{"id":9884,"date":"2015-07-28T10:34:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T15:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/?p=9884"},"modified":"2015-07-28T10:34:13","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T15:34:13","slug":"success-stories-from-the-ward-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/success-stories-from-the-ward-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Success Stories from the Ward Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Bonita Lee Penn<\/em><\/p>\n

Jamee-Alaeylah Dany\u2019le Garth-Flemister is a senior at Propel Andrew Street High School in Munhall. She is also involved in the Ward Home\u2019s Supervised Independent Living Program (S.I.L.).\u00a0 The S.I.L. program is a 24-hour supervised community-based residential program which serves teens (16-21) in apartment style housing.\u00a0 The residential program assists teens who are in transition from the social services system to adult life.<\/p>\n

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The Ward Home was established in 1905 as a safe haven for children. The S.I.L. program includes emphasis on the development of life skills, fiscal responsibility, home economic skills, workforce development, interpersonal skills, social and cultural awareness along with higher education initiatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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About four years ago the Ward Home networked with local artists\/centers to establish enrichment workshops. These workshops offer the opportunity for the teens to relax and explore their creative side. \u201cThis is our way to connect deeper with the teens to help them discover a passion, a hobby, some have even discovered a career path,\u201d Daryl Lucke, Ward Homes\u2019 Executive Director, commented.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One workshop takes place at the Pittsburgh Glass Center on Penn Avenue (East Liberty).\u00a0 Jamee states this is her favorite class. \u201cI like art period.\u00a0 Any class that was offered, I participated.\u00a0 Whether it was photography or cooking.\u00a0 I like to keep myself busy.\u201d Neatly laid out on brown paper she displays her finished glassworks:\u00a0 a group of colorful beads; pendants; and uniquely sculptured stir sticks.\u00a0 When asked what did she enjoy most about the class, her response was that she enjoyed being in control of what she wanted to design.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Jamee takes pride in her artistic glassworks, an interest that was inspired by the glass ornaments her grandmother would send from Hawaii.\u00a0 She would examine each piece and wonder how they were made.\u00a0 In the glass workshops she had the opportunity to plan and create her own pieces.\u00a0 \u201cYou shape the glass the way you want.\u00a0 Add your choice of colors.\u00a0 This process teaches you how to plan in advance.\u00a0 Working with heat, you need to know what you want to create before you start.\u00a0 I love this project, it\u2019s pretty cool.\u00a0 You use the torches and either hard or soft glass, each type requires a different heat level,\u201d she added.\u00a0 She used soft glass for the beads which took approximately ten minutes to finish, but her favorite pieces the honey stir sticks took about 35 to 45 minutes to create.\u00a0 Jamee shared that the best part of the workshop was the unconditional support received from the instructors. \u201cThey never told us something could not be done. They encouraged us to go forward and complete each task.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Enrichment classes help the teens find their passion and some have even found a career. Daryl commented that one student found his after he participated in a cooking workshop.\u00a0 She added that the Ward Home wants all their teens to continue on to college.\u00a0 But not all teens want to take the traditional route to a career.\u00a0 Such as the young teen who discovered he wanted to become a butcher.\u00a0 \u201cWe helped him find a related training program. The program required him to purchase his own butcher supplies.\u00a0 These can be expensive.\u00a0 He applied and received one of our scholarships, which gave him the resources to purchase his supplies.\u00a0 Now he is a butcher at Giant Eagle, living in his own apartment and very happy with his life,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Ward Home offers scholarships to students who choose to further their education.\u00a0 Our entire staff is involved in the betterment of our teens.\u00a0 Daryl stated that many staff members contribute to the scholarship fund through payroll deduction.\u00a0 We all believe that education is the true path to independence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0Jamee\u2019s commitment to the advancement of her life and future shows through her hard work at school, her involvement in the Ward Home programs and her plans to attend college.\u00a0 \u201cI decided I am going to college in North Carolina.\u00a0 My mother lives there and I use to live there.\u00a0 I know I wanted a small school.\u00a0 I did the research and found a school I like, Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte,\u201d she said.\u00a0 When she graduates in June she will be on her way.\u00a0 Her major will be in Criminal Justice, she has yet to choose a minor.\u00a0 She has it all planned and is working on the completion of her scholarship essay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On Saturday, March 21, 2015 the Ward Home held its Fourth Annual \u2018Picture This\u2019 fundraiser at the Pittsburgh Glass Center.\u00a0 All the glassworks produced by the teens was on display for sale.\u00a0 Daryl shared that for the teens to see their works on display in such a grand way, gives them an added sense of accomplishment.\u00a0 It was hard for Jamee to choose which pieces she wanted to be sold and which to present to the important people in her life.\u00a0 She said that her inspiration to create the stir sticks came from sharing tea with her school principal.\u00a0 \u201cWe both like tea.\u00a0 We always use the honey that we made from the school\u2019s beehives.\u201d\u00a0 Over their daily tea they both agreed there was a need for stir sticks for the honey.\u00a0 Instead of a store bought one, Jamee will present her principal with one of her own creations designed in the glass workshop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jamee looks forward to her bright future. She lives and stays empowered by this quote: \u201cNever allow yourself to be defined by someone else\u2019s opinion of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To volunteer, donate or find out more information about the Ward Home, Inc., click on their website at wardhome.org.<\/p>\n

This article was first published in Soul Pitt Quarterly Print Magazine (SPR15)<\/em>
\nCopyright Soul Pitt Media.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bonita Lee Penn Jamee-Alaeylah Dany\u2019le Garth-Flemister is a senior at Propel Andrew Street High School in Munhall. She is also involved in the Ward Home\u2019s Supervised Independent Living Program (S.I.L.).\u00a0 The S.I.L. program is a 24-hour supervised community-based residential … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soul-pitt-quarterly"],"featured_image_src":"","blog_images":{"medium":"","large":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"ams_acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/spq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}