School on Wheels Partners with Monday Funday!
January 22, 2010 by Julia
Monday, January 11 was an exciting day for us here at the shelter – it was the first day of the new and improved “Monday Funday!”
Monday Funday is a mentoring group that was started last summer by a group of volunteers. Originally intended to be a 14 week program, it was so successful with the residents and the volunteers that we decided to carry it over into the school year. School nights changed what the activities of Monday Funday looked like but it surely didn’t change the positive relationships being built between our kids and volunteers! Each week volunteers spend about an hour helping the children with their homework or an educational activity. After that we end the night with a fun activity or craft.
This spring semester we have teamed up with one of our long time partners, School on Wheels, to make Monday nights even more effective. School on Wheels is helping our mentors improve their tutoring skills with improved resources and approaches that have proven to be effective through their years of tutoring.
We’re excited about our new partnership and can’t wait to see what this semester will unfold!
A Success Story
January 12, 2010 by Julia
Sonny* came to our shelter from Chicago after leaving a very abusive situation with her son’s parents. Sonny struggled both with finding a job and with her son, who is truly an example of the terrible twos! She finally found a job at Steak n’ Shake working days. She worked very close with the Homeless Initiative Program and found herself an apartment. Sonny moved out the shelter 2 weeks before Christmas. Sonny continues to come to the shelter for case management and childcare. She is also enrolled in our Continuing Support program, in which we can assist her with food and household items. Sonny is now currently taking classes at Ivy Tech and her son is thriving in their new apartment. He will begin Head Start in the fall.
*Names have been changed to protect the confidentiality of our clients
Shelter Participates in Help-Portrait
December 21, 2009 by Julia
Photographer Stacy Able gets a hug from a grateful mother at Help Portrait.
The Salvation Army’s Women and Children’s Shelter in downtown Indianapolis was abuzz with activity on Saturday as a team of photographers, hair stylists, and makeup artists converged on the site. Help Portrait Indy 2009, a one-day event meant to coincide with the worldwide launch on December 12, was a chance for those with artistic talents to give back to their community. Katie Moon, professional photographer, spearheaded the event with the help of 40 volunteers. 234 men, women and children were photographed, which included current and past clients, and residents of the Barton Center Apartments.
On Monday, “everyone is still talking about how awesome it was” said Julia Sipes, Special Projects Coordinator for the shelter. That is exactly the emotion that would’ve pleased Nashville photographer Jeremy Cowart, founder of Help Portrait. Mr. Cowart used the internet to generate interest in his idea which was birthed during the summer and exploded into a global movement to give disadvantaged people a chance to get professional photos taken. Nearly every state and 60 countries held their own Help Portrait event which included media coverage aired on CNN. Photo editor Joel Mills, who volunteered for the event in Virginia summed up the impact – “Giving a photo to a stranger gives you a unique opportunity to speak a kind word of encouragement, value, beauty, and truth that isn’t quite as tangible without the photo to give your words context.”
At the shelter in Indy, stylists and makeup artists pampered the women while the children were kept busy decorating cookies. Participants were presented with a framed family portrait, gift bags and children’s books. Afterwards, everyone was treated to pizza on behalf of the volunteers. Next year’s Help Portrait has already been slated for December 4th around the globe. For more information about how you can give or volunteer for events at The Women and Children’s Shelter contact Julia Sipes at (317)637-5551.
October Shelter Statistics
October 30, 2009 by Julia
This October we served a total of 213 women and children in shelter – that’s 117 adults and 96 kids.
Of the 213 served, 181 were seeking shelter due to domestic violence, stalking sexual assault, isolation and forced prostitution.
We served 7,031 meals.
Want to help? Call Julia Sipes at (317) 224-1067 to find out about volunteer opportunities or click here to see our wish list!
