covenantconnections WINTER 2013
IN THIS ISSUE
Your Efforts Count! Our continued growth and success would never be possible without the support of our funders, volunteers and community partners. Your time and dedication has helped make the following possible:
3,855
Honorary Hosts Lou and Jackie Brock Volunteer Groups
MAKE HUGE IMPACTS
CRIME PREVENTION
Grant Received
48
street or at-risk youth were provided resources and supplies through Street Outreach Efforts.
youth were served through the Transitional Living Program, with an average length of stay of 6.8 months.
2,048
90%
at-risk youth were reached through the sixty-five Runaway Prevention Presentations.
284
homeless youth were served through the Crisis Program.
81%
of these youth were discharged to safe and appropriate housing.
of these youth were discharged to safe and appropriate living arrangements.
87%
of youth established savings accounts prior to discharge.
ALL
CHMO youth were offered Mental Health Services, Life Skills Classes and Recreational/Social Service Opportunities.
thank
YOU 171
youth received GED and tutorial services
11
youth earned their GED this year.
239
youth received job readiness classes, career counseling and placement services through CHMO’s Employment Program.
111
youth obtained employment after receiving Employment Services.
volunteer spotlight
volunteer groups Make Huge Impact at CHMO
In June, the First Baptist Church of Villa Ridge came to Covenant House Missouri for a week of service. The group worked tirelessly the whole week to help us tear up the existing floor at the gym in order to prepare for a new floor to be installed. This new floor has given our gym a complete “face-lift” and provides a welcoming atmosphere for our youth to participate in recreational and community activities. The group also helped organize and facilitate Covenant House Missouri’s Health and Safety Fair for young children in the area. It was such an incredible gift to have the Mercer Financial Group volunteer at CHMO in September. The group held an open forum discussion in our job class as well as in our GED Program. Our youth benefited from their financial expertise through tutoring and an introduction to banking. After their service day, the volunteers decided to hold a clothing drive for our youth, which will take place around the holidays.
Deaconess Partnership Update Covenant House Missouri’s Impact Partnership with the Deaconess Foundation is in full swing! Our building has received numerous upgrades including an updated security system and a new server. CHMO’s strategic planning process began earlier this year; this plan will help us better define our agency’s goals, as we continue to focus on improving outcomes for our youth. Additionally, CHMO staff members have received numerous trainings in order to increase their ability to work with youth who present with complex issues. Suzanne Wagener, Executive Director Mary Bolla, Grant Writer mbolla@covenanthousemo.org swagener@covenanthousemo.org Board of Directors Diane Compardo, Rachel Keller Brown Jim Klimt Colleen Raley Pelopidas Duke Manufacturing Edward Jones Investments Treasurer Paul Kindl, Chair Moneta Group Michael Doyle Jon Nienas Dan Woods Kindl & Associates Mallinckrodt Marty Hereford, Mercy Monsanto Dave Ryan, Vice Chair Secretary Kathy Peterson Audi of America Editorial Staff
Armstrong Teasdale LLP
Monsanto
The Covenant Connection is produced three times per year. If you would like to suggest a feature or send a submission, please contact Mary Bolla at mbolla@ covenanthousemo.org.
CHMO Has
Tax Credits Available
The Missouri Department of Economic Development allows certain social service providers to offer 50% Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) tax credits to donors. You will be able to eliminate a portion of your Missouri tax obligation through your donation to Covenant House Missouri.
How It Works: 1. Make a donation of $1,000* or more to Covenant House Missouri
Crime Prevention Grant Covenant House Missouri is a proud recipient of a new grant opportunity through the City of St. Louis’ crime prevention program. This funding is designed to reduce the incidence of criminal activity among youth ages 11-18. CHMO’s Garden Rangers, an environmental restoration program, was chosen to participate in this project. Youth who are employed through the Garden Rangers Program have the opportunity to obtain training and sustained employment for at least 6 months. This program instills selfdiscipline, self-control and increases self-worth in our youth, which are the skills necessary to reduce the likelihood of involvement in criminal activity. At a recent site visit of the program, Joshua Kremer, the St. Louis City representative noted that Covenant House Missouri’s Garden Rangers Program is “head and shoulders above other programs under this grant funding.” Hats off to our Employment Program staff for continuing to provide exceptional programming to CHMO youth!
2. Covenant House Missouri sends a tax credit form with an acknowledgement of your donation. 3. Fill out a simple one-page application and return it to CHMO. 4. CHMO will validate the application and forward it to the State of Missouri. 5. The State of Missouri processes the application (usually between 2 – 6 weeks) and will send you an Eligibility Certificate and MO-TC form which you then include with your state tax return. For a donation of: The out-of-pocket cost is: $1,000 $265 $5,000 $1,325 $25,000 $6,625 Reduced Federal deduction for State tax paid based on a 35% Federal tax bracket. Example: For individuals filing an itemized return and making a $1,000 donation, your out-of-pocket cost is $265 and computed as follows: $1,000 $500 $350 $60 $(175)
Donation* 50% State Tax Credit Federal charitable tax deduction based on a 35% Federal tax bracket. Missouri charitable tax deduction based on a 6% Federal tax bracket. Reduced Federal deduction for State tax paid based on a 35% Federal tax bracket
= $265 Out-of-pocket cost * A minimum of $1,000 donation is required to receive tax credits. Covenant House Missouri recommends that you consult a professional tax advisor when calculating tax benefits of this or any charitable gift.
For more information, contact Suzanne Wagener, Executive Director at (314) 450-7661 or swagener@covenanthousemo.org
youth spotlight
Internships Prove Essential For Long-Term Employment of Youth Recently, two Covenant House Missouri youth graduated from our internship program at HM Dunn Aerospace, a leader in the global distribution of quality aircraft parts. Both of the youth are current employees at HM Dunn and are excelling in their positions! Jim Maloney, Director of Operations at HM Dunn, notes that one of our youth is helping the only employee in the plant that does assembly. Jim states, “generally, the part that they were working on takes the assembler 16 hours to complete; however, with the addition of the CHMO youth, two parts were completed in just 8 hours!” Jim also pointed out the high level of skilled work that our young men are producing. They have the ability to learn how to operate machinery and inspect products to ready them for processing. Five more youth are currently completing internships at HM Dunn – all have the potential to obtain employment at the company. Clearly, the skills these youth are learning at their jobs will prove to be valuable assets to them in their future employment goals.
How You Can Make Christmas Magical For Our Youth Are you looking for a way for you and/or your family to spread holiday cheer this year? Here are some ways you can help: • Bake/decorate cookies with our youth • Come sing Christmas carols with youth • Help decorate our building for Christmas • “Adopt” a youth for Christmas Contact Tamara Nicholson for details at (314) 4507670 or tnicholson@covenanthousemo.org
Please Consider Helping Us Fill Our Youth’s Stockings This Holiday Season We are in need of: • Gift Cards/ iTunes Cards • Journals • Bus Tickets • Hair Accessories • Pajama Sets • Curling Irons • Perfume/Cologne Sets
• • • • • • • • •
Make Up Purses Movie Passes Wallets (female & male) Belts (male & female) Costume Jewelry Alarm Clocks Back Packs Long Underwear
We are so proud of our youth and grateful to HM Dunn for providing an incredibly rich learning environment, coupled with opportunities for long-term employment.
Please Join Us for Our First Holiday Concert Event! December 15 at 7p.m. Pageant Theater Tickets $20 - Available Nov. 8 www.thepageant.com
We are proud to announce Home’s for the Holiday. This is a great opportunity to come celebrate the season with Covenant House Missouri and hear some great holiday music by members of two of St. Louis’ premier bands, “My Two Planets” and “Vote for Pedro”. Music will range from rock to jazz to folk and beyond. Eric Wulff, winner of the RFT Readers Poll for best male vocalist will our featured singer.
Lou & Jackie Brock
Step Up To The Plate for CHMO Youth This award, named the Stan Musial Youth Character Award will recognize successful youth who are alumni of Covenant House and whose character reflects the values and morals of Stan: self-discipline, hard work, determination, decency, and grace. Nigeria and Michael were proud recipients of this award for their hard work, grace and excellence in accomplishing their goals during and after their time at CHMO.
F
or more than two decades, Stan and Lillian Musial have lent their name and their support to help Covenant House Missouri give a voice to homeless teenagers. We continue to honor the Musials for all that they have done to help bring awareness to the plight of our youth. At the 6th Annual Stan Musial Hall of Fame Gala, Covenant House Missouri introduced the Stan Musial Hall of Fame Award.
The Lillian Musial’s Beacon of Hope Award was established last year to recognize an individual or individuals who have had a profound impact on Covenant House Missouri and have embodied Lillian’s spirit of selfless giving. This year, CHMO awarded Chris Ross with this honor for his devotion and hard work with our youth and staff. From facilitating mock interviews and life skills classes with youth, to trainings and goal setting with staff, Chris has shown how one person can make a difference in the lives of so many. This was also the first year that CHMO introduced Lou and Jackie Brock as
honorary hosts of the Stan Musial Hall of Fame Gala. CHMO is thrilled that the Brocks have pledged to carry on Stan and Lillian Musial’s tradition to help homeless and at-risk youth have a chance to build a better life for themselves. The Brocks’ commitment to Covenant House Missouri demonstrates their unyielding dedication to help those most in need. Markeith served as the featured youth speaker at the Gala this year. Markeith discussed how CHMO helped him through some of the most challenging times of his life. After three months at CHMO, Markeith started his first job, began pursuing his GED, started a savings account and is actively pursuing his passions of poetry, writing and acting. The Stan Musial Hall of Fame Gala raised over $250,000 to help support Covenant House Missouri’s programs and services. Thank you to all of our volunteers, staff and supporters for making the evening a huge success!
Youth Receive Free Dental Services A huge thank you to the Cigno Dental Care staff and dentists, especially Dr. Sam Cigno, for continuing to provide free dental care services to our youth! So many of our youth have not had the proper preventative dental care and lack dental health insurance coverage or Medicaid. The Cigno team ensures that all of our youth in need of dental services are taken care of and they strive to see as many youth as possible each month.
Recently, two of our youth were in need of extractions that would need to be conducted by an oral surgeon. These youth were experiencing pain but had no other resources available to them to have the surgery done. Holly, the Office Manager at Cigno, called numerous locations until she found a dentist who is certified to conduct the surgery. Dr. John Landgraf agreed to do the surgeries free of charge! Both youth had the necessary extractions and recovered well.
The staff not only provide exceptional care, they also are What an amazing story of professional community members respectful and inviting to our youth. This is essential since some of our youth are apprehensive about going to the dentist. coming together to benefit those less fortunate.
NON PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE
PAID
2727 North Kingshighway Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63113
ST. LOUIS MO PERMIT NO. 695
CHMO Mission We who recognize God’s providence and fidelity to his people are dedicated to living out his covenant among ourselves and those children we serve, with absolute respect and unconditional love. That commitment calls us to serve suffering children of the street, and to protect and safeguard all children. Just as Christ in his humanity is the visible sign of God’s presence among his people, so our efforts together in the covenant community are a visible sign that reflects the presence of God, working through the Holy Spirit among ourselves and our kids.
Go Online and Follow Us!
www.covenanthousemo.org Stay up to date with Covenant House Missouri news. Get inspired by stories of success, find out about upcoming events and show your support for CHMO by checking us out today or “liking” us on Facebook.
About CHMO Covenant House Missouri (CHMO) is a non-profit organization that empowers homeless, runway and at-risk youth to live independently and become contributing members within our community. With open doors and open hearts, CHMO provides a full suite of services designed to educate, train, mentor and support homeless teens.
Our Blog will keep you informed about the latest happenings at CHMO. You will read updates on our youth and staff, and hear about important events at the center. By following us on Twitter, you can view daily updates from CHMO. Learn about homelessness and how you can help the youth of the St. Louis area get off the streets. On our YouTube channel, you can view videos from CHMO. Here you will be inspired by our youth as they share their personal stories. You can also view recaps of our special events.