LOOKING BACK ON 2000
A year of success and accomplishment!!!
Operation Merry Christmas was a huge success. Community collaboration and thoughtful individuals made it possible for 205 children in 60 needy at-risk families to receive Christmas gifts and food.
Did you
know that less than 10% of the
Mi Casa victims returned to their perpetrator?
How is
that for overcoming???
THAT IS
REAL SUCCESS.
Mi
Casa Gives women and their children
a real chance for a new beginning.
Mervyns, Wells Fargo (Norwest Bank), Christine Pacheco-Koveleski, First Baptist Church, First Congregational Church, Pueblo Bikers United, Target, Sam’s Club, Las Hermanas, Vidmar, Boeing, Lisa Romeo, Stewart Title Employees, Pueblo West Hardware, Safeway Pueblo West, Hair Arena, Hewlett Robbins, B.F. Goodrich, Useful Public Service and other dedicated volunteers, along with many many other individuals, churches and businesses, contributed generously, to make Operation Merry Christmas 2001 happen and Christmas smiles appear.
Two families who did not even have furnishings in their houses received a house full of furniture and lots of blessings including a tree. A nearly homeless woman with nothing for her about to be born baby received everything she needed including diapers, clothing, a crib and a stroller. (Her baby, a healthy little boy, was born just before New Years.) All four of the children who wanted a bike found one parked under a fully lighted tree and their mother is now busy making extra money sewing on the machine that was provided for her. The family with eight children had three sponsors who provided gifts galore as well as food and diapers. (This mom now has a good job and their situation has greatly improved.) Christmas wish after Christmas wish was answered and delivered and we watched in awsome wonder as a way was made in a “must be a miracle” kind of way. Providing Christmas to at-risk families lessens financial stress at a time of year when family violence too often acts out. Thank you bunches to everyone who made this good work possible!!!
A POSITIVE CONNECTION NAMED EDUCATOR OF THE MONTH!!!!
Erma Espinoza (Mi Casa graduate 1996), was honored October 27, 2000 by the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation at the Latino Chamber Luncheon, as EDUCATOR OF THE MONTH!!! The community gave her a standing ovation!!! Erma was honored along with Debra Lynn Leewaye for the Teen Anger Management Program at A Positive Connection. What a special day for Erma the woman who just five short years ago came to Mi Casa afraid to take the test to get her drivers license!!! Today Erma is a Certified Addicitons Counselor Level II. Sometimes MIRACLES really do happen. What an incredible experience to be a small part of them!!!
THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!!!
Commitment and Miracles
have continued to make a way where there had been no way.
By the grace of God, provisions provided by Packard Foundation, Doors of Hope,
Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, 7-11, Sam’s Club, Pacific Aero Manufacturing, Boeing,
Trane, First Baptist Church, Broadway Christian Church, Saint Frances Cabrini Parish, Rye
Church, Mennonite Church and many special individuals and businesses, have been led to
help Mi Casa make continuing services possible.
Mi Casa is very busy answering our EMAIL on the internet. We now have our own computer in the office and now we no longer have to go to the library to answer our e-mail. Pam the bookkeeper is teaching Debra about quick books as continuous quality improvement continues to happen. For those of you who remember helping in teaching Debra what a budget was you fully realize this as a GREAT ADVANCE!!! Our web pages were designed and donated along with our email THANKS to the special help and guidance from ACULINK: Check out http://lighthouse.aculink.net Aculink is highly recommended for anyone needing computer services or their own web page. You can e-mail the programs at micasa@aculink.net
PLANS FOR 2001 to include expansion
Thanks to help from Mervyns, Boeing, Bonfils-Stanton, and Useful Public Service, the basement, landscaping and re-painting at the Mi Casa safe house will be completed this year. This will double the bed capacity. Children will not be on site for approximately 90 days during the cleaning and renovation work as a safety precaution.
Welcome Home Debbie!!!
Perhaps some of you remember the beautiful witness and story Debbie told at her graduation from Mi Casa in 1999. Today, she is a married woman working full time with the developmentally ill and Debbie is now back working a few hours a month here at the program that she says “literally saved my life.” Debbie is Certified Addictions Counselor Level II and is also working part time to complete her degree at Bible College. She feels it is important to practice reciprocity and give back to others in need.
News from Cindy
She just received another raise in pay. She has been on her job over one year now and is still attending classes at PCC. She was awarded a partial scholarship by the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation and she is making very good progress. We are all very proud of her and the changes she has made.
Another SUCCESS STORY:
Another successful discharge from Mi Casa took place
mid March. This woman is excited about living
her life free from violence and alcohol. She
is at home in her apartment and has already had a job offer. She plans to work with vocational rehabilitation
and begin training and education in the next few months.
She stated “The program has given me back my hope.” We all wish her the very best!!! Thanks to everyone who helped in getting her
re-settled and thanks to everyone who helped and attended her transition celebration.
A Positive Connection
A Positive Connection the second project of Lighthouse Training Center was made possible by the Graham Foundation and is helping to keep the programs at Mi Casa de Transiciones operational. Clients are ordered by the court system to attend counseling for DUI and for Anger. The fees paid by these clients are then used to help the victims in the Mi Casa programs. These client pay for services programs are now making the monthly mortgage payments for Mi Casa.
The anger program for teens is really making a difference in providing primary prevention of family violence, Judges are saying it is the best they have seen in eight years!!!
Our greatest growth opportunity is to expand services for the teens identified as being in need of one to one sessions. There is also a great need to offer the classes and services to at-risk youth before they are arrested and involved in the court systems. This will be a first important priority for 2001.
FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR THE PREVENTION PROGRAMS
PREVENTION IS….
“One fine day there was a women who sat eating her lunch along side a river. Suddenly she heard a shout, Help, help, save me, I’m drowning!” The women set her lunch down, jumped into the river and saved the person in trouble. Again, she started to eat her lunch, she heard a desperate call for help. So once again the women dropped everything jumped into the river and rescued another victim from the waters. Settling down to finish her lunch there was another cry for help and this happened again and again. Finally the woman walked away from the scene. A bystander asked in surprise where she was going. The rescuer replied, “I am going upstream to find out why these people are falling in… and I’m going to teach them how to swim.”
To make the choice to work upstream requires us to widen our perspective from reactive to include proactive actions.
Debra has been with the Lighthouse programs since the summer of 94 and is now determined to take prevention upstream and assist youth in learning the skills essential to prevent involvement with the legal system and prevent experiencing family violence as an adult.
Any feedback, you may have, on how the funding for these expanded services can be accomplished, will be sincerely welcomed by the staff and volunteers working in the Lighthouse Training Center Programs. Focus for grants in 2001 will include prevention.
Mi Casa depends on private contributions and grants. Mi Casa does not receive any State, Federal or local government funding. Your help is essential to the program’s survival. Thank you for your genuine care and concern!!!