Wondering what you can do to make a difference in the life of a child in foster care? Nobody longs for a safe and loving family more than a child in foster care. Genesis Hopeful Haven needs you to be an angel on earth for these youth. You will not only bring positive change to the lives of these vulnerable youth, but also you will be a force of change that will affect their children and grandchildren for generations to come. In being a part of their lives, you will enrich your life as well. Last week our Vice President of GHH Tim McDougall, who is a Pilot for United Airlines, took our boys out to fly a plane. Neither of them had ever even been on a plane, let alone had the opportunity to fly one. He conducted a 30-minute workshop about what flying entails, explained how the different parts of the plane work together and went through the process of inspecting the plane before taking off. The experience was both thrilling and inspiring for our boys. Although flying is part of everyday life for Tim, by sharing his world with the boys he was able to make a positive impact in their lives and expose them to something new and interesting. We are all about exposing the boys to many career opportunities and we find that using various workshops led by people in different vocations is an excellent way to do this.
This week our board member Caryn Lavernia, who is Assistant Vice President for Florida International University (FIU), did a workshop on resume building. They worked on creating a resume, learned about the importance of building good resumes and applied for the Miami Dade County Public School Internship. Caryn is always providing our program with amazing resources that will help us in producing the best practice model to help our youth succeed. After the workshop, she assisted one of the boys with his Spanish homework and took him out to practice driving lessons. Her contribution of time and energy has been invaluable for our boys.
Aside from workshop leaders and teachers, those who donate to our program have blessed us as well. For instance, a great supporter Claudia Santiago is constantly donating home items to us. We are so thankful for our many supporters and we couldn’t do this without them! In order to make our program become successful and to touch the lives of at-risk youth, we need more of our community’s support. Please volunteer to help us out in any way possible. Just like our workshop leaders and donators, you have something to share that will greatly impact our youth and expand their horizons. Join us in paving this path for the next generation.