Local Heroes

Dear Readers and Friends,

I have been taking time away from the blog to read and write non-blog projects lately.  The book I am reading is a scholarly and well written book about the impact that being undocumented has on children's development.  I will dedicate an upcoming entry to that.  I am almost finished with the book and want to do a complete review on this site.

I have been working with a group of colleagues on digesting some data we gathered from youth alumni of our Fortaleciendo Familias program.  We conducted focus groups with youth at three sites.  Overall 512 youth completed the program.  We managed to pull in 17 for follow-up focus groups.  It was a learning experience for all of us and as we have digested the meaning of the transcripts and explored the themes expressed by the comments, we discovered consistency across the sites.  Our youth expressed increased understanding of their parents and conversely, that they were able to communicate their thoughts and feelings with their parents with more trust.  My writing group (AnaMaria Diaz Maritinez, Jennifer Crawford, Irene Overath and I) identifies four major themes that emerged from the data.  We saw that the youth acknowledged the changes that occurred in their family systems as a result of participating in our program, we saw a number of competencies that lead to positive youth development emerging in the youth, the youth told us about scenarios that were indicators of increased resilience in their lives and they told us that the craft projects that they did with their families that were designed to raise awareness about family strengths and their values were still important symbols in their homes.  Our article is on version two and we are almost ready to send it off for review.  I am really glad we put collective minds to the task of refining this important data. I see the youth and their parents as well as the dedicated facilitators who conduct the program as the local heroes.

The program has been really popular in my county and in other places where funds are available to offer it.  On my sabbatical task list is designing a process and cost estimate to remake the video portion of the curriculum and to find support for that process.  I have already found out that video production is expensive and it will take creative funding to make it happen.  I am diving into the waters of making connections for future funding this week.

Shuksan Middle School Graduation, March 2014

I often share this picture because it holds out the promise the program has for people.  Isabel Meaker who organizes the Shuksan program told me recently that at 6th grade orientation she signed enough families up for a full class that will take place in early 2016!

Isabel is another local heroine.  I met Isabel through Lindsey Karas, the last of the local heroines I would like to shout out to today.  Lindsey coordinates resident services at Sterling Meadows - Farmworker Housing run by Mercy Housing Corporation.  Mercy Housing Northwest oversees a number of properties throughout the west.  Our local WSU Extension team supports Sterling Meadows by embedding nutrition and gardening programs there and by serving residents in our Fortaleciendo Familias Program at Shuksan.  Lindsey is the fulcrum for the services that are designed to wrap around the children and their families at Sterling Meadows.  There are many collaborators that work with Lindsey and she deserves the recognition she received at a recent reception held as a fundraiser for her programs.  She works with Western Washington University (WWU) faculty and students to support the ongoing education of the students.  The success of the program is simply expressed.  They went from a 0% graduation rate among resident teens to a 100% graduation rate over the past seven years.  I was amazed and really proud to witness the speech from the polished and proud young woman who shared what Lindsey's program meant to her.  There were numerous examples of youth who not only completed their high school degrees but went onto college.  The word excelling was used to describe some of the youth in the program.  The homework club that utilizes WWU students is part of the reason these youth succeed.  The safe and supportive and predictable housing they grow up in also provides an atmosphere that lowers stress and allows the kids to focus.

I do not have a picture of Lindsey and her lovely student Crystal to share.  I received a lovely thank you note from Mercy Housing thanking me for my donation that has a photo of these local heroines.  There are some great videos that share what Mercy Housing NW is doing to support residents in having a successful and healthy life path.  They are short and sweet and worth seeing.  I recommend them.

Part of my passion for housing comes from my nine (yes 9!) years of board service at Lydia Place.  One of our big fundraisers takes place June 4th at Depot Market Square in Bellingham.  I am excited to go.  If you are interested in attending, tickets can be found at the website above.  It is a joyous and colorful event!  

Enjoy your early June!

Thanks for reading.