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.

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!

Why We Do What We Do!

2 sisters 2 very different outcomes!

Last night I attended a high school graduation of a young lady who used to attend one of the drop in centers I ran 4 years ago. I have always said she was a bright young lady and she proved it. Thru her young life she has had to make some hard decisions. The first being to live with another family to get a better education away from the struggles of daily life amidst her family. Such a tough decision from one so young, but she did it for her future.
Now 4 years later, she is a high school graduate and next year going on to college.

Her sister on the other hand did not get out. She has been caught up in the turmoil that surrounds her environment. It is for this young lady we do what we do. To see her make changes, dream big and teach her how to achieve them. To bring her tools and hope that she is not alone. She is worth dreaming big. She is valuable. She is a vital part of our future. That the there is a bigger world out there and she can be apart of it.

There are so many young people out there like this young lady who need us to show them a different way of life and how to achieve it.