"Community Involvement Subcommittee. Having considered a number of organizations and initiatives for community involvement, the Subcommittee endorsed local food programs as the best option for participation by SHDTC members…. The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts has launched Hunger Champions, a new campaign designed to step up educational programming and enhance the ways in which volunteers can take part… Other community efforts considered by the Subcommittee included the South Hadley Council on Aging, and the Robert F. Kennedy Girls Program, which serves adolescent girls who have been involved in the court system. Information about these and other community organizations will be posted on the SHDTC Blog."
I have put a link to your program at http://southhadleydemocrats.blogspot.com/ (Scroll down to "Other links of interest"). Please send me any information that you would like us to post there, including any information about volunteer opportunities.
Thanks again for your hospitality and I hope we can find ways to collaborate!
- Bob Judge
Member
South Hadley Democratic Town Committee
From: Mary Rice [mailto:marice@rfkchildren.org]
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 2:17 PM
To: Bob Judge,Sarah Etelman...
Subject: RE: South Hadley Girls Treatment Program - Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps
Bob,
Thanks so much. We look forward to working with members of the committee in the future. We are holding a fundraiser on June 6th, 2009 at the Knights of Columbus Castle in Chicopee. I have ½ dozen tickets which I'd like to donate to members of your committee. If anyone is interested, these can picked up at our facility during Mon-Fri. business hours (8-4pm) over the next 2 weeks.
From: Bob Judge [mailto:BobJudge@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 10:52 PM
To: Members of the Community Involvement SubCommittee
Cc: Mary Rice; 'Robert Judge'
Subject: South Hadley Girls Treatment Program - Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps
Hello:
I had a good meeting on Friday afternoon with Mary Rice, the Program Director of the South Hadley Girls Treatment Program, at the program location at 87 Canal St. in S. Hadley.
Mary told me that the program's capacity is sixteen girls, who usually are between 14 and 16 years old. She would welcome volunteers from the South Hadley Town Democratic Committee. She said the timing is good, because she is trying to reach out to the community more than has been done historically.
Mary said the girls have all been in court. Some of the girls are mothers. Many of the girls are from Springfield or Holyoke but they come from across the state. They usually stay there for 3 to 6 months before returning home, sometimes to a foster home. The program delivers psychological services, medical services as needed, and it operates an accredited school in coordination with the S. Hadley schools.
Some of the girls have recently started visiting seniors at Hubert Place, next door, to the benefit of the seniors and themselves.
The staff ratio is one staff per four girls. Mary said we could assist by accompanying the staff on field trips for the girls. Or, we could help by working with the girls with crocheting, which is apparently a popular activity there, as the girls got involved in a project to knit for newborns at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. We could help the girls who work in the kitchen.
Mary said the best times for volunteering, because of the weekday schooling, would be the weekend. She would prefer female volunteers, but there are male staff and men can volunteer, too. To become a volunteer, you must complete an application and pass a criminal background check.
I was impressed by the facility and the atmosphere there. I explained to Mary the process that we are using, wherein each of us is gathering information about a potential community involvement idea. I told Mary that we will then recommend one or more efforts to the full Town Committee, and that I would be back to her after we consider all of the possibilities. She said she would be happy to meet with our sub-committee if we wished.
Below is a story from the December Republican about the Program. Mary said that in response to the story, people and businesses from S. Hadley and the surrounding area contributed generously to the program.
- Bob
Teen girls ask gifts for winter
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE
SOUTH HADLEY - Staff at the South Hadley Girls Treatment Program want to make sure the girls in the program are not forgotten this holiday season. Many of the girls do not have families and won't receive the presents that most teenagers receive on the holidays.
To make sure they receive some Christmas cheer, the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps, which runs the program here and at three other sites in the region, has started its "Winter Wish" drive. It seeks new hats, mittens and coats for teenagers who may not have any winter clothes.
It also welcomes CDs, board games, makeup, personal care items and other gifts appropriate for teenagers. "One thing they really like is yarn. It goes fast. They all crochet," said Mary L. Rice, the program's director here.
The girls are playing Santa Claus, themselves, by crocheting baby hats and booties for the Welcome Baby Basket program of the Springfield Infant Toddler Services at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield.
Some of their own requests for Christmas presents are very modest. Fourteen-year-old Brenda just wants a teddy bear. "I like stuffed animals," she said. "(A teddy bear) could be a friend to you."
Seventeen-year-old Rosie, who is nine months pregnant with her second child, a boy, just wants baby clothes. "This is my second baby. I put my kids pretty much before myself," Rosie said.
The youths have been sent to the South Hadley program by the state Department of Youth Services.
"Our students are often the victims of abuse or neglect, were exposed to violence and were generally not supported at home, leading them to paths of self-destruction," Edward P. Kelley, president and chief executive officer of the corps, stated.
Although studies show that most children who hurt others have been hurt themselves, Kelley said the public rarely thinks about the reasons why teens break the law or became unlawful and instead see only the unlawful acts.
Rice said the drive will accept pretty much anything with the exception of used clothing. Donations of presents or money may be dropped off weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the center at 87 Canal St....
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