JohnO

For a young man, a prison sentence may last much longer than the required six months or year term of incarceration. Recidivism is always a risk and is particularly high among individuals who enter the criminal justice system as juveniles. Upon release, many young men have no job skills and no prospects for an entry-level position. Ohio is no exception, with an unemployment rate of 25% for teenagers in general and 41% for black teenagers. Frustrated by the failure of the existing system to care for the youth, decorated law enforcement officer Monnie Bush founded Victory Project.

Victory Project is a faith based, not-for-profit organization that mentors court-involved and disadvantaged young men in Montgomery County. VP offers a fully accredited online high school with tutoring and GED preparatory classes. The facility serves up to twenty young men at a time, and they have dinner together five days a week. Monnie’s goal was to give these young men a chance, and the numbers suggest that he’s doing just that. For young men at Victory Project for six months or longer, the unemployment rate is just 8% and the program shows a 90% reduction in recidivism. The high school graduation rate for the program is over 95%.

When asked what makes his program so successful, Monnie points out that participation is completely voluntary. He offers disadvantaged youth a safe place to hang out and a group of like-minded peers, not to mention the opportunity for employment. He also notes that VP is entirely funded by private donations. Most of the young men in the program have been through the juvenile justice system, which means they have been involved in one or more state- or locally- run programs before. The problem with these programs, says Monnie, is that the kids know the programs receive a per diem allowance for each of them. They feel that people are helping them in order to get paid, not because they’re worth helping. At VP, the message is clear: Monnie and the donors that support VP want to help because you deserve a chance.

In addition to all of the above, VP makes our list because of their micro-business projects. The VP fellows don’t just provide labor – they write project proposals and manage projects and client relations. VP provides these young men with the opportunity to take part in genuine entrepreneurial enterprises; they learn how the businesses work and they reap the rewards of a job a well done. VP currently has micro-businesses involved in landscaping, demolition and recycling (they remove drywall, carpeting, and fixtures and donate any useable material to Habitat for Humanity), and auxiliary services such as moving, painting, and garage cleanup.

 To learn more, volunteer, donate, or inquire about services, visit the Victory Project website at http://www.victoryproject.org/.

Parents and teachers have long sought to make school interesting and engaging, rather than a chore. Science and math are particularly troublesome for many students; one survey suggests that math is the least favorite subject of almost half of students.

One Dayton school is trying new types of curriculum design, academic standards, and teaching practices and having considerable success in making math and science fun and interesting. This is good news for both students and parents; science and engineering jobs are currently growing 70% faster than other occupations. In today’s economic climate, a math and science background is a serious advantage.

 The Dayton Regional STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, School just celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2013, the first from the school. STEM provides an immersive, problem-based curriculum to foster scientific and engineering expertise, creative and critical thinking, and teamwork. STEM lessons include Energy, Power, and Propulsion; Advanced Manufacturing and Materials; Medicine/Human Performance; Air Systems; Agricultural Engineering; and Environmental Engineering. As you can see, this isn’t your average curriculum. “Math” and “science” are no longer subjects in isolation, but tools for understanding the world.

A specially-crafted curriculum is not the only thing that sets the Dayton Regional STEM School apart. One unique STEM program is Air Camp, a weeklong aviation and aeronautics summer camp adventure at Wright University. Students take flight training, learn about the mechanics of aviation, meet Air Force research scientists, and more. STEM also participates in TechFest, a convention with hands-on experiences and exhibits with guest speakers ranging from astronauts to renowned classical guitar players. STEM is making science and math interesting and fun for kids and building the next generation of scientific genius.

For more information, check out the website at http://www.daytonstemschool.org/.

We covered dessert first (what would our mothers say?) but we don’t want to forget that some people struggle to eat at all. The Foodbank is, as the name suggests, a food bank. It also supports more than 100 other hunger relief programs. Every year, Foodbank provides millions of pounds of food to pantries, soup kitchens, and other distribution channels in Montgomery, Greene, and Preble counties. That translates to feeding about 70,000 hungry people annually; almost half of them are children.

The Foodbank and the pantries and soup kitchens to which it distributes food depend heavily on volunteer service and are funded by generous individuals and corporations as well as by Montgomery County.

According to Feeding America, of which The Foodbank is a member, 1 in 6 Americans faces hunger. The Foodbank is the only organization of its kind in the area, fighting back hunger in the Miami Valley.

An appalling 16.7 million children faced food insecurity in the United States in 2011.[i] The Foodbank Among others, The Foodbank runs the Kids Café program in the Miami Valley, which provides meals and snacks to children through other community locations such as Boys and Girls Club of Dayton, the Dakota Center, and the YMCA of Dayton.

The Foodbank also works to make sure children don’t go hungry over the weekend through the national Good-to-Go Backpack Program. Children in need receive a backpack full of nutritious, kid-friendly food to eat over the weekend. In order to prevent embarrassment, no one but the child knows what is in the backpack. In 2011, more than 44,000 backpacks were distributed.

The Foodbank’s website includes a calculator that shows how far your donation goes in the community. For $10, The Foodbank can produce 80 meals or buy $170 of groceries, more than 100 pounds of food.[ii] A donation of $500 means 4,000 meals or 5,000 pounds of food.[iii] That’s 4,000 children who can go to bed with full stomachs.

To learn more, volunteer, or donate, visit http://thefoodbankdayton.org/.

Cake, Hope and Love is the first business featured as part of our 5 Dayton Organizations Doing it the Right Way Series.

“And now these three remain: cake, hope and love. But the greatest of these is cake.” Or at least that’s the general idea, according to Cake, Hope, and Love owners Shannon Teague and Connie McFarren. For these local ladies, philanthropy is a piece of cake; each month they donate 20% of the revenue from one of their fabulous cupcakes to a different charity. Past recipients include Autism Speaks, The Hope Foundation of Greater Dayton, The Hospice of Dayton, and Dominion Academy of Dayton.

Cake, Hope, and Love started with a birthday cake for Shannon’s youngest son in 2008. Friends and family were impressed with her confections and orders started pouring in.  Eventually, Shannon’s house was turned into a regular cake factory. Connie joined forces with Shannon in 2011, the Cake Ladies opened up the official Cake, Hope, and Love shop.

The cupcakes are varied and beloved by all who try them (as evidenced by their 4.5 star Yelp score). Flavors range from Pineapple Mango and Banana Bourbon to Snickerdoodle, S’mores, and, of course, the Buckeye cupcake. The menu changes daily, in case that selection isn’t enough for you. You can see which flavors they’re offering today on their blog; you can also sign up to be notified when your favorite cupcake is in the store.

In addition to a daily menu, Cake, Hope, and Love’s website has a Wall of Hope where they display the charities to whom they’ve donated and where other charities and non-profits can apply for donations. They also provide free products, hold auctions, and have monthly campaigns for local charities.

Connie has three sons and Shannon has two, so Cake, Hope, and Love focuses on local chapters of family charities, working to make the lives of children in Dayton a little sweeter. They’re making the lives of everyone else in Dayton a little sweeter, too, with their scrumptious creations. They live for family, philanthropy, and buttercream – and the world could use a little more of all of those.

You can check out Cake, Hope, and Love at their website: http://cakehopeandlove.com/.

Now that we’ve covered dessert and dinner, let’s take a look at an organization that makes sure low-income individuals have a safe place to live. The median age of homes in Dayton, Ohio is 51 years. In other words, half of the homes in Dayton were built in the 1960’s or earlier. Homes that old have lead paint, pipes and soldering and are frequently in need of repair. Rebuilding Together believes everyone deserves a safe, warm, and dry home. RTD is making that goal a reality.

Rebuilding Together is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization that repairs homes for low-income and elderly homeowners at no cost. The Dayton chapter has rehabbed more than 1000 homes in Dayton. To qualify for assistance from RTD, the homeowner must earn less than 80% of the area median income. RTD also focuses on elderly and disabled homeowners who have lived in their homes for ten years or more; in 2013 the average homeowner receiving help from Rebuilding Together was 72 years old, made $15,000 per year, and had lived in the home for 38 years.

RTD also reaches out to the rest of the county through Neighbor Care, through which skilled tradespeople perform urgent repairs and modifications such as wheelchair ramps. Sixty-seven Dayton homeowners received help from Neighbor Care in 2012.

In addition, RTD runs several other programs. It provides housing repairs to veterans through the Heroes at Home program, works to reduce children’s exposure to lead through Lead Safe for Kids’ Sake, and provides home modification for seniors through Seniors Safe at Home.

Every dollar raised for Rebuilding Together Dayton translates to $4 worth of home improvement due to valuable in-kind labor and donated materials. Because funding from the City of Dayton and Montgomery County covers their administrative costs, every dollar donated goes only toward project expenses. RTD works with the state and local government to ensure efficient programs for low-income households and encourage safe and sustainable housing.

To learn more, volunteer, or donate, visit http://www.rtdayton.org/index.php.