Christmas Caroling at The GreenHouse

Q:  What do you get when you mix various ages, languages, ethnicities, income levels, and religious backgrounds in a group of about 100 people and send them all off singing Christmas songs with one another in a community that they all care about?

A.  A whole lot of fun, laughs, and Christmas cheer! 

Let's do it again next year! 

Melvin's Hope Christmas Store

Our Melvin's Hope Christmas Store was open this past Friday evening and Saturday and it was a big success!  There was a line around the building the entire time and everyone left the store with big smiles on their faces.

We had several awesome parent volunteers who worked hard both days at the store, as well as an amazing group of other volunteers from Sanctuary, Adventure, and Bridge of Life who served as personal shoppers, re-stockers, and gift wrappers.

I honestly loved everything about it and had so much fun!  The whole experience filled my heart with joy. I'm so glad we revamped the project this year - there were many confirmations along the way that we had made the right decision.  Thank you to everyone who donated or volunteered!

Let the Family Festivities Begin...

On Tuesday, Steve finished his last final. Five semesters down, ONE to go! The end of finals came just as a flurry of Christmas activities was ramping at The GreenHouse - making for a nutty (intense, grueling) couple of weeks in our household. But once again, we made it out alive. Marriage still intact. Children still breathing. Stress levels back to normal.

The kids could not wait for their Daddy to be done with his "big tests" so that we could go and get a Christmas tree. Poor Jonah was distraught over the fact that we didn't have one yet! So on Wednesday night, we shimmied over to the tree lot just down the street and let the boys pick out the one they wanted.

That same night, we headed over to The GreenHouse for the Oasis Christmas Party where a large group of people from Sanctuary was gathering to go caroling with the teens. We had a blast! (more on that event in a subsequent post).

And today, the kids got to perform some Christmas songs at church.  Riley was much too grumpy to participate.  Nicolas was cute as a button and did everything he was asked to do.  And Jonah hammed it up like the rock-star that he is.  Classic.   

It feels good to finally be able to partake in some Christmas festivities together as a family - just in the nick of time!

Being Present during Advent

Throughout this season of Advent, our church is reading a daily devotional book that was written by our pastor called Living the Christmas Story.  The book is challenging us to let Christmas be a season of Prayer (closeness with God), Presence (connectedness with others), and Participation in God's love.

I read this post on another blog yesterday and thought it correlated very well with the devotional.  (plus, I love Henri Nouwen):

The Ministry of Presence
More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems.

My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

- Henri Nouwen

Betterment vs. Development

This fall we've been shaking things up at The GreenHouse!  The combination of some excellent training we've been receiving from the Christian Community Development Association (and others) + a number of years of in the trenches doing trial and error + time away this summer to think and dream up new ideas = just the right timing to make some significant changes.   

We're now viewing everything we do from a new lens.  We're asking if what we are doing:

1.  Respects the dignity of the people involved

2.  Strengthens the community in sustainable ways

3.  Promotes freedom from dependency

4.  Allows people to use their own resources and be self-determining

We're focusing on assets rather than deficits.

We're acknowledging that each and every person is created in the image of God - each one with gifts, strengths, and abilities - just waiting to be utilized for Him. 

We're tweaking each program, shifting them from Betterment activities to Development activity.  (A betterment activity is focused on doing for others, while a development activity is focused on enabling others to do for themselves.  A betterment activity improves conditions, while a development activity strengthens capacity.  Betterment activities are event-oriented; development activities are relationship-oriented.)

It's hard to shift from Betterment to Development!  It's a lot easier to hand out clothes than it is to set-up a thrift store, right?  But, slowly we're making progress with these changes and it's exciting to see.

Last month we made some good changes to our Harvest Carnival and this month we did an overhaul on the manner in which we delivered food to families for Thanksgiving.  Rather than just handing out food boxes to families like we've done in the past, we set up the "Thankful Hearts Food Store."  

A number of our youth leaders and a handful of parents helped set-up and run the store.  Three moms were also on a planning committee to help decide how the store should run and what food items should be included.

The families who came to shop in the store each contributed $5 for a box of food which included a turkey, potatoes, rolls, pies, drinks, and an assortment of canned foods. 

Everyone was pleased with the selection of food items and left the store with smiles on their faces. 

Altogether, 66 families were served through the Thankful Hearts Food Store - more families than we've ever served in the past through our Thanksgiving food efforts!  Even better, we deepened our relationships with parents, particularly the three who served on the planning committee.  They got to use their gifts and talents...and they each held their heads a little bit higher that day. 

One youth at a time.  One parent at a time.  God's love is being seen and felt.  Leaders are emerging.  Dreams are being realized.  Hope is being restored.  A community is being renewed.     

Happy Thanksgiving!

GreenHouse News

(The latest GreenHouse Newsletter...)

Help Stock our Thankful Hearts Food Store
Throughout the month of November, The Church Volunteer Network, in collaboration with The GreenHouse, will be collecting food donations for our new "Thankful Hearts Food Store." The Store will be open in our community on Saturday, November 20 from 1:00-4:00 and will offer our neighbors an opportunity to select the food items they need and want to make a special Thanksgiving meal for their families.

Each family that comes to shop in the Thankful Hearts Store will contribute $5 towards their food basket. All of the money raised will be sent to a charity that they care about. So, they will not only be receiving with thankful hearts, but giving as well!

You can help with this Thanksgiving project in one of two ways:

1. Donate food and bring it to The GreenHouse between now and November 19th. We are specifically collecting the following items, but will also accept any other non-perishable items.

Frozen Turkeys (or gift card to buy a turkey)
Bagged Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Canned Green Beans
Canned Corn
Stuffing Mix
Gravy Packets
Butter
Canned Chicken Broth
Rolls
Pumpkin and Apple Pies
Fruit Punch Mix
Tortillas
Rice
Beans
Other non-perishable food items

2. Volunteer on Saturday, November 20 to help set-up and/or manage the Store. Set-up will begin at 11:00; Clean-up will end at 5:00.

To find out more information about donating food or volunteering on the 20th, please contact Sade Williams at sade@thegreenhousecenter.org. Food donations can be dropped off at The GreenHouse (inside the River Garden Estates apartment complex: 2201 Northview Dr. 95833) Monday through Friday 10-5:30.

10th Annual Harvest Carnival Draws Crowd and Smiles
THANK YOU to everyone who braved the rain to come out and celebrate our 10th Annual Harvest Carnival at Ninos Park. The weather didn't dampen spirits or attendance as families still came out in droves to enjoy this special day with their neighbors. Everyone had a terrific time carving pumpkins, getting their faces painted, winning cupcakes from the cupcake walk, playing carnival games, making crafts, listening to the incredible sounds of Hans Eberbach, and watching the vibrant costumes of Miktlantekuhtli.

A very special thank you to all of our event sponsors as well as to all of our volunteers, especially those from Sanctuary Covenant Church and Bridge of Life Church. We appreciate you!

Presenting Sponsor: Councilmember Ray Tretheway

Station Sponsors: River City Bank, Sacramento Mutual Housing Association

In-Kind Sponsors: What's McCracken Design, Hans Eberbach, Miktlantekuhtli, J-Dogs Hotdogs, Looking Glass Photography, AliveMedia, Malcom Butler from Better Images Barber Shop, FoodsCo, 7 Eleven on Northgate, and Baskin Robbins on Northgate.

The GreenHouse Recognized as a Pillar of Promise
On October 14, The GreenHouse was recognized with a Pillar of Promise Award by e:merge - a coalition of community leaders from education, government, philanthropy, business and the nonprofit sector working together to ensure that all youth enter adulthood ready to lead healthy lives. The GreenHouse was one of 12 agencies and/or individuals who were given a Pillar of Promise Award for demonstrating exemplary service towards supporting youth, and ultimately, the goals of e:merge and the America's Promise Alliance.

Study Buddies Needed for After-School Programs
We are seeking a few more caring adults who can volunteer two hours per week in our after-school programs. Volunteer Study Buddies assist students with homework, help them improve reading and math skills, and form a mentoring relationship with them. To find out more about how you can make a significant impact on the life of a young person (while having a whole lot of fun!), please contact Sade Williams at sade@thegreenhousecenter.org.

Stories: Meet "B!"

(Who knew there could be so many obstacles to writing a simple blog post?!  With this post, there was some mental processing that needed to be done, a major GreenHouse event that took over all of my spare time, and then - just as I had nearly completed this quite looong post - I accidentally deleted the entire thing and had to re-write it!  Let's just say I will never push control "z" multiple times in a row when typing into blogger.  Sadly, it makes all of the words disappear.  So at this point, this post has become a major labor of love.  I hope you enjoy it.)

This first story of "success" is about a young man, "B," who starting coming to The GreenHouse the summer before his freshman of high school.  He soon became involved in Oasis (our Christian youth group), R4 (our teen after-school program) and Liquid (our teen summer program) and while he was usually pretty quiet at The GreenHouse, it was clear from the start that he was very well-liked by his peers.  

B began his high school days at Grant High, but by the middle of tenth grade, he had missed quite a lot of school.  According to B, "there was no one to wake me up."  Without parental support, this fifteen-year-old did not have the internal fortitude to get himself up and ready for school, especially in the cold winter months.  If everyone else in his family was still asleep in the mornings, why couldn't he be as well?  So halfway through tenth grade, he requested to transfer to a home-school program, hoping that it might give him a better chance of graduating from high school.  Really good decision on his part. 

Once he started the home-school program, B began coming to R4 with more consistency.  At R4 he had a quiet place to do his assignments - free from the distractions of his chaotic home life.  What's more, he had access to all of the tools he needed to complete his work: computers, printers, highlighters, pens, and paper - all things that were not available in the tiny apartment that he shares with his mother, siblings, and niece.

During his senior year, something seemed to click inside B.  He became more focused and was determined to finish strong.  At R4 he diligently completed one set of assignments on Tuesdays and another set on Thursdays.  He didn't care who was there or who was goofing off during homework time - he was there to work!  And the hard work paid off.  His grades started improving.

That same year, B served on our Leaders in Training team where he was elected "el Presidente" by his peers.  As the team's President, B had many opportunities to develop his leadership skills and when it came time for the team to serve as a Youth Action Team, B was right there, leading the charge.  With every new challenge and opportunity, we got to see more and more of B's limitless potential and incredible giftedness.  At one point, our Youth Director said to me, "I don't think there's anything B can't do."  And with each experience that he embraced, B's confidence grew.

Unfortunately, his senior year wasn't all smooth sailing.  Part-way through the year, B had a run-in with law enforcement for doing something he shouldn't have and was sentenced to community service hours.  When he asked us if he could serve them by volunteering at The GreenHouse, we agreed and decided to have him to serve as a "Study Buddy" (tutor) for our elementary after-school program.

(side note: We have found that court-mandated community service hours are an excellent opportunity to spent a good chunk of quality time with a teen when he or she is at a pivotal time in his/her life.  Therefore we are very willing to let youth from the neighborhood serve their hours at The GreenHouse.  Not all of them show up or complete their hours, but we always give them a chance).

It's hard to put into words what happened when B started serving as a Study Buddy with our elementary students.  All I can say is, the kids responded to B in a way that I had never seen before.  Even the most challenging, squirmy little boys worked hard and behaved for B.  Everyone wanted to do well for B because everyone knew B and everyone loved B.  It was beautiful to see! 

We were so impressed with both B's performance as a Study Buddy and the reaction of the kids towards B that we wanted to figure out a way to keep him as involved as possible at The GreenHouse.  In fact, we were so committed to having him on staff with us for the summer that our Board was willing to create a Summer Intern position for him.  Fortunately, we found a program for low-income youth through Sacramento Employment and Training Agency where he could be paid and trained through them to work for us.  What a deal (and a terrific program)!

So after graduating from high school this past June (hip, hip, hooray!), B spent his summer working part-time at The GreenHouse.  As our Summer Intern, he ran Art workshops for our elementary students (he's an amazing artist) and was a small group leader for the rest of the day camp activities.  B worked alongside Tim, Emily, Julie, Kelsey, and Sade - five amazing people who love the Lord and serve him with their whole lives.  He also attended our weekly staff meetings which include devotionals and times of prayer for the community...life changing stuff for B to be a part of!  Everyone on our staff loved having him around and had nothing but positive things to say about his work performance. 

When I got back from DC, one of the first things I asked B was, "What was the best part about working here this summer?"  He looked around at all the people sitting around the table at our staff meeting and said, "All of them."  I can't tell you how much that answer filled my heart with joy!  For B to have been so impacted on a daily basis by the staff is such an amazing gift.  B not only got to hear the gospel, but he also got to see it lived out all around him on a daily basis and he got to participate in the work that God is doing in his neighborhood and in his own life.  

When the SETA summer position ended, we began exploring ways to keep B on, either as an employee of The GreenHouse or as an employee of a program similar to the SETA one.  We couldn't find any programs similar to the summer one, but God opened a door for us to hire B as an employee of The GreenHouse and just three weeks ago, we officially hired B as our Youth Action Team Coordinator! 

This ten hour-per-week position is a win-win-win all around.  By having a staff person in this capacity, we are now able to have our LIT team continue on as a Youth Action Team (something we had really wanted to do because it's a wonderful opportunity for our youth, but didn't think we'd be able to do this year because we just didn't have the manpower to manage and oversee the project).  Plus, B is the perfect person for this job.  As a former Youth Action Team member, he will be a highly effective liaison between the Youth Development Network, the staff of The GreenHouse, and the youth.  And what really sealed the deal was the funding that we were given which will completely pay for this position.  Win for the teens, win for The GreenHouse, and win for B.   

I don't know how the next chapter in B's story will unfold.  I just know that right now, his story a ray of Hope for us at The GreenHouse and we're so thankful for him.  He encourages us and re-charges our batteries in ways that we need. 

Would I have hired B five years ago?  The sad thing is that I might not have.  I might have let my preconceived notions of a "qualified/experienced employee" get in the way.  But by His love and grace, God is transforming me!  Thank you, God, for showing me the inherent value and dignity of each and every person.  Thank you for making each one of us in Your image.  Thank you for revealing B's giftedness to me and for reminding me that you can use each one of us - just as we are.  Thank you for the honor and privilege of having B in my life - and hundreds of other youth like him.  I am forever changed.

Halloween Weekend

This past weekend was filled to the brim with Halloween Fun. 

Jonah's school kicked things off on Friday afternoon with a costume parade during the last half hour of school.  Jonah loved having Mommy, Daddy, Nicolas, Riley, and YaYa all there for the parade and especially loved having Riley walk in the parade with him. 

Nicolas, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the parade - or with having his picture taken.  Have I mentioned lately that our twins are polar opposites?

Later that evening, we invited several of the families who live on our street over to carve pumpkins.  Our little Halloween party has become a tradition so all the kids were really excited to come over.  This year, we carved in the garage because of the rain and actually, it turned out really well.  I think we'll do it in the garage again next year!  After everyone carved their masterpieces, we piled inside the house for dinner before heading over to a neighbor's house for a movie and popcorn.  Such a fun night. 

(Amy N - No scary mask for Manuel this year like he's worn in previous years!)

Sunday evening was of course filled with trick-o-treating.  Jango Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Superman all had a fantastic time.  The night's festivities made for some super cute and super happy little boys.   

First Field Trip

Two weeks ago I got to be a chaperone for Jonah's first field trip as a kindergartener - a trip to Fog Willow Pumpkin Patch.  What a fun day!   

   

Jonah with some of his buddies out in front of the school, waiting to get on the school bus.

 

Getting on a school bus for the first time...very exciting!

The two kids I was in charge of looking after: Josiah and Jonah (two was enough to keep me quite busy!)

Class picture.  Jonah is in the second row, third from the right

 Jonah, Faustino, and Ethan in the petting zoo.  Do these three boys look like trouble or what?!  Just look at those mischievous little smiles. 

While the kids rode on the school bus, I drive five other moms in my van.  I loved having a chance to get to know them.  There's nothing like an exhausting day of kid fun to form a bond between strangers!   

Cast Vision and Over-Communicate

Last week I wrote about my plan to share some "stories of success" from The GreenHouse.  Coincidentally, the next day, I read a post by Eugene Cho describing his "Top 5 Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs."  Number 4 on the list was:

4.  Cast Vision and Over-Communicate

"One of the biggest blunders I’ve made is to under-communicate." 

"Cast the vision. Distribute the vision. Share the vision. And share it again. In short, over-communicate until people tell you, “That’s enough. I get it…” Don’t leave too much room for misunderstandings and mis-assumptions."

Reading that post was very good timing!  After ten years, it's still unnerving for me to share the vision, calling, and testimonies of The GreenHouse.  Fear creeps in so easily.  What if people reject this thing that is so near and dear to my heart - such a big part of who I am?  What if no one responds or wants to hear about it?  What if I bare my soul and no one else bares theirs?  Do I really want to be standing there "naked" and vulnerable wishing I had a winter parka to wrap around myself (I'm hoping you get the analogy there). 

So because of fear (of rejection, reputation, etc), I "under-communicate" what's going on at The GreenHouse.  It's a means of protection.  It just seems easier (safer) to only share with a small circle of folks who are on the front lines with me. 

Lame, I know.  I'm working on it. 
    
Sharing stories on this blog is an easy step in the right direction (the handful of you who read this blog already know and love The GreenHouse, right?)  But, imagine the freedom of being able to courageously share all of me, including the dreams, passions, and vision that God has put on my heart with anyone I meet.  Now that is something to strive for!  

Heaviness

I just did some door-to-door inviting for Saturday's Harvest Carnival.  It's always good for my soul to connect eye-to-eye with people and get a feel for what's going on the neighborhood.  This time around, the short 30 minutes of canvassing left my heart feeling heavy.  There were a lot of hard things to process in a short amount of time. 

So, rather than writing about stories of success and transformation like I said I was going to do in my last post, I am instead asking for you to pray for a few of the hard situations I encountered today:

1.  Please pray for the precious four-year-old boy, "G," who is being neglected.  I called CPS this afternoon to file a report which is never a fun thing to do. 

2.  Please pray for the addicted mom who asked to borrow my phone today so she could have someone bring her more drugs.  Pray also for her daughters.  When I asked her how they were doing, she told me that they'd be taken out of her custody.  I can only imagine what they are going through.   

3.  Please pray for "L," a young man who is steeped in "thug life."  I've known "L" since he was 13.  He burrowed his way into my heart back then and has held a special place there ever since.  I SO wanted him to make good choices for his life, but instead he's chosen paths of destruction.  He moved out of the neighborhood a few years ago but every now and then he reappears, like he did today, most likely to make a drug transaction in the neighborhood.  Whenever I see him, we smile, exchange pleasantries, and then I always walk away with a deep sadness.  

How Do You Measure Success?

"Was your program a success?"

This is the tricky question that I have to answer everytime I write a Grant Follow-up Report.  Funders want to know if we accomplished what we set out to do with their money.  And if we did, how did we measure success? 

It's a tough question to answer.  Sometimes I want to say, "Just trust me. We're doing great things with your money!  Spend one day at The GreenHouse and you'll see what I mean!" 

That's easy for me to say - I get to see the programs in action and the many positive changes that are happening everyday in the lives of our youth.  But, it's much harder for me to write about in an objective or numerical way, which is what the funders are looking for.  

Often, I can skate by on this answer by reporting on the requisite "goals and objectives."  I can easily find attendance records, behavior records and percentages of accuracy on math, reading or vocabulary activities and report that yes, once again, we've met our annual goals and objectives (or that we've come close).  And, it's true.  We have done those things.  But does that really tell you about the "success" of our programs?  Do those percentages tell of the lives that are being utterly and irreversibly transformed from the inside out by God's love and grace?  Do they tell of relationships formed, confidence restored, or dreams ignited?  

I think that a better measure of success is found not in numbers, but in stories - in the testimonies of those who have been and are being transformed by God, right before our eyes. 

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to try to share a few of the stories that are currently unfolding right now at The GreenHouse.  It's a pretty darn exciting place to be these days!  Hope and Grace are putting on some amazing performances. 

May these stories remind me of the Big Picture especially on a week like this one which will be fraught with small details.  May they remind us all that it's never too late for Hope (we never run out of second chances).  And may they give Glory to the One who is powerful enough to redeem each one of our stories.      

(now if I can just find time to sit down and write them.  stay tuned!) 

Time and Energy

I've been spending a lot of time and energy

planning this:

(I hope to see you there!)

dreaming about this:

  (Could this be a facility solution for The GreenHouse?)

reading this:

(So far, it's not the magic wand I was hoping for to end Riley's tantrums...but some good reminders)

worrying about this:

 (How did my son turn out to be the class clown?  And can he just make it through one week without getting a "card" pulled at kindergarten?)

and fretting about a dozen other things that make life seem really unsettled these days. 

Unfortunately, I'm not spending as much time and energy as I'd like

doing this:

So, if you are...please include me and all of the above in those prayers. 

Baby Love

Welcome to our world!

baby Myles

born Monday to Nancy and Keith

baby Elliot

born Friday to Heather and Mike

(who I haven't met yet...but plan to soon!)

and baby Alexiana

born Saturday to Melanie and Jason

(who I also haven't met yet, but uncle Steve has!)

I can't wait to meet and play with you all!

Congratulations to all the tired mommys and daddys. 

When Life Hands You Lemons....

...make S'mores on the BBQ at home instead!

(Needless to say, our weekend didn't go quite as planned). 

Double Date

(A little bit of catch-up documenting from our last few days in DC....)

Two days before we left to come back home to Sacramento I went on a double date of sorts:  an afternoon date with Jonah followed by an evening date with Steve.  Lucky me!  Two handsome companions back-to-back made for one very fun day.

Jonah and I spent our afternoon at the theater - children's theater, that is.  Glen Echo Park, a popular amusement park from the early 1900's until 1968, is now a national park that houses a variety of arts programs including Adventure Theater.  On the recommendation of a DC local, I picked up two tickets to see a performance of "If You Give a Pig a Pancake," which played all summer at Adventure Theater.     

the original entrance into Glen Echo Park with an old train parked out front

many of the original buildings remain inside the park, like this old candy shop

The stage and set-design inside the theater were darling!  And the theater was cozy so it was fun to be just steps away from the actors.  Jonah was a little unsure of the whole thing at first, but once it started, he loved it and laughed at all the right parts.   

After the play, I treated Jonah to a ride on the old carousel which was outside in the middle of Glen Echo Park.  I don't care much for carousels (vertigo...) but I loved being care-free and enjoying special time with my Jonah-Jo. 

That evening my mom, who was in town to help us fly home, watched all the kids so Steve and I could spend some time together.  Our date began in Capitol Hill for some dinner at Good Stuff Eatery, a well-known DC burger joint that was started by "Top Chef" Spike Mendelsohn.  Steve got the Good Stuff Melt, I got the Prez Obama burger, and we shared Spike's Village Fries.  YUMMO.  (Apparently there's a little debate in DC over which burger joint/burger chef is better: Good Stuff or BGR.  Lucky for us - we visited both of them while we were out there and we found them both to be delicious.  However, we agreed that BGR was the best) 

After dinner, Steve and I strolled (actually waddled because we were stuffed!) down the street to the Supreme Court.  It was a beautiful place to be as the sun was setting.  We also got a great view of the back of the Capitol which is what you are looking at when you are standing on the steps of the Supreme Court.

We capped the night off in Georgetown.  We had planned to get more yummy eats at Georgetown Cupcake but when we got there, the line to get a cupcake was TWO HOURS long.  Sorry, no cupcake is that good.  So we high-tailed it to an ice cream shoppe instead before walking a bit more and then heading home.  It was really wonderful for Steve and me to be able to talk for an extended period of time about all that we had experienced over the summer. (Thanks Mom!) 

Ahh...to be footloose and fancy-free again...