Jacksonville Gives 2019

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J6 Sunday, November 10, 2019 JACKSONVILLE GIVES FRESHMINISTRIES PROGRAMS ENRICHING LIVES “We’re so excited about the future. We know we can make a difference — we already have! We have had an impact on the lives of nearly a million young people in our 27-year history. We are not about to put the brakes on now.” — Dr. Robert V. Lee III Chairman and CEO FreshMinistries FreshMinistries Inc. 1131 N. Laura St. Jacksonville, FL 32206 (904) 355-0000 freshministries.org Weaver Center for Community Outreach 616 A. Philip Randolph Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32202 (904) 854-6770 Beaver Street Enterprise Center 1225 W. Beaver St./728 Blanche St. Jacksonville, FL 32204 (904) 265-4700 bsecenter.net Goal is to empower individuals to taste success FreshMinistries focuses on core-city Jacksonville through programs, facilities and initiatives to teach financial literacy, life skills, job preparation, business incubation and other initiatives. Adhering to the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations as a framework to end poverty in our time, FreshMinistries is active on a global level. Local programs include the Beaver Street Enterprises Center, Fresh Futures/Fresh Paths Youth Programs, Weaver Center for Community Outreach, LifePoint Career Institute and Native Fresh Economic Development Center. It all started In 1992, the Rev. Dr. Robert V. Lee III, an Episcopalian priest with a master’s degree from Yale University and doctorate of theology from New York Theological Seminary, turned down an invitation to assume leadership of a large church in Houston, Texas, stepped down from the pulpit, and answered what he describes as a calling on his life. Desiring to be a direct provider of services to those in need, Lee started FreshMinistries. Where we are today Last month, FreshMinistries traveled to New York City to launch its newest initiative, the Desmond Tutu Project for Global Hunger. “Through this initiative, we are helping some of At-risk teens gain life skills and employment in summer jobs thanks to partnerships with community employers. Of the 1,350 young people who have participated in this life-changing program, 93 percent maintained a minimum of a 2.5 grade-point average to earn a summer job. [PHOTS PROVIDED BY FRESHMINISTRIES] the poorest, most desperate people on the planet through a global network of Agribusiness Economic Development Centers — all within reach by the Anglican Communion and other initiative partners,” Lee said. “We are working to create agricultural business incubation programs to alleviate food insecurities in the Virgin Islands, Haiti and other island states and Africa through aquaponics. This is state-of-the-art, climateresilient greenhouse farming in areas that currently must import nearly all their food.” Aquaponics uses 96% less water than traditional farming, produces exponentially more growth with no soil required. Much less land area is required. A production farm can be built on one-seventh of an acre. FreshMinistries has an active, USDA-approved farm in Jacksonville, just a few blocks from the Laura Street office. FreshMinistries’ local initiatives are dedicated to building hope, changing lives and investing in the future. An interfaith nonprofit outreach organization, FreshMinistries has one goal: eliminate extreme poverty by empowering communities and individuals to realize their full potential. Or, as Chief of Staff Shelly Marino describes it, “leveling the playing field.” “And, we do that by educating, providing economic opportunities and health initiatives to people struggling with poverty in our inner city and other underserved areas,” Marino said. “People don’t choose poverty and homelessness, but they become stuck in those circumstances. We offer hope and a helping hand.” A basic operating principle of FreshMinistries is that when opportunities are made available to overcome the barriers to success, people will respond and accept a helping hand that respects them as individuals. Beaver Street Enterprises Center “Beaver Street Enterprise Center was created in 2004 to restore economic health in an area that has been economically distressed,” Lee said. “By providing the resources, individuals empowered to start their own businesses and taste success. They are empowered and thrive on the dignity and self-respect that success brings.” Resources provided by Beaver Street Enterprise Center include professional office space, receptionist services and technical assistance with marketing strategies, business plans and networking. In 2010, Beaver Street Enterprise Center was voted by more than 500 See FRESH, J7 LifePoint Career Institute has trained 1,500 individuals, with an impressive employment rate of 96 percent. Open to the public, vocational training and certification are designed for unemployed and underemployed adults. Scholarships from funding partners cover expenses for up to 99 percent of students. It is also possible for LifePoint students to earn a GED from Florida State College at Jacksonville while attending vocational training. The Weaver Center hosts some FreshMinistries activities and serves the larger community as a gathering place for adults such as money-management workshops, neighborhood meetings, parent training, tutoring and much more. Growing produce without soil or water is an innovative approach to the problem of world hunger. Nature Fresh produce is grown in a 6,000-square-foot hot house near Springfield. Duval County schools purchases Nature Fresh for student lunches, and school children learn the science on a field trip to the farm.
Sunday, November 10, 2019 J7 FRESH From Page J6 other business incubators as the No. 1 business incubator in the world. Two hundred new businesses were launched, 2,000 new jobs created, and an economic impact of $300 million. Children and youth are a major focus of FreshMinistries at the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Center for Community Outreach and though programs and initiatives such as Fresh Futures/Fresh Paths and the LifePoint Career Institute. The Weaver Center grew out of a dream to improve the Jacksonville core-city community. “This facility serves as a safe harbor for the youth in the community,” Marino said. “It’s also a gathering place for adult activities such as money-management workshops, neighborhood meetings, parent training, tutoring and so much more.” The Fresh Futures program helps more than 100 atrisk teens gain life skills and summer employment. Qualifying students are placed in summer jobs thanks to partnerships with community employers. “When we started this program, it was not easy to convince business leaders to hire our students,” Lee said. “However, once the program was in operation and we had the numbers to prove its success, we started to see more employment partners eager to participate.” Ninety-three percent of the 1,350 participants earned summer employment by maintaining at least a 2.5 grade-point average in school. Fresh Path is a similar program with equally impressive success. Starting with 188 youth in 2015, the program, which began as a federally funded program under the U.S. Department grew to include to 244 youth enrolled and 76 on a waiting list. Fresh Ministries’ Robert Lee and Shelly Marino traveled to New York City last month to help launch a global initiative “to end hunger in our time’’ with Desmond Tutu. Pictured are Desmond Tutu, Robert Lee, Leah Tutu and Shelly Marino. This program is for courtinvolved youth and young adults and offers them training and skills and assistance finding jobs. Although the grant has ended, the program continues. During the grant period, recidivism was less than 15%, and 256 records were expunged. Lee said it ranked as the no. 1 program out of 19 similar programs across the country funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for court-involved youth in the nation. “Everything we do, we do for the children, which means we’re investing in the future,” Lee said. “To eliminate poverty, it is important that we reach our young people and equip them to break the cycle that keeps them trapped in the situations they find themselves,” Lee said. “Education is a key component, along with life skills, access to mentors and safe places to play and socialize.” The LifePoint Career Institute provides vocational training and exam certification specifically for unemployed and underemployed adults. Enrollment is open to the public. “The success of this program relies heavily on our community partners,” Marino said. “Nationally recognized certification is available in the hospitality industry, and a tutoring program is available to help students earn certification as a nursing assistant. Funding partners provide scholarships for up to 99 percent of students making enrollment accessible. We have a relationship with Florida State College at Jacksonville that allows students to attend our vocational training while working on a GED at FSCJ.” LifePoint has trained 1,500 individuals and boasts an employment rate of 96%. “In answering the call to ‘love thy neighbor,’ we must go to the neighborhoods that have been forgotten or neglected,” Lee said. “We must reach out to the marginalized, the oppressed and those who have lost hope. If we can’t give them hope, who will?” Where we are headed and how you can help… “We’re so excited about the future,” Lee said. “We know we can make a difference — we already have! We have had an impact on the lives of nearly a million young people in our 27-year history. We are not about to put the brakes on now.” The newly launched aquaponics initiative has the potential to feed millions around the globe, including the United States where jobs are needed, and land and water do not support traditional farming methods. The success of intervention programs for at-risk youth make those programs a model that is transferrable to a national and global scale. FreshMinistries invites the community to volunteer to be mentors, tutors and employment partners. Your financial contributions are an investment in our community’s future by bringing at-risk children, families and communities the resources they need to be part of that future, too.
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