Saint John’s Program for Real Change

i had volunteered a st’ john’s in the late 80’s90th at he downtown location and now I read on Sunday evenings to the children at Power Inn. This is the high point of my week. the children sit wide eyed and I try to rotate the books a to season and interest… Dr. S being a perennial favorite. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys children and watching them smile. There are many volunteer opportunity to explore.

I am a current volunteer, I started out earlier this year and am helping in the kitchen once or several times per week doing whatever needs to be done to prepare meals.
St. John’s Shelter operates with mostly volunteer labor and largely by the use of donated food.
This is an amazing organization, helping women and children in need and teaching them new skills for life.
I have volunteered for a lot of places but this is by far the most constructive environment I have encountered, ever.
I observe respect and courtesy towards each other among staff, clients, children and adults as the rule, not as the exception and it feels good to be part of an organization that actually changes lives.
So, for those of you who are looking for a good cause… I recommend St. John’s Shelter.
For those of you who don’t have much time, I have another suggestion: go have lunch at their restaurant «Plates» in which the women staying at the shelter are learning actual working skills as well as management skills by working at the restaurant which makes them competitive in the job market.
The food is great there.

I spent an entire summer completely poor by doing an internship here but what I got was worth much more than money. St. John’s is a shelter for women and children (males up to age 14 can stay here, females of any age). Women and their children are allowed to stay up to two weeks or if the women take the classes offered by St. John’s they are allowed to stay up to two months. They take required classes on money management, respect, jobs, etc.
I worked in the daycare with children that were new born to age 16. What I remember is this: cuuuuuuuute kids, I mean so cute, fieldtrips to the movies and the zoo, inside and outside games, sibling relationships, a 7 year old knowing what a hooker was, snack time, crying babies, learning numbers, the alphabet and animals, and this is what I remember most. A 14 year old girl was living in the shelter when I started working there. At first she hated me because «I took her job helping watch the children.» At the end of her two months, she told me that she loved me and that I was her favorite person that worked there. It was amazing to see that I could have such an impact on someone in such a short period of time and I will always remember that for as long as I live.