River of Refuge newsletter, June 2024

Graduation Ceremony Celebrates Mom and Young Son

The booming voice came from a table in the River of Refuge multipurpose room, where residents and their children had gathered one evening last month.

“Ga-bby,” bellowed Walter Griffin as he cheered the guests of honor: Gabby Sola and her 3-year-old son Carson.

Sola completed the River of Refuge program in February after four months, and the May 15 gathering honored her achievement.

Graduations are a time to celebrate successes, and just as important, the ceremonies provide current residents, like Griffin, an example of what they can accomplish by learning the principles taught at River of Refuge.

“It’s not easy to walk through this door, and you have to make a serious choice for your life because you’re in transition, right?” Senior Case Manager Dianna Poston said in introducing Sola. “And so Gabby chose to make a serious choice in her life … and she worked really hard.”

Poston added that “wrapping your heart and mind around where your money is — that’s a big deal — and a lot of you are learning that.”

In her remarks, Sola said that River of Refuge helped her break the habit of shopping whenever the urge struck her. As a restaurant server, she oftentimes had money to spend.

“I was desperate to get out of where I was at,” Sola said, “so that’s why I came here. I was willing to do whatever it took, and it really gave me an opportunity to get my money right.”

Saving money is so much of a habit now, Sola said, “that sometimes I wonder what I am saving my money for, but I guess that’s good.”

She urged the families to “enjoy it while you’re here” because even though there are community resources and things when you leave, the camaraderie of River of Refuge is something special, “so just don’t let that pass you by.”

At the time of the ceremony, Griffin had been at River of Refuge for about five months. With him were his 5-year-old daughter Justus and Justus’ mother.

Griffin met Sola when they were both living with their families in transitional housing. He entered River of Refuge after seeing what it had done for Sola.

Griffin praised the structure and the foundation that River of Refuge provides. He also appreciated the counseling offered to parents and their children.

River of Refuge provides all the tools for success, he said. Watching Sola flourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually is like seeing all the ingredients come together for a batch of gumbo, he said. He is inspired to follow the same recipe.

“I want some of that gumbo,” he said. “Yeah, I want some of that gumbo.”

 

River of Refuge Welcomes New Administrative Assistant

River of Refuge’s new administrative assistant came on board this month, but she is no stranger to the organization.

Cathy Alvarez-DeCamp, 45, has assisted with past fundraising galas and is well-acquainted with ROR staff members Dianna Poston and Michelle Baker.

“I have always had the heart for River of Refuge,” Alvarez-DeCamp said.

She praised the wraparound services that River of Refuge provides in addition to its core curriculum of budgeting and financial literacy. “It’s not just a one-and-done,” she said.

As treasurer of the Authentic Life Foundation, which helps individuals pay for mental health counseling, Alvarez-DeCamp is familiar with the unmet needs of low-income families. Poston helped establish the foundation, which is affiliated with a counseling center serving River of Refuge families.

Alvarez-DeCamp also knows the effectiveness of River of Refuge, having seen a friend thrive after graduating from the program.

The part-time administrative assistant position fits well with a busy schedule that keeps up with her 14-year-old daughter’s club volleyball activities. Her daughter is going into her freshman year at Fort Osage High School, and her son graduated this year from Blue Valley North High School.

This is the first time River of Refuge has had an administrative assistant in several years, and Alvarez-DeCamp likes the varied tasks of the job. Her duties include answering the phone, data entry, and helping to coordinate the move-in of families.

She viewed her role as freeing other staff from minutiae so they could focus on helping the families.

A native of Roswell, New Mexico, she grew up in Independence, Missouri, from the age of 5 and graduated from William Chrisman High School. Her past work experience includes time with a local commercial printer and DST Systems, an information-processing company in the financial services industry.

It’s great to be a part of the camaraderie and teamwork of River of Refuge’s small staff, Alvarez-DeCamp said. “I feel fulfilled every day.”

 

 

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Our 16 raised-bed gardens provide a bounty of vegetables to River of Refuge families, who get hands-on experience in helping tend and harvest the crops.

Through the MU Extension, we also regularly distribute healthy recipes that help families incorporate the produce into their meals. Vegetables from the garden include potatoes, onions, several varieties of corn and tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, and eggplant.

(BTW, we have already gathered 180 pounds of produce from the garden this year, including a harvest event last week with about a dozen of our families’ kids.)

All these efforts are fruitless if families don’t know how to prepare the vegetables. That is why a teaching kitchen has been a top priority for several years, so I am thrilled to let you know that work on that project is scheduled to wrap up in a couple of weeks.

The beautiful kitchen (below) has two stoves with double ovens, commercial refrigerators and freezers, two dishwashers, plenty of cabinet and counter space, large sinks, and a pantry.

Like any responsible nonprofit, River of Refuge makes do with what it has while always striving to do more. The teaching kitchen is just one example of the ROR staff’s perseverance since the campus opened in 2016 (along with the tub/shower combinations we installed in our second-floor units).

We know that homelessness brings many different challenges, but one particularly ugly one is the inability to cook with no access to a kitchen. Many adults who experience chronic homelessness have never learned how to cook, and resorting to low-cost convenience stores or fast-food chains often leads to a host of health issues for them and their kids.

The addition of the teaching kitchen means that we will not only show our families how to grow produce, but how to incorporate it into budget-friendly, nutritionally balanced meals as well.

One side benefit of the kitchen is that we will now have sinks on the administrative side of our building, meaning staff will be able to cook and clean up on-site for ROR community gatherings.

Previously, staff would bring crockpot dishes and cart dirty dishes home to wash.

We are very thankful for AHAP Production Credits, which allowed us to do this project. If you, or someone you know, would like to volunteer to teach basic cooking classes, please contact our office at (816) 737-5100.

Eat Well Friends!

Until Next Time,
Pamela Seymour, Executive Director