All the research shows that the earlier you engage with a child, the more impact you can have on them. Here at Shepherd Community we have Project Jordan… a special program that works with birth moms and their babies. We use a national curriculum called “Parents as Teachers” to teach important skills to the mothers. For most of our mothers, they care deeply for their child. They have just never been taught how to.

They recently had their quarterly meeting, where all the moms and children come for a special evening of teaching, sharing and just having fun together. I so appreciate the support people provide so we can do this program. Over 40 families are being help, but there is a waiting list… got to keep growing. This program makes a difference for a lifetime.

jay

Each and every day families’ lives are being impacted here in the Near-Eastside of Indianapolis. We want you to know that story and see how lives are being changed. It isn’t a story about Shepherd, but the story about lives being changed. Parts of that means we must define poverty and what does it look like in Indianapolis… are there really gangs? Do kids go to bed hungry? Does a teenager have to sleep on the street? In the next several months we will begin to explore this and see what we can do to make a difference.

This is really a conversation that we want to invite you to join with us in. Leave a comment below or send us an email. We want to learn together. But we know this… that the great war on poverty has been a dismal failure, and unless we act now, it will only get worse. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

jay

Today I write with a heart as heavy as it has been for sometime. Haiti has seen a horrible tragedy unfold, and I know it will continue to unfold. So what can we do…first, we at Shepherd have asked for our neighbors, those we serve, to join with the effort and donate what money they can to the tremendous rescue effort needed. And they are responding…..our effort we are calling… “change for change”.

It has been personal for those of us here at Shepherd as one of our founders was there in Haiti and shared personally the devastation. But our hearts broken cannot be where we end. It is our call to act. So join with us…..will you give? You can support Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, who has been generous to support us. Support the Red Cross, Salvation Army…support someone. Now is the time. As I talk with our neighbors and they share their brokenness, I am moved by their heart for others as well…..the cycle of poverty is broken when you recognize you have something to give. Lots of cycles are being broken.

jay

So the holidays are over….do we shut up the doors and recover? Absolutely not, the unique part of what we do at Shepherd is that our holiday help enables us to further deepen the relationships we have with those we are serving all year. So yes, lots of parents selected gifts for their children for Christmas… and those same kids are walking into the after school program today, or maybe in our pre-school academy, or are in our gymnastics programs.

When folks support Shepherd, they are investing in the lives of our families all 12 months. While our challenges are tremendous, our consistent effort through the support of so many enables us to be investing daily.

The challenges of poverty aren’t met in the episodic, but the consistent investment. As we start a new year, just a quick note to say thanks for those who make it possible to be here all of 2010.

Happy New Year.

jay

You may not hear this story… of professional athletes who are making a difference. A few days ago, MVP candidate Peyton Manning invited 50 of our children to participate in a Christmas party he hosts every year at the Children’s Museum. Five of the Pacers took 30 of our middle and high schoolers shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Each of the students received a $200 gift card. So what did these kids purchase? –gifts for their family. The stories came back of the young girl who spent it all on her family. Point Guard Travis Diener was so moved he ended up purchasing gifts for her, and others in his group. Or the story of the young student who wanted the $95 shoes… but they went back so he could surprise his Dad with a fish finder. They were all very rich, and we are blessed because of this. We hear when athletes mess up… you need to hear that they are helping invest in the long-term development of lots of students as well. Our city is blessed to have both franchises. Go Colts… Go Pacers. Our students are better because of you. And they are all stars in my eyes.

Jay

So we celebrate over two decades of commitment to the eastside of Indianapolis. We have so much to be thankful for, people who volunteered, served as staff and made sacrificial gifts in order to further the work. So now, we celebrate back to the mid-eighties when the vision for making a difference took root.

But what is next? What do we need to do in order to continue to make a difference? Our focus will continue to be engaging in the lives of hundreds of families to give them the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. Yet, we are being compelled to do more… to deal with the systemic issues of poverty that continue to hurt and frustrate so many. Poverty in Indianapolis is more defined by lack of access than lack of resources. We must build the bridges that give them the opportunity to break out of poverty.

Will you be a bridge builder? Come join with us for another 25 years of making a difference.

Carpe diem,

jay