroidery, bone carving, tin work, retablo painting and more. Once a year, the students become teachers at the big Spanish Market in Santa Fe, where they encourage hundreds of children to stop at their booth and try out the crafts. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe gave them $1,000 to purchase supplies for the monthly workshops and for materials for the Spanish Market booth.
Cultural Energy
Cultural Energy is a non-profit organization formed in Taos, New Mexico, to support creative and cultural activities within northern New Mexico. They create short radio segments that are offered to radio stations for broadcast. They are particularly interested in involving youth in media production and are working with radio clubs at three schools in Taos. Production Director Mike Tilley says that teaching interview skills to students, then having them hear themselves on radio has been among the great joys of his life. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe donated $1,400 for a laptop computer so that more work can be carried out on location.
Catch Up Time
Dixon is a pretty little village, in the Embudo Valley of New Mexico, whose elementary school is reaching out to the larger community for help. Dixon Elementary has only three teachers for six grades, one of whom left mid-year, leaving the combined fifth/sixth-grade class to be taught by a series of substitutes. The school shares its principal with a school in another village and is on academic probation with the U.S. Dept. of Education program, "No Child Left Behind." The Embudo Valley Tutoring Association has been helping out with a mentoring program. This year there will be an intensive 40-hour-per-week, nine-week consolidated summer-school program, with ten paid tutors teaching students from three different schools in the valley. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was happy to provide $750 for materials and equipment to help these children "catch up" academically.
Las Tapetes de Lana
Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was happy to give a second grant to Las Tapetes de Lana. They have been teaching weaving and spinning to economically challenged people in the communities of Mora and Las Vegas, New Mexico. They recently purchased some buildings to create a community center, so we gave them $1,500 for sound equipment for the new auditorium.
Self Expression
Artist Roger Montoya is well known to the Santa Fe Bread for the Journey chapter for his
passion to provide opportunities for artistic expression to rural grade-school children. For the past few years, he has inspired children at Velarde Elementary School, and it has been a joy to see their creations. He now plans to expand the program to the Dixon Elementary School. Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe is confident that he will use the $500 grant for supplies in very creative ways.
What's for Lunch?
Hank Hughes - a longtime friend of Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe and now head of the New Mexico Coalition for the Homeless - told us about three remarkable former homeless men who all use wheelchairs. They have decided to share an apartment, to pool their resources, and to help provide the homeless with meals on the weekends, as no one else in town is doing so. The men needed some help with moving expenses, so Bread for the Journey was happy to offer them a grant of $750 toward this end.
"Whom Shall I Turn To?"
Donna Giaquinto is a first-generation Italian-American who is the director of Cottonwood Therapy Associates in Los Alamos, NM This facility employs twenty part- and full-time licensed professionals in various disciplines who provide an array of services with a focus on mental health, pain management, substance abuse and addictions, education, and the prevention of child abuse. For some time, Donna has felt very strongly that she was meant to open a satellite clinic in Espanola that would offer these services as well as anger-management classes and therapy for compulsive gamblers. She also dreams of sponsoring a yearly alcohol-free party so that people who need to can see that they can have a great time without alcohol.
Donna needed money to secure the premises for the new clinic. With Arriba County's high incidence of social problems, Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe shared her concern for its residents, and was happy to be part of this new development by providing her with a $2,000 grant.
Pull Up A Chair
Torreon is a very small town in northwestern New Mexico. The people are rich in culture, history, energy and hopes, but most don't have much extra cash. Evie Pachine and others involved in the Torreon Community Thrift Store wanted to expand by adding an annex to sell used furniture. A woman in Albuquerque who had heard about the project helped to connect Evie with Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe. Evie told us that the Navajo Nation had given them money to buy a pre-fab building, and Bread for the Journey of Santa Fe was happy to give them an additional $1,000 toward the wiring and electrical supplies that would help complete the annex.
Summer Enrichment Program
Bread for the Journey of Savannah was approached by Ms. Janice Walker -from Lutheran Services of Georgia - and asked to help fund a summer enrichment program for their specialized foster-home children. These children, ranging in age from 8-17, have been placed in foster care through the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice or the Division of Family and Children's Services. A ten-week schedule of trips to local cultural and recreational locations was presented, and a grant of $1500 was awarded for this project.
Some trips included meals at family style restaurants, the first time some of the participants had an experience at other than fast food places and were introduced to skills such as ordering from a menu, and proper table manners.
The group visited the Skidaway Island State Park, Fort Screven/Tybee Island Museum, Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, the Wildlife Museum and Fort King Historic Site.
Still More Bread!
A wiry, ruddy man in his eighties, Bill Keeler has been distributing day-old bread from Whole Foods Market in Sebastopol to rest homes, homeless shelters, and other places where the elderly and disabled live on fixed incomes. When he learned of similar work being done in Santa Rosa (see the story, "Bread in Hand"), and the grant that Rachael Jacobson received from Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol for plastic bags and gas, he decided to approach the chapter. The board saw Bill's work as truly life-sustaining, and happily presented him with a $600 check for gasoline, bag and box expenses. Bill estimates that the grant will cover his costs for a year and a half. Incidentally, he usually journeys around town on his bicycle and maintains the car just for his "bread runs."
Adopt-an-Activist
Adopt-an-Activist seeks to dramatically increase the impact of creative, non-violent, solutions-oriented activism by supporting skilled, highly effective, independent activists. Some of their efforts include assisting Erik Ohlsen, who is working on creating a series of sustainability classes in Sebastopol that delve into permaculture as it is practiced, not just in the garden, but in our political landscape as well. They will also be assisting Eileen Rose and Meddle Bolger, who will be heading up the media effort for the upcoming battle to make Sonoma County's farms, ecosystems and public lands free from contamination by genetically engineered (GE) organisms. Eileen and Meddle also head up the fundraising and publicity efforts of Adopt-an-Activist, and incorporate activist efforts in their office work.
Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol gave Adopt-an-Activist a $1000 donation, of which $600 was earmarked for the filing fee for non-profit status and $400 to assist with their fundraiser/donor cultivation event.
Helping Hands Across the Border
In the 1980's, Tom Pringle lived in Tijuana, Mexico, and has stayed connected to the community by returning once or twice a year ever since. When he goes, Tom brings with him a truckload of new shovels to exchange for old, worn-out ones, knowing that someone with a good shovel has a way to earn a living.
Felix Maura, a good friend of Tom's for many years, is an elementary school principal in the Pipila, in the barrio of Obrera. Lacking funds, the school is in disrepair, with a library room that remains empty and unfinished. Tom offered to be the liaison and intermediary for this project, so Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol awarded him this year's annual International grant of $500 to purchase materials. Tom sent us many photos that showed the community working together to make a gate, paint the rooms, and complete the library.
Multicultural Taekwondo Institute
At the age of 14, Gerardo Sanchez traveled alone from Mexico to live with his uncles in Santa Rosa, CA. Gerardo's vision has been to teach Taekwondo to kids as a means to develop self-discipline, and to engender respect for self, family and community. Having persisted through many struggles, he now gives back to the community with his incredible Multicultural Taekwondo Institute, where he teaches this art nightly to students ages 5 and up. His fees are low (20 students pay nothing) and the classes are bilingual.
With a $1000 grant from Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol, Gerardo can pay entrance fees to World Cup championships, and help purchase appropriate clothing and equipment for kids whose families can't afford them.
The Middle Way
The Middle Way provides jobs for developmentally disabled adults, who can be seen around town maintaining the cleanliness of public spaces, putting on recycled bicycle sales, and doing landscape work. However, as with many nonprofits, they have suffered in the last few years due to budget cuts and changes in leadership, and without the required 3-year accreditation, they are in danger of losing the funding they need to continue. The missing piece has been a lack of staff training and development, so a special training program has been lined up to provide team-building and communication skills to this hard-working staff.
Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol gave Penny Synder, the new director of The Middle Way, a grant of $1000 to pay for a large portion of that training, enabling them to get their accreditation so that their wonderful presence can remain in Sebastopol!
Support for Women with Breast Cancer
Debra Anderson is a local hairdresser who has been volunteering her time for years to help women with breast cancer. She is now creating a website for women who are suffering from the fear of cancer. The idea for the site came from her increasing awareness of the desperate level of fear that women of a certain age endure on a daily basis. The threat of cancer is sometimes greater than the reality of it. And then the reality of it can become crippling. Debra's website will take a small bit of that huge fear away by giving women the chance to tell their stories to other women, and gaining support and friendship in return. Debra is a woman who is passionate about serving this population, so Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol was happy to give her a grant of $600 to continue her good work.
Bread in Hand
Now, how could we miss with a project with this name? Rachel Jacobson found us on the Internet "by mistake" and gave us a call. Rachel lives near a well-known Santa Rosa grocery and, while out on evening walks with her dog, noticed large amounts of fresh-baked bread out in the dumpster. So she got permission to collect the bread at night and redistribute it to local people and agencies in need. Large black plastic bags of bread would give way, through her efforts, to bread individually bagged. Rachel has enlisted the help of a few people to assist her and, since last fall, has been distributing an average of 400-600 loaves per week! We felt this was true "recycling," so Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol gave Rachel a grant of $400 to help purchase the plastic bags and gas that's needed to distribute the bread.
Equine Therapy
Mia Young called us from North Bay Horse Welfare, located in Occidental, CA. Mia has an amazing non-profit program in which horses that have been abused or neglected are rehabilitated, then found and placed in foster homes. In addition, Mia conducts workshops that focus on equine therapy, a fast-growing field that brings people and horses together for therapeutic purposes. Through their connection with horses, many people have achieved significant healing in the areas of boundaries, confidence, self-authority and relationships. Mia asked for a grant to begin a scholarship program for these workshops, so that people with limited income who are drawn to this work could receive a reduced rate. We are confident that the $600 Bread for the Journey of Sebastopol gave her to seed this program will sprout many good results!
Bella Terra
Bella Terra is an Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) Center in Southwest Michigan. Horses have the power to influence people in powerful ways. EAL is a process of self-discovery and improvement facilitated through the use of horses, where participants gain insight about themselves and how they accomplish goals. This has many applications in all arenas of life for professional and personal improvement, such as team building, leadership development, at-risk youth, 12-step programs, personal growth and psychotherapy.
About 50% of the attendees at Bella Terra attend on a pro bono basis. The proprietors, Todd and Kim Shook, approached Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan for a grant to purchase tables and chairs that would be used in a meeting room where orientation takes place at the beginning of each program. We were happy to extend a grant of $185.
Music Therapy in Kalamazoo
Sara Houseman is a committed music therapist at the Croyden School in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and created the Music Therapy program for the mentally impaired and autistic children at the school. Music Therapy offers these kids a lot of benefits, including a chance to create lyrics with fill-in-the-blank exercises, an opportunity to discuss lyrics and simple imagery, exercises to deal with attention-span issues, and music making with simple instruments. In the background of Sara's work is several years of statewide budget cuts in Michigan, and schools have certainly not been spared.
Sara came to Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan with a request to fund the purchases of an instrument station, song cartridges, a PA system, and several instruments. We gave her a grant of $1880.
Offender Aid & Restoration
Having been raised in a military family, Stephanie Penn served four years in the Marines. At the age of 38, she is also a twice-convicted felon, a prison-educated paralegal and a holder of a BA in the behavioral sciences. She finished her three-year parole term in March of 2004, and has learned first-hand how few support services exist for parolees. She's made it her mission to help ex-convicts find their place once back in society.
After working in two social service agencies in Kalamazoo, MI, Stephanie founded OAR, Offender Aid & Restoration. At OAR, offenders are offered guidance in five critical areas: employment, public benefits, housing, parenting rights and student loans. She came to Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan for a grant to help establish an office where she could coordinate her organization's efforts, screen offenders for her program and help them rebuild their lives. We were happy to give Stephanie a grant of $1500 to help her accomplish her goals.
Kids Kafe
As the Executive Director of the Eastside Neighborhood Association in Kalamazoo, MI, Amy DeShon is a neighborhood savior. Within this northeastern quadrant of the city, 25% of its residents are senior citizens and 45% are under 18, with a disproportionately high number of single mothers. The working poor also live here, with the unemployment rate at just over 9% and the average income at $11,063. Needless to say, stress levels in the area run high, brought on by low income, hunger, old and poorly insulated homes, worry and a lack of hope. The result is further neglect, lots of petty crime and a neighborhood in decline.
To counter these trends, Amy started the Kids Kafe three years ago where, three times a week, kids can enjoy a well-balanced, freshly cooked dinner at no cost. Since starting this program, the petty crime rate has dropped and, accordingly, so has the police surveillance level. During this past winter, tight family budgets were further squeezed by an unusual surge in utility bills, and so the number of kids coming for meals nearly doubled. With this increase in demand and the policy to never turn away any child attending school, the program's budget was spent four months ahead of schedule. Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan gave Amy $1000 to help the Kids Kafe get through the summer until local food drives and other fundraising activities could match the new demand.
Direct Care Workers
Direct Care Workers is a dedicated, hard-working group of caregivers who work with frail elders and persons suffering from dementia in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and home health agencies. Although the work is highly demanding both physically and emotionally, their wages are generally low, as is often their self esteem. All of this leads to an unusually high job-turnover rate.
Last year, Marie Stoline began Caregiver Appreciation Day, an all-volunteer effort to demonstrate gratitude to Direct Care Workers. The event brought both educational offerings as well as positive affirmations to the 75 caregivers who participated. All in all, the day had a very positive impact on their feelings about the work they do. Based on its success, Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan was happy to give Marie $750 to put on this year's event.
Senior Day Care Center
For five years, Kristina Seth has been working to create a nonprofit day-care center for seniors in Allegan County, a rural community in Southwest Michigan. In the process of remodeling the kitchen to meet code requirements, she encountered unexpected expenses related to the plumbing for an industrial sink. She came to Bread for the Journey to help fund the surprise expenses. She needed the grant quickly so that she could pass inspection and open her doors. Bread for the Journey of Southwest Michigan was happy to extend a grant of $3,500 to complete the kitchen.
Young Black Males of Kalamazoo
Sheron is a mother of an 18-year-old black male who made a bad choice a year and a half ago. As a result, he is serving an 8- to 15-year prison term. Following her son's arrest, Sheron realized she knew nothing about how to deal with the judicial system. Without money to hire her own attorney, she quickly realized that families with means have an incredible advantage in navigating the court system. Sheron saw a huge need to reach out to young black males in her community to show them alternatives to life on the street or in prison, and to educate them about the legal system should they need that information.
First, they needed to understand that once they become convicted criminals, life will always be tarnished by that fact. Also, if they do get arrested, they should realize that court-appointed attorneys do not always have the time or the desire to extend that extra hour needed to be of real service to their clients. So Sheron established a non-profit organization called Young Black Males of Kalamazoo to disseminate hope and information in this county where blacks make up 35% of the general population and 80% of the prison population. Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan gave her a grant of $ 730.00 to help start her non-profit organization.
We Can Make a Difference
Neldine Edwards is a social worker and the founder of "We Can Make a Difference" in Benton Harbor, MI. For 21 years, she worked as a family therapist before creating a vision that provides help to parents in this poverty-stricken, primarily black community that saw a race riot erupt in 2003. To date, over 1000 parents and service providers have taken and been helped by the classes offered by her organization. The classes use role playing, homework assignments and applied lessons for specific parenting situations. The classes are culturally sensitive in order to foster a sense of identity and pride within those who participate.
Neldine asked Bread for the Journey of SW Michigan to fund a coaching course for past graduates who would then be able to provide home-based coaching to participants in future classes. We gladly extended a grant of $1500 to help institute the coaching curriculum and get the first class up and running.
Music Therapy for the Birthing Center at Borgess Hospital
Gina Thomas, a nurse in the Birthing Center at Borgess Hospital, came to Bread for the Journey of Southwest Michigan wanting a small grant to purchase CD players and CDs to use in the hospital's labor/delivery rooms and nurseries. Since studies show that music can decrease the need for pain medications and epidurals, special CDs have become available to help laboring mothers with breathing and to calm infants in the nursery. Borgess Hospital serves a large proportion of low-income residents in our community who would not otherwise have access to these resources. Bread for the Journey of Southwest Michigan provided a grant of $380 for the purchase of CD players and CDs for this program.
HIV / AIDS and Spirituality
Angela Jackson has been solving community problems throughout her career in the health and human services field. She is currently the program director for the African American Health Initiative in Kalamazoo. A quiet activist, Angela believes that spirituality is the key when it comes to communities dealing effectively with the AIDS epidemic. To that end, she is working with churches to address HIV/AIDS, with a goal to establish places where it is safe to openly discuss prevention and treatment options.
She requested support to participate in the American Friends Service Community African Solidarity Tour so she could better understand what it is that sustains victims with limited resources, and how communities effectively educate people about HIV/AIDS. Angela will use this information to work with her constituents, and Bread for the Journey of Southwest Michigan provided a grant of $1500 to support her work.
Wilmington
West Center City Seekers
West Center City Seekers is an after-school child development center located in the heart of some of Wilmington's poorer neighborhoods. According to Director Daniel Young, the primary goal of the program is to address the social and emotional needs of the 45 children in grades 3-9 who attend West Center City Seekers daily. Many of the children come from difficult home environments, often resulting in poor school performance and any combination of social and emotional challenges.
In an effort to improve school performance by increasing the children's reading skills, Daniel asked Bread for the Journey of Wilmington for a grant of $925 to begin an evening Reading Initiative program. The curriculum was developed in conjunction with reading specialists and accommodates a variety of learning styles. Several evenings a week, children meet to both learn and have fun. Daniel hopes the benefits of the Reading Initiative will be far-reaching for these children, resulting in improved reading skills, school performance and self-esteem.
Supporting Kidds
When children need to heal from a significant loss, Supporting KIDDS provides both a safe and caring environment where children can experience their feelings, and find a compassionate pathway through the grieving process. KIDDS is a comprehensive center for supporting and educating bereaved children, their families and the larger communities in which they live. Co-directors Ellen Spoehr and Jane Cisco, and Program Director Valarie Molaison are licensed professionals who mentor a community of volunteers to lead the various support groups. In small, age-specific groups, participants name and claim their feelings, grow to understand the grief process, learn healthy coping tools, and develop a sense of community.
However, not all grieving children are able to attend the workshops. In an effort to reach out to families in need throughout the community, the program staff at KIDDS dreamed of making the Supporting KIDDS Survival Kit into a bound booklet that could be distributed to schools, community groups and health professionals who work with children. With a grant of $1,500 from Bread for the Journey of Wilmington, Survival Kits filled with critical information for grieving children and their families can now be made available throughout New Castle County.
More stories of Community Support.