Ah, Christmas has come and gone. In our rearview mirrors is that traditionally well-know time of year for giving gifts and helping one another. Indeed, it’s a season that reaches our hearts as well as our wallets, yet giving is also a spirit that can continue to benefit many year-round. This spirit of compassion and generosity can be seen in many places, agencies and organizations here in our own community. Big or small, offerings of help have a significant impact on those receiving it.
“If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble,” Bob Hope once said.
Phoenix Employment Ministry
One organization that gives back and helps in a uniquely different way is The Phoenix Employment Ministry (PEM), located at 20 N. Fourth St., Suite 100, Wilmington. Incorporated in September 2002, PEM was started by Donald Skinner, a Presbyterian minister, who worked at Good Shepherd Center as a job-program director. Upon leaving Good Shepherd, Skinner put together a group to create a nonprofit to address the job needs of people in recovery. Today its mission is to work with sheltered homeless and impoverished men and women to help them find meaningful employment.
“People that we work with generally come with one or more barriers to employment such as criminal records, have not completed high school, are single parents, mostly mothers or have histories of addiction and mental-health issues. The folks that we have worked with have ranged in age from 18 to 70,” says Skinner. “Three things that tie these people together are that they’re unemployed, want to be employed and are financially destitute.”
PEM offers services such as job coaching and case management. Job coaching is an intensive one-on-one service that emphasizes each individual’s worth and unique gifts. While the primary goal is to help clients find a job, volunteers often discover other things that need attention — vision problems, dental needs or legal issues.
Skinner says that this is not a 3- or 4-week program. “We work with the clients until they are successful in finding employment. If it takes eight months and they continue to be diligent in their search, then we continue helping them — however long it takes.”
Some of the skills taught at PEM are phone and interview skills, resume writing, dressing for success and goal setting. Participants are required to be fully committed to looking for full-time work, eight hours a day, five days a week, and by showing up at PEM each workday at 8:30 a.m. While there, they have use of work space, phones, computers and the Internet to search for employment. If not in the office, time is spent in the field filling out job applications, meeting employers and developing job leads. PEM’s emphasis goes beyond the job search, to helping their clients find and keep satisfying long-term employment and become members of a new, supportive community. That is what makes it unique. That is where the self-confidence and hope is built. For more information about Wilmington’s only organization dedicated solely to helping the sheltered homeless find employment, call 910.262.5786, or www.phoenixwork.org. For volunteer information, call John Furniss at 910.619.6263 or 910.371.6721.
Canines for Service
Another organization offering a one-of-a-kind footprint — or should we say “paw print” — is Canines for Service. Formerly named Carolina Canines, the group is approaching its 15th year and 50th canine placement, and it all began with cofounder Rick Hairston and one founding black lab pup named Moses.
Canines for Service is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities to achieve greater independence and enhanced quality of life through the service of specially trained dogs. At the heart of what CFS does is the belief that dogs can change and improve lives. CFS utilizes volunteers (foster families) to raise a service dog in their home for the 2 to 3 years it takes to train each pup. Each service dog has a $40,000 value.
Once these dogs are ready for duty, they may work with one of the specialized programs offered through CFS, like Canines for Veterans which provides disabled veterans with quality-trained service dogs. Launched in 2008 and initially operated at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and currently based at Charleston Naval Station, this program operates entirely on private donations, and uses military prisoners to train the dogs who will one day work with veterans. Service dogs are a constant assistant and can help with everyday tasks such as retrieving and carrying objects, pulling their partner in a wheelchair, pushing elevator buttons and assisting in a grocery store.
Two more divisions within CFS are Canines for Therapy and Canines for Literacy. The Canines for Therapy program trains owners and their dogs to provide animal-assisted visitations in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, group homes and treatment facilities. Heel 2 Heal is a six-week comprehensive training course that prepares dogs to offer aid. After graduating, these canine friends work with people who are experiencing functional limitations due to conditions such as cerebral palsy, severe heart problems, stroke, brain injury and arthritis.
Canines for Literacy offers therapy dogs to children to help them improve their reading and communication skills. The dogs can be the best listeners for early readers, encouraging them to continue to build confidence and skills while reading aloud. Since its inception in 2002, Canines for Literacy has served 600 children in New Hanover, Brunswick and Duplin county schools, and more than 500 through library programs and community activities. “We are growing because of the community support that we receive,” says Pat Hairston, program manager.
Wilmington Junior Golf Academy
Fore! the love of golf and children, Jake Hunt founded Wilmington Junior Golf Academy four years ago at the Community Boys and Girls Club. Today he travels from place to place across Pender, New Hanover and Columbus counties teaching children not only how to swing a golf club, but life lessons, too. “If we can instill these values at this age, positive core values and life skills, while teaching golf, then it helps them when they’re older,” says Hunt. “I don’t charge any child one dime to teach them golf. It’s that important to me.”
Today WJGA sees more than 400 kids each week, from ages 3 to 16. Hunt personally travels to after-school programs within three counties, works in conjunction with the schools and offers summer programs. WJGA not only gives lessons on golf, but provides equipment to children as well. “I got my first set of golf clubs from Coach Hunt,” says 8-year-old Hudson from North Topsail Elementary. “I like the field trips that we get to take to the golf course, too”.
As with most nonprofits in the early years, fundraising is the biggest challenge. One of the goals of WJGA is to be halfway to their own facility in a year; to have a place where kids can come anytime to practice for free. For information on helping WJGA grow, visit www.wilmingtonjuniorgolfacademy.com or call 910.622.5253. Like Jack Nicklaus once said: “We need to do everything we can to promote positive values in our children, particularly thinking beyond themselves and caring for others.”
No matter what your age or the talents you have to offer, having a public spirit and a heart to help is a great way to launch into a new year, and, as Tom Brokaw said, “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” LOL
