On May 17, 2008, Mario Arriola and Endrix Afanador graduated from Camden County College.  The ceremony was held at the Blackwood campus.  Mario and Endrix both graduated with an Associates Degree in Business Administration.  Here is what Mario had to say about the experience:

What does commencement mean to me?  It means the end of one chapter and the start of something new, a time that two and a half years ago seemed so distant and full of challenges.  Now I have completed 50 college credit hours that I paid for by myself.  Walking across the stage and hearing my name announced was a dream come true. Click here to continue reading!

The summer is shaping up for lots of learning, jobs and fun at Hopeworks.  As the school year school winds down the Hopeworks Summer Program heats up.  This summer plans are in place for Hopeworks to employ 25 youth!  Our GIS/WEB team will be mapping trees on every street in Collingswood.  Other advanced youth will be working on client web sites and learning a new web design technology called Drupal.  Our summer Hope Through School youth will be creating videos,  learning Photoshop and HTML, and meeting new people and making new friends.  We are also excited about our summer literacy program where, with the help of our literacy volunteers, every youth will receive one-on-one training -  over 175 hours in all!  We still have room for literacy volunteers in the afternoon, so if you want to  make a difference with a high school student this summer call our Literacy Director, Shawn Mack!  (856-365-4673)  Of course the Hopeworks summer program always ends with the fun and learning of SYMANTEC WEEK and this year Symantec CEO John Thompson is scheduled to join in the activities!

Hopeworks ‘N Camden won A Walt Whitman Preservation Award, presented by the Heritage Collaborative, Inc.  It was their Community Education Award for the interactive mapping of the Civil War Veterans in Harleigh Cemetery, a project that was completed last fall by our Advanced GIS/WEB trainees.  On May 6, 2008, Tarren Anderson, Sean Dougherty, Steve Bozzone, Michael & Patrick Osborne, Nefertiti & Sylvon Bryant, Rebecca Schemelty, and Steven Carmichael were presented the award.  Below is Nefertiti's reflection about the experience:

The outdoor GEB (GIS/WEB) team from last summer had the honor  of being presented with an award for our hard work.  At the awards ceremony we presented to the audience the project we did at Harleigh Cemetery.  I felt honored to receive an award for my hard work.  Winning this award shows that people do care about what we are doing at Hopeworks and that I can make a difference ...click to continue!

After another great school year, our after school program, Hope Through School, has come to an awesome end. Here's some of what our Hope Through School trainees accomplished this year - 25 trainees wrote, edited and narrated a video; 37 youth earned a total of $15,000 in stipends and these high school youth earned a total of 60 college credits for their work!  We wish all of our youth good luck and we are looking forward to seeing them this summer! 

Jamaal Johnson has been at Hopeworks for three years and recently completed his second semester at Camden County College.  Because Jamaal has demonstrated responsibility and a strong willingness to work, we chose him to be the first intern from Hopeworks at the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA).  This position was made possible by their willingness to engage our youth and through the support and direction of Mr. Andrew Kricun, their chief engineer and deputy executive director.  We sat down with Jamaal and asked him several questions about this exciting opportunity:

What goals do you have at CCMUA?

At my internship at the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, I plan to be a hard worker and to learn more about their operations.   I will do the best job there, be there on time, and be helpful.  It is my first job and I don’t want to let anyone, including myself down.

To finish reading this great interview with Jamaal, click here!

The Hopeworks "Minding The Gap" residential program has entered stage II planning.  A committee of eight people will be meeting over the next three months to finalize a business plan for this innovative program.  The program is designed to help Hopeworks college bound youth to have stable and safe housing as they transition to college while maintaining a job with Hopeworks.  The structured environment of the residential program will be designed to foster the needed life skills that will make our youth ever more successful in college.  This is an exciting new phase for Hopeworks!  

On Thursday, May 29th, Hopeworks youth were invited to the radio station 100.3 The Beat to participate in their “Limelight Thursday” show which airs from 9pm-10pm! The youth hosted the top eight countdown and talked about some of the positive work that is happening at Hopeworks. They also participated in a Q & A with the on-air personalities! The youth gave a shout-out to all of our supporters for allowing us to continue doing the work we’re doing and providing for our youth!  It was a ton of fun for everyone!  Thanks 100.3 The Beat!

Hopeworks Video Crew was in the State Capitol shooting for Big Brothers Big Sisters this month. BBBS had a Legislative Day in Trenton and Hopeworks was there to capture their presentation to lawmakers as well as interview various people in their organization.   Our crew included Jamaal Johnson, Rachel Burns, Sean Dougherty and Angel Santana.  Angel wrote the following piece about this experience.

On May 19, I attended the Big Brothers Big Sisters meeting held in Trenton, New Jersey.  The meeting was at the State Capital Building and I had the opportunity to see the Senate room.  During the meeting I enjoyed listening to the big brothers and big sisters talk about their little brothers and little sisters and how they have helped the ‘littles’ to have a better future.  They seem to really care about their littles.  I was especially inspired by a big sister Sean and I interviewed.  She shared with us that it is an opportunity to be in a kid's life and be a friend or more than a friend to someone who really needs a special person in their life.  

As we reported last month, HW has initiated a college scholarship program to help our college graduates.  The plans are to fund 5 yearly $1,000 scholarships.  The first scholarship has been funded and the scholarship committee will be meeting this month to make its recommendations. It is so exciting to be able to do this. Hopeworks is grateful to all of you who have supported this first scholarship and look forward to helping us fund the next four! 

Father Jeff, Sean Dougherty and trainee Angel Santana mingled with area business executives at a networking  reception in Haddonfield.  Thanks to Christina Philburn from Positive Results Communications for making this happen.

Jesuit Scholastic Jim Shea, SJ, will be joining the Hopeworks staff as a full time volunteer this summer.  Jim will be coming to Camden from his hometown, Chicago, where he is currently studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago in preparation for eventual ordination as a Jesuit priest.  Before entering the Society of Jesus in 2004, Jim worked in Detroit as a lay volunteer with the Passionists and in Chicago at Misericordia Home, which serves men and women with developmental disabilities. In the mornings Jim will be managing a team of GIS youth who will be working on a tree survey in Collingswood and in the afternoon he will be working one-on-one with trainees in out Literacy program.  We look forward to Jim’s arrival on June 30th!

Father Jeff, Sean & Patrick Head

To Denver
In the middle of June, Father Jeff, Sean and Patrick will travel to Regis University in Denver for a five day conference-like retreat, “Solidarity in Christ’s Mission – Reflecting, Renewing and Responding.”  This event is a gathering of the North American Ignatian social ministries and is sponsored by the Jesuit Commission for Social and International Ministries as well as the Ignatian Solidarity Network.

Thank You To All Of The Foundations And Corporations That Support Hopeworks Through Grants And To Our Many Generous Benefactors!

Mellon Bank
Maryland Province of Jesuits

Lutheran Synod Grant

Philadelphia Foundation

PSE&G

Gannett Foundation
Raskob Foundation
Commerce Bank
Citizens Bank

Knight Foundation

CPAC

Will and Jada Smith Foundation

Anonymous Supporters

Upcoming Events:

6-1: Fun In The Sun Raffle Drawing Begins! Check out the results at www.hopeworks.org!

6-18 to 6-22: Father Jeff, Patrick & Sean are attending Jesuit Social Ministries Conference in Denver, CO

6-21: Karla's Birthday!

7-4: Hopeworks closed for   Independence Day

7-7: Hopeworks Summer Program Begins!

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Old St. Joseph's Church

Keep an eye out for these upcoming sites:

Big Brothers Big Sisters NJ
Goodwill NJ
Center for Non Profits
Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate
House of Prayer
The Latin School, Moyne, Ireland
SQA Pharmacy
Dismas Ministry