All posts by OFFKM

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‘Experience’ 4-H Outdoor Experience Day Camp on Saturday, Sept. 8

Youth can spend next Saturday learning about string art, wood burning, tin punch, terrariums and bead craft at a 4-H event in Lawless Park in Jones, Mich.

The event is the Outdoor Experience Day Camp, planned for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018; it is organized by the Leaders’ Association.

     The event is open to youth 5 to 13 and costs $5 per person or $10 per family.

     Registration and payment can be made the day of the event, beginning at 9 a.m.; the camp begins at 10 a.m.

     Projects made at this event may be used for the 2019 Cass County Fair.

     For more information, contact Hailey Harman, 4-H Program Coordinator, @ 269-445-4438.

     Our Father’s Family Keeper Ministries is willing to provide transporation to/from this event, for free; to sign up, please call 269-476-1257.

~ OFFKM offers housing for probationers, parolees. ~

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Salvation Army hosts Back-To-School BackPack Giveaway

It’s Back To School time: Do you or your family ned help getting a BackPack and other supplies for school?

     If so, plan to be at the Niles Salvation Army BackPack GiveAway on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 in Casspolis.  The GiveAway is open for youth in kindergarten through 12th grades.

     The BackPacks are free and are stacked with age-appropriate school materials.

     No appointments are necessary and families will be served on a first-come, first-served walk-in basis.

     The GiveAway times in Cassopolis are: 

          *  9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31

          *  9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1

For more information, call 269.684-2660.

Niles Salvation Army to host backpack giveaway for Berrien, Cass students

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Pattern Changing helps women escape abuse

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Are you in or have you ever been in an abusive relationship?

     Know you should get help, but don’t know where to turn?

     Check out “Pattern Changing,” a 15-week session coming to Cass County to help area women rebuild their lives and identify and strengthen areas that make them susceptible to re-entering another abusive relationship.

     For more information, call Kelli King @ 269.782.0304.

Pattern Changing classes

Health & Wellness, Resiliency, Resiliency ~ 'bouncing back

Trauma-awareness workshop planned for Dowagiac

DOWAGIAC ~ A workshop is planned for mid-August to help the community understand the impact of trauma on individuals and groups.

The meeting is from 9 a.m. to 12 noon Aug. 16, 2018, at Dowagiac Middle School in Dowagiac.  The workshop is free.

The Great Start Collaborative of Cass  County is partnering with Dowagiac Schools,  Lewis Cass ISD and United Way of Southwest Michigan to offer the opportunity.

Workshop presenters plan to present information to help others:

  • to develop knowledge and understanding of trauma and its impact on children;
  • to learn about how to help children and families  develop resilience;
  • to strengthen collaboration among providers, educators, and other concerned groups and individuals.To register or get more information, visit traumainformedcommunities.eventbrite.com.                                         ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~                                                                                OFFKM opens Transition House for parolees, probationers.
Transitional House

OFFKM offers housing for probationers, parolees

UPDATE:  Our Father’s Family Keeper Ministries has moved on from the transitional housing services.  For information on other area resources, visit https://tinyurl.com/OFFKM2018ResourcesList.

~     o     ~    o     ~     o     ~

VANDALIA — Our Father’s Family Keeper Ministries is turning a new leaf, meeting a great need in the community, by offering low-cost, quality housing for men who are on probationary or parolee status.

     Its new program is the OFFKM-P2 Phase II Transitional Housing Program.

     OFFKM will be using its Transitional Housing to house future tenants who will be personally interview and agree to a set of house rules before moving into the facility. 

     The new tenants must be ‘working, motivated men’ referred by the Department of Corrections or the Cass County Housing Assessment and Resource Agency (HARA).

     The OFFKM Transitional House most recently offered free housing to single women and women with children who were homeless or at risk of being homeless; those women subscribed to an OFFKM program to help them find or maintain employment, manage their money and establish savings to enable them to move into their own housing and gain other significant life skills.

     Rent for the new housing will be $100 per week.

     For more information, contact OFFKM at 269.476.1257.

~ Click here to download a copy of the OFFKM-P2 Transitional Housing Handbook. ~

~ Like and Subscribe to OFFKM’s YouTube channel! ~

Advocating for Excellence in K-12 Education, Family Fun, News

Visit Wax Museums on Underground Railroad, Kentucky slave raid

This you cannot miss:  Wax Museums about the Underground Railroad in Cass County and about an 1847 Kentucky slave raid, coming in early June 2018.

     The Wax Museums will be held June 6 and June 13 at the Bonine House, on M-60 and Penn Road, in Vandalia,  The Bonine House is thought to have been a place where those escaping slavery were “sheltered” as they sought freedom, according to the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County.

Not to be missed: Wax Museum exhibits on the 1847 Kentucky slave raid.

     The Wax Museum events are:

          *  June 6, from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m.

          *  June 13, 10:30 a.m.t 12 noon

     At both events, historical characters and event ‘come to life.’ 

     At the June 6th event, fourth-graders from Mrs. Riggins and Mrs. Bonine’s classes at Portage’s Lake Center Elementary School will perform.

     Students from Cassopolis High School present the June 13th event, “The 1847 Kentucky Slave Raid.”  The raid occurred in August 1847, when 13 slave catchers from Kentucky came to Cass County to find “investments” they’d heard might be living among the Quakers there.  Slaverunners Wright Modlin and William Holman Jones had been visiting Bourbon County, in Kentucky, returning with enslaved people.

     There will be three performances on the half hour.  Guests are invited to tour The Bonine House while they wait.

     For more information, contact The Bonine House at 269.320.8532; learn more about the Bonine House at https://www.urscc.org/the-bonine-house.html. 

~ Like and Subscribe to OFFKM’s YouTube channel! ~

Calvin 4-H, Michigan 4-H, Rocky Rivers Riders 4-H Horse Show

OFFKM commits to, partners with 4-H clubs

Our Father’s Family Keeper Ministries is committed to the development of youth, particularly those within our southwestern Michigan coverage area.

     We have hosted six-week long, full-day summer enrichment programs for schoolchildren, organized after-school tutorials and continue to provide back-to-nature experiences for youth groups and others.  

     In the past few months, we have started supporting some other area agencies that work with youth, namely two local 4-H clubs:   Calvin 4-H and Rocky River Rider 4-H clubs. 

     One of the groups was down to one youth, but with OFFKM support and outreach, the club is now at a healthy, robust number of youth.

     Interested in all that either of these 4-H clubs has to offer?  (Membership and participation are free!)  Call 269.476.1257 or email [email protected].

~ Like and Subscribe to OFFKM’s YouTube channel! ~

Employment

OFFKM’s new Transportation policy

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Please note: OFFKM will transport individuals to first, second and third shifts at NSG, on West Chicago Road in Niles, Mich., for a fee of $5 per day.

     Also, those desiring to work elsewhere in Niles, Dowagiac or Elkhart, Ind., may also be able to be helped.

     Interested?

     Check out the flier below, and call OFFKM at 269.476.1257!

OFFKM Transportation flier (updated, March 2018)

~ Like and Subscribe to OFFKM’s YouTube channel! ~

4-H programming, Calvin 4-H, Family Fun

4-H youth spend sweet afternoon decorating cupcakes

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VANDALIA ~ Some ‘sweet’ fun was on the agenda for the Calvin 4-H youth gathered for their monthly meeting in early March 2018: They got to experiment with sprinkles and frosting as they decorated cupcakes.

This is just one of the activities the youth do each month that they meet, part of their various “Hands-On” activities.   The  youngsters are expected  to have fun with Legos in April and create sand art in June.

New youth are

Calvin 4-H youth decorate cupcakes, just one of several hands-on activities the group has planned for 2018.

always invited to these meetings.  An RSVP (a ‘let-us-know-you’re-coming’) is appreciated, but not required.  There is no cost to youth or their families for them to attend.

Call 269.476.1257 for more information.

Some of the upcoming activities are:

For information on other family-oriented and kid-friendly local events and throughout Southwest Michigan, visit OFFKM’s Events page.