Community Concerns: Family's success shows program worth

|tab|

Last week, a very moving event took place when the first family graduated from the Family Achievement Academy of the Springfield Community Center. The Family Achievement Academy is made possible, I am proud to say, by a grant from multiple donor-advised funds within the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, and the Musgrave Foundation.|ret||ret||tab|

The "first family," Karen Gardner and children Jarrod and Jovita McLeod and Kailon Bell, came to the academy in their time of hardship and turmoil, and found a source of assistance and support as they regrouped and set goals for their future.|ret||ret||tab|

The first step in the FAA program is asset mapping wherein each member of the family and the family as a whole assesses their strengths, and sets goals utilizing those assets. The prime movers in this program, Calvin Allen, director of the Springfield Community Center and Marilyn Sorrels, director of the Family Achievement Academy, described the family as intelligent, creative, hardworking, self-disciplined and self-motivated. |ret||ret||tab|

During the two years a family commits for, the staff and volunteers at FAA provide information, advice, and assistance in accessing other programs in the community, as well as overall support and encouragement. In addition, the families meet together regularly to discuss issues of mutual concern, an important aid in reaching goals. When they complete the program, families are asked to volunteer their support and assistance to families new to the program.|ret||ret||tab|

At the graduation, we learned that all three adult members of the family had been accepted into higher education programs that would assist them in further reaching their goals. Karen is to enter a graduate program and earn a master's degree in sociology, Jarrod is to attend Harding College studying for the ministry on scholarship and Jovita will attend Pepperdine University on full scholarship, studying to become an educational psychologist. Kailon, the middle schooler, completed two years in one while being home-schooled last year.|ret||ret||tab|

But the most amazing thing about this family is that they are giving back even as they are receiving the help of the Academy. They are involved in their church, in community service and in mission trips, actually leaving two days after the graduation for a mission trip to Mexico, and all adults have jobs both outside and inside the home.|ret||ret||tab|

This program is the culmination of a series of steps taken by the Community Foundation, beginning with participation in a collaboration of grant-makers to conduct a community needs assessment. What was found in the assessment was that low-income families in our community have a complex situation to overcome, especially the children, because of the "constellation of needs" surrounding them. Action is needed on many fronts for such families to improve their situation, requiring multiple resources not readily obtainable. The Foundation created a special initiative, The Initiative for Children and Youth, and issued an request for proposals to community service agencies serving children and youth to create a program meeting these needs. Among the 28 grant requests received, the Springfield Community Center's request, involving a collaboration of 13 agencies, stood out as one which could truly pioneer in the area of assisting families achieve their potential, and was selected. Since the awarding of the grant, the structure for the program has been created and 21 families have received services from the Academy,|ret||ret||tab|

We can all be proud of this family and what they have overcome and achieved, but I am more proud of the Springfield Community Center, Calvin Allen and Marilyn Sorrels, for creating a template for a dynamic program with the potential to help many more families in the future. |ret||ret||tab|

Since the media attention the graduation received, many individuals have expressed interest and support, including one who wants to volunteer.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Jan Horton is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. She is proud to be a lifelong volunteer, devotee of the arts, nature lover and environmentalist.)|ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]