Newsletter Spring 2014 - Adventist Community Services of Greater

Spring 2014
A D V E N T I S T C O M M U N I T Y S E RV I C E S
O F GREATER WA SHINGTO N
HATS OFF TO SINGLE MOMS
Distinguished guests
speak at ACSGW tea
ACSGW’s second annual single
moms’ event, an afternoon tea,
was held on May 25th at the
Takoma Park Seventh-day Adventist
Church. Maryland State Delegate,
Sheila Hixson, spoke at the event
along with Montgomery County’s First Lady of Montgomery County, Catherine Leggett,
first lady, Catherine Leggett.
Maryland State Delegate, Sheila Hixson and ACSGW’s
Sheila Schlisner Hendricks and Joyce Seamens
Also there to encourage single
moms were ACSGW’s Executive Director, Sheila Schlisner Hendricks and other staff.
Approximately 100 guests were in attendance. A solo honoring moms was performed by
(Continued on page 3)
ACSGW WEBKIDS GETS BOOST FROM RECENT PUBLICITY
Takoma Park Gazette features
WebKids
I
n April 2014 a Takoma Park Gazette staff
writer covered the ACSGW WebKids after
school program by interviewing Education
Director, Kevin Ferguson, and a WebKids Peer
Tutor, Damaris Rodriguez. In the article
Ferguson explained that “Most of the kids
come from a low-income family . . . At home
they don’t even have a computer. This is their
spot. After school, this is where they go.”
Peer Tutor, Suyaib Ahmed, Assists WebKid,
Samballa (Sam) Traore
Ferguson hopes that the recent publicity will
help get more funding for the program, which
ACSGW plans to expand this summer. “Kids are being turned away because of lack of
(Continued on page 2)
INSIDE
Bestowing a Basket of Love...................................................................................... 2
ACSGW Joins CHEER in Preparation for Youth Development Summit .................... 3
If You Build It, They Will Donate .............................................................................. 3
Next Semester’s Classes Begin in July ..................................................................... 4
(Continued from page 1)
resources. People in local government and other potential donors need to
see more publicity like this.” The high school tutors are an integral part of
the program. They help the kids with homework and computer skills while
earning credit towards the 75 volunteer hours they must accumulate before
graduating.
The Gazette coverage coincided with a visit from the Assistant to the County
Executive, Charles (Chuck) Short to
observe the program in action, which
included one of the WebKids using html
code. After making this observation, Short
commented “On my next visit I need that
kid to help me with my website!”
Damaris Rodriguez, Peer Tutor
Concurrently a WebKids photo album was
posted on ACSGW Facebook called WebKids in Action, and the link was shared with
the Adventist national headquarters and hundreds of donors.
First Things First: WebKid,
Udy Ekpo, Finishes Homework.
Time for Homework is Built Into
the Program.
Plans are under way to expand the WebKids program to the Beltsville
Seventh-day Adventist Church and other locations.
BESTOWING A BASKET OF LOVE
Washington Adventist University (WAU) students
conduct drive for low-income families
C
indy Ascencio and Jenny Matias, sophomore social work majors
at WAU who are doing internships at Adventist Community
Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW), are striving to help lowincome families. The student interns initiated a campaign in early
May called Bestowing a Basket of Love to collect clothing and other
items for families who struggle economically in Takoma Park and
Silver Spring.
Student Interns Cindy Ascencio and Jenny Matias
Boxes were placed around the WAU campus for a few weeks to
collect items such as used jeans, skirts and blouses, T-shirts, dresses,
shoes and unworn socks, small kitchen appliances and barely used
school supplies.
“The project was a great success!” commented Cindy after making a
final pickup of items.” We received a lot of donations thanks to the students and the deans for allowing us to do this
drive. We received more than we were expecting.”
Both Cindy and Jenny work 20 hours a week at ACSGW to gain experience that will help them in their chosen
profession of social work.
P AGE 2
ACSGW JOINS CHEER IN PREPARATION FOR YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
O
n January 23, 2014, local non-profit CHEER (Community Health and Empowerment through Education and
Research), held the first of a series of round table discussions focused on helping youth in Takoma Park successfully transition to adulthood. The series is bringing Takoma Park residents and community stakeholders together to
create a collaborative effort to address major concerns related to local youth. The goal of these discussions is to
culminate in a Takoma Park Youth Development Summit that will involve local community members, youth and
institutions, and provide the resources and the means to coordinate a collective effort to fulfill the hopes and
aspirations of youth, their parents, the community. ACSGW believes that its education programs will be an integral
part of this effort. The Youth Development Summit is being co-sponsored by the Takoma Foundation and the
Takoma Park Recreation Committee. A second meeting was held on March, 27, 2014.
The Summit is scheduled for June 12, 2014. For more information click here. Administrative Officer, Pat Tyser, shared
that ACSGW is thrilled to be a part of this collaborative community effort. “We feel it fits perfectly with our mission
and the goal of our education programs, Helping People Help Themselves."
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL DONATE
O
ne of the important ACSGW programs is the assistance to families with high quality,
gently used clothing. In the near future, ACSGW will have the first of several used
clothing collection boxes in place near the street in front of the ACSGW facility on
Sligo Avenue.
One rule in securing donations is to make the giving as easy as possible. Over the years
ACSGW supporters have had to come to the office and bring clothing donations inside or
to drop them off at the back door leaving the much needed donation exposed to the
elements.
The boxes are being built since buying them ready-made is cost prohibitive at this time.
The materials and some of the labor was donated, making this vital program element
possible. Thanks to Board Member, Ken Flemmer (pictured above), for building the clothing drop, and to all others
who are helping with the project.
HATS OFF TO SINGLE MOMS
(Continued from page 1)
Daphne Williams, who was accompanied by Vee Akehurst; and fancy spring hats were in abundance!
Master of Ceremonies at the tea and Board Member, John Reed, commented “It is important to honor single moms,
who often get little thanks for their hard work and often go unrecognized.“
Thanks to Sheila Hendricks, Joyce Seamens, Vee Akehurst, and all others who helped with the tea. Press coverage for
the tea appeared in the Gazette as well as coverage on Gazette.net on May 28. For more pictures, click here. The tea
was made possible by a grant from The City of Takoma Park.
Contact Information: 301-585-6556
Sheila Schlisner Hendricks, Executive Director
Vee Akehurst, Executive Assistant
Kevin Ferguson, Education Programs, IT
John Reed, Program Director
Joyce Seamens, Food, Clothing, Health and Wellness
Alicia Tucker, Communications and Promotions
Pat Tyser, Administration and Grants
P AGE 3
Community Connections
Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington
501 Sligo Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
www.acsgw.org
NEXT SEMESTER’S CLASSES BEGIN IN JULY
ANNOUNCING ESOL, GED Preparation, advanced computer classes and more at ACSGW!
The next semester starts the week of July 7! Classes in MULTIPLE LANGUAGES will be offered in some subjects as well
as help with AMERICANIZATION and GUIDANCE IN APPLYING FOR CITIZENSHIP. Read TESTIMONIALS from ACSGW
students on FACEBOOK. You may also call John Reed at 301-585-6556 or send an email for more details to
[email protected]. Also see www.ACSGW.org, Education/Job Training, for more information.
Testimonial from a current A+ Certification Training student
“I chose the A+ training at ACSGW because it is practical training instead of theories or literature and a paper
certificate. Today professionals in finance are expected to know technology also. You are expected to know how to
respond on the job when technical problems come up. During this course we are learning how to build a computer,
become familiar with its parts and the way they work together. . . .” Georges Kotchou
Watch for announcements for Do More 24!
ACSGW is participating in the United Way of the
National Capital Area movement that leverages the
power of the crowd to support local nonprofits
through focused, online giving. The giving date is June 19th!
Mark your calendars for June 19th. Please give through the
Do More 24 website.
B OARD
OF
D IRECTORS
Zundel Ackie, Frank Bondurant, Stephen F. Brennwald, Gaspar Colon, Sharon Cress, Helen Dundon, Kenneth Flemmer,
Sheila Schlisner Hendricks, Christina M. Hudgins, Gary Krause, Allan Manuel, Venice Mundle-Harvey, Les Pitton,
Maharajan Ponraj, John Reed, Josh Rosales, Terry Seamens
P AGE 4