Bits & Pieces

From the Director

Volunteers are THE KEY to our success. With only five full-time staff, we could never serve even one-tenth of the people we serve without the support of many, many volunteers. Volunteers answer the phone when you call. They sit on the Board of Directors and on all the important committees from fundraising to the fall dinner to the youth advisory committee and the health program advisory committees. They put in hundreds of hours doing data input for grant reports and fiscal accountability.

Volunteers order, pick-up, unload, sort and hand out food donations. They talk to their friends and encourage them to give. They talk to the neighbors who come for help and encourage them to keep on because we care about them.

Volunteers help youth with their homework, play games with them, talk to them, and encourage them to keep on because we care about them.

Volunteers organize health programs and call neighbors to remind them that taking care of their health is important because we care about them.

YOU ARE THE KEY to our success. Please join us for our Annual Meeting on May 4.

And THANK YOU,
Wanda

You are invited

You are invited to join the celebration because

Volunteers are the Key to our Success!

Please join us for South Providence Neighborhood Ministries Annual Meeting and Volunteer Recognition Dinner

Tuesday, May 4, 2004, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Ethnic Potluck—Bring a dish related to your background.

Volunteer Recognition, Election of Board Members

Anyone interested in Neighborhood Ministries is welcome!

Volunteers Needed!

Are you looking for a way to share your time and talents? We have some suggestions for you. This summer we need:

• Camp counselors for Happy Days arts & crafts, swimming, games, sports, trips, FUN
• Receptionists morning & afternoon answer phones, greet neighbors, be a welcoming person
• Office help bookkeeping, data entry, marketing and media help

Fundraising Success!

This year’s Annual Fund/Phonathon was greatly successful. Special thanks to Alan Shawn Feinstein, for once again providing a donation match. Thank you to all of you who were so generous! You make us successful. We look forward to continued collaboration.

Students Sharpening Their Skills

This year has brought excited interns to SPNM. Students from Johnson and Wales University, the Genesis Center, The Met School, and the Rocky Hill School have created and implemented surveys of our youth’s experiences, organized data entry, worked on computer upgrades and much more. They gain valuable work experience while improving on what we can do for our neighbors.

Look to Louie’s Place

This has been an exciting year for the youth program. Over the past few months we’ve had new opportunities for our youth. We’ve contracted for weekly tumbling classes. New volunteers have improved arts and crafts projects. Every Friday, youth participate in drama classes. This April school vacation youth were with us all day. They went roller-skating and played many games.

Older youth have continued leadership training. These youth went on a photo walk where they documented things they like and things they would like to change about their neighborhoods. They worked with Big Nazo puppets. They made an anti-tobacco video and coordinated an anti-tobacco educational fair for the younger program participants.

Park Cleanup and Celebration

The Broad Street Path to Health Coalition of South Providence Neighborhood Ministries with support from the City of Providence and Providence Shines sponsored a Southside cleanup/celebration . Mayor David Cicilline spoke at the kick off and was presented with the new Southside Physical Activity Directory developed by Neighborhood Ministries. The directory lists sites that offer free or fee based sites on the southside where people can exercise. The park became a target for renewal as the result of fall focus groups conducted by Neighborhood Ministries.

Spring Walking Conference

The third annual Broad Street Path to Health Spring Walking Conference was a wonderful day! People were encouraged to engage in regular physical activity and improved nutrition as a kick off of National Minority Health Month and Public Health Week.

Participants signed up to join a new weekly Healthy Weight Support Group starting in April. There were health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar glucose, a pilates demonstration and body composition screenings. A dozen other health agencies were represented.

The Second Annual Benefit Concert was fantastic!

You may have seen a photo in the Providence Journal or the entire concert on local cable access. This year’s concert was hosted by Phillips Memorial Baptist Church. Over 400 friends were entertained by the Temple Emanu-El choral club, the MLK elementary school glee club, Elevated and Holy Apostles Church adult choir. Martha Sobaje shared her self written – Variations on “Old Hundredth”, and Rev. Sharon Key shared her talent singing “Peace Like a River”. As guests gathered they were entertained by St. Luke Handbell Ensemble. Many thanks to our hard working concert committee: Rev. Wes Smith, Martha Sobaje and Polly Erickson. We’re all Looking forward to next year.

Many new experiences are in store for the summer.

Many of our supporters see us at just the holidays but we are working hard for our community all year and we invite you to take part. This summer Happy Days summer camp will be an all day program. Volunteer to work with youth as they play games, make crafts and have fun. Health programs also continue. Join us for a 1st Saturday of the month walk or attend a Monday evening dancercise class. Come see Friday noontime food distribution where our parking lot becomes a farmer’s market. We will soon be instituting monthly open houses where you can see us in action!

We are establishing a Church Contact Corps. Participants will be individuals who share the news of South Providence Neighborhood Ministries with their church community. This volunteer position is great for a busy person who feels they can’t contribute as much as they’d like. You would receive e-mails once or twice a month and then share the news of the e-mail with your community. If you would like to be the Neighborhood Ministries spokesperson in your church or would like to know more about the position, please contact us so that we can continue to care for our community with your help.

Staff

Wanda S. Michaelson, Executive Director
Maria E. Cimini, Assistant Director
Grace M. Wilcox, Direct Services Coordinator
Bobbi Houllahan, Minority Health Coordinator
Jen Ward, Louie’s Place Coordinator
Janet Rivas, Louie’s Place Assistant
Amy Thomas, Louie’s Place Assistant
E. Dee Lee, WORD Program Coordinator

Our mission

Our mission is to meet essential needs, enhance the quality of life for children and adults, encourage self-worth and self-sufficiency and foster community pride in a neighborhood of diverse ethnic, racial and social backgrounds.

Neighborhood Ministries staff travels!

We would love to speak at your church service, coffee hour, youth group, women's or men's society, or civic organization. Call (401) 461-7509 to schedule a speaker.