By Catherine La Fleur and Janet Protasiewicz
Journey House has been selected by the Charitable Fund Board and PD as the recipient of the generous support of PD members for the next two years. Specifically, PD will be focusing on Journey House’s “Girls in the House” program. This program assists young girls, ages 13-18, with the transitional journey from their teen years to becoming successful, productive women in society.
Journey House is located in the Clarke Square neighborhood where poverty and crime are significant barriers to making healthy and positive life decisions. The Girls in the House program promotes healthy and positive lifestyle decisions by focusing on the following six areas: sports, education/career development, community service, art and cultural experiences, life skills, and mentoring. Journey House has a recreation center where most activities are held at 22nd Street and Greenfield Avenue. It also has an adult learning center located at South 19th Street and Washington Street.
Two examples of the girls served by the Journey House Girls in the House program are Markesha Parker and Simone McRoy. In addition, Pamela Lyons, former Girls in the House member is now their coordinator.
Markesha Parker is 19 and a 2009 alumna of the program. She joined Girls in the House in 2005. Despite a challenging home life, Markesha managed to maintain a positive, hopeful, nurturing and determined spirit seeking to achieve a better life. She took full advantage of the opportunities offered by Girls in the House to become a leader, the voice of her peers, and the Vice-President of the Girls in the House program. She maintained a 3.3 GPA while attending South Division High School and was the 2007 recipient of the Jim Schlater Standard of Excellence Award. Markesha is now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and is majoring in Environmental Engineering.
Simone McRoy, age 13, is the youngest member of our program. Simone’s jovial spirit and knack for playing pranks might make you think she is too young to benefit from this program. When she first joined Girls in the House, Simone was unfocused, shy and uncertain of any career interests. After regularly participating in Girls in the House sessions for the past year, Simone has found direction and voices her opinions on many of the issues facing girls her age today. She is now an avid reader and a regular participant of the Math Tutors program at Journey House.
During the first year of the project, we are hoping to increase the number of girls served by the Girls in the House program and to provide many more opportunities for them than are currently provided. Since Journey House was one of the first nonprofit agencies to receive support from Joseph Zilber’s initiatives in Milwaukee, PD has the opportunity to be part of the foundation, or model, for additional agencies selected as part of Mr. Zilber’s ten year plan to address poverty in Milwaukee.
Charitable Fund Co-Champions, Catherine La Fleur and Janet Protasiewicz, warmly welcome you to attend the PD dinner event on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at the Wisconsin Club (5:30 pm cocktails; 6:00 pm dinner) where you will have an opportunity to learn more about Journey House and have an opportunity to sign up for or explore volunteer opportunities with Journey House. We look forward to seeing you at the dinner and working with you in the coming year.