As people are struggling to keep warm this Winter, here's a thought about helping the less fortunate and another example of hidden Gov't Corruption.
Why is it that as Charlotte Officials receive more and more Federal money earmarked for Homelessness Prevention, Charlotte's Homeless numbers are continuing to rise?
Charlotte's has very few shelters to house its Homeless citizens and Children.
There's hardly any Affordable, Decent Housing available for Charlotte's Low Income citizens, so....
Where or what is the Federal Funding (Stimulus Funds, etc.) to help combat this crisis being used for?
Inquiring minds would like to know why are Charlotte-Mecklenburg City/ County Officials sitting on this money or wasting it instead of helping people get off the street?
Inquiring minds would like to know now!
Could Apartments For Charlotte's Homeless Open This Year?
Advocates for the homeless believe an apartment complex recently bought by Charlotte Housing Authority could be put to use a year sooner than expected, to fill gaps in sheltering the homeless.
Deronda Metz of the Salvation Army Women and Children's Shelter said she's been talking to the Housing Authority about the possibility.
"They're looking into it -- whether it would even be possible to get some units ready this year," said Metz. "If it's possible, I think that they can make it happen."
The apartments, off Wendover Road, have 230 units total. About 60 of those would be designated for homeless families, once they are renovated. The plan is to give the families who live there not just shelter, but job training and other social services.
Kathy -- she didn't want us to use her last name -- knows what it's like to need the help.
"I've slept outside before, and it's no fun," she said. Kathy is disabled from a back injury and pins in her neck, and lives at the Salvation Army Center of Hope while her social worker helps her qualify for disability payments and housing.
She's grateful for a bed at the shelter, because she knows space is tight. "I don't know where I'd be without them," she said.
Metz said this is the soonest the Center has filled up when compared to other winters. All 200 beds are taken and another 27 people are sleeping on mats on the floor. With temperatures dropping below freezing at night, Women with children continue to show up, and Metz doesn't want to turn anyone away.
"That's what makes our job hard, because we're dealing with people," said Metz.
There's still a lot of talking and a lot of work to be done to make the apartments available so soon, she said. But there's always hope.
"It would make a lot of families happy," she said.
Charlotte Cold Snap Sends Crowds To Shelters
Predictions of yet another week of sub-freezing temperatures have emergency shelters bracing for overflow crowds in coming days.
The Men's Shelter of Charlotte reports that it's taking in about 531 men a night - a jump of 31 in the past week. And the Salvation Army's Center of Hope is housing 294 women - 94 more than its bed capacity. Of that 294, 114 are children.
Dealing with an influx during cold snaps is nothing new to either. But charities say the recession has changed expectations. It's possible that Charlotte has more homeless this year, and they'll soon be standing in line at the door.
"Last year in cold snaps, we averaged about 520," said Carson Dean of the men's shelter. "But because we're seeing so many people we've never seen before, we're bracing for the average to start creeping up to 600. I am worried: What will we do if the number gets consistently over 600? We'll have to draw up a new plan."
At the Center of Hope, preparations are being made to find beds for at least an extra 50 women a night. The center sends those it can't serve to the Urban Ministry Center's Room in the Inn program, which puts the homeless in local houses of worship.
But an increasing number of women are showing up too late in the day to qualify for Room in the Inn, said Deronda Metz, director of social services at the Center of Hope.
"If they show up at the door after 3 p.m., we need to find a place for them on the floor," Metz said. "The question is: When will even the floor space be too crowded?"
It's not just the homeless shelters that are feeling the impact of the cold. The frigid temperatures come at a time when more people are struggling to pay utility bills. Duke Energy officials say the number of electricity cut-offs from January to November of last year increased 6.7 percent over the same period in 2008.
Duke declined to say how many accounts were shut off, citing customer privacy. However, of the 131 people standing in line Monday at Crisis Assistance Ministry, 15 had no utilities and 54 others were losing their utilities that day.
The agency also kept three households from being evicted.
Crisis Assistance is helping 25 percent more people pay for rent and utilities than last year, said Carol Hardison, the agency's executive director.
"These families have no place else to turn. They are desperate," said Hardison. "We're the point of last resort before a family sleeps in the cold, or worse yet, becomes homeless. Warmth and shelter are two of the most basic needs of life."
The average amount required to prevent eviction and utility disconnection is $320 per household.
The recently re-launched Critical Need Response Fund will help in coming months, if the cold persists or worsens. The fund, which is managed by Foundation for the Carolinas, has already given out $450,000 since Dec. 18.
The money went in equal shares to Crisis Assistance Ministry, the Men's Shelter of Charlotte and Loaves & Fishes food bank.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Gets Another Federal Grant For Homeless
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Area Mental Health will get more than $2 million in Federal money to provide services and housing to homeless people, U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell announced this week.
The “shelter plus care” grant is designed to offer long-term support to homeless people with mental illness, addiction or AIDS.
Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare, which serves Cabarrus, Davidson, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties, also received an $84,744 grant.
Stimulus Money Will Aid Struggling Charlotte Renters</span>
An initiative to help people facing a housing crisis in outlying counties has received $1.4 million in Federal Stimulus money.
Charlotte-based Community Link will oversee the project, which focuses on both the homeless and struggling renters in Cabarrus, Davidson, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties. All but Union have unemployment rates higher than Mecklenburg, with Rowan the highest at 12.8 percent.
Floyd Davis, president of Community Link, says aid should start by mid-November. The money, awarded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is expected to help at least 150 individuals and families annually for the next three years.
"We have many people today who find themselves unemployed, not because they weren't a good worker, but because the business they worked for closed or they were laid off," said Davis, who applied for the HUD grant through the state in September.
"This program is to help them maintain housing and support services until they can get back on their feet. ...We can pay for their entire housing costs for up to 18 months."
Community Link will divide the recipients into two categories: 45 of them each year will be homeless who need housing; and 105 will be tenants who can't keep up with rent and utilities. They can stay in the program for no more than 18 months. Those who qualify will be given a case manager and other support, Davis said. Community Link, which helped 7,000 struggling people find affordable housing last year, will add two staffers for the program.
To find candidates, Community Link is partnering with six agencies in the five counties, all of which meet needs ranging from emergency shelter to help with utilities and rent.
One of those partners, Rowan Helping Ministries, runs a shelter in Rowan County. It recently saw a good candidate for the new assistance program in a family of six.
"The parents lost their jobs, lost their home, and had no place else to go," said Penny Bowman, program director for the ministry. "They stayed in our shelter for six months, until the dad did get a job."
Stanly County, where unemployment is 11.9 percent, just got its first emergency housing shelter in September. It has eight beds and was started by Homes of Hope, a partner in the new housing effort.
"We have a lot of average people in this county who are about to be homeless and if we could just find a way to get them through this next year, they could make it back," said Executive Director Skeet Ayscue.
In Cabarrus, the new program could put a dent in the estimated 240 families a month that face a housing crisis, said Ed Hosack, executive director of Cooperative Christian Ministry in Concord, another of the groups participating.
"We have three foreclosures a day and over eight eviction notices served a day," said Hosack. "We do not have the shelter and transitional housing facilities to respond to that. We know this program can have a tremendous impact in keeping some families in their homes, and helping others get back into a place rather quickly."
Cabarrus' problems with unemployment go back years, he says, citing the closing of Pillowtex in 2003, which wiped out 4,000 jobs in Cabarrus and Rowan counties.
The HUD money comes from the same federal pool that helped launch Project Hope in Charlotte in August. That $2 million project is crafted as a long-term solution for homelessness, proposing to pull Mecklenburg families and individuals from shelters, put them in apartments and stabilize their lives over 18 months.
Davis sees Community Link's program as a regional extension of the goals championed by Project Hope.
"It makes much more sense in my mind to help people stay in housing, as opposed to letting them become homeless and suffer all the disruption to their lives in a time of crisis," said Davis.
"I'm happy that HUD is finally looking at prevention, and I think it will be more efficient and effective."
Charlotte Strategy Goes Beyond Housing Homeless
Project Hope – a groundbreaking program that could change the way Charlotte deals with homelessness – is expected to be unveiled tonight as part of a Charlotte City Council vote to back the project with nearly $2 million in Federal Stimulus money.
Crafted to be a long-term solution rather than a quick fix, the program calls for pulling families and individuals from local shelters, putting them in rental apartments, and stabilizing their lives over 18 months with education, job skills, counseling and support from social workers and teams of volunteers.
The start-up plan calls for 100 families to be helped over the next three years. However, organizers predict hundreds more could be recruited if plans for another $2 million in stimulus money from the state fall into place in the coming months. Steps are also being finalized for a campaign to raise further money from local donors.
“It's a very exciting time,” says Roxianna Johnson, head of the Homeless Services Network, a coalition of 37 nonprofit, government and faith-based programs devoted to ending homelessness in Mecklenburg County.
“These dollars have created an opportunity to try things that we've talked about for years, things that we know work, but we never had the funding to implement on this kind of scale.”
The council will vote to contract with Crisis Assistance Ministry and the Workforce Initiative for Supportive Housing (WISH). Those groups will manage Project Hope on behalf of the Homeless Services Network. A small portion of the stimulus money will also go toward short-term homeless prevention, including help with rent.
How the participants will be chosen is still being worked out. But the goal is reaching the most vulnerable of the homeless.
“Lives will be changed,” says Carol Hardison, director of Crisis Assistance Ministry. “They'll move from the fear of sleeping in a car or on a cot, to having an opportunity for financial stability.”
The ultimate goal, she says, is to keep participants from returning to homelessness once their time in the program ends.
That is the basic philosophy of WISH, which has helped 70 homeless families (including 130 children) work toward financial stability since being launched 18 months ago.
Sarah Covington, 28, is among them – and an example of what WISH hopes to accomplish in Project Hope. She lost her job last year as a certified nurse's assistant and spent the winter in a homeless shelter with her daughter. WISH found her a home, helped her find a job, and gave her a chance to enroll in college to become a registered nurse.
Better still, she says, the program showed her how to save for a down payment on a car, eliminating six hours a day riding the bus to work and school.
“If I keep working hard, everything is going to come through for me,” she says. “I was at a low point, worrying about where my child would lay her head at night. But I was truly blessed to get into this program.”
The Salvation Army's Center of Hope, a homeless shelter near uptown, will direct families and individuals to Project Hope. Center director Deronda Metz has already identified a few dozen families that she hopes will qualify. The center currently has 310 women and children, some of whom have been homeless for more than a year.
“We had a resident meeting on Wednesday and I grabbed the mic and I surprised them with the news on Project Hope, and they cheered and applauded,” said Metz. “One lady started crying. She said, ‘I didn't think anybody was listening.'”
Organizers say one of the most innovative parts of the project is the partnerships from all segments of the community. In addition to Crisis Assistance and WISH, Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services will assign three social workers to the project, more if the additional money comes through. The nonprofit Foundation for the Carolinas has worked behind the scenes to organize regular meetings of the partners.
Also key is an endorsement by the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association, which is encouraging apartment companies to participate on a case-by-case basis.
WISH Director Darren Ash believes a key to the program's success will be in matching homeless people with teams of volunteers.
“Social workers are there to lay out a path and hold people accountable, but what creates significant change is … when these families bond with people who have a different past,” Ash says. “They break away from other role models to a new set of role models.
“One of the biggest gifts Charlotte has is a sense of volunteerism, and this is a model that takes advantage of that.”
Charlotte City Council Uses MY 2007 Project H.O.P.E. Idea To Eliminate Homelessness & Win 2009 Elections (Here are the forwarded e-mails as proof.)
PROJECT CHARLOTTE H.O.P.E. PROPOSAL / Please also forward to Mr. Rodney Hood and Mrs. Sarah Stevenson
Tuesday, May 8, 2007 2:10 PM
From:
"Laurel
Add sender to Contacts
To:
malachigreene@gmail.com, gdunlap@bellsouth.net, sjohnston@tueforumclt.org, TueForum@tueforumclt.org, jennifer.roberts@mecklenburgcountync.gov, phelms@helmshenderson.com, dan@danramirez.com, karen.bentley@mecklenburgcountync.gov, normanam@aol.com, 2woodard@bellsouth.net, dumontclarke@mvalaw.com, dan@votedanbishop.com, wjames@carolina.rr.com, ddixon@pridecommunications.net, SBurg346@aol.com
Cc:
FoxxCharlotte@aol.com, JamesDistrict2@aol.com, patmumford@bellsouth.net, 71170.3036@compuserve.com, dwlochman@yahoo.com, district3_turner@yahoo.com, Lassiter@bellsouth.net, pkinsey@carolina.rr.com, adulin1@carolina.rr.com, barnesdistrict4@aol.com
Bcc:
yvonne.m.evans@nccourts.org, malachigreene@gmail.com, Charlied@ncleg.net, superintendent@cms.k12.nc.us, Maurice.Green@cms.k12.nc.us, washingtonbureau@naacpnet.org, actso@naacpnet.org, youth@naacpnet.org, torrey@pridecommunications.net, ncnaacp@gmail.com, RThames@charlotteobserver.com
Message contains attachments
project hope REVISIONS 1.rtf (67KB)
(Please also forward this e-mail to Mr. Rodney Hood
and Mrs. Sarah Stevenson.)
May 08, 2007
Dear Charlotte-Mecklenburg City/ County Officials and
Fine Citizens:
It was a pleasure meeting most of you during the Tuesday
Breakfast Forum this morning. I look forward to
perhaps speaking with you again in the future.
Thank you in advance for taking the time out of your
busy schedule to read this COST EFFECTIVE,
SELF-SUPPORTING Project Proposal that I am presenting
to you.
This COST EFFECTIVE, SELF-SUPPORTING Program is
designed to:
Help ELIMINATE POVERTY in Charlotte, STOP Gang
Activity, IMPROVE CHARLOTTE-MECK's ECONOMY, improve
Charlotte's DIVERSITY dynamics, Help to eliminate
Homelessness and improve the QUALITY OF LIFE FOR
CHILDREN living in this region.
This program can also be used to REPLACE the
MECKLENBURG COUNTY WOMEN'S COMMISSION EMPLOYMENT and
TRAINING PROGRAM, which appears to be NO LONGER
effective.
We should ALL want to help improve the Quality of
lives for our Children/Youth and help Low-Income
people to become productive citizens in this
community.
I hope this Project will provide answers for some of
the problems that are currently plaguing
Charlotte-Mecklenburg AND that this Project will be
the Catalyst for change needed to make Charlotte, NC a
UNIQUE, WORLD CLASS CITY.
(Please notify me if the attached document wasn't
accessible when you try to open it.)(The Attachment IS
Virus-free.)
THANKS and God Bless:)
Regards,
From:
"Laurel
Add sender to Contacts
To:
gflack1@bellsouth.net
Message contains attachments
project hope REVISIONS 1.rtf (67KB)
May 08, 2007
Dear Dr. Foloke:
It was a pleasure meeting you during the
Breakfast Forum this morning. I look forward to
perhaps speaking with you again in the near future.
Thank you in advance for taking the time out of your
busy schedule to read this COST EFFECTIVE,
SELF-SUPPORTING Project Proposal that I am presenting
to you.
I only request that the people for whom this project
is truly intended are the ones who are ACTUALLY
helped.
This COST EFFECTIVE, SELF-SUPPORTING Program is
designed to:
Help ELIMINATE POVERTY in Charlotte, STOP Gang
Activity, IMPROVE CHARLOTTE-MECK's ECONOMY, improve
Charlotte's DIVERSITY dynamics, Help to eliminate
Homelessness and improve the QUALITY OF LIFE FOR
CHILDREN living in this region.
This program can also be used to REPLACE the
MECKLENBURG COUNTY WOMEN'S COMMISSION EMPLOYMENT and
TRAINING PROGRAM, which appears to be NO LONGER
effective.
We should ALL want to help improve the Quality of
lives for our Children/Youth and help Low-Income
people to become productive citizens in this
community.
I hope this Project will provide answers for some of
the problems that are currently plaguing
Charlotte-Mecklenburg AND that this Project will be
the Catalyst for change needed to make Charlotte, NC a
UNIQUE, WORLD CLASS CITY.
(Please notify me if the attached document wasn't
accessible when you try to open it.)(The Attachment IS
Virus-free.)
THANKS and God Bless:)
"THE CHARLOTTE H.O.P.E. PROJECT": (TO BE UP AND OPERATIONAL BY 2008.) ONLY SERIOUS APPLICANTS NEED APPLY!
(CHARLOTTE Helping Others Progress Excellently) FOR SINGLE PARENTS/ ALL ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME CITIZENS
(THIS IS A SHORT-TERM PROGRAM (12 TO 30 MONTHS/ CASE-BY-CASE BASIS) THAT REQUIRES EACH ELIGIBLE APPLICANT TO FULLY COOPERATE AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL RESULTS.)
“There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.”
Albert Schweitzer
“The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.”
Albert Einstein
“It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun; All I can do is reach for it myself.”
Joyce Maynard
I. PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:
A Pilot Project COMMITTED to assisting Single Parents/ Low-Income Citizens in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, into becoming realistically, totally self-sufficient within a 12 to 30 Month period, on a Case-by-Case basis.
The program will be mainly funded by grants as to request very minimal financial assistance from the city budget and will operate with GREAT ACCOUNTABILITY in order to prevent wasting of precious funds and abuse by participants.
Participants will be required to follow ALL components of the program in order to remain active in the program and to benefit from the project. (NO EXCEPTIONS!) PARTICIPANTS WILL BE GIVEN THREE GRACE-PERIODS FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY BEFORE BEING TERMINATED COMPLETELY FROM THE PROJECT, WITH NO CHANCE TO RE-ENTER!
(NO EXCEPTIONS!)
ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST AGREE TO RANDOM DRUG TESTING WITHOUT OBJECTIONS.
FAILURE TO PASS A DRUG TEST WILL RESULT IN EXPULSION IN THE PROGRAM. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
THIS PROGRAM IS ONLY FOR SERIOUS PARTICIPANTS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIVES AND THE CHARLOTTE COMMUNITY; NOT WASTING PROJECT MONEY!!
The program will promote diversity within the community by encouraging applicants of all races/ BOTH genders to apply.
It is to be considered that only ONE to TWO HUNDRED PARTICIPANTS will be selected in the beginning stages of the project as to prevent program overcrowding and case loads that are too heavy for proper accountability.
A WAITING LIST WILL BE MAINTAINED AND KEPT CURRENT DUE TO PARTICIPANTS LEAVING THE PROGRAM VOLUNTARILY AND INVOLUNTARILY.
The time frame of 12 to 30 months is due to the fact that poverty can’t be cured overnight. It has been proven that short-term solutions have not been successful instead only creating more waste of valuable funds.
The purpose of this project is to not only assist our community in eliminating the poverty-stricken state of so many Low-income/ Single Parent homes and their children, but to also provide Low-income Single Parents with the necessary tools to become TOTALLY productive, positive members of society.
(This project can be used as guide in assisting other Metropolitan cities experiencing the same needs.)
Single parents/ Low-Income Citizens must not be treated as though they are a “thorn in the side” within the community.
However, they must also not be encouraged to continue to create more poverty by just receiving hand-outs without any real accountability. This project will also positively discourage more children from being born out of wedlock without placing a stigma on the parents or the children.
The total success of this program will require the assistance of the ENTIRE Charlotte-Meck. community as to encourage the participants, to ensure that the requirements of the program are being followed, to ensure that no funds are being mismanaged and to encourage the building of strong, non-dysfunctional families.
II. BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE:
A. Counseling- (Counseling (by LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS NOT SOCIAL WORKERS!) regarding self-esteem and self-image issues as to create new mindsets for the participants) (You can’t pour new wine into old wineskins.) Participants needing assistance with drug/ alcohol abuse or domestic violence counseling will be referred to programs or agencies for long- term counseling.
B. HOPE Seminars- (Required monthly seminars taught by guest speakers) that the participants must attend to remain encouraged in their endeavors
C. Mentoring- Parental mentoring/ Life Coaches and long- term Mentors for the children.
D. Life Skills training- (Parenting skills, long term financial counseling/ realistic budgeting, housing assistance (rental assistance will be allowed (if needed) only three times during the duration of their time in the program), assistance with finding safe, affordable housing, proper nutrition and menu planning, home economics (basic housekeeping/ basic cooking skills (cooking classes taught by Culinary school student volunteers (Johnson & Wales)
E. Long-term (16 weeks) Technology training- Participants will attend computer training classes for two hours every other Saturday. During the last three weeks of these sessions they will build their own PCs to take home and keep at the end of the training.
This component of the program will help to eliminate the digital divide within our community, assist the participants with completing school assignments and to assist their children with being able to pass the North Carolina Computer Competency exam in the future which is a state graduation requirement.
F. Child Care- The program will provide an on-site, five-star child care (using the CMS Bright Beginnings Curriculum) center for young children of the participants for children ages 6 weeks to 4 years. The parents of these children MUST remain active (full-time) in the program in order for their children to continue receiving care. The program will also assist with funding for off-site child care. The on-site center will include a summer program.
ALL CHILDREN WILL ATTEND APPROPRIATE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS.
THIS INCLUDES CHILDREN AGES 12 TO 14, AS TO PREVENT THEM FROM JOINING GANGS AND TEEN PREGNANCIES.
The parents must also make time once a month (five hours) to visit and volunteer in their child’s classroom(s) whether it is in the Child Care Center or in their child's Public School classroom (this will be documented and signed by the child’s teacher). The parents must also join their child’s school PTA program if their child is in regular school (The HOPE project will provide such funding if needed). In order to receive this funding the participants will be required to provide documented, signed proof to their social worker or case worker on a monthly basis that they are in fact attending school AND passing their ALL of their classes.
The Project H.O.P.E. Child Care Center will be staffed by a highly qualified Program Director/ Assistant Director, some outside qualified candidates, qualified program volunteers and eligible program participants.
(THE CENTER WILL IMMEDIATELY STRIVE FOR NORTH CAROLINA'S CHILD DEVELOPMENT FIVE- STAR STATUS.)
G. A Love for Literacy and Creative Arts Component- The program will supply books as gifts once-a-week to the participants as to encourage the parents to spend time with their children by reading to them. Participants will attend family creative arts workshops every two months (Saturdays for one hour) with their children as to also encourage family involvement and visit the Mint Museum, The New South Museum and Discovery Place at the expense of the program or by soliciting sponsors of these trips.
H. Home Visits- The program will also require that the participants allow program social or caseworkers to make quarterly home visits for approximately one hour to further assist them in meeting their goals.
I. Transportation- The program will assist with transportation by providing participants with monthly CATS bus passes or gas assistance (no more than $30.00 to $50.00 per month by completing a mileage form listing all of their daily activity) and to award program graduates (ONLY graduates who have completed ALL components of the program including earning an educational certificate or an Associate’s degree), with a quality used car. Their contribution will only be $500.00 to be paid in Installments.
(Each Transportation Awardee must possess a Valid N.C. DL and Automobile Insurance before being allowed to drive the car.)
J. Legal Assistance- This component will assist program participants who have Misdemeanor/ Felony offenses on their records that are eligible for expungment and to make participants aware of some of their rights such as Tenant rights, Custodial Parental rights, etc.,
K. Career Planning/ Education: Participants will be allowed to take Career tests making them aware of their strengths and weaknesses before registering for any Educational programs. This component will also assist participants with up-to-date realistic, professional resume/ cover letter writing skills and interviewing skills. Participants will also be required to attend job fairs twice a year to hone interviewing skills and will receive assistance for creating a career wardrobe from the Dress-for-Success program, etc.,
APPLICANTS WHO DID NOT COMPLETE THEIR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION WILL BE REQUIRED TO DO SO WITHIN THEIR FIRST 3 TO 6 MONTHS OF ENTRY INTO THE PROGRAM. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
L. Notary Public (Optional) Component- This component will be optional, however encouraged as to assist ELIGIBLE participants in becoming North Carolina Notary Publics as to make them more marketable in the workforce.
M. An Interpreter for Hispanic Participants: The program will provide Interpreters for the Hispanic program participants.
N. An Annual Mother’s Day/ Birthday Party Program: Each year on the Friday before Mother’s Day the participants with children will attend a MANDATORY Mother’s Day program with their children and will receive gift bags, make-overs, decorated food baskets and enjoy a meal with their children. During this event five participants of the program who have been in the program for at least one year and made substantial progress will receive Mother-of-the-year plaques.
THIS IS TO PROMOTE POSITIVE PARENTING.
ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL ATTEND AN ANNUAL PARTY TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAYS OF PROJECT PARTICIPANTS.
O. Food and Clothing for Program Participants and their Children:
All program participants will more than likely be eligible to receive food stamps. However, the case worker or social worker assigned to assist each participant in achieving their goals will see to it that the food stamps benefits are NOT being abused and that nutritious foods are being purchased. Participants needing clothes will be referred to the Salvation Army or will receive Wal-Mart gift cards of no more than fifty to seventy-five dollars per quarter. Participants who receive gift cards must provide receipts of the purchases to their case worker or social workers as proof of not being sold or abused. Once a year during Thanksgiving and Christmas each family will receive dinner gift baskets. Sponsors (The Charlotte Bobcats or The Panthers) will be encouraged to “adopt” a family to assist with Christmas purchases.
P. Homeownership Component: Each participant will be required to volunteer once a year (TEN hours) in the building of a Habitat-for-Humanity home. The participants will also be strongly encouraged to participate in that program as to become “homeowner minded”.
Q. Commitment: The participants must be committed to remain in the program for the ENTIRE time frame and complete each component of the program. All participants will sign a bi-lateral agreement stating they will be committed to completing the ENTIRE program. The Project will commit to assisting them in this endeavor.
III. REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTERING THE PROGRAM:
A. Application: Each perspective program participant must complete an EXTENSIVE, COMPLETE Application which will include a signed criminal background and credit check form. (Participants with Felony offenses will be considered for program acceptance on a Case-by-Case basis, due to some Felonies NOT being expungable.)Participants with Misdemeanor offenses eligible for expungement will also be considered for acceptance into the program.
B. Interviews: The perspective participants must pass a three-stage Interview process. The first interview will be with a Case Manager or a QUALIFIED Social Worker. The next interview will be with a LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL.
The last interview will be with the Program Board Members. During the LAST phase of the Interview process four to five candidates will be interviewed together in a group style setting.
CANDIDATES WITH CHILDREN WILL ALSO BE INTERVIEWED BY THE PROJECT H.O.P.E. CHILD CARE CENTER DIRECTOR AND THE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS DIRECTORS, THEREBY COMPLETING A FOURTH INTERVIEW.
C. Skills/ Educational Placement Test: Each perspective applicant is required to complete a placement test to see what level they will need to begin to complete their educational goals.
If participants already posses an Associate’s degree and wish to complete the requirements for a Bachelor’s degree, this will be permitted as long as it can earned within the three to five year time frame.
However for those to whom this will apply EACH participant is required to earn an Associate’s degree as to ensure their marketability in the workplace.
D. Health Physical: Each participant will be required to complete a physical by a doctor however no participant will be denied due to reasonable health risks as allowed by law. (The program participants will also be required to have an annual physical to be performed by a board-certified doctor.)
PROGRAM CASE MANAGERS AND SOCIAL WORKERS WILL ENSURE THAT ALL CHILDREN/ YOUTH ATTEND REQUIRED DOCTOR VISITS FOR PHYSICALS/ UP-TO-DATE IMMUNIZATIONS. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
IV. PROGRAM FUNDING:
The program will be mainly funded by grants such as (these are all ACTUAL foundations/ philanthropists) (This is NOT a complete list of funders/ resources):
The Carneige Corporation
Bill and Melinda Gates
Bank of America
Wachovia Corporation
Soroptimist International (The Women Opportunity Awards)
The Gerber foundation
The J. Paul Getty Trust foundation
The Duke Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
The T.E.A.C.H. scholarship
The John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation
The Mega Foundation
The Andrew Mellon Foundation
The Arts & Science Council
The Joan Mitchell Foundation
The Mellon Foundation
The Morino Foundation/ Institute
The MSMS Foundation
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
The John P. Murphy Foundation
The Messer Fund
The Mustard Seed Foundation
Wal-Mart
The Charlotte Bobcats
The Charlotte Panthers
Children's Defense Fund
Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of afterschool programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children. It is supported by a group of public, private and nonprofit organizations that share the Alliance's vision of ensuring that all children have access to afterschool programs by 2010.
Child Care and Early Education Research Connections (CCEERC) promotes high quality research in child care and early education and the use of that research in policy making.
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is a membership-based child welfare organization.
Children’s Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to Leave No Child Behind® and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
Children Now is a research organization that utilizes research and mass communications to make the well-being of children a top priority across the nation.
Docs for Tots is working to develop, support, and grow a nationwide network of doctors who can respond to the requests of child advocacy organizations and others to participate in advocating for policies and practices that improve the well-being of our youngest children. Docs For Tots was formed to encourage more doctors to fulfill their important role as active advocates for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers on the national, state and local levels.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a bipartisan, nonprofit anti-crime organization led by police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, victims of violence and leaders of police officer associations. The organization reviews research about what keeps kids from becoming criminals and puts that information in the hands of policymakers and the public.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the nation’s largest organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade.
National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) supports early childhood education initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research.
National Center for Children in Poverty is a part of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, whose mission is to identify and promote strategies that prevent child poverty in the United States and that improve the lives of low-income children and their families.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices helps governors and their staff develop and implement solutions to challenges facing their states, including early childhood education policies.
National Head Start Association is a not-for-profit membership organization that provides a national forum for the continued enhancement of Head Start services for poor children ages 0 through 5, and their families.
Parents’ Action for Children is a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing the interests of families and young children. Parents’ Action develops parent education materials, connects parents with one another, and fights for issues such as early education, health care, and high quality and affordable child care.
Voices for America’s Children is a national organization committed to working at the state and local levels to improve the well-being of children, with member organizations in almost every state.
Etc.,
(As stated above only MINIMAL funding from the City of Charlotte/ County will be necessary.)
V. LOCATION:
The location(s) of the program must be in a central part of Charlotte in which the community(ies) demonstrates SIGNIFICANT need of the services that this project will offer.
A. Some Location suggestions are:
The Grier Heights community (off of Monroe and Wendover Rds.)
West Charlotte (Beatties Ford rd. area)
Southwest Charlotte (the Nations Ford rd. area)
North Tryon street area (near the Hidden Valley Community)
Belmont Community
VI. VOLUNTEERS:
All Volunteers including faith-based volunteers will be welcome, however ALL volunteers will be required to complete a Criminal background check and ALL volunteer names will be checked against the National Sex Offender Registry List.
VII. STAFF:
ALL STAFF WILL BE HIRED ON A CONTRACTUAL BASIS. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
ONLY CASE MANAGERS AND QUALIFIED SOCIAL WORKERS WITH PREVIOUS, SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH SUCH PROGRAMS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS.
CASE MANAGER AND QUALIFIED SOCIAL WORKERS WILL BE GRANTED FOR TWO-YEAR CONTRACTS,TO BE RENEWED ONLY WITH "EXCEEDS" EMPLOYMENT EVALUATIONS.
EVALUATIONS TO BE GIVEN ANNUALLY BY THE PROJECT H.O.P.E. BOARD MEMBERS.
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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, WCNC, A Child's Place, Charmeck.org, Charlotte Rescue Mission, Yahoo, Youtube, Google Maps
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