Mark your calendars for June 19th from 6:00pm-9:00pm and come out to the corner of Park and 10th Street for the Salvation Army and Response Church’s  first “Night In Our City:  A Fundraiser to Support Women and Children Affected by Domestic Violence.”

Here’s why:

• Of the 152 women and children served last month at the downtown shelter, 126 were seeking shelter due to domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, isolation and forced prostitution.
• So far this year we have already seen 428 women and 223 children seeking safety and shelter.
• Last year we served 1,785 people. That’s 1,057 women and 728 children.  Homeless and abused.  In our city!
• We serve an average of 6,700 meals per month.  Three meals a day, seven days a week.

Come on out, enjoy a slice of HotBox pizza, a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade, and hot cup of coffee provided by Starbucks.   Listen to some live music, play carnival games with your kids, and participate in a silent auction.

If you can’t make the event but still want to help, you can make an online donation here.

Help us empower and uplift the women and children in our city.  Help us break the cycle of abuse.

For more information: email anightinourcity@gmail.com or call 224-1067

Unplanned Plans

We have been seeing some major changes here at the Social Service Center in the last few months.  A big part of those changes is an increased involvement from Response Church, an inner city church plant that has partnered with the SSC to help us serve our clients. 

Monday nights at 6:30 volunteers and clients look forward to “Ladies Night,” a group started to celebrate, encourage and uplift the women living in the shelter.  The group is centered around nail polish.  We hang out and talk, do manicures and pedicures, have massage therapists do chair massages once a month and do other various fun activities.  It has been a fun group to start an watch grow and we plan to blog more on it in the upcoming weeks.

June 1st Response will be starting a similar group for the kids, Monday Fun-Day.  I put some volunteers in charge of planning and running the group as I am deeply involved in the Monday night women’s group.  Here is what the leader of that group, Adam, has to say about their planning so far:

“Yesterday was one of those days where have you step back and know that you are not in control of anything. 
 
I am probably one of the most unorganized, random, right-brained people you will meet.  I have been placed in charge of putting together a kid’s group for the summer at the shelter.  As you can imagine, my right-brained functions don’t quite allow me the pleasure of planning this thing by myself successfully.  I recruited some help.  The two people that are helping me plan this whole thing are just has random as I am.  It has been interesting thus far to have planning meetings with these two and we have all kinds of funny stories about our randomness already.  We have an entire 14 week program planned out for kids at the shelter from 2nd grade to high school with the goal of positive mentoring to serve like Christ.  Most recently I have been freaking out about volunteers and finding the right ones.  I made a huge list and reduced it down to about 4 people I could depend on, including myself and the other 2 people helping me plan it.  Through friends of friends most recently though I’ve seen the list jump to 10 solid people who are actually excited and passionate about this group.
 
Yesterday I set up a meeting with 2 people I’ve never met before in my life.  Through exchanging of emails and phone calls I realized that God brought them right to me.  I am meeting one guy tonight at a local coffee shop and a girl Monday night at the same location.  Through the emails and phone conversations I am sure that they will fit right in.  I’m meeting with them to really hear their stories and make sure they will be a part of this group because they couldn’t see themselves doing anything else this summer.  I see God doing big things through this group organized by the most unorganized.  Next week we are meeting with all the volunteers to do a brief orientation, hand out the summer schedules and go over basic ins and outs of how we want to be as a group this summer.
 
Now that I look at a detailed goals and methods sheet, a full 14 week calendar, and list of 10 solid volunteers with similar hearts for these kids and this shelter, I just step back and say thank you, thank you to a God who is and has been putting all this together in order to do a work this summer He planned long before He allowed me, a messy, right-brained, unorganized guy to even get involved.”

Check back often to get updates Ladies Night, Monday Fun-Day, and how the shelter is changing lives and impacting our city. 

-Julia

Response Throws Easter Party for SSC

For many of us when we think of Easter we think of family, Easter dinner, a visit from the Easter Bunny and lots of candy.  Sadly, many of our clients at the Social Service Center are without family and resources to enjoy holiday’s such as Easter.

Last Saturday, April 11, Response Church came into the shelter and threw an Easter Party for the women and children living here.  Clients enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt, petting and getting their pictures taken with a real live Easter Bunny, a few games of Musical Chairs and Simon Says (with prizes for the winners of course) and coloring Easter themed pictures.

Response Church is an urban church plant in Downtown Indianapolis that has partnered with the Social Service Center to volunteer and uplift the clients living in the shelter.  If you or your organization are interested in volunteering please contact Julia Sipes at julia_sipes@usc.salvationarmy.org.

A Very Happy Valentine’s Day

Last night women and children at the Social Service Center enjoyed a Valentine’s Day party thrown by Response Church.  Volunteers served snacks and cake, played video games, made crafts and played board games with the residents.

Nation’s Giving Tree helped out with the party and brought party bags to distribute to all of the children in the shelter.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the party!

We Love Our Volunteers!

Fall is finally here and we have had lots of wonderful volunteers recently here at The Social Service Center! 

Response Church has been exceptionally involved, as always.  They came in and threw an “End of Summer” party for both the ladies and children – complete with a sprinkler, a baby pool, ice cream, and lots of bubbles!  They have been regularly in to help out in our Sallie Shop (a clothing donation closet where clients can come in and “shop” for themselves and their children).  They are also helping us get geared up for Coats for Kids this year by collecting donations at their service each Sunday night.

Butler University sent us a group of volunteers for an afternoon with their “Bulldogs in the Streets” campaign.  Students helped us spruce up our clients bedrooms by putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

Last week we were lucky enough to participate in United Way of Central Indiana’s 17th Annual Day of Caring.  We had over 30 volunteers from both Sallie Mae and Delta Sigma Pi come in to help us paint, clean, landscape, and do other various odds and ends. 

Keeping in mind those less fortunate as the season changes, Ms. Jill Suzanne Frantz donated 88 hand knitted hats for the kids here in shelter.  What a wonderful way to help out our clients as we start to experience cold weather!

We would like to thank all of our volunteers for everything they help us do at The Social Service Center.  We truly could not do what we do without them!

A Full Month of Volunteers

June has been a wonderful month for us at The Social Service Center when it comes to volunteers. 

In the beginning of the month we were lucky enough to have three volunteers from Broad Ripple Martial Arts come in to teach our clients some easy ways to defend themselves.  In the hour and a half self defense seminar we not only learned how and where to hit someone, but more importantly we learned ways to avoid getting into violent situations in the first place (not being alone at night, posture, etc).  What a great activity to be able to offer to our ladies!

Our residents also got to enjoy a beautiful evening out on the playground during Response Church’s Ice Cream Social.  We enjoyed ice cream cones and sundaes, played a few friendly games of volleyball, and had some good conversations. 

Last Saturday, Response helped us get our hands dirty by cleaning out the old Lilly House for us.  The Lilly House was the first shelter built in Indianapolis and is no longer in use.  There were still many pieces of furniture in the House and case files that needed to come out and be stored in the main shelter.  Response knocked it out all in one day!  A big thanks to everyone who volunteered - we couldn’t have done it without them!

We are always looking to enhance our programs with volunteers.  If you are interested contact Julia Sipes at 317-224-1067 or julia_sipes@usc.salvationarmy.org. 

 

Response Holds “Spring Cleaning” Project

On the afternoon of May 28th Response Church helped us at the Social Service Center with a little Spring Cleaning.  Volunteers came out and washed windows, trimmed trees, weeded, and helped us cover up some graffiti in our alley.  We are now ready for summer!

We are always looking for new volunteers here at the Center.  If you are interested, click the “Volunteer” button on the left side of this page or contact Julia Sipes at (317) 224-1067 to find out how you can help out!

SSC Celebrates National Salvation Army Week With a Style Show

Tuesday, May 13th the Social Service Center hosted “Empowering Women:  Presenting a Professional Image” in honor of National Salvation Army Week. 

Six wonderful clients donated their time to participate in the show.  Volunteer Marla Olinger choreographed a dance to Ricky Martin’s “La Copa de La Vida.”  Lorrie Algate, volunteer and advisory council member, came early to give the models Mary Kay makeovers before the show.  Response Church helped with planning, decorations, and provided desserts. 

Happy National Salvation Army Week and thank you to both clients and volunteers who helped make the Style Show such a success!

Volunteer Offers Dance Class for Residents

For the last month and a half residents at The Social Service Center have been offered a new opportunity to better themselves and their children.  Volunteer Marla Olinger has started teaching staff, residents, and children how to dance – and have fun while doing it!  Marla’s goal is to bring dance into the shelter in order to offer the women a chance to have fun, feel good about themselves, and get exercise.  Dance class takes place every Wednesday afternoon from 3:30pm-4:30pm.

Marla is a part of Response Church, a new church plant in Downtown Indianapolis who has chosen The Social Service Center to be their place of service.  The Social Service Center and Response Church have planned numerous activities and service projects for this spring and summer so check back often for updates.  We are very excited about this partnership!