Our early Christmas present (our little Hanukkah miracle!) came as a result of a Benjamin Moore Paints initiative called "Color Care Across America." This project partnered with the US Conference of Mayors to identify one deserving homeless shelter in each of the 50 states (and Washington, DC) and to give each facility a makeover of color and beauty.
Benjamin Moore donated paint and supplies, John Neill Painting contributed their expertise and labor, and Trevor's residents and staff benefitted from an infusion of color and brightness with newly-painted halls, stairwells, offices, rooms, classrooms and dining hall. The color makeover had an uplifting emotional impact on residents who have seen their living environment improve.
Christmas came early for Trevor's residents this year! We got a jump on the holidays with a JOYOUS CHRISTMAS gift when a crew of 30 professional painters from John Neill Painting in Merion Station arrived to completely redecorate the interior of Trevor's Place. Part of the team of painters that donated three days of work in November is seen in the accompanying photograph.
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Happy New Year |
As the calendar turns and 2012 arrives, we are expecting a bright, promising, productive HAPPY NEW YEAR for the nearly 200 women and children who stay with us this coming year. Our optimism is based on having a caring, competent staff doing work they love with needy Philadelphians and a network of community resources providing life-changing services and programs to Trevor's residents.
We have PHMC offering parenting classes to adults and Ages & Stages screenings to children. Temple University provides Functional Family Therapy and Drexel University sponsors GED classes. The Homeless Advocacy Project donates legal services to residents and GPC supplies free babysitting to working or studying mothers. Keystone Mercy promotes health seminars for families and Lincoln Financial offers budgeting workshops to adult learners. Our comprehensive services to help Trevor's clients reestablish their lives also include linkages like QIC's vocational training and People Emergency Center's job search workshops.
Through a grant of $40,971 from Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development and $42,000 in matching funds from local foundations Trevor's Campaign will complete much needed renovations throughout Trevor's Place, our emergency shelter for mothers and children. This includes making upgrades in facility systems that improve resident life, enable the Campaign to come into compliance with a variety of City requirements and recommendations, enhance facilities to be more energy and resource efficient, and to generally extend the life and capability of our homeless shelter. Items included in this effort are the renovation of six existing residential bathrooms. On behalf of the staff and residents of Trevor's Campaign thank you to all those who made this possible.
Participants in the February 13 Grand Opening ceremony for Freedom Village, a 16-unit affordable housing development in North Philadelphia for low-income and formerly- homeless families, included, from left to right, Betty Sudler, Director of Trevor's Place, Dainette Mintz, City of Philadelphia Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing, and David Buffum, President and CEO of Trevor's Campaign for the Homeless and Freedom Village.
Pictures by Mahlon J. Cephas, City of Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing
One of the greatest joys we have at Trevor’s Campaign is working with children. Our DISCOVER after-school and summer school program seeks to counter and correct the negative environmental influences many homeless children face. The program is designed to provide real-world knowledge and skills, nurture academic achievement and school attendance and remedy educational deficits.
Tah’Diyah is a 7 year-old second grader at the local Waring Elementary School. She is bright and inquisitive and though only in 2nd grade testing shows she amazingly reads at the 5th-grade reading level. Tah’Diyah is a motivator that other students depend on for help and she loves helping. She carries this same spirit with her to school where she loves reading, writing poems, singing, dancing and cheerleading. Tah’Diyah was recently selected by her principal to receive an award as top student because she performs at a superior level and is well-organized.
One distinctive of the DISCOVER Program is that it follows a Project-Based Learning (PBL) model. This means all learning is centered around short-term projects that last 5 to 6 weeks. Subject matter – whether it is language arts, math, science, computer – is focused upon a student-chosen theme and all disciplines work together to complete the project goals. PBL is not concerned mainly with the acquisition of knowledge in isolated subject areas. Instead, project-based learning emphasizes the development of real-world, life-long skills like communication, teamwork, creativity, problem-solving and self-management. The purpose of DISCOVER is to equip homeless youth to spell out in their lives our 8-letter acronym:
Achieving measurable outcomes is a key component of the DISCOVER Program and all Trevor’s endeavors. Fortunately, through the efforts of our staff and the Support Of Donors Like You, we have accomplished much. Over 90% of our students achieve 80% school attendance. More than 90% of our school-age children attend the DISCOVER Program regularly. 
Over 80% are involved in youth development activities and in excess of 50% completed community service projects. More than 90% of DISCOVER students exhibit healthy behaviors and only 2% ever had a documented case of at-risk behaviors (such as skipping school, smoking, etc.). Finally, School District of Philadelphia records indicate that school attendance by program participants increased an average of 16%.
A February 13 ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the grand opening of the Freedom Village affordable housing development in North Philadelphia by the Board and management of Trevor’s Campaign for the Homeless, the project developer and owner.
Participants from left to right are Bill Reese and John Taxin, members of Trevor’s Board of Directors, Trevor Ferrell, the founder of Trevor’s Campaign who dedicated the Ferrell Community Center in honor of his father, Frank Ferrell, and David Buffum, President and CEO of Trevor’s Campaign/Freedom Village.
Pictures by Mahlon J. Cephas, City of Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing
