September 2011

Over 260 people came together to help raise  more than $70,000 at The 2011 Hopeworks Celebration of Accomplishments Dinner. With a fantastic silent auction, a delicious dinner, a new video, an exciting live auction, and our annual awards  this year’s dinner was the best one to date.  This year’s award winners were led by Erika Sanchez who won The Golden Mouse Award. Erika, a long time Web Production trainee just transferred to Rutgers after two years at Camden County College. The Hopeworks Leadership Award was won by DJ Brown who inspires everyone at Hopeworks to bigger and better accomplishments. The Alumni Award went to Adriana Castro , a sophomore at Kean University who continues to stay connected to Hopeworks and who has used her leadership skills to earn a job as an RA at Kean. And long time board member and an enthusiastic Hopeworks, Skip Torresson (pictured above) was awarded our Hopester Award. There were so many people and organizations, sponsors and donors who came together to make this dinner the best we ever had that it would take too much space to thank them all, however, on behalf of our board, our staff, and all of the youth at Hopeworks – Thanks to all who made this night so special and we look forward to another year of hope, struggle and success here in Camden. Thank You! View our Dinner Album

“I thought that I was going to Mexico to help change some lives but it was my life that was changed.” That is a quote from Hopeworks trainee Djvonn who, along with Ruben, Geehem and staff member Sean Dougherty, traveled to Cuernavaca, MX to work with a group called VAMOS!   VAMOS! works with children and families by setting up small schools, feeding healthy meals, providing free medical and dental care and providing instruction in other life skills. The experience was an amazing one as our trainees witnessed a different type of poverty than what they are used to. They were struck by the poor condition of people’s homes, the fact that the meal they received from VAMOS! might be their only meal of the day and most of all they were impressed with the bright spirit of the people they met. They connected with the VAMOS! teens in their computer labs. They played soccer, basketball and helped the preschool teachers in class. They helped to serve meals to the children and mothers and then cleaned up the classrooms at the end of the day. Ruben had this to say about his experience, “The attitude of the people that we met in Mexico was amazing and it showed a lot in the children. Their attitude towards life was – if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. The children knew their situation was tough but would never change it because that’s where their family is from. As one of the children said to me on my first day, “Without family we have nothing. So we are happy.” There was also time to visit ancient pyramids, big city marketplaces and 500 year old cathedrals. AND the best news might be that the group is determined to go back.   They are already planning a return trip with more trainees in January. So thank you to all who supported this incredible trip and if you are interested in learning more or in helping out the next group please contact Ruben at rubensantiago@hopeworks.org. Check out their twitter stream by searching #hwmexico on Twitter.

Hopeworks has embarked upon an aggressive new Social Media strategy that is designed to help us create a ‘bigger’ youth development organization. By connecting resources outside of Hopeworks we hope to enlarge our encouragement of youth, create awareness of the world of opportunities and resources outside of Hopeworks and connect our youth with the many others who are willing to share in the success of their dreams. We have developed a five prong intense approach that includes: Peer-to-Peer mentoring, Chatter, (Salesforce’s social and collaborative function), E mentoring, social media like facebook and twitter and our collaborative college support network that we are calling C3. C3 uses Chatter to connect all of Hopeworks college youth with all the Hopeworks staff as well as to a group of volunteers who join Chatter. In this way, all of these people become part of a community that can help our college youth edit papers, find resources, get encouragement, ask for advice and so much more. This effort is coordinated by Joshua Cooper, our Literacy Director who says, “C3 is the most effective social media app used by our youth to connect to outside supporters.” If you are interested in joining C3, e mail Joshua at joshua@hopeworks.org.

This fall, we have 6 Hopeworks youth in college!  We are celebrating the start of another semester for Jon, Lewis, Shawn, DJ and Elijah….. And we are really excited for Lonnie who will be attending college for the first time ever! Each of our youth is taking a full course load of 12 credits/4 classes. Classes include Music Appreciation, Basic Psychology, Elementary Algebra, Writing 2, Reading 2, World Civilizations, and Public Speaking. Please join us in celebrating and encouraging all of our college youth. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Joshua via email: joshua@hopeworks.org.

Congrats also  to our College Youth who went to Camden County College’s 5 and 7 week summer sessions! Our youth took classes in Criminal Justice, Writing, Psychology, and Reading. It was an “eye-opening” experience for some of our youth as they encountered the challenges of being college students: late nights and early mornings; academically challenging professors; group vs. individual studying; balancing social and academic pursuits. Some of our youth received “A’s” while others realized they needed to study differently because sleeping with a book on your head (hopeful osmosis) didn’t actually improve retention. All in all, our youth had life-changing experiences that will lead them into 4-year colleges and help them understand what it takes to be successful.  And finally congratulations and good luck to Erika Sanchez as she made the transition from Camden County College to Rutgers University, majoring in Criminal Justice.

In September representatives from the Jesuit Conference of the United States toured Hopeworks and connected with Father Jeff about the Hopeworks Mission. Amy Newton, Director of Programs, Office of Social and International Ministries, John Kleiderer, Policy Director, Social and International Ministries and Thomas Greene, S.J., Secretary for Social and International Ministries spent the day getting an in depth look at what opportunities youth have available here at Hopeworks. Jesuits around the world are organized into 91 provinces and the ten provinces of the United States are organized into a conference to promote common goals and oversee international projects. The Jesuit Conference of the United States offices in Washington, DC provide liaison staffing among the ten provinces, various national associations and the Society’s international headquarters in Rome.

Anthony Russo, VP Consumer Market Manager-Southern NJ Market and Cathy Livingston, Senior VP Consumer Market Manager, Phila-Bucks County, deliver a grant check to Father Jeff at Hopeworks in the amount of $20,000.   Bank of America has been a loyal supporter of Hopeworks for many years and recognizes the work that Hopeworks does in the fields of education, jobs and youth development. The Foundation works to create meaningful impact in communities by working with local leaders and community partners in the areas that they serve. Many thanks to Bank of America for their support of our programs and for the passion that they share with us to work with the youth of Camden.

On August 29, 2011 the NASDAQ closed at its highest number in more than three weeks! Why? Well it could be because Hopeworks rang the closing bell at the stock exchange. A group of twelve Hopeworks staff and trainees took the trip up to New York City to ring the closing bell. Close friends Rich Pisciella and John McNabb from Symantec Corp. also took part in the ceremony. Sean Dougherty talked about the work Hopeworks does and the great partnerships we have made right before the entire Hopeworks contingent came on stage to ring the bell. Afterwards the group from Hopeworks headed outside to Times Square to see their pictures projected seven stories tall on the NASDAQ Marketsite Building! Thanks to everyone who helped to make this possible including Bill Morgan and Pat Urban from NASADQ and Rich Pisciella from Symantec. Check out the video and pictures.

Check out the new Hopeworks video!  It is all about OPPORTUNITY.  From the opportunity to train in web design to the opportunity to meet Jon Bon Jovi!  From the chance to earn a job to the chance to travel to Mexico.  From the opportunity to grow your own fresh vegetables in your own garden to the opportunity to learn how to turn them into a delicious meal.  From the chance to live in a a supportive community to the chance to go to college, it is all available to trainees at Hopeworks and they talk about them all in this new video.

In September and August trainees, staff, and community members harvested eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, basil, broccoli, mint, parsley, and more from our garden! We were able to set up a table to share our produce in NorthGate Park at the Hopeworks Film Festival, and many community residents stopped by to learn about both the garden the vegetables we had to share. We are looking ahead to harvesting some pumpkins, butternut squash, watermelons, and another round of spinach and lettuce. We can always use extra hands to help with the upkeep of the garden, just let Alaina, alaina@hopeworks.org, know if you’re interested! We’ve had some fantastic volunteers coming through- thanks to the National Baptist Deacons Convention of America, the Reformed Church of Highland Park Youth Group, and a group serving for the Camden Community Day of Service! We also are planning a tree planting on Saturday, October 8th and will need lots of hands to help. Thanks to the New Jersey Tree Foundation we are able to plant four trees around the garden, and twenty more in front of our neighbor’s homes! This will prove to be a great day in our community and at the garden.

October marks the kick off  of a six week series of cooking classes for Hopeworks youth called “Cooking Matters” sponsored by  The Food Bank of  South Jersey.  These classes will continue the classes that have become a favorite part of the C.R.I.B. community.   All summer long the  C.R.I.B. hosted community cooking demonstrations- thanks to volunteers Kathleen Duffy, Chef Gabe Sosa, and Kim Martino! So far the garden harvest has been put to good use in the kitchen- with youth learning how to cook new things.   One trainee commented, “That was my first time baking, and I never really expected to do it so well, thanks for giving me the courage to take part…” Kathleen helped with canning our own spaghetti sauce. Chef Gabe showed up and we took a trip to the garden, harvested the food that was available, and then he made it into a meal! That night we shared a great meal of eggplant parmesan, eggplant salsa, bread-sticks with tomato dipping sauce, and strawberry shortcake. Kim came and showed us how to make Pesto out of our abundance of basil, as well as how to fry our squash flowers, and make a healthy frittata. We look forward to continuing with cooking demonstrations with Virtua Hospital Chefs, as well as with the Cooking Matters Program with the Food Bank of South Jersey.

Sheinelle Jones. Kerry Barret. Sue Serio. Mike Jerrick. The are common names if you watch Philadelphia’s Fox29 in the morning. Recently, on a studio tour, we added to those names Barbara, Maryann, Sharmyra, Kwame, Sierra, and Shawn. Our trainees toured the studios and watched a live newscast. They learned about the distinction between the local affiliate and national network. Through interactions with various employees, they heard about the pressures of live news and the role of technology in the process. They were surprised that while a television anchor’s day starts at 3 a.m.!  They were able to meet staff in the marketing and sales department as well as learn how, during major news events, anchors come together with story editors to form what appears in our living rooms. Check out the video of the trainees closing out the late morning newscast at the end of the tour.

What Could Make your Morning Better? Hopeworks Jam.   Trainees Maryann, De’Quan and Aishah made some of the best stawberry jam of the summer during their participation in our entrepreneurship program here at Hopeworks. After many taste tests and sticky cleanups at the C.R.I.B., they were ready, jars in hand, for our  film festival which was held in Northgate Park. Our fearless sales team worked hard to let everyone know about their product. In the end, not only did they sell a case of their product, but they also built a customer base. Several days later, a satisfied consumer returned to say how much she loved that jam on toast in the morning. Not only did she like the product, but she was proud of the hard work and effort that our youth put into making it happen.

In what has become an annual tradition,  ”Symantec Week at Hopeworks” wraps up all of the activities and learnings of the summer season at Hopeworks. Since 2002 a group of pros from Symantec Corp. come to visit, teach, serve and have fun with Hopeworks staff and trainees. This year kicked off with a Community Training where local leaders came to learn how to properly back-up their systems and then got the inside scoop on the ins and outs of Twitter! Then Hopeworks was transformed into a giant Scavenger Hunt where trainees had to learn and master simple technology tasks in order to earn prizes. This year Hopeworks partnered with SCRIBE to hold a neighborhood film festival in nearby Northgate Park. Activities also included a day of community service where we by cleaned up Northgate Park, worked in our Community Garden and trimmed up, in and around Holy Name School. To cap everything off, everyone took a day long trip to New York! Our first stop was the Alcatel-Lucent Labs in North Jersey where we toured their Technology Museum as well as their anechoic chamber – the quietest room in the world. From there the tour took us to Wall Street and NASDAQ where Pat Urban from NASDAQ helped us get an understanding of how America’s financial district works! All in all it was a wonderful way to learn, serve, have fun and share with our community partners. Check out our Symantec Week pictures.