"Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow."
~ D. Everett in The Columbian Orator, 1797
December 3rd is #GivingTuesday. With your help, we have "planted a lot of acorns" in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).  See the Accomplishments graphic below.

There is still much to do. Resiliency can be nurtured through a relationship with a caring adult who can share a sense of hope. We train local people to provide services and build relationships with traumatized and abused kids. You know, it's the "teach a person to fish and feed them for a lifetime" style.

This #GivingTuesday we’re fundraising to help traumatized and abused children in SVG:
  1. to provide Stephen Ministry Leadership Training
  2. to provide Kinship Mentoring Training

Join us by donating or creating a Facebook fundraiser on December 3rd, #GivingTuesday.
Donate now or, for a matching grant, donate 12/3/19 #GivingTuesday

Can you help fund Stephen Ministry Training?
Collin Jackson is our Mentor Program Coordinator. He will bring Stephen Ministry to SVG as "layer 2" of the Mentoring and Accompaniment program for kids. He teaches Religion at St. Martin's Secondary School in SVG. (Collin's originally from Trinidad). Help Collin attend Stephen Ministry Leadership Training.

Salene Dopwell coordinates our trips to SVG. She is the Executive Director of Guadalupe Home and teaches full-time at SJCM. Click here to help Salene get needed supplies for SVG schools and Homes for Children.
 

Can you help fund Kinship Mentor Training?
In February, Karen and David Downing of Kinship Partners will join Jerry and Collin in SVG to train local community members as mentors for children and adolescents. Karen is a Brainerd Kinship Coordinator. Karen and David are volunteering their time, but help with travel expenses is greatly appreciated.
David is the Executive Director of Kinship Partners and Kinship, Inc. In 2017, Jerry asked for his time to get some "hints and ideas" for starting a Kinship-type program in SVG. He had more than a few ideas and generously offered to go to SVG as part of the training team. 
 

Thanks to your generous support, all this is possible.

In August 2019, Jerry spoke at The Cathedral in Kingstown, SVG. He invited local community members to help children in SVG using 3 "layers" of accompaniment.

  • Kinship Partners training – to foster long-lasting relationships between caring adults, children, and teens.

  • Stephen Ministry training – to provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care to children and teens who are hurting. (Later, this might expand to serve adults as well.)

  • Mental Health training and Spiritual Direction – to provide guidance to overcome trauma, abuse, and to find a connection to God acting in the midst of pain.

Jerry volunteers his time in SVG and you can help with travel expenses. He has made 5 trips since 2017 providing many pieces of training and helping plan programs.
Donate now or, for a matching grant, donate 12/3/19 #GivingTuesday
 
 
 

The St. Vincent Initiative is our collaboration with local church sponsored orphanages and programs for children in SVG. In August 2017, we conducted the first Situational Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study to see how we might be of assistance in training local workers.

On a Caribbean vacation, you see smiles and sunshine -- but that's not the reality of many who live in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). 48% live on only USD 2.72 per day. Families and children suffer. Many children are abandoned or abused and live in orphanages.

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