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Hopeworks News: October 2007
3rd Annual Celebration Of Accomplishments Dinner A Major Success!!!
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Over 230 people gathered at the Marian House on 
September 29th for Hopeworks 3rd Annual Celebration of Accomplishments. The evening was marked by this year's award winners, the debut of our new video “In Their Own Words” and an inspiring talk from former Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Jim Murray. Hopeworks youth, alumni and parents joined friends, neighbors, clients and supporters to celebrate the past year.
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Congratulations to all 2007 Award Winners!
 Along with all of the delicious food, drinks, and dancing, 5 people were honored with our annual awards. Our first award of the night was the 2007 Golden Mouse Award. This award is given to a youth that has taken up the culture of Hopeworks and truly understands what our slogan, “Learning to Learn” means. This year's award went to Adriana Castro. A sophomore at Hallahan High School, Adriana has been with us for a year and a half. She is a has worked in Web Production and has been a Hope Through School trainer. Adriana is currently a leader in our GEB program and has been working on a map of Camden that will be printed and distributed this winter. Congratulations Adriana!
The 2007  Hopeworks Leadership Award was presented to Shakira Johnson. Shakira is a sophomore at Penn Tech High School and has been with Hopeworks since July. She was elected as a leader in our summer neighboring action project and is always willing to help other trainees as they work through our web curriculum. Congratulations Shakira!
 We awarded our very first Hopeworks Alumni Award at this year's dinner. The lucky recipient was Endrix Afanador. Endrix is two classes away from graduating from Camden County College with his Associates Degree in Business Administration. When not in school, he is the shift supervisor of a local business and he recently began writing material for a book with another Hopeworks alumnus, Josh Rivera. Congratulations Endrix!
Each year we honor several of our supporters with our Hopester Awards and this year 
Camden County College and Francesca McClay were the winners. Francesca has been a great contributor to the growth of Hopeworks. She was on our Board for 3 years and currently is an e-Mentor, and chairs the Board's PR committee. From the beginning Camden County College has been a strong partner with Hopeworks. Assistant Dean of Enrollment and Student Services
Teresa Smith and Phyllis Owens
the college's Working Connections Program Director
accepted the Hopester Award on behalf of the college. Camden County was recognized for all of the ways they have helped  to get our youth started in college. Dean Smith has lent a hand with many of our youth by getting them enrolled in classes and being a big supporter for our youth. Phyllis Owens is a former board member and is also a member of our PR committee. She has helped with arranging for our youth to be able to receive college credits while in our training program and has also been a great supporter of Hopeworks.
Once again, on behalf of Hopeworks, we would like to say congratulations to everyone and thank you for all the support and care you have for Hopeworks!
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Alumni Spotlight!! |
We are confident that when trainees leave Hopewor ks, they are ready
to “BE BIG” and to move confidently towards their futures. For our Celebration of Accomplishments dinner, we reached out to a small group of the nearly 80 trainees who have gone to college with Hopeworks assistance. The group of trainees includes
Lilliana Q., Frank C., Teresa P., Endrix A.,
Yesenia N.,
Tiana D., Jordan P., Samantha M., Dan C., Mark F., Sabrina G., Angel R., and Javier C. We wanted to celebrate their many varied achievements and successes and recognize their hard work. Our conversations were filled with excitement as we heard stories of finishing college, beginning jobs, starting families and contributing to the community (and in one case, our country). Trainees often spoke about how formative their time at Hopeworks was and how it opened doors to new opportunities that they never imagined possible for themselves. Each of these young men and women are to be commended for the responsibilities they have taken on and the strengths they have demonstrated as they move towards their D.R.E.A.M.S. Our staff certainly felt a lot of positive energy emanating from what they shared and saw it as a testament to the care and support we offer each individual trainee. Hope does work. Click here to read individual stories about the trainees! |
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Introducing...Steve Bozzone and Shawn Mack! |
Hello, I am Steve Bozzone and I’ve spent the  last 3 years working with youth in North Philadelphia in a digital arts program. Youth created print and digital media in order to represent their perspectives on topics ranging from love and relationships to police brutality. Their work—including a community newspaper, podcasts and public service announcements—can be seen and heard at www.NorthPhillyTeens.com . I am excited to continue my experience here at Hopeworks, which I believe plays a vital role in the emerging global movement to end poverty and build a more just world. In my spare time I like to create music and ride my bike!
Hello, I am Shawn Mack. I am excited about the opportunity to work with the youth here at Hopeworks. As a teacher for the past 10 years, I have been dedicating my time, talent and energy to youth. It is exciting to be working with such a committed and creative group of individuals who share the same passion for change. I look forward to working with the youth and staff as we explore novel approaches to educating, enlightening and empowering our youth.
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Working one on one with a youth is a great way to get involved. We have openings for adults to come between 4 pm and 6 pm and spend an hour helping one of our youth get a head in their studies. You'll read with a youth, work on math problems or help someone study for a test. You can make a difference! You can create hope in the lives of Camden Youth! Contact Shawn Mack for more information.
 On October 1, 2007, the Literacy Program introduced a new reading initiative. The D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) program encourages youth to make reading on a daily basis a priority. Each day from 4:00pm-4:15pm everyone inside Hopeworks drops what their doing and picks up a book. Hopeworks has been contracted by Townsend Press to design and build a web site focusing on their Bluford Series and so staff and trainees have devoted their D.E.A.R. time to reading a book from this series. By the end of the month, the youth and staff of Hopeworks will have read each book in the reading series. HAPPY READING!!!
Recently the Camden Eye Center’s Mobile Vision Clinic came to Hopeworks and screened 22 trainees. Later the following week, it returned to provide full eye exams to those who did not pass the screening. They are assisting those trainees with obtaining glasses and any other care necessary. Thank you to Dr. Rangone and the entire staff for their hard work in providing this great community service.
The start of Hope through school for the fall was a great one! We are glad to have some of the youth from our summer program continue to be with us and allowing us to support them through high school. Three of the youth even hung their pictures on our wall of fame within their 1st month back! We’re looking forward to having some special events planned for our successful program so stay tuned for updates…
Father Jeff went to  a SalesForce.com conference last month. The staff is currently taking training classes to use the program to keep track of everything from clients to trainees. In the future the youth will be trained to use the program was well.
Hopeworks is teaming with Big Brothers Big Sisters to create a video project. More information to come.
United Way
Maryland Province of Jesuits
CPAC
CCYSC
Irene S. Scully Family Foundation
Raskob Foundation
Commerce Bank
Citizens Bank
Anonymous Supporters
10/19: Recruiting Event at Hopeworks (9A.M.-1P.M.)
11/1: Patrick and Michael Osborne's Birthday!
12/11: Hopeworks Christmas Open House (9A.M.-4P.M.)
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Camden Diocese
Camden Youth Drug Court
Newburgh Ministries
NJRC
Triad Associates
Grace of God Lutheran
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Would you like to help create HOPE in the lives of Camden
youth?
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