So Many People Help Us Change Young Lives!

SUMMER 2009
So Many People Help Us Change Young Lives!
Volunteers spend hours in 100 degree temperatures to give our shelter
youth a garden to grow and our agency a facelift to flaunt. Successful
young adults, who were homeless teens when we first served them, now
speak to others on our behalf. Teenagers make the important choice to
give their time and talents to benefit their peers who are less fortunate.
Corporations, couples and individuals Reach for the Stars!
and raise money to help us
fund our programs. Community
partners, such as foundations,
schools, civic organizations,
government entities and other
not-for-profit agencies, work
with us to fulfill our mission to
make a positive difference.
Teen Service Board Members help Reach for
the Stars!
Star Spencer and Grant High School students present YSOC CEO Debbie Forshee
(L) and YSOC Chair Valerie Oakley (R) a check for $823.10 from the United Way
Youth Board Student Campaign.
Board members contribute
numerous hours of their busy
lives to advocate for our agency and the young people and families we serve. Last, and definitely not least,
Youth Services for Oklahoma County (YSOC) staff members remain dedicated to providing the best services
we can to as many people as possible.
Youth Services is so fortunate to have all these partners. Please look inside and meet more of them.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation Revenue Accounting Volunteers landscape the front of our office building.
2009 Reach for the Stars – A “Brilliant” Success!
Over 300 people attended Youth Services’ Seventh Annual Reach for the Stars! fundraiser held March 28 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel. More than $75,000
was raised through the generous support of sponsors and donors.
The live auction featured a trip to Italy’s wine country and a 2009 Vespa S150 Scooter. Guests were given the opportunity to support at-risk youth by underwriting services such as “Movie Night at the Family Junction Emergency Youth Shelter,” bags of groceries or college prep packages for homeless teens in
the Supporting Kids in Independent Living (SKIL) Program.
YSOC Board Member and Event Chair Betsy Mantor provided inspiring leadership and creative direction to bring the theme, “An Evening in Tuscany”,
to life. The Planning Committee hung vines and lights in the dining hall to create an Italian trattoria. The YSOC Teen Service Board provided background music, staffed a flower cart and talked with guests about helping to build a flower and vegetable garden at the Family Junction. Guests enjoyed
their Italian meal served family-style and danced to the music of Banana Seat. Mitchener Farrand partnered with YSOC to offer couture purses and
jewelry for sale to benefit the agency, as well as donated a Bixby jeweled cross for raffle.
The day began with a morning filled with snowflakes from the last big snowstorm of the year but ended with a warm evening of generosity and support to
help teens in need Reach for the Stars.
Thanks to our Generous Sponsors!
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Pinnacle Energy
Susan and Steve Porter
Rainey, Ross, Rice & Binns, P.L.L.C
Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison &
Lewis
Smith & Pickel Construction
Smith Cogeneration
Southwestern Stationery and
Bank Supply, Inc.
Carol and Dean Stringer
Williams, Box, Forshee & Bullard
RE-USABLE TOTEBAG SPONSOR
Lighting Concepts/Jerry Mitchell
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3
Community Outreach Coordinator Maureen
Kelley and TSB Vice President Jake
Delaney
Jeff and Valerie Oakley survey the project.
TSB Member Bob Clark puts in a hard day’s work
at the wheelbarrow while Seanette Ting and Ava
Puckett spread the soil.
YSOC’s Stephon Smith directs the garden layout.
YSOC Teen Service Board Grows “Green” to Build a Shelter Garden
Our Teen Service Board worked hard to make a garden at the Family Junction Emergency Youth Shelter a reality. They manned a flower cart at Reach
for the Stars! and explained to guests how they would build the garden with funds raised at the event. Donors gave $1600 to underwrite the costs of
the garden.
With the guidance of YSOC Board Chair Valerie Oakley and her husband Jeff, owner of Oakleys Landscaping, Inc., the ground for the garden was
cleared. The Oakleys, Teen Service Board Members and YSOC staff set up wood timbers and filled the plot with topsoil. Everything was ready for
planting vegetables and flowers for the Family Junction Emergency Youth Shelter residents to enjoy.
Thanks, Teen Service Board!!!
Love’s Travel Stops and Country
Stores Chief Information Officer
Jim Xenos presents his “Making a
Difference”
contribution to
YSOC Chair Valerie Oakley.
Love’s gave each corporate employee the opportunity to make a
gift to the charity of their choice.
Jim has been a YSOC Board
Member since 2003.
Outpatient Behavioral Health Services (OBHS)contractor Jennifer Goodrich (front)
celebrates passing her Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor test with fellow OBHS
staff (L-R) Tiffany Mitchell, Stacey Armitage, Andrea Nakvinda and Tiffani Cox.
Together, these ladies have over 45 years of experience at YSOC helping
Change Young Lives!
4
A big THANK YOU
to Chesapeake Energy Corporation Revenue Accounting Volunteers!
Over 110 Chesapeake Energy Corporation employees and family members
gave over 340 hours of their time and energy to spruce up YSOC in June
– in over 100 degree heat! Chesapeake employees commemorated the
company’s 20th Anniversary by volunteering 20,000 community service
hours across Oklahoma and the 16 other states where they operate.
Chesapeake volunteers
come in all sizes.
Chesapeake volunteers and staff added landscaping to front of the main
building and by the entry sign. Also, several interior halls and offices of the
main building and in the Family Junction Emergency Youth Shelter were
painted. Additions were made to the shelter garden which was built by the
YSOC Teen Service Board with funds raised at Reach for the Stars! The
garden is now complete with tomato plants, zucchini, yellow squash,
peppers, and cucumbers. There is a cutting garden of perennial flowers
to use in the shelter and pumpkin seeds planted for fall harvest.
If that was not enough, the Revenue Accounting division of Chesapeake
also raised $400 among volunteers to help underwrite a grove of trees for
the front of the building to provide an outside counseling area.
We are proud to have been chosen to benefit from Chesapeake’s generous
gift to the community and are grateful to these volunteers, who helped us
make Youth Services a brighter place to Change Young Lives!
Chesapeake volunteers
lend a hand.
Chesapeake and Youth
Services – true blue!
Thank you, Chesapeake!
Adra Cheek (C) is presented a memento for her nine years of service as a YSOC Board Member by CEO Debbie Forshee and Board
Chair Valerie Oakley.
Steve Bentley is thanked for nine years of service on the Oklahoma Youth Services
Holding Company, Inc. Board of Directors by YSOC CEO Debbie Forshee and Board
Chair Valerie Oakley.
5
SKIL Honors 2009 Graduates
We are so very proud to announce the graduation of 29 of our
Supporting Kids in Independent Living (SKIL) Program teens. SKIL serves
Oklahoma City Public School District high school students who work toward
graduation while living without parental support.
Twenty-two
seniors
were able to attend
the annual Graduation
Celebration held May 7,
sponsored by the SKIL
Advisory Board. The
breakfast was hosted
by CityChurch and
was also attended by
YSOC board members
and staff, community
guests and SKIL under- Gerrell Thomas gestures to the table where he sat as
class students as well. a SKIL Graduate in 2004.
Graduates received gift
baskets filled with items made possible through community donations.
Graduates were congratulated by former SKIL client Gerrell Thomas
who shared his story of success with guests. Mr. Thomas is a college
graduate, working in the social services field as a counselor. He said he
owed his achievements, in part, to the help he received from SKIL and Youth
Services.
Keynote speaker Allan Johnson challenged the students to live by
“H.O.P.E.”, which stands for Help others along the way; Outlive your past;
Prepare for future success; Expect and envision great stuff.
At the Celebration, Mayra Cruz received the 2009 Redbud Women’s Club
scholarship. Ms. Cruz graduated with a 3.5 GPA, excelling in Honors
Physics and Honors Calculus, despite speaking limited English. She lives
on her own and is raising her younger brother and finished high school while
working full-time at a restaurant. She plans to attend college this fall in
Oklahoma City.
INTERNET SAFETY TIPS FOR PARENTS
from YSOC’s Internet Predator Summit
Held June 4 at Oklahoma City Community College
• Have the family computer in an open area - Never in your child’s
bedroom.
• Become a part of your child’s online experience. As computer-savvy
as kids and teens are today, they may even teach you a thing or two!
• Respect your child’s privacy. Rather than “policing” your child’s
online behavior, keep the lines of communication open with your
child.
• When using email, be aware of opening unsolicited attachments.
Viruses, worms and Trojan horses can be activated by
unsuspecting email users opening infected attachments to
email messages. Use updated anti-virus scanning software
regularly to monitor your computer.
• Learn about the Internet. The more you know about how the
Internet works, the more you can be informed about how
online predators and identity thieves work and what you can do to
stop them.
• User names and profiles can provide a wealth of personal
information. Ask your child about his or her online user name,
profile and downloading activities. Having too much information in a
user name and profiles can attract predators.
• Monitor your computer’s history. Look at the top of the screen
where web addresses can be entered. Click on the arrow at the
right of it to see a list of the websites that have been viewed from
your computer. If there are none listed, either they have been
deleted by one of your computer’s users or you have an auto-delete
feature, which we advise you to disable. Discuss any sites that seem
inappropriate with your child.
• Report any suspicious or dangerous activity. Any Internet activity
that makes your child feel uncomfortable should be reported to the
authorities—911.
WISH LIST
Do you have a golf cart you’re not using? We need
a utility cart to transport items up and down the hill
between the main office and shelter.
Is there an entertainment center or armoire at
your house you could spare? We need something to
hold a TV and DVD player for young visitors to watch
while waiting for appointments.
YSOC Community Outreach Coordinator Maureen Kelly, SKIL Director Cormiére
Bishop, SKIL Graduate Mayra Cruz and Redbud Women’s Club Representative
Sharon Mugg
6
YSOC Mission: Youth Services for Oklahoma County, Inc. is a not-for-profit
community organization that advocates, educates, intervenes and counsels
youth and families to make a positive difference in their lives.
Youth Services for Oklahoma County, Inc. is
It DOES take a community to raise a child! So many people, corporations and foundations help us
make a positive difference in the lives of the young people and families we serve over the course
of a year. We are grateful to all of you who support us with your resources, whether they are financial
or material gifts or your time, energy and enthusiasm. Every contribution is crucial to helping us provide
the best services we can to the youth and families at-risk and in need in our community.
There are exciting changes at our agency. We have a shelter garden and new landscaping courtesy of our Teen
Service Board, our friends at Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Oakley’s Landscaping, Inc. Our main office
building has a new roof and parking lot. The Supporting Kids in Independent Living (SKIL) Program has a new pantry
courtesy of the Leadership Oklahoma City’s Youth Leadership Exchange/Youth In Action Class IX. We would love to host a
tour for you and your friends, church group, work colleagues, book club or golf foursome. There are many ways you can make a difference in the
life of a child.
This newsletter is full of faces of our friends and partners and we would like you to be one, too. Please take a moment to return the enclosed
envelope and let us know how you would like to help. Tell us your interest in a tour or performing a community service project. Send in your
contribution of “time, talent or treasure” so you can help us Change Young Lives!
You can Change Young Lives!
Send in the enclosed envelope with your contribution to help us:
P
P
P
P
P
Give a homeless teen a safe place to live.
Feed a hungry teenager who is living on his or her own.
Reduce Oklahoma’s high school drop-out rate.
Counsel a troubled teen and family.
Grow responsible citizens and good neighbors.
Thank someone who made a positive difference in your life by making an honorary contribution to
Youth Services for Oklahoma County. We will send them acknowledgement of your gift.
You can also make a secure contribution using PayPal on our website – www.ysoc.org – or with your
credit card by calling YSOC Development Coordinator Cass Hayes at (405)235-7537, ext. 208.
Your financial contribution to Youth Services is 100% tax-deductible.
Material donations are deductible for income tax purposes at fair market value.
7
NON-PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
OKC,OK
PERMIT NO. 2768
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
YOUTH SERVICES FOR
OKLAHOMA COUNTY, INC.
201 NE 50th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-1811
405.235.7537
Fax 405.528.5754
www.ysoc.org
YSOC Teen
Service Board
now taking
applications!
Info and
application at
www.ysoc.org.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIR
Valerie Oakley
VICE CHAIR
Karen Delaney
SECRETARY
Ginger Shaw
TREASURER
William J. Bullard
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
JoeVan Bullard
l
Help Us Fil ew Pantry!
N
Our Empty
TRUSTEES
Adra Cheek
Kris Goforth
Kevin Gordon
Randi Green
Joyce Henderson
Betsy Mantor
Shauntae Moham
Kim Nguyen
Kent Phillips
Paul Poley
Susan Porter
L. E. “Dean” Stringer
Jim Xenos
Randal Zotigh
8
PRESIDENT/CEO
Debra G. Forshee
elp
ution will h
ib
r
t
n
o
c
r
u
Yo
ss teens:
buy homele
Food
Toiletries
es
School Suppli
l
l
l
uth Lea
s raised by Yo
uilt with fund
SKIL Pantr y b
ange’s Youth
dership Exch
ss IX.
In Action Cla