project leader
NIchelle D
location
9424 Sladden Avenue
(Garfield Heights and Surrounding Communities)
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the project

Abundant Love Community Outreach Lunch and Literacy's goal is to provide meals, books, and various artist activities to students and families in Garfield Heights and surrounding communities.  Our program will mobilize well-balanced healthy meals to families along with books that address social and emotional wellbeing. Families will be provided with art projects to support the themes of the group book. The activities will include such as crafts, role-playing, family virtual talent shows, puppet shows, virtual paint classes; to name a few.  Families taking time to engage in group literacy and art projects will support the families in maintaining, building, and managing their relationships that are strained due to the effects of social isolation. The projects will provide a healthy outlet for families to express how they feel during the pandemic. Families will participate in a monthly zoom activity with a parent facilitator that is currently working on the same goals as families. The Family Connection Zoom meetings will be a platform for families to share and display their art projects and how they have improved their relationship and bond. 

Although Garfield Heights has a lower-middle-class community, it does not have access to the same resources as the inner city.  Abundant Love Community Outreach goal is to mobilize these resources to families and children.  The ability for families and students to access the public library, literacy resources, extracurricular activities are limited, therefore, our program will bring these resources to families through arts and literacy.  Families are currently suffering from the inability to participate in activities outside of the home to stimulate the family.  Mobilizing structured art-driven activities to families will provide families an outlet for entertainment, expression, and bonding.  

Abundant Love Community Outreach Lunch and Literacy program motto is to FEED, READ, EXPRESS, and CONNECT to build stronger families that build stronger communities. 

the steps

1. Determine the number of participants we are able to serve.  It is estimated that it will cost $25 per participant per day of service.  Our goal is to serve 50 students over an 8 week period.  (May 3, 2021)

2. Secure contracts with local catering companies for food preparation. (May 3, 2021)

3.  Secure contracts and volunteers to facilitate art projects such as group paint group, puppet show, etc. (June 7, 2021)

4.  Assess needs for mobile library and secure contract with Literacy in the HOOD (June 7, 2021)

5. Assess needs for art projects and order materials (June 7, 2021)

6. Marketing and Registration (June 7, 2021-June 12, 2021)

7. Finalize program art projects, books, and literacy software and technology (June 7, 2021)

8.  Family Orientation (June 13, 2021)

9.  Program Dates(June 26, July 1, July 24, August 14)

10.  End of Program Celebration August 28, 2021

why we're doing it

Over a year into a pandemic and where are we now?  Schools are starting to open, visits from family and friends are restoring, dance classes, practices are starting back up.  The world is attempting to resume but what will it take for our families to resume life?  How do you combat anxiety and stress related to a lack of sense of health, safety, and security?  How do you successfully navigate normalcy after being exposed to the trauma resulting from the social isolation that the pandemic triggered?

The continued impact of COVID 19 on families economically, socially, and emotionally could not have been predicted but Abundant Love CommUNITY Outreach finding a solution to supporting the whole family could be predicted. That is what we do. 

Abundant Love CommUNITY Outreach thrives on its awareness and action on matters that impact the Garfield Heights Community.  COVID 19 did not just isolate families socially but it isolated families from academic resources and basic needs, such as free school lunch.  The need for a solution was evident and urgent. 

Founder, Mom of 8 children (yes 8 children), and a local School Board member, I did not just identify the problem within my community but it was evident in my own home. My family continues to struggle with the effects of the pandemic.  Identifying community support and garnering access was a struggle for my family.  Creating new healthy norms, was a struggle for me.

I began to organize what I determined the most immediate need and that was giving families access to free lunch.   I began to mobilize free school lunches to families who could not get to the pickup locations.  Providing this service provided a need for the family and gave them an opportunity to have contact with a member of the community through service.  It also gave families a sense of hope and support having a community peer support them.

I eventually expanded the program to include Lunch and Literacy, in which I gave students access to books when lunch was delivered daily.  I encouraged and educated families on the importance of reading 20 minutes per day to increase literacy, vocabulary, and wellbeing.  Having an increased focus on literacy in my home was proving to be a great way for us to bond and engage.

The program expanded to providing families with a book that every family in the program read that dealt with topics about COVID 19 and coping skills to deal with Social Isolations.  In addition to the books, families received activities that allowed them to express themselves through various artistic avenues.  Family portraits, role-playing, painting, sculpting, writing, music, and dance are some of the activities in which we used to connect our weekly themes with art.   The combination of literacy and art projects to support the literary content has found to be a match made in heaven.  The families are finding having various outlets to express themselves is strengthening their family relationships, bond, and ability to cope.  Families are looking forward to each activity and the opportunity to have structured family activities to build their bonds and openly express themselves through the arts. 

In closing, Abundant Love CommUNITY Lunch and Literacy expects the following outcomes:

Literacy opportunities will increase for residents in Garfield Heights

Learning Loss should decrease/Learning opportunities will increase

Fewer families will go hungry during the times that school is not in session

Garfield Heights relationship/civic engagement, with its community and school district, will be strengthened

Give families a sense of community support in the area of their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing. 

Through Artistic Expression and Literacy families will have built a stronger bond with the relationships they have available to reduce the impact of social isolation in other areas. 

budget

Disbursed budget 7.1.2021

$1,234.34 Food

$1,500.00 Books

$1,500.00 Art Supplies

$500.00 Group Facilitators 

$500.00 Administrator Fee

$500.00 Transportation expenses

= $5,734.34



TOTAL RAISED = $5,822.00
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) N/A
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $87.66
TOTAL TO DISBURSE= $5,734.34

Original Budget:

$2,500.00 Food

$1,700.00 Books

$1,700.00 Art Supplies

$800.00 Group Facilitators 

$800.00 Administrator Fee

$500.00 Transporation expenses

TOTAL PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED    $8,000
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%)    N/A
"ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%)(Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.)"    $153
TOTAL TO RAISE=    $8,153
Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.    

updates

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photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Michael D.
  • All Nations Deliverance Ministries
  • Anonymous
  • Fatima A.
  • Sharon Allen
  • Vanessa W.
  • Jenn N.
  • Anonymous
  • Chelsea S.
  • Michelle S.
  • Nichelle N. Daniels
  • Howard and WaLinda Jackson
  • Latonya M.
  • Ricky J.
  • Steven/Sue C.
  • Gayle W.
  • Sherilyn J.
  • Jessica W.
  • Nicole T.
  • Carolyn W.
  • Dianne P.
  • Oshauwnya C.
  • Diane D.
  • Kimberly B.
  • Ashley Thomas
  • Nichelle D.
  • Roslind J.
  • Yonna S.
  • Tyffani M.
  • Tarran L.
  • JJ Macklin
  • Wanda S.
  • Julius J.
  • Chelsea P.
  • Henry F.
  • Marina Palomino-Bach
  • Desmond E.
  • Shawna S.
  • Chef Annette Bryant
  • Theresa B.
  • Semeca Prather
  • Milika E.
  • Sami & Johno Yousef
  • Ebony S.
  • ESSENCE M DOUCET
  • Jewel T.
  • Anonymous
  • Caroline P.
  • Rita D.
  • Anonymous
  • Trivia G.
  • Jennifer B.
  • Kimberly D.
  • Anonymous
  • Raquel H.