Joanne Kendall

In the summer of 1985, Joanne Kendall, along with other concerned community members, co-founded Open House Ministries to provide temporary housing for people in need.

In addition to temporary housing, Open House Ministries provides counseling, case management, child and adult education, medical care, group therapy and job skill training. In December of 1996, a new 107-bed facility was opened to accommodate the program’s growth. More than 75 people from the community volunteer their time at Open House Ministries.

The heart of the program is case management for every family that comes through the doors. Case management entails goal setting, job placement and personal evaluation. Approximately eight out of 10 people who come to the program leave with jobs.

Another main objective is to provide temporary shelter while preserving the individual’s personal independence. Tenants are expected to take care of the facility as if it were their own home. From October 1995 to September 1996, Open House Ministries helped 359 people.

Open House Ministries provides its services daily. Funding comes from donations via individuals, churches, businesses, clubs and grants.

Norte Vista High School S.M.A.D.

In 1995, the Students Making a Difference (S.M.A.D.) program was established at Norte Vista High School to combat the growing problem of gang-related violence on campus and within the surrounding area. Mr. Dennis Puskas, the school’s vice principle, organized a roundtable discussion of five area gang leaders, all of whom were students at the school. The students met with Mr. Puskas and School Resource Officer Pat Young to discuss the problem and explore possible solutions. The students expressed a desire to make a difference in the school and their community. Out of this roundtable discussion S.M.A.D. was born. S.M.A.D. currently has between 50 to 55 members, most of who used to be involved in the gang lifestyle. They meet once a week to decide on a project and vote on if they want to do it or not.

The mission of the group is to keep gang violence low in and around the high school by calling a truce amongst the gangs and perform community service. S.M.A.D. encourages other students and current gang members to join their group. They also try to divert negative energy to positive energy by coming to school and helping in the community. The members of the group wanted to make a better life for themselves and saw this as the way to do it.

S.M.A.D. has done a myriad of things to help the community. Doing everything from raising food and clothes for the needy to helping the police department keep the streets safe by handing out safety pamphlets during high risk times and participating in an adopt-a-street cleanup program. They have also served as big brothers/sisters to at-risk elementary/junior high school students. They talk to the younger students about what it was like to be in a gang and try to keep them from entering that lifestyle.

The program has produced many positive results. There has been a decrease in violence on campus, and on New Year’s Eve it was customary for someone to shoot their gun in the air. This year through information provided by S.M.A.D. on the dangers of shooting guns in the air there was a decrease in gun firing, according to the police.

Funding for S.M.A.D. comes mostly from donations and raffles. However, one time Wal-Mart matched their raffle money of $1500 and gave them one percent of their daily sales which totaled close to $2,400. The members of S.M.A.D. have set aside $1,000 for a scholarship fund for its members.

Through the program the members show their families and the community their personal worth. Most of the members will be first generation high school graduates and a lot of them are moving onto college after graduation.

CONNECT, Inc.

Since the fall of 1994 CONNECT, Inc. has been linking healthcare systems and businesses with the schools and families that need them. CONNECT works to improve the quality and increase the availability of school health care services in St. Joseph County.

CONNECT has created several programs to achieve this goal. One such program partners local elementary, middle and high schools with mental health centers who provide on site services for children whose families are unable to receive assistance through standard programs.

CONNECT also helps address the overwhelming need for school nursing services by working with local catholic hospitals. These hospitals train volunteer nurses how to provide services for 6,000 elementary and high school students in the South Bend area. CONNECT also works with volunteer nursing students from universities and colleges who offer a wide range of health education and prevention services to area students.

Services through CONNECT are provided daily throughout the school year. Although, they are located in South Bend Indiana they service all of St. Joseph County. To date more than 25,000 students in St. Joseph County have received assistance from CONNECT’s health care services.

CONNECT gets most of its funding from corporate contributions. They receive additional funding from participating schools and organizations. They also get funding from grants.

Students Making A Difference (S.M.A.D.), combatting gang-related violence in Riverside, California

Shirley Hodapp

Shirley Hodapp, a retired schoolteacher, established the Lake City Little Gnat Clubhouse in 1995. The clubhouse, named after the school’s mascot, started as a facility that prepared preschoolers for kindergarten. It has now expanded to include 90 kindergartners, first and second graders who are at-risk within the normal school curriculum.

Using a portable building donated by the Polk County School Board, Mrs. Hodapp and her volunteer staff of more than 40, use an educational program created by Mrs. Hodapp that develops language, cognitive and motor skills. Volunteers must take a 20-hour training course before becoming a clubhouse teacher. Parents of preschool-aged children are expected to accompany their children to the sessions, so they can be educated on how to encourage and help their child develop learning skills.

The impact on the community has been very positive. At-risk students who attend weekly sessions at the Little Gnat Clubhouse have shown improvement in their skills. Kindergarten teachers have reported no emotional adjustment problems in the students enrolled in the Little Gnat’s programs.

Since 1996, the Little Gnats Clubhouse has hosted an orientation week of activities such as educational games and seminars on how to help children learn. This prepares students and parents for the transition into kindergarten. Mrs. Hodapp has persuaded community members and parents to become involved as program volunteers. Fifteen volunteers on a steering committee headed by Mrs. Hodapp make decisions on which way the program should head.

Mrs. Hodapp works 50 hours a week at the Little Gnats Clubhouse, teaching children and training parents and volunteers to work with the children. In addition, she has recently started a program called Baby Gnats, which deals with teaching parents how to help their children develop in the first stages of their lives.

Mrs. Hodapp annually receives a $5,000 grant from the school board to purchase yearly supplies.

B-9 Task Force, American Cancer Society

The B-9 Task Force is an American Cancer Society-sponsored high school student organization that provides cancer prevention education programs to local elementary school students. The B-9 program, which stands for “benign,” has been recognized for its outstanding work educating children about the dangers of tobacco use, the importance of good nutrition and skin cancer awareness.

Armed with colorful American Cancer Society youth educational materials, six local high schools currently sponsor B-9 groups. B-9 participants are trained by volunteers from the American Cancer Society and the Toastmasters to speak to other school age children regarding key health issues. Participants present informative programs to thousands of kids each year, developing their public speaking skills as they enhance their science education.

Gerry Marx, a nationally recognized public speaker and member of the American Cancer Society, founded the B-9 program in response to the American Cancer Society’s desire to reach young people in 1990. Mr. Marx felt the best way to reach young people is peer to peer.

Originally tested in a local high school, the pilot program involved 12 to 14 volunteers from a local high school, predominantly from science majors, who presented the information to local elementary school students in efforts to reach the children before they started smoking. Building on the success of the pilot program, the program grew to reach more than 8,000 students at more than 80 elementary schools. Teachers have reported that the elementary school students who hear presentations from the older students tend to get more from the student’s presentations than from an adult’s.

The program has been replicated in northern Colorado and calls come in regularly to receive information on how to start a B-9 program.

E. John Reinhold

Born into a family with a tradition of scout participation, John Reinhold began his scout involvement at the age of six. He learned perseverance at an early age when he was severely injured in an accident and diagnosed with a learning disability.

As a high school student, the experience of defending two students with HIV/AIDS inspired John to develop a comprehensive community service project. Troubled by the complexities concerning the HIV/AIDS issue, he perceived that the emphasis on prevention was important. Additionally, he saw that misinformation regarding the issues was dividing the community, hurting people already suffering and causing hatred. John took the HIV/AIDS issue on as his Eagle Scout Project.

In the first phase of the project, he secured funding to acquire a teaching machine and an HIV/AIDS education and prevention program, as well as a module to teach students to avoid drugs and alcohol. During the second phase, John gained permission from his high school to have every student complete the HIV/AIDS education and alcohol modules using the teaching machine. After five months of daily follow-up, all 1,200 students had successfully completed both modules.

Hurricane Andrew forced John and his family to relocate. It also destroyed all records of his Eagle Scout Project. With a requirement to resubmit his project, John proposed to train ten key Scouts to take the project to every Scout troop in the county. John trained the Scouts, scheduled every troop and executed his plan. Over a period of six months every Scout in the South Brevard Council took the course.

John has also provided volunteer services overseas. For three summers, John earned $2,000 to pay his own way to go on service trips to Estonia, Ireland, and Zimbabwe. In Estonia, he participated with a work crew in renovating an old farmhouse to be used for a drug rehabilitation center. In Ireland, John worked with drug addicts from the project in Dublin. In Zimbabwe, he was a crew leader making mud blocks and constructing an orphanage for children whose parents died of HIV/AIDS. The work crews were under the auspices of Teen Missions International.

Claude R. Smith

Ten years ago, Claude R. Smith answered a call for help from the Migration and Refugee Services of Catholic Community Service in Baton Rouge, LA. Budget cuts had necessitated a 75% employee lay-off and the English as a Second Language (ESL) program was destined to be terminated. Though lacking previous training in ESL, Claude, a retired engineer, brought his organizational skills, empathetic interaction with students and a determination to keep language classes open to refugees from Migration and Refugee Services.

Claude volunteers 40-60 hours per week, despite battling terminal cancer. His work has enabled the program to expand from 15 students in 1987 to an annual 500 students representing 40 different nationalities. His services range from purchasing supplies with his own money to developing a computerized progress tracking system which has assisted staff in writing grant proposals for continued funding. From performing diagnostic testing on immigrants and refugees to providing program participants needed transportation to and from classes, Claude steps up to any challenge presented.

His accomplishments are evident in the hundreds of students that have gained sufficient English language skills and have gone on to become employed and productive members of society.

William Dennis Stewart

In 1982, William Dennis Stewart began volunteering at The Cabbage Patch Settlement House as a coach for his son's T-ball team. Since then he has coordinated camps, coached basketball, chaperoned field trips, and driven vans for Cabbage Patch.

The Cabbage Patch Settlement House located in Louisville, KY is a Christian Service Ministry that focuses on the needs of inner-city children and families. Most of the families served by The Cabbage Patch are low-income and are headed by single mothers. Almost 60% of the children involved in the program live in poverty and are at high risk for teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse and continued poverty.

Dennis became a volunteer in 1982. For the first 14 of those years, he shared approximately 200 hours of volunteer time a year. In 1997, he volunteered more than 1600 hours: an average of over 30 hours a week. Dennis designed and coordinated the Cabbage Patch golf program. He recruited Skip Welch, an instructor at Bellarmine College, to teach a weekly clinic and arranged for the donation of green fees and golf equipment for the children. He recycled hundreds of balls, which he acquired in his spare time. He then provided transportation and chaperoned the golfers.

Dennis also assumed the responsibility for an off-site basketball league held twice a week at a neighborhood elementary school from October through February. He also recruited eight adult coaches, many of whom he had coached many years earlier.

Since 1996, Dennis has been splitting his time between being a student of heating and air conditioning at Kentucky Tech and his position as a full time volunteer at the Cabbage Patch Settlement House. Because he is a student he receives most of his financial support from his wife in addition to his student loan and the financial aid he receives for school.

Joan Connery

Joan Connery, a retired reading specialist and literacy director in Rhode Island public schools, along with staff professionals at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital in urban Providence, RI, developed the Read To Me literacy program in 1993 for children at Hasbro’s Pediatric Clinic. The program is designed to foster an interest in reading for children, increase parent awareness of the importance of reading aloud to their children and provide an opportunity for the pediatrician to stress the importance of reading for child’s overall health and well-being.

Ms.Connery believes that reading to children is the single most important activity needed to prepare children to read. In order to keep children from reading below grade level, Ms.Connery and the staff of the clinic have organized activities including: volunteers reading aloud to children while they wait for their appointment; talking to parents about the benefits of reading aloud, pediatricians sending books home with children; and referring parents unsure of their own reading skills to literacy programs.

The volunteers come from all ethnic backgrounds and are recruited and trained by Ms. Connery. More than 150 people from the hospital staff and the local community, including many senior citizens, volunteer for the program. A research portion of this program conducted by a Hasbro pediatrician shows a definite increase in the number of books in the children’s homes, a rise in the number of low-income and bi-lingual parents who read to their children on a regular basis, and an increase in the number of those who have obtained library cards and take their children to the public library.

The Read To Me program is funded by grants from Reading is Fundamental, the Brad Faxon/Billy Andrade Foundation, the Feinstein Program, and JC Penney. The program also receives private donations. Books are donated or purchased with available funds. Connery meets weekly with volunteers and promotes the program through the Rhode Island Reading Council. The program has been used as a model for other hospital communities.

New Friends Club

Four years ago, a group of 35 students wrote a proposal to start a community service club at Pattonsville High School. What resulted was the creation of the New Friends Club, a student-run organization whose members are dedicated to promoting awareness about disabilities and to providing sensitivity training to their peers.

The students used the first year as an organizational period. To educate themselves, they brought in speakers who had disabilities and speakers who worked with individuals with special needs. To facilitate understanding, the group worked closely and went through awareness exercises with two parents of children with disabilities. They raised money and donated it to the Leukemia Society and the St. Louis Society for Children and Adults with Physical Disabilities. In addition, they set two goals for the group for year two: 1) to use puppets to teach third-graders about disability awareness and 2) to hold a wheelchair basketball game as an awareness builder and a fundraiser.

In the second year, the students accomplished their goals. After much training and practice, the student puppeteers visited district elementary schools to teach disability awareness. In addition to utilizing puppets, the students read books (purchased through a grant written by the club’s members) about children and adults with special needs, they organized and ran sensitivity exercises and held discussions with the younger students.

New Friends also organized what would become the most popular event the club sponsors, the Wheelchair Basketball Game. Staff members from Pattonsville High School staff play a game of basketball with student-athletes in wheelchairs. This annual event raises money to benefit the junior athletic program

Twice a month, the New Friends Club meets to talk about the different types of disabilities that many individuals face every day. Throughout the year, the students sponsor special presentations on disabilities awareness and participate in various volunteer activities. Through a partnership with the St. Louis Society, club members annually assist and lead carols at a holiday party for more than 70 individuals with multiple disabilities. Through a partnership with Operation Lift-Off, a St. Louis organization that sends critically ill children on a dream vacation, club members help to run its annual dinner charity auction.

Currently, there are more than 35 active members of the New Friends Club, 20% of the group’s members have physical or learning disabilities. Funding for the club’s activities come from a Learn and Serve grant, a Teens Care grant and fund-raisers.