Community Empowerment Program:
One Dream, One Voice
One Dream, One Voice is the Foundation’s community outreach and education program. It is tasked with spreading goodwill throughout the community using a trauma informed service model. Programs engage youth and adults of all age, regardless of level of functioning. We work diligently to build and sustain bi-directional bridges and collaborative relationships with community stakeholders such as local residents, businesses, neighborhood associations, schools, parents, religious, civic, and environmental groups, government organizations, health care, other human service providers, and local officials.
Youth work to build and strengthen their communities and
play a leadership role in Neighborghood Clean-Ups. They make lists of every item needed, and conduct research to ensure that they have identified the best price. They pick up the materials needed, assign duties to their team members and manage the task to completion. In the process, they serve as role models to their peers, demonstrating behaviors that sustain communities.
When youth engage in beautification projects in their communities and are provided with the opportunity to serve as project leads, they become real stakeholders in the community and want to influence positive change.
Community gardens are a good way to educate and inform community residents about food, nutrition and healthy eating. The gardens also provide our youth with the opportunity to develop a relationship with land, and watch vegetables and fruits that were planted with their own hands grow and be transformed into healthy meals for their families. These events are so exciting sometimes the entire family wants to get involved in pruning, harvesting, cleaning the fresh foods, and in meal preparation.
Reducing the alienation of youth in their communities by the creation of programs that allow youth to feel confident, committed, and engaged is so important to the Foundation fulfilling its purpose. Youth prepare nutritious meals for less fortunate community members, demonstrating that they can make a difference in the life of another human being and influence positive change.
Serving The Homeless
Our elders worked hard and diligently for many, many years ro create a future for us, sacrificing more than words can convey. Now it's our turn to do what we can to ensure their comfort during their retirement years where many live on a fixed, and in often cases, an extremely low income. Some live alone. Others have very little family support.
Not as strong in some cases as they use to be, they can use our help taking the groceries in, garbage out, bringing their garbage cans inside their gates, landscaping, with snow removal, mowing, planting and shopping, transporting them to appointments and so much more.
They also need to feel wanted and valued. Our seniors can be included in small and big ways into our lives. They can attend events as special guests participating at any level they desire. They are our heroes and sheroes and we should do everything we can to keep their wisdom in communities -- but even more importantly, make them feel like the priceless jewels they are.
