I had lunch with Becky James-Hatter, the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri recently. I consider her a friend and I was so glad to catch up with her. While we only took about an hour or so for lunch, we managed to cover a ton of subjects.
One of the things we talked about was the needs the agency is facing as they continue to strive to serve as many children as possible. Right now, they need to raise around $400,000 in order to help fund one of their most successful and beneficial programs. $400,000 sounds like, and truly is, a significant amount of money. However, when you consider what that $400,000 will do, it seems like such a small amount. In the world of investing, which I profess to know less than nothing about, it seems to me that the return on investment would be considered high.
Becky explained that next year, the government will cut her funding for the AMACHI program. The Amachi program serves the children of parents who are incarcerated. So, Dad is in jail, Mom's working and trying to make ends meet and BBBSEMO, through Amachi, connects a positive adult influence into the life of this child. That positive adult role model could be the difference between that child following in the footsteps of his father or following a different set of footprints. Still, $400,000 is a LOT of money for just one program that may help keep a few kids out of prison later.
So, I did some checking to find out why $400,000 would be so important. Here are a few facts for you to mull over:
1. 2.5 MILLION children in the U.S. have a parent in prison.
2. 60,000 children in Missouri have a parent in prison.
3. BBBSEMO provides a positive role model for 1,140 of those children.
4. According to the article "The Cost of Prison", it costs approximately $16,308 per year to incarcerate a person.
5. "Prison Count 2010" stated that there were 30,792 prisoners in Missouri as of January 1, 2010.
6. The Missouri Department of Corrections lists their FY2011 budget is $660,034,212. That's 660 MILLION, 34 THOUSAND, 212 DOLLARS! (I checked and the math doesn't add up just right because $660,034,212 divided by 30,792 prisoners equals $21,477.10. But, I'll stick with the $16,308 figure from the report.)
Allow me to play around with the math...right now, it takes about $1200 to match one adult to one child. That sounds like a lot of money "just to let two people meet and form a friendship." However, that's not what really happens.
There is a very intensive screening process for both the adult volunteer and the child joining the program. There are match specialists and folks who work to ensure that the match becomes a good one according to very specific indicators. The matches are even color-coded into red, yellow and green.
And, of course, there's the all important matter of match retention. How long does the Big stay in touch with and remain active in the life of a Little? BBBSEMO has the nation's highest quality of matches and longest match retention rate. I hope you are still with me, I'm getting to the big finale!
So, $400,000 could be spent on housing 25.527 prisoners for one year or it could be spent on matching 333 (at $1200.00 per match) kids to caring adults who will work hard to keep them out of the prison system later on. If you look even deeper into this, the return on investment is even greater because the matches typically last for several years.
Now, consider the fact that they are serving 1,140 children of parents who are currently incarcerated. If they only made an impact in the lives of 26 of those kids (that's 2% of the total kids served), they would be saving the state more than the $400,000 they need to keep the program going.
Are you with me on this? Do you see what needs to happen here? Will you help me make it happen?
I'm on a mission. I'm going to ask, beg, plead and do whatever I can to help them raise that $400,000 by next December. I'm going to make a small donation to get the ball rolling. It won't be anything stellar or grand because, like many of you, the economy has affected us. However, my fat butt can give up a few trips to Starbucks in order to make a donation.
Here's what I'm asking you to do:
1. Pray for this organization and the good works they do.
2. Think about making a donation.
3. Go here to DONATE. It's ridiculously simple! You can donate as little or as much as you want! $5, $10, $15, $20, etc. (If anyone wants to give $100,000 or more, I'll clean your home from top to bottom and I'll iron your bedsheets! It's an OCD thing of mine and I will be glad to put it to use for you !) If you donate because of this post, put it in the comment line on the website and ask them to direct it to the Amachi program.
4. Send the link to this blog post to every person you know in Missouri (elsewhere if you want!) and ask them to match your donation!
5. Consider becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister.
If you absolutely cannot afford to donate please simply say a prayer for them and for the 60,000 kids in Missouri who have a parent in prison. Pass this link along. Ask people you know to donate. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing to help this worthy cause.
Finally, here's a little scriptural motivation for you: Matthew 25:31-46.
Showing posts with label People Who Impress Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People Who Impress Me. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Not a Person I Admire...More Like People I Admire
Mondays are about picking out a person I admire and telling you why. Today, I've decided not to focus on a particular person or a couple of people I know. Rather, I'd like to tell you why I'm such a HUGE fan of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
A few years ago, while toiling away as a principal in a junior high school, I was actively and openly looking for ways to bring more positive role models into the lives of many of the students in my building. I had formed a partnership with our local Boys and Girls Club (another perfectly wonderful and worthy organization) and we were offering programming in the building after school for students who wanted to participate.
Still, I felt that there must be more I could do to help so many of these kids. So, I made a call to the local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency director and asked her if we could meet. We did and, at the time, it was difficult to figure out what a partnership would look like between the school and the organization. Most of the kids they served were elementary school kids, they had a very limited budget, and it just didn't seem like something that could happen right now. We left the meeting agreeing that I could send referrals to the organization and they would screen the kids and try to match them up with a Big.
Fast-forward a few years and I was asked to sit on a board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. The home office is based in St. Louis and they have a satellite office here in our town. BBBSEMO wanted to take a look at the impact of the Big/Little relationship in regard to student success in the areas of attendance, behavior and academic achievement as measured by district and state assessments. So, we met at a local eatery one evening with a few elementary principals, myself, the Alternative School Director, the Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent, and a few folks from the local University.
We were told from the onset that they were curious on two fronts:
1. Does having a strong Big/Little relationship have an impact on a student's success in school?
2. Is there a way the Bigs could help the students find more success in school?
We met quarterly and spent much of the time in those first meetings deciding what to measure, how to measure it and what the thresholds were for taking measurements. The thing that CONTINUOUSLY impressed me was the agency's constant focus on finding new ways of helping the kids they serve. They didn't just want "ideas" or "plans" or "I think this would work". They took each idea, question and comment seriously and they scrutinized it. We were asked "What would that look like?", "How would that help?", "Why is this the threshhold and not another ________?", "How would we measure that?", "What are the biggest indicators of success and failure in students?", "How could a Big have a more positive impact or greater influence on this without compromising the relationship?" etc. The questions were deep and probing. Each answer to each question was probed deeper and deeper until there was a real understanding of the concept or idea or metric or whatever.
I've always heard that "you know quality when you see it". This was quality. This was the good stuff. These were the conversations that my teachers should be having with each other and with me. These were the conversations the teachers and I should have been having with the kids we taught.
After several years of collecting data based on the metrics we agreed upon, we began to see trends and correlations between the data. Successful, strong matches DID make a difference in the life of the Little! There was hard, quantifiable data that indicated that the stronger the relationship between the Big and Little, the more likely that child was to do well in school in all areas. The data also showed that Bigs who were asked to speak positively about school, inquire about the Little's day or week or month at school, or who simply asked their Little to give them a call after a big test or project had Littles who missed fewer days of school, had better behavior than previously and increased their academic scores in both district and state assessment measures.
It sounds so simple. And, in many ways, it really is simple. Sometimes we take a really complex problem like student success and we assume that it must require a really complex answer. The truth is, some of the most difficult problems are solved with the simplest solutions. In this case, having a caring adult role model who takes an active interest in your education, speaks positively of education and checks in on your progress can make a significant difference in the school life of a child.
I once wrote an email to a friend decrying the hopelessness of many of the students I encountered. I wasn't calling them hopeless. Rather, they saw no HOPE. It's hard to be motivated about anything when you have no hope. Every child deserves to have some hope. Many in this area do not. I've seen it and I've heard it from their mouths. They want to believe that someone really cares about them, but they have no solid proof.
BBBSEMO instills HOPE in the lives of the children it serves. They have hard data that proves that what they do makes a difference in the lives of children.
Now, are you wondering what YOU can do to help them help kids? Give the local agency a call and simply ask, "What can I do to help?". Maybe it's a donation of money or time, maybe you could become a Big Brother or Big Sister. Either way, you win and some child wins.
A few years ago, while toiling away as a principal in a junior high school, I was actively and openly looking for ways to bring more positive role models into the lives of many of the students in my building. I had formed a partnership with our local Boys and Girls Club (another perfectly wonderful and worthy organization) and we were offering programming in the building after school for students who wanted to participate.
Still, I felt that there must be more I could do to help so many of these kids. So, I made a call to the local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency director and asked her if we could meet. We did and, at the time, it was difficult to figure out what a partnership would look like between the school and the organization. Most of the kids they served were elementary school kids, they had a very limited budget, and it just didn't seem like something that could happen right now. We left the meeting agreeing that I could send referrals to the organization and they would screen the kids and try to match them up with a Big.
Fast-forward a few years and I was asked to sit on a board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. The home office is based in St. Louis and they have a satellite office here in our town. BBBSEMO wanted to take a look at the impact of the Big/Little relationship in regard to student success in the areas of attendance, behavior and academic achievement as measured by district and state assessments. So, we met at a local eatery one evening with a few elementary principals, myself, the Alternative School Director, the Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent, and a few folks from the local University.
We were told from the onset that they were curious on two fronts:
1. Does having a strong Big/Little relationship have an impact on a student's success in school?
2. Is there a way the Bigs could help the students find more success in school?
We met quarterly and spent much of the time in those first meetings deciding what to measure, how to measure it and what the thresholds were for taking measurements. The thing that CONTINUOUSLY impressed me was the agency's constant focus on finding new ways of helping the kids they serve. They didn't just want "ideas" or "plans" or "I think this would work". They took each idea, question and comment seriously and they scrutinized it. We were asked "What would that look like?", "How would that help?", "Why is this the threshhold and not another ________?", "How would we measure that?", "What are the biggest indicators of success and failure in students?", "How could a Big have a more positive impact or greater influence on this without compromising the relationship?" etc. The questions were deep and probing. Each answer to each question was probed deeper and deeper until there was a real understanding of the concept or idea or metric or whatever.
I've always heard that "you know quality when you see it". This was quality. This was the good stuff. These were the conversations that my teachers should be having with each other and with me. These were the conversations the teachers and I should have been having with the kids we taught.
After several years of collecting data based on the metrics we agreed upon, we began to see trends and correlations between the data. Successful, strong matches DID make a difference in the life of the Little! There was hard, quantifiable data that indicated that the stronger the relationship between the Big and Little, the more likely that child was to do well in school in all areas. The data also showed that Bigs who were asked to speak positively about school, inquire about the Little's day or week or month at school, or who simply asked their Little to give them a call after a big test or project had Littles who missed fewer days of school, had better behavior than previously and increased their academic scores in both district and state assessment measures.
It sounds so simple. And, in many ways, it really is simple. Sometimes we take a really complex problem like student success and we assume that it must require a really complex answer. The truth is, some of the most difficult problems are solved with the simplest solutions. In this case, having a caring adult role model who takes an active interest in your education, speaks positively of education and checks in on your progress can make a significant difference in the school life of a child.
I once wrote an email to a friend decrying the hopelessness of many of the students I encountered. I wasn't calling them hopeless. Rather, they saw no HOPE. It's hard to be motivated about anything when you have no hope. Every child deserves to have some hope. Many in this area do not. I've seen it and I've heard it from their mouths. They want to believe that someone really cares about them, but they have no solid proof.
BBBSEMO instills HOPE in the lives of the children it serves. They have hard data that proves that what they do makes a difference in the lives of children.
Now, are you wondering what YOU can do to help them help kids? Give the local agency a call and simply ask, "What can I do to help?". Maybe it's a donation of money or time, maybe you could become a Big Brother or Big Sister. Either way, you win and some child wins.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Updates on My Heroes
A few months ago, I wrote about Kimberly Adelson, Julie Tipton and Kate and Ashley Lipke. All three are friends who've endured horrible ordeals and unbelievable stress in their lives. It's been a while since I updated you on them so....
Kimberly Adelson: Kimberly has continued a roller-coaster ride of recovery and illness as she has battled with her cancer. Through it all she has remained incredibly strong and faithfilled! I, along with others, have been praying for her and asking others to do the same thing. On Monday of this week, Kimberly had a PET Scan at Barnes-Jewish in St. Louis.
If you've followed her journey, you know that she's been diagnosed, misdiagnosed, rediagnosed, received good news, bad news and no news. She's had just about every complication and side effect associated with her cancer and its treatment, too.
So, Monday morning, as she walked into the cancer center for her PET Scan, she was full of worry and concern. I can only imagine what it must have been like to just sit and wait for someone to come deliver the news. It's seldom been good news in the past.
The doctor walked in and announced he had "good news". He stated that THERE WAS NO SIGN OF CANCER ANYWHERE ON THE SCAN!!! She is in full remission!
People, if you've ever wondered if your prayers are heard and answered, know that they are!!! Kimberly is elated. It's the perfect gift for the holiday!
Julie Tipton: If you remember her story, you know that her son committed suicide in May and she has been a tower of strength through the whole ordeal. She has touched so many lives in such a positive way by her example of trusting in God.
Julie continues to do well. She still mourns the loss of her son, but she finds comfort in knowing that God heals and that she has been able to help others through her experiences.
Ashley and Kate Lipke: Ashley is the Mom and Kate, aged 4, is the second cutest little girl in the world (my daughter is the cutest, of course). Kate was born with a heart disease called HLHS. Basically, she has half of a heart.
Kate has had a series of surgeries to keep her alive. The latest surgery, called a Fontan, happened just a few months ago. While Kate has given us all a few scares, overall, she's doing GREAT!
Ashley and her awesome husband, Scott, and their boys continue to be such a role model for all of us when we forget to trust in God. They recently shared a movie with us, Defeating the Giants. We watched it as a family and it was a terrific movie with a tremendous message of hope and trust in God.
So, that's the short of it for those folks. Until we meet tomorrow....
Kimberly Adelson: Kimberly has continued a roller-coaster ride of recovery and illness as she has battled with her cancer. Through it all she has remained incredibly strong and faithfilled! I, along with others, have been praying for her and asking others to do the same thing. On Monday of this week, Kimberly had a PET Scan at Barnes-Jewish in St. Louis.
If you've followed her journey, you know that she's been diagnosed, misdiagnosed, rediagnosed, received good news, bad news and no news. She's had just about every complication and side effect associated with her cancer and its treatment, too.
So, Monday morning, as she walked into the cancer center for her PET Scan, she was full of worry and concern. I can only imagine what it must have been like to just sit and wait for someone to come deliver the news. It's seldom been good news in the past.
The doctor walked in and announced he had "good news". He stated that THERE WAS NO SIGN OF CANCER ANYWHERE ON THE SCAN!!! She is in full remission!
People, if you've ever wondered if your prayers are heard and answered, know that they are!!! Kimberly is elated. It's the perfect gift for the holiday!
Julie Tipton: If you remember her story, you know that her son committed suicide in May and she has been a tower of strength through the whole ordeal. She has touched so many lives in such a positive way by her example of trusting in God.
Julie continues to do well. She still mourns the loss of her son, but she finds comfort in knowing that God heals and that she has been able to help others through her experiences.
Ashley and Kate Lipke: Ashley is the Mom and Kate, aged 4, is the second cutest little girl in the world (my daughter is the cutest, of course). Kate was born with a heart disease called HLHS. Basically, she has half of a heart.
Kate has had a series of surgeries to keep her alive. The latest surgery, called a Fontan, happened just a few months ago. While Kate has given us all a few scares, overall, she's doing GREAT!
Ashley and her awesome husband, Scott, and their boys continue to be such a role model for all of us when we forget to trust in God. They recently shared a movie with us, Defeating the Giants. We watched it as a family and it was a terrific movie with a tremendous message of hope and trust in God.
So, that's the short of it for those folks. Until we meet tomorrow....
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Updated Updates on my Three Bravest People
Here's a quick update on the three bravest people I know:
1. Baby Kate and her Family: Kate made it through her big surgery just fine. It was rocky for a bit but everything seems to have smoothed out and now she is home and recovering quite nicely. Her Mother and Father continue to be some of the most inspiring and incredible people I have ever had the pleasure and privilege of knowing. I have sat in my chair and sobbed silently as Ashley describes what was happening during Kate's recovery. I have marvelled at their faith and trust and absolute belief in the power of prayer and God. In almost every single update on the CaringBridge site, in the midst of her descriptions of Kate's surgery and recovery, there would be mentions of miracles and of their undying faith in the healing that would come for their sweet child. Last night's entry broke my heart and renewed my faith at the same time. Here's a snippet from her post:
A couple of days before we left for St. Louis, he (one of Scott's coworkers) asked if he could pray for Kate. He asked her if she knew that the Bible was a book of promises. She nodded her head "yes". He then asked her to stand on his Bible. I just loved that. What a powerful, tangible thing to do to remind a 3 year old of God's faithfulness. Right before we walked out the door of Children's, I snapped this picture. God fulfills his promises. Hebrews 10:23
1. Baby Kate and her Family: Kate made it through her big surgery just fine. It was rocky for a bit but everything seems to have smoothed out and now she is home and recovering quite nicely. Her Mother and Father continue to be some of the most inspiring and incredible people I have ever had the pleasure and privilege of knowing. I have sat in my chair and sobbed silently as Ashley describes what was happening during Kate's recovery. I have marvelled at their faith and trust and absolute belief in the power of prayer and God. In almost every single update on the CaringBridge site, in the midst of her descriptions of Kate's surgery and recovery, there would be mentions of miracles and of their undying faith in the healing that would come for their sweet child. Last night's entry broke my heart and renewed my faith at the same time. Here's a snippet from her post:
A couple of days before we left for St. Louis, he (one of Scott's coworkers) asked if he could pray for Kate. He asked her if she knew that the Bible was a book of promises. She nodded her head "yes". He then asked her to stand on his Bible. I just loved that. What a powerful, tangible thing to do to remind a 3 year old of God's faithfulness. Right before we walked out the door of Children's, I snapped this picture. God fulfills his promises. Hebrews 10:23
Thus, the picture up above. You can, and I think you should, read the entire entry by going here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katelipke.
Kimberly: I wish I could tell you that Kimberly is moving right along and having a great recovery. I wish that was true, but it's not. Kimberly is having a very, very difficult time right now. She returned to work and was holding her own. Unfortunately, she began to have some issues and coplications. Right now, she's in the local hospital and seems to be gearing up for another monumental fight.
Earlier this week, Kimberly developed a rash and a low-grade fever. She was originally diagnosed by her doctor with "the worst case of shingles I've seen in 25 years". If you know Kimberly or read my first post about her, you will know that Kimberly is prone to get every single odd complication or infection imaginable. That sounds silly and exaggerated, but it's not. Yesterday, things got worse and Kimberly had a friend take her to a local emergency room. They told the ER doctor her situation. He took a look at the rash and told them that she did not have shingles. He believed the rash is associated with her lymphoma. Further testing revealed that to be the most likely case.
As of last night, it appears that her form of lymphoma, which is one of the rarest forms, has reared its ugly head and may have spread some. She is being kept in the hospital over the weekend and will report back to her cancer center first thing Monday morning. Most likely, Kimberly is looking at bone marrow and stem cell replacement. This is NOT the news any of us, most of all Kimberly and her family, wanted to hear.
Please, please, please keep Kimberly in your thoughts and prayers. Send her positive thoughts, spend time in prayer asking for healing, do whatever it is you do in times of stress and fear. You can follow Kimberly's journey on her CaringBridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kimberlyadelson.
Like Baby Kate, I'm going to stand on the book of promises.
Julie T.: Julie is still doing well. Like Kate's parents, Julie remains an inspiration to me and so many others. I think it's fair to say that God is working through Julie. You can continue to be inspired by her by reading her blog at: http://julietipton.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Update on Baby Kate
Kate continues to be in the CICU of Children's Hospital. The surgery appears to have been successful but she is having a LOT of pain and some fluid build up in her lungs. Please continue to pray for her and her family! I've included a link to her CaringBridge site if you want to read her whole story or just start following along. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katelipke
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)