Join us in Providing Your Time and Effort to Faces without Places

Steve Fuller, a professor at the University of Cincinnati, has a message he'd like to share with the Cincinnati Community:

The average age of a homeless person in the United States is nine years old.

Nine...years...old.

I was shocked to hear that statistic recently. I work at, and live near, the University of Cincinnati. I am used to seeing the stereotypical homeless person wandering around my neighborhood - male, older, mentally unstable, drunk, dirty, lazy, manipulative, and so on. I have seen the same homeless population around here for years. Heck, I know most of them by name.

It's easy to look the other way when one of them asks for spare change. I know they want to use it for alcohol, so a legitimate response is to say no and keep walking. It's harder to look the other way when this is the face of homelessness:

There are thousands of homeless children in Cincinnati. Thousands. They have no choice and no voice, but they desperately want a chance at life.

In my Persuasion class, I have students raise money for a social cause. In the Fall, we always raise money for Toys-4-Tots. The past couple of years, we raised money for Taft Elementary School during Winter and Spring Quarters. Thanks to my students and the generous readers of this blog, we even had a pretty sweet skating party a couple of years ago. Because of significant personnel changes at Taft Elementary in 2008, I had no idea what group we would raise money for last quarter, so I took suggestions from my students.

Someone suggested Faces Without Places, an organization that helps Cincinnati's homeless children survive and thrive in the public school system. It sounded good, so I agreed, and we raised $850. This quarter, I got a little more organized and invited Trish and Karen - the two women who lead Faces Without Places - to my classes to explain their organization. I was especially moved when Trish played a video of homeless children telling their stories. I teared up when dozens of boys and girls talked about their dreams of growing older and going to college, then becoming doctors, teachers, cops, lawyers, etc. I worry about money, but I haven't spent one minute of my life concerned about where my next meal would come from. Not one second worried about a warm bed to sleep in or clean water to drink. Every day, I see students taking their opportunity to attend college for granted. I know teachers (including me), doctors, and lawyers who complain about their jobs on a consistent basis.

And here are these kids who would do anything for the opportunity to pursue their dreams and escape poverty.

All they need are people who care.






My students are raising money again this quarter. Trish, Karen, and I just met Tuesday evening to figure out how to best use the funds. Today, I am thrilled to announce our plan: This June and July, Faces Without Places will host a summer program which includes many fun and educational activities for the kids (reading programs, movies, Reds games, Kings Island, pool days, etc.).


My classes have committed to supplying bathing suits, beach towels, and flip flops so each child can enjoy their time in the sun.






So why am I sharing all of this with you? Because I would feel terrible if I didn't give you guys the opportunity to get involved. If you would like to donate brand new flip flops, beach towels, or bathing suits, just contact me at fullersj@uc.edu and I will let you know the next steps. If you would like to find other ways to get involved with Faces Without Places, or if you would like to make a one-time monetary donation, simply go here for more information. I feel honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this experience, and I hope many of you will consider getting involved.

Even a small sacrifice can change a child's life.









To learn more about Steve's efforts visit his site or contact:

cincycommcorner@gmail.com

Volunteer for Women Helping Women

Volunteers are ordinary people who perform extraordinary work. It doesn’t take a great deal of time or sacrifice to make a difference in the life of another person. All it takes is the desire to reach out to others and a willingness to learn.

At Women Helping Women, they recognize the importance of volunteers. Many of their key services depend upon dedicated volunteers and they provide thorough training, continuous educational opportunities and support to volunteers so that they feel confident in their work.

Opportunities

Women Helping Women offers various volunteer opportunities:

Hospital Advocates: Volunteers who wish to respond to calls and provide hospital accompaniment to rape survivors during the evenings, weekends, or holidays.

Court Advocates: Accompany survivors of domestic violence as they proceed through the court system. Volunteers are most often utilized to assist with arraignment court, which occurs Monday through Saturday and runs 8:45 am to approximately Noon.

Hotline Advocates: Volunteers who wish to answer calls and provide crisis

intervention on our 24-Hour Crisis Line may do so anytime Monday through Friday between the hours of 7 am and 5 pm.

Education Advocates: Assist with programs given throughout Hamilton County and the Greater Cincinnati area. There will be opportunities to attend community fairs and programs to provide information to the public about our services.

Administrative/Clerical Advocates: Are essential to organizing documentation, assisting

with valuable reports for funders and supporting the administrative work of our small staff. These volunteers may not need to attend training.

Training

Our agency offers a 40-hour training program two times a year, during evenings and weekends in April/May and August/September. Topics covered include: sexual assault, domestic violence, history of the agency, explanation of the agency's mission and services, crisis intervention, cultural sensitivity, personal safety, legal and mental health issues among others. Volunteers will learn the agency's policies and procedures for working with clients. There are specific instructions given on how to respond to a person in a crisis over the telephone as well as in person. In addition, the training provides information on court procedures that prepare the volunteer to provide in-court support and information to survivors.

Fall Volunteer Training dates have been scheduled.

For training and dates and any questions please contact: cincycommcorner@gmail.com

Women Helping Women is a non-shelter, social service agency providing crisis intervention, advocacy, support and education/prevention services to victims/survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.

Women Helping Women is funded in part by the City of Cincinnati, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Victims of Crime Act, Violence Against Women Act and other sources of public and private support.

Discover Hope and Strength through Art

The Cincinnati Art Museum’s Art for Life initiative and the Mental Health Arts Collaborative have partnered with local arts organizations to celebrate the artwork of individuals living with mental illness and to re-consider the stigma of mental illness. Celebrating the Masters showcases 15 works made by local adults and children who were inspired by works from the Art Museum’s permanent collections.



The Cincinnati Art Museum’s presentation concludes the three-stop tour of Celebrating the Masters, which began at the Mason Municipal Building for the Mason Area Arts Council, and then traveled to Rosebrook Art Center in Florence, Kentucky.
Celebrate the opening of the Art Museum’s presentation with a special opening reception on Friday, May 8 at 1 p.m.

Simply attend this event to raise awareness and celebrate the arts in your community. If you would like more information on how to contribute to the organizations that worked to put together this on-going event contact us at: cincycommcorner@gmail.com


The Mental Health Arts Collaborative brings together the emotional impact of artistic expression with up-to-date information on the treatment of mental illness.

With art as the centerpiece of this project, we hope to raise awareness, stimulate dialogue and change perceptions.

We hope to improve the lives of millions of Americans struggling everyday to conquer their mental illness and return to their families, their places of work and their communities.

Located in scenic Eden Park, the Cincinnati Art Museum features an unparalleled art collection of more than 60,000 works spanning 6,000 years. In addition to displaying its own broad collection, the Art Museum also hosts several national and international traveling exhibitions each year.