Making A Difference

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

MentorKidsUSA families

Mission Director Chris Woodard

By Chris Woodard Mission Director Chris: chrisw@vpc.church

VPC has been collaborating with MentorKidsUSA for over 10 years! MKUSA strives to work with children, families, and communities in their Promise Neighborhoods to connect disconnected children and teens (those with limited educational resources and support); empowering them to live into their God-given potential. In Maricopa County, there are 75,000 children and youth considered disconnected, accounting for approximately $1.1 billion dollars in penal, governmental, and social service costs. That is why this has been an incredible ministry partnership; God continues to change the lives of those involved. This is how one of VPC’s Community Groups is getting involved and making a difference:

PADRES CONECTAR The people of VPC’s community group, Kaleidoscope, have been working with MKUSA in their North Phoenix Promise neighborhood at Palomino Primary School for the past few years. Through the partnership with MKUSA and Palomino, they have created and implemented a program called Padres Conectar— which serves over 40 families and 150 children, teens, and adults. The program is designed to help parents understand the educational system and how to best support their children so they can be successful through their High School graduation.

Community involvement is crucial. Financial support, supplies, meals, and volunteer support come from VPC. Paradise Valley High School provides programming, event coordination, and adult and student volunteers. Programming focuses on topics brought to us by parents as well as those we see daily in our work with students and families. Padres Conectar discussions include homework strategies, communicating with schools, effective parent-teacher conferences, communication within families, and preparation for post-secondary educational opportunities.

We meet quarterly in the evening and provide dinner and childcare during the program. The programs are entirely in Spanish and involve a presentation and small group discussions. The hope is that participants will gain an understanding of the expectations and components needed to be successful in the educational system. It is also the hope that as community is formed among the participants, they support each other and feel empowered to reach out to each other, the schools, MKUSA and the church.

-Beth Glady, VPC Member

VPC member Ed Glady enjoying a board game with a child in the MentorKidsUSA program.

The strategy at MKUSA is working. At their Annual Breakfast they reported over 90% of the children involved in MKUSA have shown an increase in their reading ability. Reading competency is one of the key indicators for educational success. Moreover, 95% of the children involved reported they feel closer to God as a result of being enrolled in the MKUSA afterschool programs. God is good and is doing a mighty work through MKUSA! Hear how God is continuing to expand and bless MKUSA:

PAIUTE BLESSINGS The City of Scottsdale, Arizona boasts an upscale community with lush golf courses, luxury resorts, art galleries, highend restaurants, and pleasant living in the arid Southwest. Nonetheless, Scottsdale has relied on immigrant labor to support the service, hospitality, and sports & entertainment industries. Urban renewal has dispersed immigrant laborers to areas almost invisible to the rest of the community. The Paiute neighborhood is one of those enclaves. Situated between 62 nd Street to the west, Osborn to the north, 68 th Street to the east, and Thomas to the south, the Paiute neighborhood is a Mexican community, with Mexican flags on windows and front license plates of cars and trucks, bumper stickers naming Mexican states, and emblems of la Virgen de Guadalupe. Walk through the neighborhoods and you will see children playing, women chatting, and men drinking beer, playing dominoes, working on cars, or sitting in groups, particularly on weekends. The neighborhood is filled with the sounds of Spanish language radio announcers, along with norteño and mariachi music.

90% of the children involved in MentorKidsUSA have shown an increase in their reading ability.

In early 2017, a group of Christians and public servants chose Paiute to be the third MKUSA's Promise Neighborhood. In that group were representatives from Scottsdale Police Department, Hirsch Academy, The City of Scottsdale, First Baptist Church of Scottsdale, Cornerstone Old Town Scottsdale Church, Pinnacle Church, and VPC. The prayerful selection of Paiute was due to the extremely high poverty rate (60%), high proportion of Spanish-speaking population, high population density, and the high rental rate (95%). By January 2019, the Paiute Promise Neighborhood after-school program was ready to open its doors to the first middle

school cohort. A neighborhood manager and a group of volunteers, mainly from VPC, provide tutoring for five-six students from 6 th to 8 th grade, for two hours, every Thursday at FBC Scottsdale. Maintaining staffing levels started to be an issue, and the need to hire a full-time employee became apparent.

In May 2019, MKUSA was able to hire a full time Promise Neighborhood Manager. The program continued to grow. In June, a group of 30 children, ages five to 14 participated in a four-day soccer camp. Families came to watch the kids practice as 15 volunteers coached, kicked the ball with the kids, and prepared a meal for everyone. On August 5, 2019, a MKUSA after-school program for elementary school students, along with 18 volunteer tutors, began to serve 30 students K through 5th grades.

This new program has had ups and downs. Some students and families had to leave the program. Students’ needs are many and diverse, and more volunteers are needed to serve as tutors and small-group leaders. The part-time teacher resigned in early October and staff has not been able to replace that position. Nonetheless, thanks to the commitment of the wonderful tutors, the 20 students whose families saw the benefits of the program, and the prayers and tremendous support from VPC, FBCS, and many others, the program is running and the ripple to raise up the families and community has begun.

-Rodrigo Siva, Paiute Neighborhood Director, MKUSA

God is on the move in our neighborhoods and across our city. Thank you, VPC, for your continued support of this amazing ministry. Thank you to all our volunteers who have stepped out of their comfort zone and into unconventional relationships orchestrated by our God! It is truly amazing to see the lives of people being transformed by the grace of God and through the faith of people in their work. If you would like to hear more about MentorKids USA, or to get involved, please contact me. I would love to tell you about how you can be a part of this wonderful adventure.

Peace, Chris Woodard