KUO SUMMER REPORT – May 1- August 10, 2009
INFORMATION TABLES/BOOTHS:
Gateway Support Network for the Unemployed
Hope for the City
URBAN IMPACT
Computer Classes: 165 completed classes and received a free computer
Clothing and Household Pantry: Hundreds of items given away.
Bikes to work: 4
Provided Community Service Hours to 6 individuals
Mentored and provided Service Hours to 3 teens
SERVICES FOR CHILDREN:
VBS at 8 Neighborhoods of Hope reaching nearly 200 children
Sewing classes
Dance classes
Recreation, crafts, art and writing contests
Horse therapy EGALA -- Equine Assisted Growth and Learning 15
Cub Scouts – 2 boys went to summer camp and Charter Received
Girl Scouts – 4 kids attended an Indianapolis Indians Game
Kindergarten readiness classes provided at Trinity
Elwood Haynes conducted Kindergarten screening at Trinity
Back to School Backpacks were provided to 530 students at the Neighborhood Cookouts
PARTNERED WITH:
1. Olive Garden- Weekly pick-up of leftovers used to provide meals to interns, mission teams and lunches
2. Panera Bread- Delivered weekly distributed through food pantries
3. Community Garden- Produce delivered twice a week, used in lunches and pantries
4. Deals- End of season miscellaneous items
5. Dollar General- End of season miscellaneous items
6. Kroger- Almost daily, bread, produce, etc. used for lunches and pantry -Parking Lot use for food drive
7. Walmart- Cash and 1200 Easter Baskets, 5000 bags of grass and 150 large stuffed animals. Volunteer from Walmart mows grass at trailer for free, when volunteer reaches 25 hours, Walmart sends us a check for $250.00
8. Sound of Music- Drumsticks
9. Frito Lay-Provided chips for all cookouts
10. Old Navy- Volunteers, cash, videos, food drive
11. Kohl’s- Volunteers and cash
12. Syndicate Sales- Semi use for food drive
13. Indiana Blood Center- Donated a case of food for each unit of blood given at Give for the Good Food Drive
14. Howard Regional- Working on joint grant for future Parents of Teens classes
15. Coca-Cola- Contingency plans in place for mobile food pantry if economic downtown gets worse using Coke vehicles
16. Outback Steak House- Provided Graduation Dinner to Baby College Graduates at a greatly reduced cost
17. Center-Township Schools- Buddy Bags, coordinate summer lunch program, provided volunteers for the school summer lunch program, provided space for Kindergarten screening
18. Button Motors Downtown- Provides free space to store pantry food and Buddy Bag food
19. Kokomo Police Department- KUO provided 1500 meals for August night out(hotdogs, chips, cookies and drink)
20. Community Foundation- $1000 grant for ArtReach
21. City of Kokomo: KUO provided information about food pantries at an event planned by the city
22. Leadership Kokomo- Working with us to provide Buddy Bags
23. Villages Inc- KUO provides wrap around support through the villages to families in need of emotional support
24. Bridges Outreach- KUO strongly supports and promotes Bridges after school programs, especially the Project 30 Program-Bridges van used by KUO often
25. United Way- Working with United Way to receive a grant to strengthen families
26. Info 211- Refer many people to the 211 services
27. Cam- Mission Team volunteered for an afternoon at new CAM Transitional Housing
28. Kokomo Rescue Mission- Meet weekly for prayer with Mission Staff, Mission has helped us with food, provided a meal for Poverty Plunge youth, as well as box truck and driver when needed
29. Food Finders- Provided KUO with free meat and has made special deliveries of a semi-loads of food
30. Housing Authority-Provides space at Pine Valley for Children’s ministry and meal distribution without cost---also allows us to work freely at Garden Square and Pine Valley
31. Center- Township Trustee- Provided funds for Buddy Bags, as well as food pantries
32. Open Arms- KUO provides children’s ministry including VBS
33. Domestic Violence Shelter-Donated extra food to KUO Kitchens
34. Prevent Child Abuse- Provided KUO with life-size board game called “Bee Safe/Bee Sorry it has been used by KUO and St. Joan of Arc School
35. Reins and Rainbow Ranch Wabash- Reduced rate for EGLA Therapy
36. Early Childhood Center/IUK- Baby College
37. Family Services Association- Baby College
38. Bona Vista- Baby College
39. Purdue Extension- Baby College
40. Gear-up for Safety Program- Baby College and referrals
41. Ivy Tech- KUO staff taught section on Poverty in Sociology Classes
42. Trinity United Methodist Church-Free office space and outreach space
43. Grace UMC- Provided free downtown office space and outreach site
44. St. Luke’s UMC-Free use of church van
45. Main St. UMC – Fee use of church van
46. Riley Modern Estates- Provides free lot rent for Outreach Trailer
47. Maple Lawn- Provides free Community Room for Outreach events
48. Carpenter’s House Church- Provides free space for the County-line Food Pantry
49. Alto UMC- Provides free space for food pantry for Pine Valley
50. Chapel Hill Christian Church- Backpacks
51. Oakbrook Community Church- Storage space for Easter items
52. Girl/Boy Scouts- Providing troops in neighborhood and free summer camp
53. Kiwanis- Free Swim passes to Kokomo Beach
54. Samaritan Love Center- Food Pantry Data Base
55. Servant Ministries (Crossroads)-Food Pantry Data Base
56. Zion Tabernacle Food Pantry - Food Pantry Data Base
57. Kokomo Rescue Mission Food Pantry - Food Pantry Data Base
58. United States Post Office- Food Drive
59. Kokomo Howard Co. Public Library - Reading club prizes from previous years
60. St. Vincent DePaul – monthly giving for Buddy Bags
PROVIDED SUPPORT TO:
St. Andrews Church for Downtown Community Breakfasts
Kokomo Police Department for August Night Out
COMMUNITY VBS PROGRAMS
Oakbrook – donated shampoo (600 bottles)
First Friends – donated soap(1000 bars) & 3 Buddy Bags
Zion UMC- donated food
First Congregational – donated food
First Presbyterian – 7 Buddy Bags
Burlington Church of Christ- $1000 for horse therapy
Food Drives:
Old Navy
Give for the Good
Delphi Employee
Hope for the City
Chapel Hill
St. Luke’s
Cooked Meals
Cookouts – have served 7,429 meals in 7 neighborhoods
Let’s Do Lunch – have served 1,837 meals during 5 ½ weeks
Breakfast – have served 200 meals on the last Sat of each month & one additional Saturday (Aug 1st)
August Night Out – provided hotdogs, buns, cookies and drinks for 1,500 people
Food Pantry
KUO is represented at the monthly Food Pantry Network Meeting
KUO continues to provide food to 4 Pantry locations
During the months of May-July, KUO has provided 811 families with food
GRANTS
Three Staff Members attended a Grant Writing Workshop sponsored by the United Way
KUO has applied for the following grants:
FEMA –$11,987.00 for food pantries
Kohl’s Employees - $500.00
Old Navy – $250.00 (two great video’s)
Clifford The Big Red Dog - Pending
Duke Energy - Pending
Quaker Oats - Pending
MISSION TEAMS
Western FCCLA
Cooked Lunch for Neighborhood Children
Worked in Food Pantry
St. Luke’s Poverty Plunge
Cleaned and sorted food at Button Motors
Cleaned CAM House and worked at CAM Transition House
New Albany
Painted 3 bedroom apartment
Worked nightly at Neighborhood Vacation Bible School
Worked in Food Pantry
Sorted Semi-load of Canned Food
Sorted Clothing at Servant Ministry Warehouse
Put on a carnival for neighborhood children
Prayer Walked
Goshen Mennonite
Prepared Lunch for Children
Prepared Breakfast for Children
Filled Back to school backpacks
Rearranged food pantry at Trinity
Took down computer lab at Trinity
ADMINISTRATION & FACILITIES
E-mail newsletters are sent to appx. 800
KUO has had 220 new volunteers since May
An invitation to include KUO in 2010 Mission Budget Brochure was sent to 100 Churches in Kokomo
Riley Trailer(All at no cost to the Outreach)
New Front Porch
Finish Bathroom and kitchen
Carpet for Big Room
Trinity
New Computer
New Laminator
Increased usage of Fax Machine
New Pantry Shelves
New Desk in the Pantry
Two office desks and two chairs
Directors Report
Supervised 7 Interns Jeff and Sue
Conducted weekly Intern meetings Jeff and Sue
Committee Representation:
Strengthening Families Grant Committee-Jeff
Winning Communities – Non-profit Committee-Jeff
Winning Communities – Chairperson Faith Based Committee-Jeff
Kokomo Center School Nutrition and Wellness Committee-Jeff
Kokomo City Transportation Committee-Jeff
Hope for the City Committee-Jeff
Prevent Child Abuse Committee-Jeff
Food Pantry Network Committee-Deanna/Sue
FEMA Committee-Jeff
Howard County Social Agency Committee-Pam
Baby College Committee-Sue/Jeff
Speaking Engagements:
§ Retired School Teachers-Jeff
§ Workshop on Networking at Plainfield UMC -Jeff
§ Impact(FSA)- Jeff
§ Information Referral-Jeff
§ Wrap around specialists-Jeff
§ Ivy Tech Sociology Class, Peru-Jeff
§ 1st Friends VBS – Pam
§ Rotary – Sue
§ Chapel Hill – Deanna
§ Setting Up A Food Pantry/Food Pantry network - Deanna
New Neighborhoods of Hope:
Bon Air Mobile Home Community -Bon Air Nazarene
Southern Indian Heights -Brookside Free Methodist
Crossroads Church-Servant Ministry Food Pantry
INTERNS:
Grant Langenbehn-Senior at Purdue majoring in Political Science
Alison Berghoff-Senior at Ball State majoring in Social Work
Jessica Gilmore-Senior at Greenville College majoring in Recreation
Darren Miracle-Attends Cincinnati Bible College was ordained last month in the Independent Christian Church
Ben Bourff- Sophomore at IU Part-time Intern
Melissa Zimmerman-Senior at DePaw Part-time Intern Mary Ingle-participated in Intern meetings
The Interns have provided the following functions:
· Attended Horse Therapy camp (10 Days)
· Conducted Dance Classes
· Prepared, served and cleaned up lunches at KUO
· Supervised work groups handling lunch at KUO
· Assisted with serving the school lunches
· Organized and staffed crafts at Garden Square 2 days per week for 5 weeks
· Attended wrap-around meetings
· Assisted with VBS at all locations
· Worked with all mission teams and work groups
· Led poverty plunge
· Painted an apartment
· Sorted cans of food
· Sorted clothes
· Clean Button Motors building
· Toured CAM House and worked at CAM
· Assisted with cleaning Crossroads warehouse
· Conducted the poverty game
· Conducted prayer walks
· Conducted worship services under the bridge
· Ate and served at the Mission
· Played games with the neighborhood children
· Attended the cookouts each Sunday
· Provided transportation for boys to Scout camp
· Taught computer classes
· Cleaned the church balcony
· Hospital visitations
· Provided transportation
· Grant and Darren preaching
· Pick up donations from Olive Garden and Kroger
· Delivery of items to the Mission
· Assisted with Food Drives
· Researched and wrote grants
· Addressed envelopes
· Answered phones
· Assisted with August Night Out
· Moved boxes, boxes, boxes
· Put together shelves
· Cleaned the computer room and set up new game rooom
· Counted and assembled backpacks
· Helped to set up office downtown
· Conducted tours
· Taught poverty workshops
· Read Simply Christian and taught chapters
· Participated in Ministry Reflection
· Participated and lead Bible Study
· Played with children
· Mentored children
· Took Thomas Swimming through wrap around program
· Passed out flyers
· Mopped Floors/Clean Restrooms
· Cleaned and defrosted freezer/refrigerator
· Sermon Research
· Door-to-door canvas
· Passed out food door-to-door
· Led family focus groups for United Way Strengthening Families Grant (60 families participated)
· Delivered Buddy Bags
· Wrote Mission Team Devotionals
· Did “Whatever it took” to get the job done this summer!!!
Frequently used Terms and Abbreviations used at Kokomo Urban Outreach
1. ArtReach- Fine art classes aimed at disadvantaged children ie. dancing, writing, art, instrumental lessons.
2. Baby College- Parenting Classes that are nine weeks in length led by experts in the field of early childhood education, development, health and safety. A nine week course is called a cycle, our second cycle will begin in September.
3. Buddy Bags- Weekly food bags given to any student from Elwood Haynes whose parents have requested it. Food bags are delivered on Friday and contain 6 meals and 2 snacks for the weekend.
4. CPS- (Child Protection Services) The government agency that protects the well-being of children. KUO reports all reported and suspected child abuse/neglect incidents to CPS.
5. EGALA- (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) Founded in July 1999, the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization developed to address the need for resources, education, and professionalism in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning. Fifteen of our highest risk children participated in this program in Wabash over the summer. Susan Zody, Alison Berghoff (summer intern) and other volunteers took children to Wabash to Reins and Rainbow ranch for the therapy.
6. FEMA Grant- (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Grant from the Federal Government to be used to supply food to those in need.
7. Food Finders- Food Bank in Lafayette that supplies food to food pantries in a multi-county area. Food from food finders is purchase “off the shelf”(specific food such as Mac and Cheese) at wholesale prices or “off the floor”(sort of a grab bag of food) for 19 cents a pound. KUO purchases Buddy Bag Food “off the shelf” as we are looking for specific items and generally, purchase food for our pantries “off the floor”.
8. Food Pantry Network- Food Pantry Network meets once a month to check on food supplies at Kokomo Pantries, ideas and information are shared and Postal Drive is planned through the network. There are about 11 pantries in Kokomo.
9. Food Pantry Network Data Base- Maintained by KUO, visits to pantries are recorded in the database, which helps ensure that families receive food monthly. If more food is needed a referral is secured from United Way Information 211 or the Trustees office. We also take referrals from social workers, churches and other non-profit organizations in town.
10. FSSA- (Family and Social Services Administration) Food stamps, Welfare and Medicaid is administered by this organization.
11. HCSAC- (Howard County Social Agency Council) Meets monthly for networking and information/idea sharing.
12. IMPACT- Indiana Manpower and Comprehensive Training (IMPACT) provides services designed to help recipients of Food Stamps and TANF achieve economic self-sufficiency through
education, training, job search and job placement activities. IMPACT services are a component of Indiana's Welfare-to-Work program --a critical element of Indiana's welfare reform initiatives--which places an increasing emphasis on "work first". Work First" means that individuals are expected to accept a job when it can be secured with their existing education and skills.
13. Lectio Divina- is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading intended to engender communion with the Triune God and to increase in the knowledge of God's Word. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray and even sing and rejoice from God's Word, within the soul. Summer Interns practiced this discipline in their weekly team meetings.
14. Let’s Do Lunch Club- Lunches are provided weekdays at Trinity UMC anytime school is not in session. KUO through generous donors provides a nutritious lunch to anyone who attends. Lunch is served from 12:00-12:30, children and parents are invited to stay until from 12:30-1:00 to participate in organized games/crafts. Lunches are generally prepared by volunteers and the activity time is provided by the KUO staff.
15. Ministry Reflection- Each week interns brought a ministry reflection to the team meetings. Ministry reflections had to be an encounter they had during their internship with us this summer. The encounter was presented, discussed and ideas were presented on what others might have done in that same situation. This often was a growing edge for interns.
16. Neighborhoods of Hope-Specific geographic areas where the four strands of outreach are practiced (compassion, opportunity, witness and community organization and action) ideally adopted by a church, although in some cases is staffed by KUO.
17. Poverty Plunge- Weekend “retreat” experience for High School and College aged young adults. Participants are thrust into the world of poverty, learning as they experience it. Plunges are ran by KUO trained staff.
18. Project E.A.T.- (Everyone Ate Today) Includes all food outreach of KUO.
19. Project 30- Bridges Outreach elementary mentoring program. Mentors spend 30 minutes per week one on one with one child. KUO promotes this program and has seen the affect it has had on many of the children we work with.
20. Strengthening Families Grant- Through United Way, many non-profits and businesses are joining together to try to secure a grant that would help us strengthen families in Howard County. Our vision is that families would be first in Howard County.
21. Urban Impact- Life Skill classes primarily for adults ie. sewing, computer and Baby College.
22. Urban Plunge- Weekend or week- long overnight work trips. Participants work throughout the city in various Neighborhood’s of Hope.
23. VBS- (Vacation Bible School) Children’s summer ministry generally a week long. May VBS groups supported KUO in various ways. KUO provided 8 neighborhoods and Open Arms with VBS.
24. Winning Communities- Through a visioning process that started more than a year ago by Ron Harper and the Community Foundation, Kokomo has been designed a Winning Community. There are seven goal areas: Image and positive attitude, excellent and efficient health care, faith-based communities, world-class schools and lifelong learning, a thriving non-profit sector, sound proactive government and infrastructure, and a robust, growing 21st century economic climate. Each of the seven areas have three goals that they will achieve in the future.
25. Wrap-Around- Children who are high-risk of not being successful in school and/or society can be part of a wrap around group. The group may be made up of parents, family members, pastors, teachers, social workers, counselors or anyone else who has contact with a family. Wrap around specialist led the group which meets monthly to help the family deal with various issues. Presently, staff of KUO are working with two wrap around teams. The two families we are working with are working with the Villages wrap-around team.
