The Elephant in the Room

Gary, the president of OCJ Kids, comes into the office this morning from a breakfast about adoption.  At this breakfast  they are told that there are over 11,000 children in foster care her in Arizona, of this 11,000 children there are 350 children ready for adoption.   Did you catch that 350 of 11,000 are ready to be adopted. I think it is great to to get these kids a family to call their own, but what about the other 10,750 kids still in foster care. What happens to them?

Yes there are Foster Families who take some of these children in, but the number of foster families are dwindling here in Arizona.  So what happens to these 10, 750 kids that are not able to be adopted?
They get put into group homes (mini orphanages).  A house located in neighborhoods just like yours.  They are put with about 9 other kids around their age, with a house manager, an assistant manager and an overnight staff.   If they have siblings, depending on their age they may get to live with them, or they may be split up depending on space available.  So who helps with their home work?  Who asks them about their day?  Who helps them dream for the future?  Who helps them fight for their future?  What can be done with this Elephant in the Room?  This 10,750 kids without the opportunity of a loving family, at this time.

OCJ Kids has provided individuals the opportunity to be that person who can give hope to an orphan of the living.  It's as easy as a visit once a week to once a month.
Recently, one of the girls I have visited over the past 2 years, came to speak at one of our events.  To hear in her words the impact of a weekly visit had on her touch my heart.  To know that these young people have someone who is willing to come see them and cares about them means a lot to them.  They may not show it all the time but hope grows with the smallest of kindness and caring.

Just this past week, we went to a shelter and did makeovers and a photo shoot with the teen girls there.  One of the girls, we were told, has a tendency to growl and hiss at people and sometimes tries to bite them.  I know that can seem scary, but to me I think what must have happened to her that she acts this way.
the  exciting thing about this story is this young lady did not growl, did not hiss, did not bite, but allowed college students to do her hair and makeup then showed us her beautiful smile as we took her picture.

If you are not able  to foster or adopt a child so in need of a loving family, then you can be that person who visits them where they live, that person who gives them hope, that person who shows them they are special enough to be loved.

If you would like to get involved please contact us at OCJ Kids at info@ocjkids.org and we will get you connected to change a young persons life.

Calling all Heroes

The last time we were here, I told you about the pizza parties we had the privilege to share with some amazing young people with lots of dreams.  With the Back to School Party slowly fading into the past we want to help these kids remember their dreams and help them start reaching for them.  We at OCJ Kids accomplish that thru our volunteers and Life Coaches that meet with the young people on a regular basis.

I am in the process of reading a book called "Orphans of the Living" by Jennifer Toth.  This is a hard book to read as you walk with kids as they walk thru the foster care system.  Seeing the affects of abuse they have suffered and how easy it is to stop dreaming and just live to survive.  Then I think about the girls I work with every week and it makes me wonder what happened to them to bring them to were they are at now in their lives.  Whatever the reason for them being where they are, it is my mission in life to help them find their dreams and be a tool to help them achieve those dreams. 

But I am one person, and I am glad to say that OCJ Kids has a group of volunteers that are going into the homes on a regular basis, helping foster kids reach for their dreams.  One area where we need more committed volunteers is in our Life Coaches.  We have a small handful of caring adults who have been trained and have been connected with a young person. these Life Coaches are committed to these young people to help them walk thru the transition of aging out of the foster care system into independent living.  These are my true HEROES!!

OCJ Kids is currently looking for more Heroes, Life Coaches.  We have young people aging out of the foster care system on a daily basis, most of them with out the support structure they need to succeed.  Will you be a hero for one of these young adults?  Will you be a mentor to some kids who are hurting?

I am looking for 2 men, who will be a mentor to 2 young men who desperately need a strong male role model in their lives.  Is that you? 

To help you get started OCJ Kids has a 101 Volunteer Orientation coming up on Oct 29th at our offices from 9am to 1pm.  We also have a 102 Life Coach Training on Oct 29th from 3pm to 5pm at the same location.

If you are interested please RSVP to shevaun@ocjkids.org and we will get you registered.

Thank you to all of my Heroes out there, you are greatly appreciated.  Keep up the great work!!

Until next time,

Shevaun

A Time of Celebration





The beginnings of Dreams...



One of the things I enjoy about what I do is getting the opportunity to celebrate with the group homes we are connected with.  We have five homes who were chosen as the top five for the Dream Board Competition at our recent Tools 4 Success Back to School Party. The winners receive a pizza pater at Peter Piper Pizza for pizza and games.

On Sept 14th, Tammie and Gary had the pleasure on celebrating with one of the winning homes.  They all had a great time.  Even better, they were able to join in a birthday celebration for one of the girls.  I love it when things like this happen!
This past week I had that opportunity to host a teen girls home .  We were joined by a group of volunteers from Family Life Church, who are getting connected with this girls home. So the ladies had an opportunity to meet the girls and the house manager had the opportunity to meet the ladies.  Everyone had a great time.  One of the girls turned to me and said "Thank you for getting us out of the house.  This is so much fun and a lot better than what we would have been doing, nothing"

OCJ Kids has two more parties scheduled and one we are waiting to schedule.  Can't wait!

How do you celebrate with those you love?  What are somethings you celebrate?  I would love to hear the small and big events that you celebrate with the ones you love.

CPS Squeeze

I remember when the stats for the number of children in foster care were in the 9,000's for Arizona.  I thought that was bad, then Gary, OCJ Kids' President and Founder, comes into the office and informs us that there over 10,000 children in the foster care system in Arizona.  Well, just today I read an article on AZCentral.com and the new number of children in Foster Care as of June, 2011 there are now 11,082 children in foster care.  
The article "CPS Squeeze: More Children in need, Fewer Foster Homes" help to reinforce what we at OCJ Kids have been seeing in the agencies we are connected with.  Group homes filled to capacity and in some cases over full, babies coming into the homes at two days old, and all this leads to tension in the homes.

Just this past week, I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce a new volunteer to a teen girls home out in Tempe.  It was very exciting!!  We played Uno and got to know each other, then in the middle of the game, one of the young ladies had enough of the personality of another young lady in the house.  What happened next could have turned out worse if it wasn't for the staff on duty at the time, she handled the situation beautifully.  There was almost a fight at the house that night.  I think one of the great things that happened that night was that the volunteer was not scared away.  She is going back to continue working with these girls.  To help build up their self esteem and develop life skills as they prepare to enter the real world. 

The need is great right now here in Arizona for foster parents and volunteers to work with these young people, who are obviously hurting on the inside to be so angry on the outside. 

Will you be one who helps these young people?  Will you help OCJ Kids reach out to this lost and hurting generation that are being passed around from place to place?

These kids NEED YOU!  Check out our website http://www.ocjkids.org/ to find out how you can help.

Take action today!  Get involved!

Fostering Connections Blog is Back!

It is good to be back with you again.  Wonderful things have been happening with OCJ Kids over this past year. We have formed new partnerships with more businesses and churches.  With these new connections we have been able to do that much more for the the foster children who live in mini orphanges we are connected with.  So far this year we have impacted over 1300 foster children!!!  And the year is not over yet! 
Our most recent event was our 6th Annual Tools 4 Success Back to School Party.  It was an amazing day with over 300 kids in attendance.  During the event the kids created amazing Dream Boards and were inspired by two wonderful guest speakers Amen Iseghohi and Alejandra Paredes.  After the event was over the kids received a new backpack and school supplies to help get their school year off on the right track.  I was overwhelmed by the new volunteers we had this year.  We had over 90 volunteers for the entire day!!
Each one impacting the lives of the over 300 kids present at the event and most likely were impacted by the kids themselves.

Also this summer, we started a great partnership with Western Destinations to provide a Cowboy Camp for 250 foster kids!  Everyone who had the opportunity to attend the overnight camp, still talk about their experience to this day.  Between the ranglers and the horses, these kids had an opportunity they will never forget.  We can't wait for next summer so we can do it again!

With our volunteer base growing we are able to reach more of these young people in the mini orphanages where they live.   To help them prepare for the little and big things that life throws in their way.  More and more homes are being connected with volunteers and mentors, but there is still more homes that need to be connected.  I had the opportunity to visit a home the other day to drop off a book I had for a 2 year old little boy.  As I was leaving, one of his house mates asked if I could have lunch with him on the following Monday at school, because it was his birthday.   I am not sure what his story is, but this young man age 9 or 10 asking a complete stranger to join him for lunch for his birthday, broke my heart.  I had to tell him that would not be possible at this time.  The small needs of these kids are great and most can be met with a training and an hour or two a month. 
Will you join us?  Check out our website http://www.ocjkids.org/ or contact me at shevaun@ocjkids.org to see how you can get conencted.

I have a question for you who are reading this, what do you want to read when you visit this blog?  Let me know.  Thanks for reading!

Getting a Home

One young lady I know, has been struggling for the past few months.  She has been wanting to give up and not deal with anything.  It has been a challenge to keep her motivated to follow through and finish things.  She is tired of being in group homes.  She is tired of not having a place to call home.  She is tired of not having a life like everyone else she knows at school.  So much that she wants to quit school and just get her GED so she can get her life started. 
Recently, she had a visit from a potential foster mom who has been working on getting licensed to provide a permanent home for this young lady.  These past few months have not been easy for either of them as this young lady is just tired.  Back to the visit, the potential foster mom presented the opportunity to move in with her within the next month.  Gave her the opportunity to have a permanent home, with the stipulation that she does not drop out of school, but gets her diploma.
After speaking with this young lady she made her decision, to move in.  Once the decision was made, with the stipulations and all, her countenance changed.  The idea that finally she would not be living in a group home was setting in and brought an attitude change and a smile to her face.  Excitement for a new beginning, with whatever it brought with it.  She is leaving the group homes before she turns 18!!!! 

I can't explain the change in this young lady justly.  Tears come to my eyes just thinking about the difference in her just seconds after she made the statement she is going to live with this foster mom.  It was night and day. 
these kids need homes!  The importance of knowing you are going to be moved again, being able to normal. 

These kids like this young lady need your help!  check out how you can get involved http://www.ocjkids.org/ .  Become a mentor, a life coach, participate in big events. Get Connected!

New Beginnings!

Last week I got a call from one of our mentors asking for resources for the young lady she is working with.
This young lady aged out of foster care last August and was becoming a negative statistic. 
Then something happened!  After speaking to this young woman and trying to get thru that we found a program that can help her, but she has to apply herself.  I want to be honest with you, I did not have much faith in this young lady to take initiative and I was hoping for persistence from her mentor.
We I got the greatest news in a long time.  This young lady not only filled out the necessary paperwork, are you ready for this one?? She then called the organization that can help her and made an appointment.  I want to make sure you caught that.  SHE called and made the appointment.  When I heard that I nearly started crying. 

I have not heard if she was accepted into this program but we are planning a celebration dinner for the 3 of us to celebrate her initiative to make the call.  To some people that may be something small, but for this young lady (and many like her) it is something big!!!

This is an example of the importance of mentors, someone to walk with with these young people who may not have the support from any where else and just need that extra push to get motivated.

There are many teens like this young lady who need someone to walk with them, are you one of them?
If you said yes, please email me at shevaun@offcampusjams.org.  I would love to get you connected with one of them, to see them succeed!