Thank you Prince of Peace!

 During a monthly call with her teacher I was surprised to learn she was not doing well in school, and in fact not turning in her homework. Dania and I talked later the next day about what was going on at school. She told me she wasn’t turning in her homework because she didn’t have a lock on her locker. So she was using her friends’ lockers, a lot of her friends. She had homework and books scattered in lockers throughout the school and often forgot in which one she left her homework.

 Through a school supply donation drive, we were able to provide a lock for Dania. She is now not only completing her homework, but turning it in!

Learning Lab

*Names of youth are changed

By Michael Melling, Learning Lab Elementary Teacher

On Tuesday night, February 1, Jacob Klingensmith brought a donation of approximately 500 books to the Learning Lab.  Jacob is a high school student in the metro area working on becoming an Eagle Scout.  One of the hurdles in achieving the honor of an Eagle Scout is planning, organizing, and carrying out a service project.  Having ties to Urban Ventures through our grant writer, Beth Becker, Jacob decided to plan a book drive to benefit the Learning Lab.

Jacob started with writing up his plan to be approved by the Scout board.  Once approved, he needed to figure out a way to pull it off.  He dropped grocery bags off around his neighborhood and let the neighbors know about the service project and the program they were going to help.  He later went back and collected around 500 books, which he delivered to a group of Learning Lab kids. 

Jacob had a chance to share the process with the kids who were themselves familiar with planning and organizing small service projects in the Learning Lab.  Jacob also brought some Scouts with him, and each had a chance to share the books with the elementary group at the Learning Lab.  The kids were excited to see some great titles.  One group of third and fourth grade boys was found drooling over the pages and pages of custom motorcycles in an Orange County Choppers book.

The Learning Lab is extremely grateful to Jacob and Troop 906 for the hard work and great payoff.

“You know I love you Shanna,” the 14 year old girl I have mentored over the past 3 years says to me in my car as we drive from St. Paul to South Minneapolis.  

I’m driving her and her stuff from her friend’s house where she has been staying for the past several months because she’s had nowhere else to stay.  Homeless is the word for it but it’s a word too harsh to say out loud.  Her aunt’s house is where she will now stay, a more permanent place both she and I hope. Her friend’s mom is less optimistic and says to the 14 year old girl as she walks out the door with her last garbage bag of stuff, “See you back here in a week.”

Even though she tries to hide it I can see the pain on the 14 year old girl’s face. She doesn’t want to have to be back in a week, but she knows all too well it could happen – she doesn’t think about it at the moment; she wants to hold onto the optimism.

“You know I love you Shanna” she says to me to thank me for everything I do for her – both of us knowing a thank you isn’t needed.   Love doesn’t always need a thank you.

Her prayer in church with me a couple weeks ago was the biggest thank you I have ever received; she prayed out loud for the church to hear without being asked or prompted.  “Lord thank you for the people in my life that care about me,”  short, sweet, and simple with no more than that needing to be said – no names needed to given – a thank you to God is more than a thank you I need.

“You know I love you Shanna” this 14 year old girl says to me.

“I know. I love you too.” I say back to her.

“I know.” She says.

We both smile. We know – which is deeper and better than any thank you.

Elizabeth Glidden and La Victoria staff: Jorge Figueroa, Robyn Angulo, and Jessica Retamal

Friday, January 28th, La Victoria youth program was given the 8th Ward Community Leadership Award. Council member Elizabeth Glidden introduced us by recognizing that the City of Minneapolis is in need of programs that support the Latino population. La Victoria has been just such a program. La Victoria has made a difference by surrounding Latino youth with one-on-one and group mentoring programs. La Victoria has supported Urban Ventures’ mission to break the cycle of generational poverty this past year by providing caring adult mentors to over 150 Latino youth of South Minneapolis. We strive to empower these youth to walk forward in victory over their family situations, school struggles and community pressures. We are proud of so many of students who are realizing their potential and changing the community. La Victoria and Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation are honored to receive this recognition from the City Council of Minneapolis.

Thank you to all volunteers, supporters and community members that have continued to make La Victoria possible through encouragement, faith and support throughout the past years.

Blessings,

Robyn Angulo, La Victoria Coordinator

The Skateboard Park consists of small set of ramps at the back of the Hub and a larger set outside. According to Mark-Peter, Tuesdays and Thursday during open boarding the Skateboard Park is packed. Like kids in other Urban Ventures program, kids that skateboard for free at the Hub live in difficult situations. Many of them suffer from abuse and neglect. Some of them move around a lot with their families and have even experienced homelessness. The Skateboard Park, for these kids, is a focal point in their chaotic lives. If they could, they would skate there seven days a week because it is a safe and constant place for them amidst the turmoil of their lives.

The kids that skateboard at the park are different from many kids involved in Urban Ventures programs because they are very wary of classroom settings and scheduled programs. As a result, they are hard to incorporate into the mentoring programs at the Hub. On Wednesday nights, however, the Skateboard Park is only open to people upon invitation of the Urban Ventures Skateboard Park staff. The evening is hosted by Jon Lord, who is building a new community by deeply investing in a group of 15 skaters.  The evening includes plenty of skating, a short talk addressing their spiritual growth, and a meal. “There is nothing more heartwarming,” explains Mark Peter, “than to see this rag-tag bunch sitting around Jon. It’s the closest they will ever come to a church.” 

Even for the kids who do not attend the Wednesday night mentoring session, the Skateboard Park is an important place for them to stay safe and off the street, away from gangs and drugs.

Jennifer Arnold, Communications Assistant

According to Stan, he is successful at his work because of a few things. First of all, he develops a relationship with the men and women who attend his program. He approaches them with humility and respect. He shares with them his difficulties and achievements, and helps to empower them. As a result, the people with whom he works want to please him; they work hard to obtain affirmations.

The men and women that Stan welcomes into his program have different skill sets, experiences, and motivation levels. Every person who visits him, however, wants something different for their lives. Stan profoundly believes that what we think and feel determines how we behave, so the first work he does with clients in on their outlook. He tries to instill hope in them, because that is what will help them change their lives. With this goal in mind, Stan helps people who have never held a job to write a resume by directing them to write a list of employable qualities they posses. In the end, Stan reveals to his clients, the resume is a set of affirmations of who they are. He teaches people to redefine success as trying something new that is challenging and difficult. Within this new idea of success, he explains, the people with whom he works are successful because they are doing something they have never done before. By walking his clients through these activities, Stan teaches people who are afraid of failure in a classroom setting.

The back wall of the Ready? Set…  Work! center is papered with 8 ½ by 11 posters of peoples’ names, their employers and a photo or cartoon. The posters are the tangible success stories of the program and the visible motivation for new members. They are the emblem of the seeds of hope that Stan plants in shattered lives.

Jennifer Arnold, Communications Assistant

Interviewer: Tell me about the Larson-Allen Christmas party that took place on Wednesday, the 15^th of December, 2010. What is Larson-Allen’s role in the party? How is the event organized?

Janine: This Christmas party was the fifth consecutive year that Larson-Allen organized, staffed, and donated supplies for the event. It’s the first time I had participated, and it’s a really amazing day! Larson-Allen sets up five stations, providing everything from the supplies to the staff: at one station the students eat pizza; at another they decorate cookies; at another the kids play holiday bingo; one is for ‘shopping’ for presents for their parents in a room filled with choices brought from Larson-Allen; and at the last they get to wrap those gifts. The kids rotate between the stations, accompanied by Urban Ventures staff.

Interviewer: How many participants attended? Who were the students that participated?

Janine: There were 97 students in attendance this year. The students were all participants in the Learning Lab, which is comprised of students from local schools, with the addition of ten students from La Victoria and ten students from Powerhouse.

Interviewer: What is the idea behind students choosing presents for their parents? It’s definitely a unique decision for a Christmas Party for kids.

Janine: Shopping for the parents is my favorite part of the Larson-Allen Christmas party. Providing kids, living in poverty, the opportunity to choose presents for their parents is a way to give dignity to the kids during the holiday season. It gives them a gift to present proudly to someone whom they love. I talked to a few kids after Christmas, and one told me that her mom cried upon opening the gift, another said her mother wore the jewelry the next day, and a third explained that his dad unwrapped his soccer ball and then took the family out to play. Providing children with the opportunity to give gifts to their parents allows parents and kids a chance to spend quality time together.

Claudina Figueroa

Looking back to 2010, we thank God for a year full of new experiences, learning and fun for the participants in Siempre Padres.   Over 200 Latino parents had the opportunity to attend parenting classes, participate in our activities and receive the support of our caring Urban Ventures community.   

December was a month for celebrations! Despite the weather, our Christmas party had a terrific turn out.  We shared an awesome evening! We had an excellent dinner prepared by our chef Steve, games, prices, music and gifts!  Children created Christmas ornaments, while adults listened to Christmas music and played deal or no deal and received prizes.  Every family won!

To wrap up the year, all the families had an opportunity on Thursday December 16 to have a family portrait taken.  Families looked so happy to come and pose in their holiday outfits for the photographers.  Each family received a portrait to take home and a CD with the different poses to make additional copies.

It has been a wonderful year; we have enjoyed the help of YWAM, Target and Cristo Rey volunteers and have been able to see our families learn and grow.

Men graduating from class at the Center for Fathering

John Turnipseed, Director of Center For Fathering

Dennis, a childhood friend of mine, came to me for help two years ago. He was a chronic crack user and a dead beat dad. He had 6 children that he knew of and was in and out of jail. Jack and I double teamed him and he is now a different person. People that knew him are very surprised at the new Dennis. A few weeks ago his oldest son was murdered, and we went to the funeral. He was sober, he had new teeth and a job, and he credited all these changes to the Fathering Center in a public toast (JUICY JUICE) before his whole family. He said we made it possible for his son to have a dad before he died. Jesus is real and will help the least of us through the least of us.