Service Project at Orem Nursing and Rehabilitation

Kiera, Brian, and I (Julianne) have been coordinating service projects for the Summer of Service Program. On Friday we had a group of about 25 people at the Orem Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Youth made 4th of July crafts with the residents then used them to decorate the resident's doors. The kids were very creative (and messy!) with the glitter, string, foam, paper, and glue. My favorite part was watching the kids interact with the seniors. Here's a glimpse of their work:

Project Progress! Yay!

So for the past few months I've been working on developing a program for Centro Hispano, Proyecto para el Mejoramiento de la Vida, that would incorporate classes from throughout the community to help Centro Hispano clients make and achieve important educational goals. Recently many important things have happened at Centro Hispano that have helped this project move along. Centro Hispano has been awarded significant grants that will help fund the project and allow for the hirings of new key positions, such as mentors, instructors, and curriculum writers. We also have some great volunteers who are doing such things as developing a "course catalog" of community resources, designing a proper in-take procedure, and gathering curriculum for a future parenting class. As I'm approaching the end of my year of service, it's exciting to see this project really come together and become something that will benefit the community. -- Jana

Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training

Last week I attended a 2 day training about gang intervention and prevention in Salt Lake City. This was a very educational experience for me because I'm a country girl from rural Ohio -- I don't know anything about gangs! Not only did I learn all about the different gangs in Utah, but I also learned about the reasons youth join gangs, how to help members leave gangs, and how to effectively work with parole officers. At the end of the training I received a certificate stating that I successfully completed 16 hours of Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training. The training was very neat and I would recommend it to anyone who'd like to learn more about gangs.