IHN News - Interfaith Hospitality Network Of Somerset County NJ

Interfaith
Hospitality
Network
IHN News
Volume 2, Issue 1
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Katharine A. Rue
Rev. George Montanari
Jeff Brenner
Jeremy Bolton
Gurpreet Singh
Steven Vollers
Scott Pontier
Kathleen Savo, member emeritus
Advisory Board:
Rev. Todd Burstra
Lenny Laisch
Steven Lieberman
Tom O’Leary
Jeanne Radich
Diane Rivard
Pres.
VP
Treas.
Sec.
To Our Supporters
In 2010, 15 homeless families with children came through our doors in crisis and in
need of emergency shelter. Another 12 families, previously homeless, were supported in their newly found permanent housing through our Phase 2 Transitional
Support Program, ensuring that these families never return to the crisis of homelessness. Our Phase 3 Permanent Supported Housing Program, offering Section 8
rental support, housed another 2 previously homeless families.
Ninety five individuals were served through our continuum of care. Fifty six percent
of these individuals were children ranging in age from newborns through teenagers.
Our families represent a wide array of ethnic backgrounds and a significant percentage of the parents found themselves working yet homeless: these are the “working
poor”. In an affluent area like Somerset County, providing a truly permanent solution to homelessness comes with a heavy cost in time, individualized services and
dollars to provide both. Our funders can be proud that their financial support
touched the area’s most vulnerable citizens in 2010 and truly “ made a difference:”
On behalf of the clients, Board of Directors and staff of Interfaith Hospitality Network of Somerset County, thank you. Your support has made the transformation
from homelessness to independence possible.
William Savo
Dottie Benjamin
Carol Goett
Sal LaLama
Staff
Executive Director
Renee K. Farrell
Administrative Coordinator
Karen L. Donohue
Social Workers
Mary M. Enyingi
Alyssa Martini
Mental Health Consultant
Renni Rothpletz
PT Client Support
Gregio Snead
August 2011
Executive Director, Renee Farrell welcomes
our newest client, 4 day old Ava. Ava was 4lbs
8 oz…..see her now on (pg 4)!
Community Support
Through the years the clients of IHN/SC have been extremely fortunate to receive ongoing support from many community organizations and this year was no exception. For the past three summers
one of our young clients, Samantha, has been the recipient of a scholarship to Camp River Bend in Warren.
Her Mom, Michelle, has said that the owners of the camp, the Breene family, have “been generous beyond belief by providing my daughter with a wonderful summer camp experience”
When Sammy first started there she didn’t know how to swim and was afraid of the water.
Within the first 3 weeks of camp the swim instructors had her feeling confident in the water and began
teaching her freestyle and backstrokes. The next year she was swimming like a fish in the deep end of the
pool and going down a huge water slide!
While at camp Sammy has enjoyed becoming both a rock climber and a wood work artist. She has made
everything from a napkin holder, to a step stool and even her own birdhouse and each week she brings
home another project that she is extremely proud of.
Samantha has had a host of other new experiences including the opportunity to canoe down a river (a
favorite activity), rollerblading and even taking a karate class where she split a wooden board with her
bare hands! Other highlights included cookouts, arts & crafts and (most importantly) Carnival Day.
Thanks to Camp River Bend Samantha has had 3 amazing summers. She absolutely loves going there and
has made many friends and now even wants to become a counselor there when she gets older.
Camp River Bend has given her wonderful opportunities to learn new things, meet great people, and
have the best summer a kid could ask for.
Sammy the “Swimmer”
Page 2
I H N NE W S
Page 3
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1
Where Are They Now
As our agency continues our commitment to homeless families in an atmosphere of shrinking assistance
opportunities for the clients, it is healthy to balance the frustration of new obstacles to empowering our
families with reflecting on significant successes that they have achieved. At many meetings, I find myself
encouraging staff to take a step back and reflect on amazing accomplishments of our extremely high-risk
population, in most cases “against all odds”. I think it is equally important to share the information with
our loyal supporters who play such an important part in every client success.
As we track our clients through our Transitional Support & Supported Housing Programs we see these
families who started out in our Emergency Shelter component maintaining their independence while improving the quality of life for all family members. The following updates remind us of how special our clients are and why we do what we do:
 Family #1 shows Mom completing her Bachelor’s Degree at Caldwell College while maintaining
honor roll status. She has worked in a variety of part time jobs, exchanged pro bono service to
obtain childcare hours and special activities for her daughter. Her daughter has maintained honor
roll grades, completing second grade this Spring. She has benefited from scholarship support from
the Dance Connection in Hillsborough and Camp Riverbend in Warren. Her roles in “The Nutcracker” and summers with experiences in sports and new friendships are testimony to the incredible impact of our supporters. Mom has started representing IHN/SC in public speaking engagements, most recently at IHN national headquarters, Family Promise.
 Family #2 has Mom completing her second year as a school bus driver, hoping to make herself successful in gaining County employment. She juggles 2 toddlers, one with special needs. She treasures her apartment which, once again, our supporters have a proud legacy of furnishing for families
discharging from the shelter.
 Family #3 has another Mom employed as a school bus driver; she and the mom in Family #2 are
wonderful friends and day to day supports for each other. She is raising 2 teen-aged boys and a
“tween” daughter, all of whom are doing great. The daughter is a consistent honor roll student, the
boys have secured part time employment while playing varsity football & basketball for their high
school. Both boys received their NJ drivers’ licenses and the recent donation (from yet another
wonderful supporter) of a used car is permitting the boys to maintain employment.
 Family #4’s Mom has maintained her employment at a local supermarket, has been able to increase
her hours and is now working in Customer Service. She has done public speaking for IHN, participating in Somerset County United Way’s CD sharing her story of coming from an abandoned teenager living on the streets to where she is today. This is another family that has been able to move
to a better apartment and has benefited from donations of our supporters in furnishing their home.
 Family #5 , 6, 7, 8 & 9 continue the success stories: All are maintaining their independence and the
children are thriving. One mom is a student at RVCC, another works multiple jobs while her son
has excelled at mastering drums. Another mom is in training for a second job as a supervised living
counselor for developmentally disabled adults & one of our Phase 2 moms has qualified for our supportive housing and is maintaining full-time employment. There are toddlers starting pre-school
and another high school honor student who is exceptional in the sciences and art and who was
placed in some college classes in her Junior year.
Thanks to the tremendous and ongoing support of our community and volunteers our families continue to
thrive….
Gratefully, Renee
Where are they now..(cont)
Ava…..6 mo & 14 lbs later!
Vinnie
Liaha
Mekhi
Sammy (the swimmer)
Page 4
NEWSLETTER TITLE
Page 5
RVCC 80 Hour Internship...
As many of you are aware, we have a long history of participation in Raritan Valley Community College’s Service Learning Program. Every semester, we supervise students from a variety of classes as
they work on a project that directly benefits our clients and relates to their course of study. Specific
benefits have included mentoring children, tutoring adults and children, producing a safety plan for the
agency, a presentation on the role of nutrition in child development and preparing a user friendly financial tips handout. This Winter, we received our first “80 hour internship student”. Dr. Karen Gutshal,
Director of Service Learning at RVCC developed the program and referred her student Theresa Blankson, a social work major, to us.
Theresa worked closely with our social worker Alyssa Martini who had done her BSW internship at
IHN during her senior year at Centenary College.
Theresa completed her 80 hours this month and we have a second social work intern starting with us in
the fall. Theresa has gotten to know our clients through direct interactions, she has learned the importance and techniques of documentation, become familiar with County and community resources for our
population, attended Court hearings and informational meetings. She seen, firsthand, the needs of social
work homeless families with children. She has observed a “community response to homelessness” provided by our large volunteer network and appreciates the valuable role that volunteers play in our service delivery. We wish Theresa all the best of luck as she pursues a career in social work and hope that
she stays in touch.
RVCC InternTheresa Blankson
Non-Profit
Bulk Rate
IHN
US Postage Paid
Somerville, NJ
Permit No. 119
Return Postage Guaranteed
IHN of Somerset County, 98 West End Ave
Somerville, NJ 08876
908-704-1920
Financial support has been provided in
part by Somerset County Board of
Chosen Freeholders
INTERFAITH
HOSPITALITY
NETWORK
United Way of Somerset County
Affiliated Agency
Check us out at:
www.ihnsomconj.org
United Way Gift Code # 027920
IHN WISH LIST
Please help us continue our ongoing support for our Emergency Shelter clients as well as those in our Phase 2
& Phase 3 programs by donating any of the following:
Personal Items: Deodorant, Bar Soap, Toothpaste, Toothbrushes, Shampoo, Conditioner, Tampons, Razors
Shaving Cream, Combs, Brushes, Body Lotion, Hand Sanitizers
Childrens Supplies: Baby Wipes, Diapers (size 3 & up), Baby Bath Wash, Sunscreen,
OTC Medications (Adult / Children): Cold & Flu, Ibuprofen, Children’s Tylenol, Neosporin, Band-Aids
Cleaning Supplies: Pine Sol, Windex, dish detergent, anti-bacterial spray
Gift Cards: Stop & Shop, Wal-Mart
The Following Items are always in high demand: Laundry Detergent, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels
We are also in need of Air Conditioners and Used Cars
Please Call 908-704-1920 to donate
All Donations are Tax Deductible