August 2014 Newsletter - Harbor House Ministries

Harbor House Ministries Newsletter
Harbor House provides opportunities for people with limited resources to
become self-sufficient through educational, spiritual, and economic
programs so that, together, everyone becomes all that God intends us to be.
A u gu s t 2 01 4
Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
Board of Directors
Travis Marsh President
Renee Chagnon Secretary
Jonathan Hobbs Treasurer
Lee Lueddemann
Albert Lee
Mary Ann Carter
Sally VanEtten
Craig Lewis
Vivian Cheung
Zarek Woodfork
Many of the people we serve and call neighbors
have very limited English skills. But that doesn’t
stop them from sharing their pleasure with our staff.
Paul is new to our program and is a quiet second
grader. His mother speaks Chinese, but wanted to
share with Bronwyn over and over how much Paul
loves Harbor House. She said he loves his counselor,
“this funny man who dance and sing.”
Staff
Kathy Dwyer
Executive Director
Hector Cruz
Katie Traylor
Alex Mach
Tam Thi Ho
Lupe del Toro
Maria del Toro
Bev Schmidt
Youth Department Staff
Bronwyn Harris
Director of Education
Jason Brown &
Ali McKenna
Youth Coordinators
Lisset Santos
Asst Youth Coordinator
James Lawson
Christina Saechao
Alexis Pruitt
Shameen Balla
Tim Muikruthok
Trinity Balla
Hope D’Ambrosio
Jerome Dorsey
Julia Jacobs
Nakota Moorehead
Bunthana Phun
Maymi Saetern
Paola Santos
Mu Mung
Josiah Smyrl
Contact Info:
1811 11th Avenue
Oakland, CA 94606
510-534-0165
510-536-7368 (fax)
www.hhministries.org
When one gets to hear comments like this each
day, how can one not love their job?
Our youngest campers playing dress up
Serving with Joy!
…..Kathy
Thank you Hannah and all of our other summer volunteers!
God brings to Harbor House volunteers
in all shapes and sizes, and this summer
we have been especially blessed. For the
third summer in a row, all 100 kids and
staff were treated to an afternoon of
swimming at the Soda Center in Moraga.
Hannah Gordon arranged all of the
details from fundraising to rent the pool
and
bus, recruiting swim instructors, pairing up swimmers with
non-swimmers, having a swim suit drive so that every child
has a swim suit and
goggles, and then
finishing the afternoon off with pizza and treats! We will miss you Hannah
when you go off to UCLA in September.
Our regular staff has been augmented with a professional
tennis coach , Coach Chris,
who introduced the game to
our kids. Taylor shared his
love for engineering and
legos during center time and Coach Rick returned to improve
everyone’s soccer skills to the point that we really need to start a
league team. If you are interested in coaching soccer and have the
time, please contact Kathy at [email protected].
The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Harbor House is more than a house, it’s a HOME
Jesse naps on the couch outside my office on a regular basis. He is just 5 years old and while his Mom tries her best, life
at home is very chaotic. He shares an apartment with Mom and three siblings and until recently his aunt and four little
cousins also lived with them. Like many mothers in our community, Mom works numerous jobs, but she also has a
chronic disease which at times is debilitating. Jesse comes faithfully every day to Harbor House and he feels so safe that
when he knows he is too tired to listen and cooperate he asks if he can go nap on the couch.
As often is said when people refer to Harbor House, we should be called Harbor Home, for we are a home and a family,
together calling God our father.
But our home, a classic Victorian, continues to get older and is in need of some major repair. We need a new roof, new
exterior paint, and a major dream would be to upgrade the bathrooms, but this all costs money. If you can give extra this
summer, we would really appreciate it so we can get some of this work done before we restart the after school program in
September. There are a number of ways to do this: contact Katie Traylor, at [email protected], use the enclosed
donation envelope or give online via our website at www.hhministries.org.
Because You Love Us
by Bronwyn Harris
For more stories by Bronwyn, please visit her blog at www.asafeharborinOakland.blogspot.com
For two weeks during the summer program, we have groups of intrepid high school students (and their extremely
brave, good-natured adult chaperones) come stay at Harbor House to live and serve with us. Two weeks ago, we
had a group from Yuba City, California and this week we have a group from Keller, Texas. They spend their mornings helping with upkeep or cleaning in the house or helping out at other local organizations, and they help with the
summer youth program from 12-5 pm. These groups are a part of our urban immersion
program called TOTAL (Transforming Oakland Through Action and Love) and tend to
come every year.
Today, our very youngest kids, entering kindergarten and first grade, were in the cooking
center. They were making salad for the TOTAL group's dinner, which mostly consisted
of ripping lettuce into very, very small pieces. While the kids were happily shredding
lettuce, one of the adults asked the kids if they knew why the group was there. Hakim,
age four, shouted excitedly, "Because you love us!!"
The group wondered if the kids understood why they were making a salad that they
weren't getting to eat. When the same group member asked the kids if they understood
why they were making the salad, they all yelled, "Because we love you!"
The kids are beginning to understand that we're all part of God's family; whether we're from Texas or Oakland,
regardless of our race, and whether or not we even know each other's names.
Save the Date!
Sunday September 28, 2014, 4-6pm
Harbor House Fall Fundraiser
Details will be coming soon