Genesis Summer Camp 2011

This year's annual summer camp will be memorable for a lot of reasons. A broken swimming pool and record breaking heat don't usually spell success. But then there were the kids.......this group didn't let any of it get them down. In the best of all possible ways, the kids this year truly were "Unstoppable".

Increased capacity means help for more kids!

An amended license from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Children and Families, dated March 1, 2011, now hangs in the entryway of 192 Safe Haven Drive. The change is a meaningful one ..... Genesis Youth Center now has three additional beds available for children in need. Last year, Genesis facilities had to deny services to forty-five children because the shelters were at full occupancy. It feels good to know that, because of our amended license, we will be there for more children when they need us most.

Thank you to local federal employees.....

We send a big "thank you" to the federal employees who chose to support Genesis through the North Central West Virginia Combined Federal Campaign and the Combined Federal Campaign of Monongalia and Preston Counties. Many of these generous people chose to remain anonymous but we want them to know their support makes a difference to the kids at Genesis and Alta Vista.

CASA Volunteers Visit

Thank you to our local CASA volunteers for taking time for a "behind the scenes" look at the Genesis Youth Center and the Alta Vista Children's Shelter. The CASA mission, "to provide quality advocacy for abused and neglected children in the Harrison County court system with the goal of timely placement in safe permanent homes", is one we certainly support. On behalf of the Genesis and Alta Vista residents fortunate enough to have one of these special people in their corner, we offer our thanks. For more information on the work of CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, visit their website at www.hcwvcasa.org.

Teens for Jeans Drive 2011

Big smiles and heartfelt thanks go out to the folks at DoSomething.org and Aeropostale for their very successful Teens for Jeans Drive. We stopped counting at 700 pairs, which filled our shelves and left plenty to share with neighboring agencies.

Statistics show the fastest growing segment of homeless people are children and families and that 1 out of 3 homeless people are under the age of 18. In the face of such frightening statistics, the activism inspired by DoSomething.org is an especially vital part of building a better tomorrow.

Monday, September 27th. A first look at the forecast that morning was not promising. The entire State was blanketed by a dark green band of rain, with no break in sight. And yet, around 11:00, registration time for the Third Annual Genesis Fall Golf Tournament, the sun began to shine over the Bridgeport Country Club.

Having a successful event depends on a great deal more than fair weather. Taking a leadership role were MCM Business Systems as the Event Sponsor and Midwest Energy and Jaclyn Elsey Rominger, DDS, as Lunch Sponsors. Our thanks go to them, as well as the seventeen Corporate Sponsors and twenty-eight Tee Sponsors that made our day! (For a complete list of our sponsors, take a look below. Highlights of the day are posted on our Facebook page.)

The Emergency Shelter Providers Network Annual Conference was held September 15-17 in Parkersburg, WV. The focus for this year's conference was "Finding Opportunities: Advocacy for Children in Out-of-Home Care". Topics ranged from advocating for children in the juvenile justice system to ensuring an equal education for children in shelter care. Our own Tiffany Sharp, Case Manager, and Derika Bowyer, Case Aide, presented case studies to the group. The sharing of stories and anecdotes was a popular segment of this year's conference and highlighted the challenges and joys common to our work.