Every Hour Counts!

By Daniel Barber, Volunteer Manager

The community that supports Community LINC is a very generous one!  2015 was filled with fantastic acts of kindness and dedication from our volunteers.  These volunteers are essential to Community LINC’s ability to function and impact poverty.  Often times, individual volunteers can overlook or forget about the importance of their time.  But we know every hour counts!

2015 in Review

In 2015, Community LINC volunteers donated 5,427 recorded hours.  That time is estimated to be a $135,435 value to Community LINC.  Allow me a moment to recognize just a few highlights of the overall contributions of our volunteers.

Apartment Preparations:  Our volunteers spent 332 hours cleaning, re-organizing and decorating apartments to make them feel like a place our residents can call “home”.   On average, each apartments takes about 10 – 12 volunteer hours to get ready for the next family.  Without volunteers, that work would have to be done by employees. Which would mean: 1) Less time for employees typical duties (maintenance, or resident interactions), or 2) Community LINC would have to hire more employees to handle the duties, and 3) Probably most importantly, apartment prep would take longer, and families would have to wait longer to move in.

Budgeting: Last year, our budgeters clocked 233 budgeting hours.  That is time spent, individually, with residents and aftercare participants, helping them achieve their financial goals and attain stability.   Budget counseling is a big reason 93% of our program graduates from 2008-2013 have not returned to homelessness in the last seven years.

Maintenance: Our buildings are over 100 years old.  We have all the maintenance duties any other apartment complex would have, on top of the impressive age of our buildings.  As you can imagine, every single one of the 1,387 hours donated to maintenance was greatly needed.  Without these dedicated volunteers, our facility would not look nearly as nice and would be very far behind on routine maintenance.

Youth / Children: Throughout 2015, our volunteers spent 696 hours with the children of Community LINC.  The impact of homelessness on a child can be devastating; emotionally and developmentally.  The time our volunteers spent caring for and supporting these children has greatly impacted and improved each student’s ability to deal with their stressful circumstances.

Special Events: The Rent Party is a fantastic highlight of the year for Community LINC.  It is also responsible for one-third of our operating budget! To pull off such a fantastic evening of entertainment, it takes lots of time and preparation - 258 volunteer hours to be exact!  Volunteers are crucial for acquiring donations for the auction, as well as to make sure the event runs smoothly.  Without all of these hours, the Rent Party could not be as successful as it is.

These are just a few highlights of the overall impact our volunteers make at Community LINC.  Each hour donated means we can do a better job at ending homelessness, impacting poverty and removing barriers to self-sufficiency for the families we serve.  The volunteers at Community LINC clearly understand just how much community matters. We appreciate every one of our volunteers and every hour donated!

No Turning Back

By Employment Service Manager, Constance Taylor

Often times our participants lack vision and a genuine desire to reach for their dreams to achieve and excel. They cannot always believe they deserve a better paying job with benefits working within a highly committed and professional team. One of my chief goals is to exercise coaching tools that propel our participants beyond what they can imagine.

After several years of verbal abuse with her current employer, Tonya was suspended for two weeks when she finally expressed her concerns of how she was being treated to higher management. While rehearsing the details of the event she realized this may be a good time to weigh her options. After five years of committed service with the existing company, the thought of pursuing another career was a little frightening.

She decided to put in some applications and see what happens. Her first application was for an office position as a receptionist. To her surprise she was contacted for an interview within three days. She was offered the position earning more money with an extensive benefit package. Community LINC’s employment services program was able to provide her with donated clothing perfect for the new job.

She is on her way to a brand new job and life. Her new employer plans to train her on other job functions which will also strengthen her ability to learn new skills and provide the tools needs to expand her new career path. What an awesome turn around at a time that seemed like things were about to crumble. No turning back now only soaring ahead at a brand new future.

The Power To Give

By Children's Program Director, Josh Chittum

Christmas time at Community LINC means offices and meeting spaces are filled with shopping bags and wrapped presents and all available hands digging in to help distribute items to families. This is expected at a social service agency during the holidays. What I’m proud of most this season, however, is something we did for Christmas that might not be as expected to outside observers.

For an entire month, children and youth participated in our first ever Read-to-Give program. During this time, they raised $1 for each book or story they wrote through outside sponsorships. At the end of the program, 130 literacy activities were completed. With an extra donation on top of sponsorship, the children and youth raised $200 total.

The great part is that they were raising money for someone else - an international organization called Oxfam America that works to promote self-sufficiency in developing nations just as we work to promote self-sufficiency for families experiencing homelessness in Kansas City. Through Oxfam’s Unwrapped store, children used the funds they raised to purchase a goat and bundles of school books that will benefit children in a developing country as they too strive towards self-sufficiency.

There is power in being able to act upon the world in this manner. There is power in realizing that one does not have to identify “only” as a recipient of charity. There is power in us, those not experiencing homelessness, to view children at Community LINC as capable of giving something to the world just like any other child.

This power increases children’s resiliency, which is the primary focus of Children’s Program. It also helps children internalize the fact that they can act in the world. That realization is linked to self-sufficiency, which is central to our organizational mission. That is why this program was started and why we hope we are able to continue it in the years ahead.

When Failure is Not an Option

By Employment Services Manager Constance Taylor

Lanette’s life took a spiral turn for the worse after interviewing and waiting for 2 weeks to report to a new job and discovering that they had hired someone else. It never entered her mind that she would hear the words, we couldn’t wait and we had to hire someone else immediately.  Now she had no income and she and her three boys had to go to a homeless shelter.

In our interview she discussed her past poor choices openly and convinced our team that failure was not an option. She was definitely motivated and ready to move forward. Her barriers were overwhelming but we knew she would do well because of the   compelling discussion concerning the goals she set for herself and her family. She was honest about the past mistakes that landed her in prison and was determined to take the steps necessary to improve her future. It was not the jail stay that changed her mind but her desire to become independent and self-sufficient. She wanted to work a professional career, earn a livable wage, dwell in a nice home, and care for her family. She won the battle against alcoholism and was ready to put the pieces back together.

She told me one day, “My boys are watching me and I have no choice but to make this work.” She hit the ground running. Every morning she would come to the lab ready to go: dressed for an interview, her hair well groomed, and a big smile on her face.

We discussed that networking would be her best asset. She went to every job fair, every felon-friendly assistance program, and tons of community events. Lanette did everything possible for a person with her background to secure employment. She knew she had to work ten times harder than the next person. She came to the job lab every day and attended the life skills and budgeting classes. She meets with her Case Manager and also receives encouragement from the Mental Wellness Manager.

She was not afraid or opposed to taking baby steps but knew she needed a good job to cover her family’s monthly expenses. She went to interviews each week repeating her story of defeat and remorse. 

The day finally came when she told me that she had landed a position making $13.65 as a customer service representative. Not only is she feeling self-sufficient again, but she has regained her self-esteem and sense of purpose. Her sons and Community LINC were the motivation and support she needed to regain her independence.  

“All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"

By Mental Wellness Services Manager, Griselda Williams

Most of us have heard the poem by Robert Fulghum. In his poem he shares how we learn life skills early in life.  In Kindergarten we learn to take turns, have respect for others and their property, how to play fair and how to care for our bodies with nutrition and hygiene.

I was not allowed to attend Kindergarten as I was raised in rural Missouri during the time of the civil rights movement and discrimination kept me from attending school until the first grade. I did however have a strong, supportive, resilient family and extended family that made sure I learned these skills for life.  I was fortunate as a child to have been taught these skills because occasionally I see a parent or two here at Community LINC who was not taught these life skills.

Often in our parent groups we discuss topics like discipline, child development and we even discuss the parent as a role model for their child. These conversations make me realize that some of our parents weren’t shown or taught these skills but are now trying to learn these skills. This is truly exciting because even though they may not have been given these skills, most want them for their children. One parent shared the challenges she experienced as a result of not being given such skills, because she was not taught how to “hold hands and stick together”. Instead, in her family, she was often hit and screamed at and her family did not work together as a team. Another parent asked questions about how to teach his children to play nicely with one another as the two older children often bullied the younger sibling.

Those that ask these questions are often the families that grow in their awareness of life skills in the four months they reside here at Community LINC. When we see these things as staff, it continues to inspire us because we can be instrumental in assisting some of our parents with learning what others did in Kindergarten and they in turn can pass them on to the next generation.

 “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten"
By Robert Fulghum

Most of what I really need

to know about how to live
and what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sand pile at Sunday school.
These are the things I learned
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life
Learn some and think some
and draw and paint and sing and dance
and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world
Watch out for traffic
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

Children's Matters: Resilient Tree

By Children's Program Coordinator, Josh Chittum

A fantastically-talented volunteer with the Children’s Program painted this Resiliency Tree in our elementary program space a few weeks ago. There are three ingredients that help resiliency grow, which we emphasize to our children and youth. These ingredients are: thinking about what you have as opposed to what you don’t have; thinking about what you can do as opposed to what you can’t do; and thinking about who you are and the things you like about yourself.

Each month, children will decorate or write a sentence on a leaf that highlights one area in their life that boosts their resiliency. Each leaf will fall into one of the three categories discussed above. Last week was the first time children were able to hang their decorated leaves and they all thoroughly enjoyed it. Their leaves included statements like:

I have a loving family

I am sweet

I am respectful

I am cool

I can follow the rules

I feel fantastic when we give our children opportunities to focus on what’s right in their lives rather than what’s wrong. Of course, we don’t do it because it gives me warm fuzzy feelings. We do it because it’s necessary and beautiful for our children to recognize and internalize how awesome they are. Ultimately, this resiliency tree is a metaphor for the resiliency inside each of them. The mural gives them an opportunity to share with others the beauty of their internal tree. Our programming offers water and fertilizer, but the kids themselves are the ones to make their resiliency grow stronger and more beautiful. That’s how amazing they are.

Putting the Past Behind

 By Employment Job Coach, Constance Taylor

It’s always exciting to see a Community LINC graduate family gainfully employed, in their permanent home and happy again. I recently walked into a gas station and heard a voice call my name. A former Community LINC resident, Jalissa, spotted me, and told me, “I thank God for Community LINC. I knew I could do it but the program really helped me get it together. We have our own place now, I have a car, and I am still working. I am a manager at the store now. We are so happy. One of her children said to me, “I spilled some ice cream on the seat, but my mother wiped it off.” WOW but a sight to behold! For the next several days, I cried every time I thought of them.

I remember the day this young lady showed up in my office really sad and discouraged about her life. We cried together. She had a temp job when she entered the program, but was not hired on full time. She shared how she was tired of instability, and wanted a better life for her son as he grew older and more aware of their lifestyle. She told me how her son would lie down beside her in bed at night and ask questions trying to understand her life.  I told her that her life could be different.

 We cried and prayed and she left determined to do something different. Finally it happened, Jalissa got a job working as a sales associate. I would see her walk some of her children to daycare, put others on the school bus and then walk to work. She continued to put money in her savings and finally she was ready to move to her new home.

Jalissa and her children are happy. She received a promotion at work, and with her new budgeting skills, was able to purchase her own car. She overcame her barriers and created a healthy, wholesome environment for her children. She vows to never go back but only move forward. This is how you put the past behind.