PROJECT OUTREACH
Project Outreach epitomizes the definition of a community service and family supportive organization. By engaging the residents of the Washington Park neighborhood, it is a respected and life-sustaining resource for families served.
Project Outreach, a non-profit organization, has been serving the communities of Providence and Cranston, RI for 20 years. The area it serves has one of the lowest per capita incomes of Rhode Island and is among the most need-oriented neighborhoods in the country.
They provide food, clothing, rental and utility assistance, life skills training and counseling. Over 150 families helped weekly; 100,000 meals served annually. Project Outreach provides programs to facilitate improvements in skill sets and opportunities to better the lives of clients. They specifically focus on helping young parents and children receive the proper education, nutrition and support they need to thrive.
From their humble “office” in the basement of the Washington Park United Methodist Church, Project Outreach has persisted in its mission to ‘rebuild and renew life in the neighborhood of Washington Park and surrounding area.” In other words, strengthening the families and strengthening the neighborhood. Under the supervision and motivation of Director, Paula Cartwright, volunteers, many of whom are the very recipients of services, assist in all aspects of programs offered. To sustain these programs, collaborations are made with area churches, high schools, businesses and service agencies within the state.
Specific programs & services offered (all bi-lingual in English, Spanish and/or Portuguese) include Community & Family Advocacy & Services, Community Food Program, Community Gardening Program, Infant Room, and Health & Nutrition Education Programs & ESL and GED Classes.
Community & Family Advocacy & Services advocate for systemic change to end poverty in the neighborhoods. Toys, books, and clothing are sent to over 1,000 children at major holidays and in August when children go back to school. This service also distributes Toys for Tots throughout RI and they fuel assistance for families, and fitness & sewing programs. The Community Food Program’s clients choose enough food for their family bi-weekly, with amounts to sustain them for that period. Food is purchased from RI Community Food Bank and donated by restaurants and stores. Johnson & Wales University culinary students teach meal preparation from food commonly distributed. The students also learn about poverty while clients learn recipes and nutrition.
The Community Gardening Program demonstrates garden with raised beds for elderly and the disabled. This is maintained by residents and the produce is used within other programs. The Health and Nutrition programs address the problem of disparity in minority health. This includes effects of second hand smoke and use of tobacco products, prenatal lead poisoning prevention, cancer, obesity, heart disease and high-risk behavior. The Infant Room is where we distribute supplies including vitamins, folic acid and other supplements to the families. We also have counseling and support for the new parents with referrals to appropriate agencies as needed.
Project Outreach is a safe place where families of all needs come for more than just groceries. Neighbors become willing and able to reach out to neighbors providing physical and emotional support, proving that building strong families creates strong communities!
SUSAN FERRARA
As Artistic Director of the River Region Ballet for ten years Susan Ferrara has been striving to involve young people in the arts in the river parishes. She has produced and performed numerous ballets, both classics and original works. She continues to foster the art of dance and provide opportunities not only to young local dancers but also to entire families, who both participate and attend performances. The entire community benefits from her tireless efforts to help young people learn and grow through dance.
In an effort to provide education in the arts and added inspiration, Ms. Ferrara has engaged professional guest artists to work with our local dancers in order to give our young dancers a sense of professionalism and expertise while enhancing performances with something extra. Hiring professional guest artists from the New Orleans area has been and is a priority, giving both the dancers and their family and friends the opportunity to reap the benefits of their hard work and talents. Presentation of the arts made in partnership between young dancers and our local community has been her livelong mission.
As Artistic Director and Choreographer, Ms. Ferrara spends hundreds of hours each year planning each event. She will hold auditions for the two major productions each year and select the dancers to fill out the corps de ballet and the variations. All who audition are given a part in her productions; she works tirelessly to place everyone who is willing. She will teach the numerous parts to all dancers through hours of rehearsals. In her planning she will also oversee the construction of any costuming as well as new sets or props that need to be built or refurbished. She will supervise the two performances making sure that all is ready for the doors to open and the production to begin. While there is a core of volunteers to help with the productions, Ms. Ferrara is the driving force behind the Company. She works tirelessly to put on the best performance possible.
For 10 years, Ms. Ferrara has served our community without charging for these services. She has given of herself and as a result has an army of volunteers giving of themselves to keep this program alive. She is truly an inspiration to young and old alike.
ANGELA VARNADOE
When a child is given Love Instruction, Guidance Hope and Trust, that child achieves and succeeds; therefore, Angela Varnadoe’s passion as led her to develop a mentoring program entitled “L.I.G.H.T. the Way; Guiding Children to Success.” Angela’s love for children and ability to reach them has led her to promote and focus her mentoring program on cultivating these essential elements among preschool and elementary aged children, as she strongly believes that a child’s life can be enriched to facilitate the development of self-worth, confidence and ambition.
Angela became involved in mentoring because she had a deep desire to serve her community and make a difference in the lives of others. Her dance and acrobatic skills along with her school and civic involvement have had her in the public’s eye and allowed her to be in the position of a role model and community leader. Our county offered no gymnastics training, and Angela desperately wanted to give in return for the love and support that her community has bestowed upon her. She established and leads a gymnastics-mentoring program for children, which she began in 2001. In her senior year of high school, she mentored daily to kindergarten students, mentored as the assistant librarian, and volunteered her service as the assistant physical education instructor, donating approximately 10 hours a week into her projects. Angela also volunteered with an “Art in Youth” program offering performing arts instruction to underprivileged youth. For her efforts, Angela was named a Georgia Distinguished finalist for Prudential’s 2003 Spirit of Community Award.
Angela has worked alongside numerous school officials and community leaders to solicit their support for establishing mentoring programs in our schools and communities. As a committee member and spokesperson for Tattnall County’s Improving Youth Development Organization, she promotes mentoring at civic clubs, organizations, children centers, and schools across the state. Angela also submits mentoring articles to newspapers. To enhance her efforts, Angela published a personalized brochure designed to inform everyone about her program and provide reference materials for mentoring. It is Angela’s intent that her initiative serve as a catalyst for creating new programs and partnerships by increasing public awareness and involvement so that children may benefit from a variety of resources offered by businesses, government agencies, churches, religious groups, and individuals. By allying her efforts with President Bush’s faith-based initiatives, Angela hopes to inspire more programs fro children and secure funding for rural communities. Aside of mentoring, Angela also serves as a volunteer and public relations representative for Glennville’s Welcome Center. In recognition, Angela was presented with Senate Resolution #401 and House Resolution #328. Angela was also a recipient of the Buddy Roberts Leadership Award for extraordinary service.
Angela exhibits high morals and ideals, and is an industrious and ambitious young lady who endeavors to make a difference. Due to Angela’s fervor for her dream and her tenacity, she has peaked the interest of, and has drastically improved our county’s knowledge of mentoring while making tremendous strides in bettering our youth. We are blessed to have Angela Varnadoe in our community. She defines what volunteer service is all about.
EMMANUEL VAZQUEZ
Emmanuel Vasquez is a caring young man that loves to provide joy to people, which he has been doing since June of 2003 by volunteering for the Assistant Living Facilities for the elderly; Surrey Place, Hawthorne Inn, and Life Care Center of Ocala. Whether Emmanuel sings, play games or shakes hands to each resident he is guaranteed to bring a smile and companionship to those he visits at the Assistant Living Facilities. Emmanuel started by volunteering for a small period of time and then he was able to volunteer at each assistant living facility for approximately one-hour. The elderly are the people created our present life and they deserve to be recognized. Emmanuel continues to volunteer at he Surrey Place; Assistant Facility, bringing joy to the elderly and learning to care about other people.
Emmanuel helped with the Salvation Army during the Winter Season by fundraising as a Bell Ringer and singing. Fundraising showed him how to address the problems in the community and fundraising serves as a solution to make our community better. Emmanuel helped with the Hospice of Marion County, which is a non-profit organization that has been serving the needs of patients in their last phases of life and their families. Emmanuel got the community retailers involved and created a pizza day combined with the Children’s Bereavement Camp. It was a great success for the children who are terminally ill or have a family member that is terminally ill.
During Florida’s four Hurricanes; (Charley, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan) Emmanuel was able to get involved and get the community together. The community responded by making donations with gallons of water, and perishable food items. The community responded by making great mounts of donations, which were distributed, to the Interfaith Emergency Services and First Step Food Bank, Inc. Emmanuel and family saw the need in the immediate affected area of the two Hurricane’s eye in Brevard County along the Florida’s coast. Emmanuel got the community involve to donate gallons of water and perishable food items, which were delivered to the Brevard County Fire Rescue for its citizens, our neighbors. Brevard County is approximately two-hours away from our Marion County, which shows how lucky we were to not be seriously hit by the three Hurricanes.
Since the tender age of four-years-old Emmanuel has been involved in the community service. Emmanuel’s community service is from the heart since we are thankful that he doesn’t have any disease and his family, including Great-Grandparents, is active adults living in their homes and healthy with minor controllable health issues like diabetes. Now at five-years-old Emmanuel has set the standard for caring, selflessness and public service that will last a lifetime for the people he has help and the community.
GIRL SCOUT TROOP 1991
Although traditionally Girl Scouts (and Boy Scouts) are notorious for providing community service and meeting all types of community needs, our Girl Scout Troop has done an exceptional job of giving their time and talents to a wide variety of organizations in our community this year. These 13 and 14-year-old girls have been in Girl Scouts for a number of years, some of them for nine years. Every year they have been active in community service, some of it required for advancements and patches through the Girl Scout program.
This has been an exceptional year for our girls. This past year their volunteer hours have gone well beyond the normal Girl Scout requirements. As a group of six girls, our girls have accumulated over 1300 hours of community service from January through November 2004.
These hours involved assisting Boy Scout groups, younger Girl Scout groups, Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps and badges/belt loops, assisting with Special Olympics, assisting with church activities (such as vacation bible school), school volunteer (such as PTO, athletic boasters, high school band), assisting with Senior Citizens, assisting with community organizations such as the Optimist Club and the American Red Cross.
Two of the girls completed their Silver Award this year. For their project, they each made twenty no-sew fleece blankets for Senior Citizens who reside at a local nursing facility.
One of the interesting events that the girls participated in this year was the “Make A Difference Day” on October 23rd. For this national day of volunteerism, the girls “pampered” seniors’ citizens in the Alzheimer unit. The girls gave hand massages, painted fingernails, applied lipstick and rouge and curled residents’ hair. After the residents were pampered, the girls put corsages and boutonnieres on the seniors and they held a dance featuring music that was popular during the seniors’ younger years.
Their altruism continues into 2005, when in conjunction with the National Youth Service Day in April 2005, they are organizing a health awareness fair for our community. They have applied for seven grants to fund this activity and are contacting local health related business about participation.
As you can see, this group of girls has gone above and beyond to help many facets of our community and I feel that they are very deserving of the “Daily Points of Light Award”.
TINA BREWER
Tina Brewer is an amazing individual. At 81 years young she has been volunteering in the Foster Grandparent Program in Sacramento California for 8 years at Gold River Discovery School Tutoring 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders in reading comprehension among other things. She moves across this campus with a sense of urgency to get to her next station, set up and call in the children assigned to her by their teacher. Her face is always a glow and is genuinely glad to be with these children as they discover they can learn. She happens to be very organized, as she must because she is shared by 6-7 teachers in three different areas of the school. Most Foster Grandparents volunteer 3-4 hours a day but Tina volunteers 6 hours a day quietly moving from room to room grade to grade working with a variety of needy boys and girls who need assistance in reading comprehension, arithmetic and spelling.
One day I was conducting my monthly visits and she was helping the children with money concepts. She has a jar of coins, pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters on the table and as each second/third grader came to her table she had them identify each coin. Then she had them use the coins to make a variety of totals, for example she had them make 15 cents three ways. This can be very confusing for a second/third grader. 10 pennies and a nickel, 2 nickels and 5 pennies. She was so very patient with them explaining these basic concepts. Yet, that is the way of Grandma Tina. She makes learning an adventure for these fresh minds and brigs confidence to them as they go through their tasks.
Her on-site supervisor reports “Tina has enriched our 3rd grade reading program by providing one on one instruction, and loving guidance to struggling readers. Children become more confident oral readers, better writers, and become quicker and more accurate with math facts. They are all eager to work with her. The children’s daily reading charts demonstrate growth. She is a role model and demonstrates eagerness, calmness, patience and cheerfulness. It is wonderful to see these children sparkle when they realize they can be successful readers.”
Tina is a very humble team player when it comes to her impact on these kids. When asked she said, “I work with children from grades one to three, helping them to improve their reading skills. I begin by having them read the words that they must know before they go to the next grade. The teacher keeps adding more words as we go along. After that they read a short story from a book that is assigned to them every week. The teachers find that what I do is a great help. The children show improvement when they are tested. Being part of the program has given me the opportunity to help the children improve.”
CONSTANCE BROCHU
Connie has truly made our world a better place and touched the lives of so many, began when she was asked to help with the soup kitchen at OLC and Notre Dame. From there, came a request from Fr. Leon Maynard, who was at Notre Dame at the time, for the banding together with the Blackstone Valley Emergency Food Center, where she serves as working-Director.
The Emergency Food Center serves “People with no income or very low income, generally referred by agencies, churches or others in need. Those referred must show a photo ID, current rent receipt, income verification and ID for children as well.” The center helps on the average of 400 families a month, ranging from a family size 1 to 12. “We always start the day with a prayer, because we are working for God and include the prayer of Saint Francis, ‘Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace.’”
With deep dedication she relates, “A lot of people who come have tragic stories… if we only know the stories behind the situations we would be thankful for what we have… we often forget to thank God.”
Sadly, she retells of a young expectant mother with a young infant who had left Columbia because guerillas had extorted money form their small business. Her husband had stayed to close up shop, but suddenly suffered a stroke. She now stands all alone in a new country.
Part of Connie’s ministry is not only to give, but to receive as well. She does this by giving of her time as a compassionate listener. Another time, a woman came in with two young children, and when asked if there were other children at home, the woman began to weep…explaining she had 4 sons who had been killed by guerrilla warfare. “We hear of the tragedies of Liberia, Haiti, and all over the world. These are hard working people, who try very hard, but have run into bad luck, and in many cases, tragic situations. It’s also hard for many of them because of the language barrier.”
One of Rhode Islands greatest benefactors is Alan Feinstein, “an extremely generous, modest man who is dedicated to stop hunger in Rhode Island.” The Alan Feinstein Drive awards the Blackstone Valley a percentage of their yearly drive. Connie is also on the Board of Advisors for the Food Banks of West Warwick. “It’s a collaboration of organization, that get together to help the Food Banks organize better service for over 500 soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters that they help.”
LAWRENCE AND MARILYN LAW
Larry and Marilyn Law have been faithful volunteers at Urban Christian Ministries (UCM) since its inception in 1969. They began volunteering as tutors in the Ellicott Mall Housing Projects in 1970. At one point in the early 1980’s, things had taken a turn for the worse at the ministry and the Board of Directors was contemplating the closing of the ministry. Larry and Marilyn worked diligently with a few other volunteers to keep the doors open.
Because of their dedication and commitment, Larry and Marilyn have touched the lives of countless people through Urban Christian Ministries. Larry is a retired college professor and Marilyn is a retired registered nurse. Marilyn began to cut back on her working hours in order to volunteer longer hours at the ministry. She has since retired from her nursing job and continues to volunteer full time for the ministry as its Volunteer Coordinator. Both have served on the Board of Directors for many years.
The Laws are not just physical volunteers – they also put their money where their hearts are. In 1989, when Urban Christian Ministries needed to find a new home for the ministry, the Laws bought the new building. Their peers comment that the couple is so committed to God and to the people of Buffalo’s eastside. Both are now in there seventies and still active volunteers. The other members at Urban Christian Ministries are all impressed with this wonderful couple, which for thirty-five years has served the people of inner city Buffalo.
There is a young lady named Renee and she works for Urban Christian Ministries (UCM) part-time. Twenty-five years ago Marilyn and Larry met Renee when she was ten and participating in UCM’s Tutoring Program. Through good times and tough times, Larry and Marilyn were there, helping Renee and her family all the way. Larry and Marilyn have also taken young people into their home in Williamsville, New York as an alternative to living on the streets. Some of these guests were not just “over nighters,” in fact; one young man lived with them and their three kids for two years. Many of the people whose lives have been touched by the Laws have gone on to college or entered into ministry. Larry and Marilyn are completely committed to the challenge of changing the lives of young people in the city.
One night in the early 1970’s, as Marilyn worked at Millard Fillmore Hospital, she had the difficult job of working with a patient who had a terminal disease. The patient eventually died. Marilyn came home crushed, and Larry told Marilyn, “I would rather see your life end on the streets, helping people, than for you to go the way your patient did.” At that point their commitment to serve grew even greater. Through coordinating numerous programs for children; visiting mission teams staying in the UCM facility; recruiting countless volunteers to prepare the quarterly newsletter or assist with our summer basketball league; cooking and feeding thousands of people in Mexico; packing thousands of bags of groceries for distribution at Christmas; or interviewing and screening hundreds of volunteers to serve in this ministry – Marilyn and Larry have always been there. Ready to work, serve, clean, or do whatever needs to be done, even when no one else would.
MARTIN DEAN DUPALO
Over the course of the past several months, M. Dean Dupalo has directly served the Las Vegas rescue Mission Men, Women and children’s shelter, the homeless population and greater Las Vegas community.
Through his initial and continued service, leadership and coordination, Dupalo’s direct impact on the homeless population/clients has been substantive, dependable and accomplished a significant positive impact.
Three nights a week without fail, after instructing in the morning at one institution and after working a normal eight-hour teaching shift a yet another institution, Dupalo coordinates amongst several instructor chefs is various kitchens and numerous students to collects and consolidate foodstuffs, properly package and catalog the donation, load and immediately transport the foodstuffs to the downtown area (a.k.a. ‘homeless corridor’) late each of the three evenings where it is unloaded, separated and stored for the weeks’ use by the shelter and the homeless clients. He does not and has not received nor sought any funds of credit from work, others, or us for all of his efforts formal and/or informal (i.e. no fuel, no time off, no reimbursement).
Simply, food donations are significant – responsible for feeding literally hundreds of homeless clients for dinner 3-4 nights a week. The foodstuffs provide a will-balanced diet for the men, women and children in the short-term and long-term shelter and recovery programs as well as an occasional treat that would not otherwise be possible.
Dupalo began the food donation program, where none has existed prior nor any planned, after witnessing a tremendous amount of edible food waste at which point he secured a legal document protecting all parties in liability action and quickly coordinated and managed the program to this day. In sum, Dupalo grasped a tremendous need and distinguished what was considered waste by many as a resource and solely through his efforts matched the two together much to everyone’s benefit.
The need for the homeless community is Las Vegas and the surrounding area is great with an average of 5,000+ new people monthly and hundreds added to the hungry and homeless population with little corresponding increase in homeless services and facing ever more competitive funding sources to serve the hungry and homeless.
Dupalo’s efforts have not been limited to solely providing foodstuffs alone, he has successfully written grants, again without any compensation, on our behalf to assist funding for the operation of the emergency shelter, encouraging his culinary students to consistently volunteer at the shelter as cooks, generally 4-5, on weekends (including a second women’s shelter) providing direct service to our homeless clients while garnering experience (creating a ‘Day of Service’ Award for 24, 48, 72+ hours of direct service for his students volunteerism), volunteered in the food service line itself with his family members and has personally contributed donations on several occasions. Furthermore, Dupalo has encouraged many of his university students to volunteer, even friends and neighbors, and donate their time and effort to the homeless shelter as public service. In sum, literally, M. Dupalo coordinates an on-going activity that directly supports community needs, not only directly feeds the homeless but builds connections and substantively impacts the greater community.
(He maintains a vigorous work schedule, working as an adjunt faculty instructor in Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, teaching basic government and public service to first-year students and a local culinary school. Another telling sign of Dupalo’s community involvement is that he sits on the City of Las Vegas Community Development Review Board, reviewing and guiding community non-profits for public funding for the past three years.)
JULIA CITRON
Julia’s love for Spanish motivated her to work with immigrant workers and their families. Living in Ecaudor for a year has helped her develop a love for the Spanish language, the culture and its people. She loves working with the immigrant and their families because they are so friendly and kind to not only to her but to others around them. Julia had to had to put a lot of self energy and understanding to volunteer at the Sterling Place. She helped with the children’s program by helping them answer questions they had about homework and she recruited some of her friends to come and volunteer even if they did not speak Spanish.
She helped the immigrant workers and their families feel more secure and happy in America knowing that they had someone to and someone who could relate to their culture and language. There were a few people who were directly affected by the help that she offered because she had grown closer and made a connection to these families.
Julia learned a lot from this experience. She learned the life of an immigrant from moving to a foreign place to working and living as we do in America. She was able to grow by listening to their stories and working with their children. She understands how connecting to others can make all the difference in the world. She learned various things about ESL and is interesting in continuing that learning. She can recall sitting with the children and learning about their day at school. Another experience is when a mother came in to get their child, and I was reading a book to the a child at that time; she came and started trying to pronouce the words and she was interested in learning English as well as her child. Today, the immigrant workers and their families still call Julia to talk to her and see how everything is going.
