Charneil Bush: Alumnus of the Year

When Charneil Bush was a boy, he dreamed he’d be a lawyer one day. But his life was writing another, unhappy story.

He lived in Danbury projects with his mother and siblings until she lost custody of her children. He moved in with a cousin, then into a group home until an aunt in Waterbury took custody of him. “I was at a low point, living in the shadow of my mom, worried about not becoming like her,” he said.

But a few months before he moved to Waterbury, his mom had signed him up for the Pathways Danbury mentoring program – a decision his aunt thought was a good idea because “it would bring some stability in my life,” he said.

For the next six years his mentor, Bill Beattie, would drive to Waterbury and take Charneil back to Danbury for the program’s Bible study, hang out with him, share his own life, then drive him back home.

“He did that until I graduated from high school” in 2007, he said. “The main thing is I had a friend, a father figure, a very stable person in my life at a time when people were coming in and out of my life constantly.”

His six years in the mentoring program were marked by many challenges and victories, including strengthening his relationship with God. “I believed there was Someone looking out for me, but Pathways help me rebuild that relationship, believing in Him, trusting Him,” he said.

And, he said, “if it wasn’t for Pathways, I wouldn’t have believed I had potential for going to college.” Last December Charneil graduated with honors from Central Connecticut State University with a major in criminal justice. And this month he became a legal assistant with a Hartford law firm, and is considering UConn law school, taking another step to fulfilling that boyhood dream of becoming a lawyer.

“I’m a lot happier than I was,” he said. “I’m content with who I am, have a strong belief in God and am more focused.”

And “when I’m a little older and together, I would definitely volunteer as a mentor,” he said. “I really want to give a lot of myself and all I can to be a mentor.”

Girls mentoring program pairs two girls with mentors

The Naomi Mentoring Project, the newly-launched Pathways Danbury Youth Ministries program, has paired two middle school girls and two mentors, the program’s first mentor-mentee matches.

Within the next few months, three more matches will meet the first-year goal of five girls being mentored through high school by Christ-centered women.

“We want to ease into the program to see how things run,” said Michelle Ross, the program’s director of the five-match goal. Pathways Danbury, the 15-year-old mentoring program for boys, started with five mentor-mentee pairings and now has 50 boys, she said.

“I’m not concerned about the numbers; I’m more concerned about the mentors’ relationship with the child,” Michelle said. “God is in it; that’s why I know it won’t fail.”

Jada Ortiz, 12, and her mom, Maria, “were very, very excited to meet her mentor,” Shannon Hawley, said Michele, as were Ny’Asia Ross, 11, at right, and her mom, Tanisha, to meet her mentor, Clara Perkins.

Jada attends Rogers Park Middle School, loves basketball and attends Mount Pleasant AME Zion Church in Danbury. Her mentor, Shannon, is a licensed hair stylist and a member of Victory Christian Center in Danbury.

Ny’Asia attends Broadview Middle School, is a cheerleader for the Danbury Trojan Pop Warner football team, and attends New Hope Baptist Church where her mentor is also a member. Clara is the family and youth coordinator for Pathways Danbury Youth Ministries.

The Call: Jericho's newest ministry partner

“Luis Palau said you don’t have to love the music, you just have to love the people who love the music,” said Chris Barrett, executive director of a year-old youth ministry that’s bringing the Gospel to local kids through free worship rock events.

“The Call” (www.revgenmin.org) brings local, regional and national Christian rock bands to metro Danbury churches for events that draw a mix of anywhere from 150 to 400 youth-group- and college-aged young adults. And “almost always there’s some form of call,” Chris said. “At every event we consistently get anywhere from five to 50 kids who come forward, either to accept Jesus or to rededicate their lives to Him.”

"The Call" was founded last year by Paul DiMarco, who said then "the purpose of rock worship is to start with a rock concert and end up in a place of worship." DiMarco's "passion for church-going and non-church-going youth was really evident when I talked with him," said Carrie Amos, Jericho's executive director, announcing "The Call" as the newest Jericho ministry partner.

The ministry features top-name, youth-oriented bands that appeal to urban and suburban youth alike. Up to eight concerts a year rotate between a half-dozen area churches. “We don’t want ‘The Call’ to ever feel like it’s a substitute for church,” Chris said. “We want to add to what churches are doing. Our ministry is to kids and to support the church."

Unique ministry to homeless expectant moms

Christian Community Outreach Ministries plans to open a short-term residence and ministry for homeless pregnant moms later this year.

New Covenant House on Elm Street will bridge the gap between Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center’s ministry to expectant moms and a program for moms and their children such as Amos House, a transitional residence for homeless moms and their children.

New Covenant House – a block from Jericho Partnership’s Spring Street Ministry – will be designed for up to eight expectant moms and will be unique in Danbury, said Donna Shaw, CCOM’s operations manager. “We’ll work with women who need support to get their lives back on track,” she said.

Hopeline’s annual fundraiser March 22 and 23

Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center's annual fundraising banquet will be Thursday, March 22 at the Amber Room, Danbury, and Friday, March 23 at Tashua Knolls in Trumbull, both at 6:30 p.m.

Guest speaker is Carol Everett, former abortion provider and a contributor to the documentary, "Blood Money."

The annual banquet’s purpose is to draw in donors each year to build the ministry's budget.
For more information, call Hopeline at 203-207-4673.

Pathways Danbury mentoring program: 38 mentors for 55 kids

Pathways Danbury (www.pathwaysdanbury.org) needs ten good Christian men to mentor at-risk boys, some on the ministry’s waiting list. And even more boys will need mentors before this year is out. “There’s no shortage of young men,” said Mark Lounsbury, ministry director. The shortage “is finding the guys to step up as mentors.”

Right now the ministry has 50 young men – plus another five on the waiting list – but only 38 mentors. “Some mentors have two mentees,” Mark said. And come spring when Pathways Academy finishes its school year, its eighth-grade graduates will be grafted into the mentoring ministry as well.

“Our goal is to bring in ten new mentors annually, so for the rest of the year we’ll be looking to add at least ten more guys.”

Three adoptions during Bethany's first year in state

Bethany Christian Services has placed three babies in the loving arms of adoptive families since it opened its state-wide office at Jericho’s 13 Rose St. facility a year ago this month, says Corrin Schlecht, the adoption specialist at Bethany’s Danbury office.

One baby was adopted after the mom went to Jericho Partnership looking for help when she was pregnant; the other two were referrals from crisis pregnancy centers in Cheshire and Hartford, she said. “I met with two other moms, but they decided to parent their babies.”

Three adoptions in the first year “are good numbers,” Corrin said. “I would be pleased if we were able to have 15 adoptions a year” in a state the size of Connecticut.

Since June, Corrin has been visiting and re-visiting churches, social workers at each of the 34 hospitals in the state, and the staff at more than 20 crisis pregnancy centers around Connecticut. “When they have a mom who does not feel ready to parent the baby, they can call and I can meet with her to provide information about adoption,” she said.

Most adoptive parents bring the baby home from the hospital, although some moms haven’t made a decision even at that point. “If the mother hasn’t decided, we have ‘interim families’ who care for the baby for a few days or up to a month. That gives the mom time to meet with some potential adoptive families or decide to parent her baby.”

Bethany has approved one Christian family in the Danbury area as an interim family. “We’ve gone through the approval process and we’re all set, but we’d like one or two more interim families in the state.”

Interested in adoption? Know someone who is? Find out more at Jericho partner Bethany Christian Services (http://www.bethany.org/danbury).

Immediate ministry opportunities for youth groups

Is your youth group looking for life-changing ministry opportunities? Jericho has several immediate outreaches for youth groups that will transform both their lives and the lives of people they help, right here in Danbury.

"We're offering local youth groups and their leaders the opportunity to take leadership roles in one or more of our ongoing outreach events," said Crystal Perkins, Jericho's director of operations. "The goal is for our youth to develop leadership skills coupled with compassionate hearts."

Opportunities include monthly street-cleaning of Spring Street and Compassionate Care outreaches that include Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter events, a back-to-school Backpack Bash, and activity nights for neighborhood kids.

"Youth groups and their leaders do the planning, coordinating and executing of one or more of these key ministry events that literally touch the city's neediest neighbors," Crystal said. "Youth groups can choose an event, get involved and let their neighbors know they really do love them."

For more information, contact Crystal at volunteer@jerichopartnership.org.

Homeless shelter needs more volunteers

Jericho Partnership’s homeless shelter on Maple Avenue has been near or at capacity so far this winter, straining the shelter’s volunteers and raising concern about what happens if winter really bites.

At the beginning of the season, Jim Wiley, ministry coordinator, hoped 90 Christ-centered men would volunteer to spend at least one night in the shelter. He’s still hoping. (Click here for a schedule of open dates.) But when the shelter is at or near capacity, two men are needed each night. “I like the ratio to be two volunteers for 14 beds, and right now I can’t deliver that.”

For more information about becoming a shelter volunteer, e-mail Jim at volunteer@jerichopartnership.org.

Pathways Academy sends gifts to U.S. military in Afghanistan

America’s military may have left Iraq, but many are still serving in Afghanistan this Christmas. And many of those are not expecting any letters or packages from home.

But 27 will be getting both, thanks to Pathways Academy students. “I pray that you will get to see your family soon,” and that “you and no one will get hurt or injured,” wrote sixth-grader Isaiah Payton to a soldier before writing out the Lord's Prayer.

The Academy students wrote letters and sent care packages to military personnel as part of their Life Skills class led by Mary Ronan. Names “of those least likely to be getting packages from home” were from www.anysoldier.com, she said.

The soldiers will be getting more than a letter and a small care package, “Now, at the end of the class, the boys are taking turns praying out loud for their service people and their families,” Mary said.

“I pray for you every day because you put your life on the line just for me,” wrote seventh-grader Joseph White. “I pray for your family, too.”

“I appreciate your help for keeping us safe and alive,” wrote “Your buddy” Pykeem Gibbs, a seventh-grader.

The boys stuffed some of their favorite snacks into plastic zip bags for their soldier – gum, mints, trail mix, granola bars – that were sent along with the letters.

But the boys’ Christmas outreach also touched closer to home. As part of an arts-and-crafts project, each created a Christmas card for elderly residents of a Danbury nursing home who may receive none from friends or family.                                 

“They worked very hard on this,” Mary said of the two service projects. “It was really gratifying to see how they stepped up to this.”

Jericho director speaks at partner churches

Carrie L. Amos, Jericho's executive director, spoke at New Hope Community Church in Newtown on a recent Sunday evening, sharing the parable of the Good Samaritan and tying it to the Jericho story. Carrie encouraged church members to become involved in serving the Danbury's at-risk communities through Jericho's action opportunities.

Girls' mentoring program gets underway

The Naomi Mentoring Project for at-risk girls is underway! And inaugural director Michelle Ross has no doubts about its needs and goals.

"A positive adult role model is an absolute necessity for a lot of at-risk girls out there," said Michelle, the inaugural director of the program. The 12- to 17-year-old girls need mentoring through a host of negative decisions and lifestyles that put them at risk of flunking out or dropping out of school, substance abuse "and getting involved in other negative avenues," she said.

"We want to link at-risk adolescent girls with mature Christian women who will help develop the girls academically, socially, mentally and spiritually so they come into the full knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior."

Michelle has been developing plans since early November to recruit mentors and mentees. Her goal is at least one mentoring pair in place by January and a minimum of five to seven pairs by the end of 2012, but "I think that number will be much higher," she said.

The new program is part of the Pathways Danbury Youth Ministries, composed of three other programs, these for at-risk boys: Pathways Academy for middle-school-aged boys, Pathways Danbury mentoring program, and S.A.Y. Yes! after-school, whole-life tutoring program.

For more information about the girls' mentoring program, contact Michelle at 203.205.0962.

Bells for life!

The bells at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on Spring Street ring each Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., once for each baby's life saved at Jericho partner Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center the week before. Linda Cochrane, Hopeline’s executive director, said many hospitals play a soft lullaby over the intercom to announce a baby's birth. She asked St. Paul’s pastor, Allen German, if he'd be interested in ringing the bells to announce babies saved. “I thought it was a wonderful idea, a way to celebrate life,” Pastor German said.

Hey, you can do this!

You can walk and pray at the same time. No need to be super-spiritual to join us on prayer walks in the heart of Danbury. Join us on a one-hour, one-mile, family-friendly prayer walk. Contact us for times and days. Or we can schedule convenient prayer walks for your Bible study or small group. For more information, contact us at prayer@jerichopartnership.org.

Jericho clothing distribution

For more information about donating clean, lightly-used laundered clothing, contact us at volunteer@jerichopartnership.org. The clothing will be distributed to individuals and families who cannot afford to visit a thrift shop.

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E-news from Jericho

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