For Good

 

Between January and March of this year, Lydia’s House went from a dream to reality.

Organizers and volunteers secured donations from enough individuals to purchase a Norwood home, which will serve as a refuge for women and their children beginning in early 2014. 

“In our community, there are many people who don’t have opportunities for stable, transitional housing to get on their feet,” says Calista Smith, Lydia’s House board member. “There are often homeless shelters that max out. It’s a day-by-day or week-by-week situation as to how long you can stay in either friends’ homes or shelters, but this will be something they have access to for six to 18 months.“

Though Lydia’s House reached its goal of purchasing a home, Smith says $60,000 worth of funding is still needed, as the home is in need of renovation. 

Once the goal is met, however, four women and their children will be able to move in to the home, where they will begin working toward gaining job skills, saving for long-term housing and growing in a supportive and loving environment. 

Though Lydia’s House is still in its early stages of planning, Smith says the goal is that women will be able to “grow together in wholeness with their children.” 

In order for that to happen, community members will come together to repair the home, paint, provide lawn care and perhaps even donate to adopt a room, but Smith says her hope is that individuals move beyond the notion that financial contributions alone can change lives.

“We really believe that this is an exercise in extended community, in that we need people to be connected—not only, ‘Okay, here’s some money to help someone,’ but really feeling that we have a shared vision of the world,” Smith says. “This is a continued effort for the Norwood community to have a vision of something to engage in that brings the whole community together while uplifting four women at a time—four families at a time.”  

Do Good: 

• Sign up to volunteer with demolition.

• Read about Lydia's House's pressing needs or consider donating.  

• Like Lydia's House on Facebook.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

Amy Armstrong Smith, national account manager at Brown-Forman, says she knows what it’s like to be the only woman in the room. 

“I’m in an industry that’s male-dominated,” Armstrong Smith says. “I’m the only woman nine times out of 10.”

When Armstrong Smith first attended an event for the Cincinnati chapter of the Network of Executive Women nearly three years ago, that all changed. 

“Never had I been in a room with that many professional women,” Armstrong Smith says. “It reinvigorated me.” 

Since Armstrong Smith became involved with NEW—whose mission, she says, “is to attract, retain and develop women for the field of consumer products from a manufacturer and retail perspective”—she’s engaged in a variety of outreach activities for high school and college students. She's also served as a mentor, both for women interested in pursuing a career in the field, and for those already immersed in it. 

“I’m mentoring a woman at NEW who just told me she got the promotion that we’ve been talking about and working on with how to position it,” Armstrong Smith says. “And it was so great because when she told me—her success is my success.” 

According to Armstrong Smith, the mentorships work both ways because the college students she assists reenergize her. 

“They look at the world in a whole different perspective,” she says. “And they’re giving me a new perspective too—a new way to look at the business—a new way to approach it through technology.” 

Armstrong Smith says she’s appreciative of the networking opportunities NEW offers because when she graduated from college in the ‘80s, you had to do it on your own.

“I’m with other professional women," Armstrong Smith says. "I’m stimulated—we’re talking about the industry. But the number one reason I do this is because I have a daughter, and I want her to be able to walk into a room when she starts her first career in 20 years as Rosie Smith, just like Tom Smith would walk in the room.” 

That’s what Armstrong Smith says drives her. 

“I’m so appreciative of the women who went before me, and if I don’t turn around and help Rosie and the generations behind me, women are never going to move the needle,” she says. “We won’t get to our full potential that we know we all can get to.” 

Do Good:

• Like the Cincinnati chapter of NEW on Facebook.

• Contact NEW if your business would like to become a sponsor. 

• Become an individual member.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

 

 

What started 50 years ago as Greater Cincinnati’s first summer day camp for children with disabilities is now a two-site operation that serves about 1,000 children, teens and adults with disabilities year-round. 

Stepping Stones will celebrate its 50th anniversary on May 18 with a reunion aimed not just at celebrating the organization’s accomplishments over the years, but it's also intended to bring together the thousands of volunteers, staff members, participants and supporters who have enabled the nonprofit to grow and flourish since 1963. 

Deb Alexander, 61, is a retired teacher who started volunteering with Stepping Stones in 1969. She says it was the work she did with the organization that led her down the path of pursuing a career in special education. 

“I was a junior in high school—I know nowadays the kids do community service, but in those days, we didn’t really have to do that—and I had heard of Stepping Stones and just thought it’d be an interesting way to spend my summer,” Alexander says. “I didn’t really know a lot about children with disabilities. I ended up just really loving what I was doing out there, and it helped me choose my career.” 

Alexander says she remembers fondly what she refers to as “Kodak moments,” where “everything comes together and a child you’re working with can do something today that they couldn’t yesterday, or that they can do something independently.” 

It was moments like these that Alexander says challenged her. 

“What could I do to figure out how to teach?” she says. “A quote that really stuck with me that I heard once is ‘If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way we learn.' So that inspired me to go on, and I taught for 30 years.” 

Alexander is passionate about her line of work, so much so that upon retiring, she returned to Stepping Stones 39 years after her first volunteer experience. She began working part-time in the organization’s alterative education program, Step-Up, for students with autism. 

Step-Up, which began in 2004, is available to students who have been referred to the program by their school district and who are no longer able to attend public school because of extreme behavior. 

“Just to see a student successfully get through the day without a behavior outburst and to really gain confidence in themselves that they could learn new skills was really neat,” Alexander says. 

Though Alexander has returned to Stepping Stones many times since 1969, she says she’s looking forward to returning once again to experience the 50th anniversary reunion. 

“It’s a place where we all learn together and have grown together, and that’s such a big part of it—the relationships,” Alexander says. “There’s a lot of people that I think their heart’s out there, and they just keep coming back or they return because it’s just a place that meant a lot to them—the staff as well as the students."

Do Good: 

• RSVP for Stepping Stones' 50-year anniversary celebration May 18.

• Support Stepping Stones by donating.

• Get involved with Stepping Stones by volunteering.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
 

Zakia McKinney knows all too well the heartbreak and inability to reach one’s full potential when trapped in an abusive and unhealthy relationship. 

“I just thought the world had ended," she says. "I couldn’t trust anyone. I felt I wasn’t worth anything."

McKinney was stuck in a cycle that she says lasted throughout her late teens and twenties. But at the age of 30, she made up her mind that she could no longer live in that manner. 

“I had an instance where a young gentleman had beaten me in the middle of the street,” McKinney says. “And I just thought I can’t do this—I can’t live life like this.” 

It’s been more than 20 years now since McKinney started helping women, but she says she made a promise to herself that as soon as she was able to help herself, she was going to dedicate her life to helping others by empowering them. And that’s what she’s done through her nonprofit, Junia and Company. 

“The word ‘Junia’ means ‘pretty flower,’ and we named it that because we believe there’s something beautiful in each woman to give back to society and the community,” McKinney says. 

Since Junia’s inception, McKinney has helped more then 3,000 women do everything from break unhealthy relationship cycles to gain confidence and leadership skills and move closer to attaining their life goals. 

McKinney, who recently celebrated her 57th birthday, says a few of Junia’s former clients attended her party to thank her for the changes they were able to make in their lives.

“One was a young woman who we picked up from Anna Louise Inn, and our programming turned her life around—she has a beautiful little girl—she’s going to start her own daycare business, and her husband’s going to start a photography business,” McKinney says. “Another, who we found sitting in the corner with her head down with a beautiful head of hair. Now she works as a machinist who does phenomenal work—and she’s looking to move in to other parts of the country utilizing the skills she’s acquired because she had the confidence to go after it.”

Through Junia and Company’s Ann’s House—one of three homes in the city that accept women and their children—women are given the opportunity to learn life skills and participate in all of Junia’s programming so they can break the cycle of homelessness and learn to not only survive in their community, McKinney says, but also to thrive. 

Women learn computer skills. They learn to cook. They contribute to the home once they find employment. They create a savings account. They tend the garden, and they even make a cucumber salsa, which they package and sell at Lettuce Eat Well Farmers' Market. 

“Whatever proceeds are made for that day, they get to put in their pocket,” McKinney says. “We try to make sure they get what we consider our 55 key life areas to have them sit on their feet, stand on their feet and stay on their feet.” 

Do Good: 

• Support Ann's House by partcipating in Ann's House 5K Run/Walk at Winton Woods on May 18. 

• Call (513) 544-6957 to support Junia and Company by donating. 

• Contact Junia and Company to volunteer at Ann's House by helping with the garden or collecting and delivering in-kind donations such as sheets and toiletries. 

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

 

Do Good: 

• Go to your local branch and have fines removed May 15 so that you can begin to use the library's resources. 

• Sign up for a library card if you don't already have one.

• Support the library.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

About 300,000 individuals within the Tri-State area are food insecure; and about 100,000 of them are children. 

“The economic crisis over recent years is not news to anybody, and unfortunately, that’s had a strong impact on the people in this community—especially a lot of middle-class families who have traditionally worked hard and been able to provide for themselves,” says Eric Young, community relations manager of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. 

According to Young, many of those individuals in need of food are now coming to SVDP for the first time in their lives. 

“We’ve heard far too often, ‘I used to donate to you guys, and I never thought I’d be on this end of things and have to come to you for help,’” Young says. 

At a time of year when food supplies donated during the holiday season are gone, and as schools approach summer vacation, SVDP and other local food providers are struggling. 

“Schools are a source for a lot of food drives, and during the summer, those drives don’t happen,” Young says. “And at the same time, there’s a lot of students who receive a meal at school, and for many of them, that’s the best and most nutritious meal they receive all day. And when summer comes, there are some programs that allow students to get these meals, but for far too many, they don’t get them.” 

It’s more important than ever, Young says, that communities come together to help neighbors in need. 

One way the organization is succeeding at this is through a partnership with local Papa John's Pizza restaurants, where patrons will receive free pizza for their canned food donations. It's an effort to assist SVDP by turning 20,000 pizzas into enough non-perishable donations to provide 120,000 meals to those in need. 

“It really is a neighbor-to neighbor program,” Young says. “There are groups in Clermont County who are collecting donations at stores from Clermont." The same program is going on in Butler County and Northern Kentucky, and that food will all be used in those counties, he says.

SVDP also provides person-to-person assistance by visiting clients and providing everything from clothing and furniture to assistance with rent, utilities and even prescription medication. While it’s not unusual, Young says, to see a hug or a handshake, it’s ultimately food that is at the core of the organization’s mission.

“I can’t stress enough how basic, how important food is,” Young says. “There are things you can find ways around, but you have to eat to survive.” 

Do Good: 

• Participate in the SVDP/Papa John's Food Drive.

• Provide financial support to SVDP.

• Donate items to SVDP and call 421-CARE for free pick-up.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.