BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER

The Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center traces its roots to 1969, when frustrated community members wanted a say in the school the city was designing for their children in Chinatown. The neighborhood rallied to form The Quincy School Community Council and achieved what the center’s director, David Y.S. Moy, calls a major victory for Boston’s Asian-American community. In 1997, the council became the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center to reflect its expanding mission of strengthening families and communities. Today, its programs reach more than 4,000 children, teens, and adults each year.

The Acorn Child Care Center, a fully licensed preschool program, serves toddlers through kindergartners in two sites, and the Red Oak After School Program picks up for children ages 5-13. The Recreation and Youth Program offers a variety of activities for all ages, while the youth component provides leadership, enrichment, and academic opportunities for teens and young adults. The Adult English as a Second Language (AESL) Program is a vital resource for the Chinatown community, where roughly two-thirds of adult residents lack a high school diploma and one-third identify themselves as speaking little or no English.

In 1991, the center established the Family Child Care Program to help train and license individuals, mostly Chinese-speaking women, to run family child-care centers in their homes. “When the program began,” says Moy, “there were no licensed Chinese American family child-care providers in greater Boston.” Today, thanks to the Center, there are more than 30.

The center has ambitious plans for the future, such as establishing an endowment and, in 2002, working with a local community development corporation and a private developer to break ground for a major new housing development that will include a fully handicapped-accessible community center on site.

“We are a nexus point for our community,” says Moy. “We connect parents to kids, families to the community, and our community to other community groups and coalitions. We need to understand these connections, and we will continue to work to foster and deepen them.”

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center is a 2002 Honoree of Families Count, the national honors program that recognizes organizations that are making a difference in the lives of families struggling to survive in tough neighborhoods.

FATIMA FAMILY CENTER

Helen Barnett credits Fatima Family Center with more than just getting her off welfare. She traces her confidence, self-esteem, and improvements in her relationship with her son back to the day when she discovered Fatima through a work experience program offered in her Cleveland neighborhood. Little did she know that just four years later, she’d still be coming to Fatima to work – although by this time, Fatima had a new building and Barnett had become a new person. Barnett now works full-time for Fatima overseeing the after-school program. A single mother, Barnett also noticed changes in her teenage son, Christopher. Christopher also became involved at Fatima through the Maximum Youth program, which helps teenagers who hold down jobs keep up with their schoolwork.

According to Fatima Director LaJean Ray-McNair, the Barnetts are examples of how the right support and services can transform a family. Established in 1973 under the leadership of the Missionary Servents of the Most Holy Trinity as an outreach ministry of Our Lady of Fatima Church, the Family Center, now a part of Catholic Charities, serves a neighborhood known as Hough. Like many urban neighborhoods, Hough experienced great transitions during the 1970s and 1980s. Shifting populations, out-migration, unemployment, and disinvestment adversely impacted the neighborhood. Ray-McNair, who lives in Hough, says “This is an incredibly asset-rich community. We’re right across the street from League Park, where the Cleveland Indians and, historically, the Negro League, played. The city’s African-American Museum is here. The neighborhood has a long history of home ownership. There are 25 other agencies here to share resources with, to coordinate programs, and collaborate initiatives.”

The new complex offers an array of practical help and serves as a gathering spot for the neighborhood. Services include; afterschool sessions; tutoring; athletics; summer camp; college tours; emergency and transitional services; health counseling; pre-employment initiatives; and health, education, and recreational activities for older adults.

“Families told us that they had difficulty doing their banking because they did not have access to an automated teller machine (ATM),” says Ray-McNair. “We installed an ATM in the center. It’s the only one in the neighborhood.”

Reflecting on the contributions that Fatima has made to the families of Hough, LaJean Ray-McNair remembers loaning the center’s van to a mother who was taking her daughter off to college. And then there was the woman – a grandmother – who passed her GED at age 70 with help she received at Fatima. “Whether we were working out of a four-room place or a $4 million facility, there’s a spirit and an energy here that comes from the people we serve,” she says.

Helen Barnett agrees. “Fatima made a huge difference in my life,” she says. “Now I feel that I have a purpose and that I can make a difference in someone else’s life.”

Fatima Family Center is a 2002 Honoree of Families Count, the national honor program that recognizes organizations that are making a difference in the lives of families struggling to survive in tough neighborhoods.

BILL FINKELSTEIN

Bill Finkelstein and his wife, Lois, began coming to Jewish Family Service (JFS) in 2001 when their granddaughter came to live with them. They were from New York and did not know where to turn. The trio came into JFS weekly for help. Then in 2002, Lois passed away suddenly leaving Bill alone to raise his granddaughter alone.

Finkelstein was on disability but he wanted to fill his time. He chose to volunteer so he could help other people. Because of his relationship with JFS, that is where he chose to serve. He presented himself to the Our Client as a Volunteer Program and served others while also raising his own self-esteem.

Finkelstein started delivering meals to the homebound through the Kosher Home Delivered Meal Program. Most of the volunteers that work with this program deliver once a month, but that was not enough for him. Finkelstein asked to be given as many days as the agency needed help, and he was there each time.

He also began to volunteer with the “Mitzvah in Motion” program, which is a transportation service. He takes people to doctor’s appointments, to run errands, to go to the grocery store and to take care of other personal businesses. In addition to this, he helps to do odd jobs around people’s homes.

This past summer, Finkelstein also decided to serve with the Jewish Community Center’s day camp. His duties there were a handyman, children’s escort and whatever else was needed. He also donated his time to Temple B’nai B’rith. There he cooked for the kiddish, ran errands and set up for services. Finkelstein also worked with the United Hebrew Institute where he has been given the task of clipping newspaper items about the school. He has now been given the title of “Historian.”

Finkelstein fills his days with hours of service for others. He recently decided he will also paint the fence at the cemetery where his wife is buried in his spare time, and he is still asking his famous question, “What can I do for you today?”

SUMMER SANCHEZ

Volunteering is just as much a part of Summer Sanchez’s life as going to school. Her service activities are very numerous and support various organizations and programs in the Danville, Alabama area. She is a very active teenager with the responsibilities and desires of most youth her age; however, she knows that giving back to her community is also important.

Summer teaches Sunday school and Vacation Bible School at Friendship Baptist Church. There she also serves as a nursery administrator. Summer is a leader at her church and a role model for other youth.

She attends Danville High School where she directed the Red Cross Blood Drive. Summer was responsible for making sure all the necessary staff and supplies were there. She also coordinated the student and staff sign-ups and ensured that all who attended were comfortable. Summer has also participated in the Alabama Paint Fest and collected cans for the school can food drive. Through Danville High School she has also volunteer with Supper with Santa and the Powder Puff Football game. In addition, Summer has served as Parliamentarian at Danville High School for the past two years.

Summer serves as a tutor for elementary students. She takes the time to help them with regards to their schoolwork and listen to their concerns. She organized the Baked Foods and Handicrafts at the Morgan County 4-H Round-Up in the spring. Summer is also a teen editor for The Decatur Daily and writes articles for the periodical. She was selected to serve on the committee for Citizenship Washington Focus, which was a seven-day tour to Washington, DC.

Summer is one of the few high school 4-H members in the Danville area. Though the meetings are after school, she still attends and works to recruit other teens to be a part of the great program. She works with her 4-H sponsor to be sure that others know the time and places of the meetings. Summer prepares materials and information for any members who cannot attend. She also works with the 4-H Mid-Winter Teen Retreat, which is a leadership camp at the Alabama 4-H Center. She has represented 4-H on a national level and brings that experience to her local chapter.

CHILDREN OF THE RAINBOW

In 1991, a social worker helped Gale Walker find her vision after years of struggling on welfare and mourning her mother’s death. She has been providing the same inspiration to her community ever since, creating hope for families in one of San Diego’s low-income neighborhoods.

Walker founded and runs Children of the Rainbow, a child-care organization that goes far beyond “babysitting” to nurturing about 200 children and strengthening their families. To accommodate the many shift workers in her area, Walker opens her two centers at 5 a.m. and closes them at 1 a.m. She accepts youngsters ranging in age from newborn to 14 so siblings can stay together. She hires the children’s older brothers and sisters after school to keep them off the streets and to build their self-esteem. And the children’s mothers and neighbors comprise half of the center’s 52 employees.

In 1985, Walker left her job as a U.S. postal worker in Dallas to return to her dying mother in San Diego. Depressed after her mother’s death, she turned to the welfare system to support herself and her two young sons until the government nudged her to find a job. She tried to find childcare but soon discovered only one son qualified for Head Start and the other would need to go into home-based care. “I didn’t want to separate my kids,” she says. “I told my social worker, and the next week she came back with the information I needed to start my own home-based child care.” Looking at the devastated neighborhood surrounding Walker’s home, a licensing agent made a comment that led Walker to begin surveying her neighbors and clients about what they needed, giving form to the community-based philosophy that has guided her mission ever since.

Walker has focused her centers on two key components: creativity through the arts and encouraging healthy lifestyles through nutrition. A neighborhood artist has graced the walls with murals, “Mr. Earl” plays lullabies on his saxophone, and teachers have wide latitude to use their imaginations. Two cooks work full time at the centers, fixing breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks each day. And a large garden at her smaller center, a Victorian house where she and her sons also live, offers children lessons in nature, along with the fresh vegetables so difficult to find in the urban neighborhoods.

As she prepared to open two more centers before the end of 2001, Walker continued to listen to her neighbors’ needs beyond child care – lack of jobs, good grocery stores, reliable transportation, and decent housing. Walker and her neighbors developed a plan to establish the Bronze Triangle Community Development Corporation. The structure of a CDC will help the community draw employers and new services to three neighborhoods where the poverty level hovers at 50 percent.

Children of the Rainbow is a 2002 Honoree of Families Count, the national honors program that recognizes organizations that are making a difference in the lives of families struggling to survive in tough neighborhoods.

THE HEYMAN FAMILY

The Heyman family is committed to raising the awareness of fragile X syndrome. Scott Heyman was diagnosed with fragile X syndrome at the age of four, so the family had to learn as much as they could about the disorder. Fragile X syndrome is the leading cause of inherited mental retardation. Stephen Warren at Emory University identified the fragile X gene in 1991. The syndrome is caused by a change in the code of a particular gene on the X chromosome. The gene does not produce the protein it normally makes. Messages that must be sent and received for proper brain development and functioning are disrupted when this protein is missing. The syndrome causes any or all of a cluster of autistic-like characteristics like repetitive speech patterns, hand clapping, difficulty with eye contact and learning difficulties.

Gail Heyman is the Director of the Fragile X Association of Georgia. She founded this organization in 1992 with her sister. Her husband, Lyons Heyman, is an active Board Member who participates in the program and activities. In addition, Jared, Scott and Carly Heyman are each involved in the Association by serving as role models and speaking about sibling advocacy.

While demonstrating their love for their brother with special needs in a supportive way, the Heyman family has had a positive impact in their neighborhood, school and community by increasing awareness of fragile X syndrome. Carly, Scott and Jared have been interviewed by the newspapers, television and radio talk shows.

Carly was also inspired by her high school teacher to write about her experiences, hoping this will inspire other families and increase awareness and raise money for research. My extra Special Brother, How to Love, Understand and Celebrate a Sibling with Special Needs is written with complete candor. Carly entertains and teaches the reader about many of her experiences with her brother. She shares honestly her struggles, frustrations and finally her exhilaration as she learns the skills to cope with her brother’s limitations. She hopes that her journey from accepting to rejoicing in her brother’s individuality will be embraced by other siblings of children with special needs to inspire a closer relationship between them.

The book encourages family members to share in the joy and the challenges of having a child with special needs. Proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit children and families with fragile X syndrome through the Fragile X Association of Georgia.

Johnetta B. Cole, Ph. D., President of Bennett College, believes that Carly offers priceless counsel to anyone who has a sibling with special needs and what she shares about life with Scott is powerful advice for creating a positive relationship with any sibling. The Executive Director of the Georgia Special Olympics, Georgia Milton-Sheats, states that the book teaches wonderful life lessons, and that we should accept a person for the individual they are and that we all have challenges to address and overcome.

SOUPER BOWL OF CARING

A simple prayer inspired youth at a church in Columbia, SC to stand at church exits with soup pots, asking members to donate $1 each as they left worship on Super Bowl Sunday. That was 1990. Since becoming a national event in 1993, Souper Bowl of Caring has generated $20 million for the hungry and hurting across America.

Souper Bowl of Caring has become a growing and dynamic youth-led ministry. This grassroots, faith-based crusade against hunger is a simple movement filled with love. Every penny collected is sent directly to the soup kitchen, food bank, or other charity of each participating group’s choice. None of the money collected from the Souper Bowl offering comes to Souper Bowl Headquarters. Funds to cover administrative, printing and mailing costs are raised by Souper Bowl organizers through donations from businesses, charitable trusts, churches and individuals.

The Saturday before the big game, young people across the country are also asked to serve in their local communities as part of a national Service Blitz that is teaching youth and impacting lives around the world. Last year more than 10,000 young people put the Lord’s love in action and made a difference in their respective communities by serving in food banks, soup kitchens and other charities across the country.

The Souper Bowl began in a Senior High Youth Fellowship, and it continues to enable young people to see that, by the grace of a Higher Power, they can make a difference in the world. With the Souper Bowl, young people are involved in collecting donations and deciding where the proceeds will be sent.

In an age when division and dissension tear at the fabric of our society, Souper Bowl of Caring illustrates the wonderful possibilities that exist when we move beyond ourselves and work together in partnership with others. To manifest this partnership, Souper Bowl organizers ask participants to report their collection on game day. Totals are determined and announced to the media, on the Web site and in a follow-up newsletter.

Organizers firmly believe that this simple but significant movement is a gift from God. The Souper Bowl is fundamentally a faith initiative, as the idea was born of a prayer. However, schools, businesses, and other people of good will are encouraged to participate. All are welcome to join young people in this partnership of caring.

The Souper Bowl asks for only a dollar and, if participants wish, one non-perishable item. People may choose to give more, but organizers only ask for a dollar to illustrate the miraculous results when enough people give just a little. Simple though it is, this youth-led movement has the potential to transform Super Bowl weekend into a time of unprecedented caring, compassion and unity.

INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Brandi Stone-Miller never had a permanent home as a child. When she wasn’t living with her mother on public assistance, she was bouncing from one foster home to another. After leaving high school, she and her children lived in low-rent apartments while she eked out a living in menial jobs she hated. She knew she could do better, for herself and her children. After earning her GED, she struggled through five years of college and then set her sights on another goal — owning her own home. She realized her dream in less than a year with help from the Institute for Social and Economic Development.

Family stability is also important to the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED). For 15 years, ISED has worked to help 8,000 low-income Iowa families become economically self-sufficient by starting their own small businesses and saving for the future. John F. Else founded ISED after spending two years in Zimbabwe, helping development agencies establish microenterprises in rural areas. He learned firsthand the power of microenterprises as an avenue that families could take to increase their financial security. He returned to Iowa, committed to testing microenterprise development in the United States, and won a state contract to use the same techniques to work with welfare recipients from 12 of the state’s 99 counties. His success led Iowa to become the first state to obtain waivers from federal laws that made it difficult for welfare recipients to start small businesses.

ISED’s microenterprise classes guide prospective entrepreneurs step by step through writing a business plan, conducting feasibility studies, learning management skills and developing marketing and sales expertise. These entrepreneurs can then turn to ISED for seed money and ongoing advice as their businesses get started. With an unusually high success rate, almost 60 percent of the businesses supported by ISED are still generating family income and pride today.

Founded in 1988, ISED has expanded to five offices in Iowa and one in Omaha, Neb. ISED fans out to reach Iowa families living in rural areas as well. Through its consulting and research division, ISED is also helping government agencies and nonprofit organizations create effective economic and asset development programs in other communities nationwide.

Building on the success of its microenterprise program, ISED’s staff looked for other tools they could offer families to increase their financial assets. Families can now use ISED’s free tax assistance to avoid the high cost of tax preparation and get help claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. With the income they gain from these financial supports, they can then open an individual development account (IDA). ISED’s Iowans Save! program matches a family’s deposits in an IDA and strengthens participants’ budgeting and other financial skills through program classes. Stone-Miller, who recently married, considered herself financially savvy before starting the classes, but she found herself learning valuable information.

The Institute for Social and Economic Development is a 2003 Honoree of Families Count, the national honors program that recognizes organizations that are making a difference in the lives of families struggling to survive in tough neighborhoods.

THE MASON FAMILY

Steve Mason and his family exemplify outstanding family volunteering. They work year round to improve their community’s awareness of the arts as foundation of higher-level thinking skills. Steve and Kym are advocates of the positive value of diversity and invest time and resources promoting the creative power of the Oklahoma City community.

The Mason family has worked at Arts Council programs such as Winter Tales Storytelling Festival and Opening Night. Steve and Kym are tremendous supporters of the Council’s After School Arts Program, and they have been active volunteers with the Festival of Arts for the past 15 years.

Steve Mason has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1999. He brought his personal and professional resources to the table for the benefit of the Arts Council of Oklahoma City. He has also co-chaired SeptemberFest, the statewide celebration of Oklahoma on the grounds of the Governors Mansion. In addition, he was instrumental in the On The Water Program for underserved youth that is now a program of the YMCA, and he serves on the advisory committee for the Oklahoma City Community Foundation’s After School Option s funding program.

Travis, George and Marie began volunteering with their parents almost from the time they could walk. The young Masons have learned philanthropy first hand and have a fund where nonprofit organizations are invited to submit a project for funding consideration. They go through a very thoughtful process of deciding how the funds will be dispersed with guidance, as opposed to decisions, from Kym and Steve. The Mason family is a volunteer package, and the children are now also involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation process.

Currently, the elder Masons are focusing on making this year’s Arts Festival more educationally enhancing. Travis is a basketball coach to a first grade team for a neighborhood school, and he and George have recently been solicited, considered and provided funds to the Boy Scouts and Oklahoma City Arts Council for specific projects. Travis, George and Marie will continue to organize and staff the booth for the Spring Arts Festival. Travis and George have also completed separate Boy Scout Eagle projects to benefit the community.

DONNA COMO

At one time, Donna Como was a mother who brought her children to Striving To Achieve & Reach Success, Inc. (STARS) youth center so they could participate in various activities. She was so impressed with the operation at STARS after a short period of time and decided she wanted to take a more active role. Como asked how she could contribute to the program, and since then she has become an integral part of the STARS team.

Initially, Como was the moderator for Girl Talk, and for the past few years she has been the Arts & Crafts instructor. Como has also become a role model for the STARS membership as well as for the residents for the community of Howard Beach, New York. STARS is run solely by volunteers and survives on donations, so they are delighted to have Como as a dedicated volunteer.

Every other Saturday, Como meets with a group of young people and helps them turn ordinary items into works of art in the Arts & Crafts program offered at STARS. She helps the youth develop their creativity and imagination as well as providing an outlet for the children to express themselves. They are also improving their listening and cooperation skills while participating in the program. When the projects are completed, the young people feel pride and accomplishment. Their time with Como helps to improve their self-esteem; they see they are capable of being “finishers” and they are able to create.

Como takes it upon herself to pay for all of the materials she uses for the arts class. She has helped STARS tremendously by this donation as it allows the children to continue to have the class when there may be little income or funds available from other sources.

Como has also recruited her mother and sister to volunteer with STARS; it is now a volunteering family affair. They act as her assistants in the Arts & Crafts program. As the program has grown, Como has also enlisted the age of her teenage daughter and pre-teen son. She is teaching them the value of giving back to the community while also giving them the opportunity to grow themselves.