Live it Right

During the week of January 9^th, a film crew from Ohio University spent time at Sojourners doing a video about our Street Outreach Program. The crew members, Matt Fillman, Riley Gibson, Karen Kasmauski and Heather Rousseau, are graduate students in the Ohio University Schools of Visual Communications (VisCom) and Film.

The short film features Travis Chevalier and Steven “Vern” Vanover, both Sojourners Street Outreach Workers, and Matt Yates, Street Outreach Coordinator. The young men share their stories about what life was like before they became participants in the Sojourners Transitional Living Program, and why the work they do as Sojourners employees is so important to them. The film showcases the work the Street Outreach team does as it cruises through the streets and roads of southeast Ohio looking for homeless young people in need of assistance.

Thanks so much to this team of very talented men and women who so clearly captured the essence of the work of our Street Outreach Program and the young men who try to “Live it Right” every day.

Check out the video at:

http://vimeo.com/35551309

Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve

 

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”  – Martin Luther King Jr.

At Sojourners we take our community service seriously. Service is at the heart of all we do. In the almost thirteen years since our organization began, staff and participants of Sojourners have donated over 128,260 hours of community service to the region.

Without a doubt, the service day we most enjoy is MLK Day. This year we took Dr. King’s message about love to Central and South elementary schools in Vinton County, performing for 735 children and several teachers (who seemed to enjoy the program as much as the children).

The MLK Day Express rolled into the gymnasiums to the tune “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas and the fun got started.

The program, which featured a large cast of characters, encouraged the children to think about what they can to do foster love in their communities, with each other, and in themselves.

At the end of one program a student was heard to say, “I know where the love is—it’s in me.”

Dr King would have been so proud.

 

 

MLK Day Express Ready to Roll Again

 

 

 

Here at Sojourners, we are busy preparing for our 2012 Martin Luther King Day celebration. On Monday, January 16, the staff and participants of Sojourners will join hundreds of events held in states and cities nationwide to honor the legacy of Dr. King through community service.

We have taken part in the national MLK Day “day on, not a day off” community service celebrations for several years.  During those years we have held “Dream Camp” day camps for elementary school children, provided free lunches to the community, and completed several major service projects, including building a gazebo at the Vinton County Courthouse, replacing benches in the McArthur village park, repairing the entrance signs to McArthur, and creating new signage for the Vinton County Fairgrounds.

In 2011, after a year’s hiatus, Sojourners once again celebrated MLK Day in Vinton County, but in a new way designed to accommodate the fact that school was in session.  Our MLK Day 2011 School Assembly Program reached more students and provided school staff with an engaging and fun way to share the message of Dr. King.

The 30 minute assemblies were held in Central and South Elementary Schools on January 17. The assemblies featured the MLK Express, a train comprised of an engine, coal tender, and two passenger cars and powered by drummers highlighting Dr. King’s beliefs—Learn, Love, Dream and Celebrate. Passengers on the train helped to tell the story of Dr. King’s life and accomplishments.

The train was built by participants and staff of the Sojourners Youthbuild program and all of Sojourners’ staff and participants took part in the assemblies.

This year, the MLK Day Express will once again roll again into South and Central elementary schools, carrying the message of love for your community, love for each other, and love for yourself. The Sojourners family looks forward to a day of fun and service in Dr. King’s name.

 

 

Street Outreach Worker Gets the Job Done Fast

 

 

Congratulations to Steven “Vern” Vanover, of Sojourners’ Generation Now division, for holding the record for securing a new Safe Place site, and facilitating the training of
the site’s staff, in the shortest amount of time.

Vern was attending a funeral near Laurelville, Ohio, where he had grown up, when he
realized that the J & D Carryout on State Route 327 between Londonderry and
Laurelville, would make a perfect Safe Place site for Generation Now’s Safe
Place program.  He quickly contacted the owner who agreed to let the carryout become a site, and within a couple days Vern and Generation Now staff visited the carryout to train its employees.

Safe Place is a national youth outreach program that educates thousands of young people every year about the dangers of running away or trying to resolve difficult,
threatening situations on their own. This easily replicated community
initiative involves the whole community to provide safe havens and resources
for youth in crisis. Safe Place creates a network of “Safe Place
locations” – youth friendly businesses, schools, fire stations, libraries, YMCAs
and other appropriate public buildings that display the distinctive yellow and
black Safe Place sign. These Safe Place sites extend the doors of the youth emergency shelter or youth service agency throughout the community. Youth are easily able to access immediate help wherever they are. Sojourners has fifteen Safe Place sites in Athens, Jackson, Ross, and Vinton counties and is working to add more.

Vern, Travis Chevalier, and Michael Games, who are all participants of Generation Now’s
Transitional Living program were hired last fall as Street Outreach workers, assisting
in the Sojo Street Reach program. The trio has done a wonderful job reaching
out to homeless youth in the southeast Ohio region.

Hot Holiday Lunches Provided to NEG Crews

 

Our National Emergency Grant (NEG) crews have been working hard work under wintery conditions clearing flood debris in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton counties.Their hard work is making the lives of the people who live along these streams and creeks safer. In order to show our appreciation, the Senior Management Team of Sojourners organized and delivered hot lunches to the crews in each county—something special for the employees who normally eat cold packed lunches in their vehicles or along the steams where they are working.

Indoor venues were found in each county so the crews could enjoy their meals in comfort. Each luncheon was decorated with red linen table clothes, candles and fresh greenery. The food was provided by Buelah Mae’s Real BBQ and Sojo staff helped provide cookies for dessert.

On December 13 the Ross County holiday luncheon was held in the Volunteer Fire Department’s meeting room in Frankfort. On December 14, the Hocking County party was held in the parish hall of the Church of God in Laurelville. The final luncheon, which was held for the Vinton County crew, took place in the Sojourners Training Center. The” holiday luncheons on the road” were enjoyed by everyone who took part; especially the NEG employees who really appreciated the opportunity to share a little warm Christmas spirit together.

Foster Care Christmas Party Enjoyed by All

Our 2011 Foster Care Christmas party was the largest in the history of our organization. 151 foster families members and staff attended the dinner, which took place in the McArthur Fireman’s Hall on Friday, December 9. The division of Family Development worked for months preparing for the event.

Funding for the seasonal celebration was provided by donations from the Rock for Tots concert in Chillicothe, the Kyger Creek Power Plant in Gallia County, and Gallia County Community Action. Proceeds from the golf scramble in July and Chinese auction in November were also used.  Over $2,000 was raised, which provided for the meal, decorations, and most importantly, gifts for our foster children. 

The family development staff spent all day decking the hall with festive decorations. Tom McManis was on hand to take family portraits of each foster family, which will be printed out and given to them to frame as they wish. This is the third year family portraits have been taken and they are treasured by everyone involved. A turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, was enjoyed by all. Cakes baked and decorated by Shelly Horvath rounded out the meal. After dinner, the children attending the party received their gifts and a happy, chaotic time ensued.  Sojourners owes a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped provide this wonderful holiday event for our foster care families.

Office Reorganization Adds Training and Community Space

Sojourners has recently reorganized office space. The big move was initiated because of the addition of a new location. In order to provide more space for Youthbuild and our new National Emergency Grant Program (NEG), we have rented a large facility about two miles west of McArthur for our Sojourners Training Center. The building’s 25,000 square feet of space is divided between 20,000 designated for shop and training space and 5,000 for offices.

So, here is how to find us:

• Youthbuild and NEG are in the Sojourners Training Center—6 2969 US Highway 50, McArthur, Ohio
• Family Development (Foster Care and Adoption)—Sojourners Main Campus, 605 ½ West Main Street, McArthur, Ohio
• Reception, Administration, and Generation Now— Sojourners Main Campus, 605 West Main Street, McArthur, Ohio

As a result of our recent organizational move, staff and participants are now housed in more functional and attractive offices, and we now have more space available for programs for community youth.

 

New NEG Program Already Making a Difference

 

The Sojourners National Emergency Grant Program is off to a great start removing debris from roads, creeks, streams and other waterways in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton counties.

After two weeks of intensive hiring events, held in conjunction with the county One-Stop centers, over sixty men and women were hired. Six crew leaders, who are in charge of the work crews in the field,  were also employed by Sojourners. Another week was spent with everyone taking part in several trainings, including Red Cross First Aid and CPR, Chain Saw Cutting Methods and Maintenance, and OSHA training.

Once in field, the NEG crews got busy. Six work sites have already been completed and several are on-going.  Several home owners who live adjacent to the effected streams have made it a point to thank the work crews, including two who brought out home-cooked hot lunches for the workers.

Mark and Molly Rosser thanked Brian Speakman’s crew in Vinton County with the following note left in his truck. The couple had over four feet of water in their house during the series of flash floods in the region last spring.

Dear Sojourners:

       We live on Claypool Hollow Rd.
in Jackson Township in Vinton County and we are so pleased at what has been
done to the creek. It is so clean. We could have never done this. We really
appreciate the effort and time and hard work especially the courtesy of the professional
crew. Also it is so nice to see money and tax dollars being spent on truly useful
projects. Thank You!

 

 

Adoption Program Honored in Nation’s Capital

New Program Offers Jobs in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton

A National Emergency Grant will provide 127 new temporary jobs in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton counties. The WIA Region 20 Workforce Investment Board has received a $2,400,000 National Emergency Grant and has contracted with Sojourners Care Network, a nonprofit organization headquartered in McArthur, to implement the program.

“Hocking, Ross, and Vinton counties are excited about the opportunity to employ so many people in these short-term jobs.  Our counties will certainly benefit from their work cleaning up the damage to our water ways from last spring’s storms,” said Jody Walker, director of the Vinton County Department of Jobs and Family Services.

National Emergency Grants (NEG) are discretionary dollars awarded by the Department of Labor to temporarily expand employment services in a state or local area in response to significant events that cause a sudden need for increased service levels. The primary purpose of a disaster project is to create temporary employment to assist with
clean-up activities.

In the spring of 2011 Athens, Belmont, Gallia, Guernsey, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, & Washington Counties in
southern and southeastern Ohio sustained heavy damage from severe storms and flooding. Roadways were blocked with fallen trees, and debris was left clogging streams and rivers, creating the potential for additional flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) surveyed the damage and approved the affected counties for public assistance. The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services (ODJFS) then applied for a disaster NEG to aid in the clean-up and removal of debris for the affected counties. In August 2011, ODJFS was awarded a disaster NEG for up to $16.2 million to enable clean-up and debris removal in the affected.

The Sojourners National Emergency Grant Program will hire 115 dislocated workers, displaced homemakers, and long-term unemployed men and women 18 years of age and over, who will work for six months or 1,040 hours, whichever is longer.  A site coordinator and several crew leaders will also be hired.

 The program will provide 119,600 hours of disaster recovery in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton Counties by removing debris from roads, creek streams and other waterways,  and demolition, reconstruction, or repair of damaged public structures, facilities, or lands. Sojourners collaborate with local Ohio Departments of Job and Family Services, local Ohio Emergency Management Agencies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to identified and prioritized work sites throughout the three counties.

Sojourners will work with the One Stop Centers in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton counties to
identify potential employees. Employees must be able to work in all kinds of weather, be physically fit, and drug free.

Recruitment events will be held at the county One-Stop Centers next week during which potential employees will complete necessary employment paperwork, interview with program staff, and be given drug screenings.

To apply, please visit your county One Stop Center.

Hocking County Jobs Services Center
The Shoppes at West Front Street
389 W. Front Street
Logan, Ohio 43138
(740) 380-1545
(866) 882-9500 toll-free

Hours of Operation:
7:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Ross County JOBS One-Stop
150 East Second Street
Chillicothe, OH 45601
(740) 779-2946

Hours of Operation:
7:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursdays until 6:00 PM

Vinton County One-Stop Employment Training Center
30975 Industrial Park Road
McArthur, OH 45651
740-596-2584

Hours of Operation:
8:00 AM – 3:30 PM