Melvin's Hope Christmas Store Slide Show

One of our newbies gets the award! (12/13/2010)

Alex Martinez is one of our new, but motivated volunteer who is admired by the many teens he interacts with at the GreenHouse. He is an outstanding mentor as well as a positive role model for our male students. As our director took tallies for this week's Volunteer of the Week hands down the teens said Alex deserved the award. Get to know Alex by reading his bio below.

How long have you been a part of or volunteering at The GreenHouse and with what programs?

I started volunteering at the GreenHouse in 2010 during the Liquid Teen Summer Camp and then became a Study Buddy for the R4 Teen Program.

Words to live by (personal quote or advice for living the good life)

Always think Positively! A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action.

In a nutshell, describe your career path since high school.

My pursuit of success led me to embark on a journey to further my education, and aspire to become a meaningful member of society.

What made you decide to volunteer at The GreenHouse Center?

I want to make a positive impact in our community, and to be able to guide an individual to strive for achievement at the point where the students have to make some really big decisions in their life. So I feel this is the perfect opportunity for me to lend my knowledge in helping them choose which path they feel will allow them to pursue their idea of success.

Describe a day in your life as a volunteer at The GreenHouse.

I find myself always encouraging the students to never give up even in the most difficult circumstances. I also always advocate for them to continue their education, because it gives them the best opportunity to improve themselves as well as the world.

When you’re not volunteering, what do you do? What extracurricular activities are you involved in?

I try to keep myself social, by spending lots of time with friends and family. I also enjoy movies so likely you will find me at the theater or downloading movies from Netflix.

Describe what you do in just three words.

Full Time Student

What do you love about your job?

Currently I am only volunteering at The Greenhouse, so as for that I love it when I am able to bring a smile to the face of those who I work with, and the feeling I get when I noticed I have made a positive impact on the life of another.

In three sentences or less, convince someone that The GreenHouse is a great place to volunteer.

The Greenhouse is the most welcoming environment that can be offered to someone who seeks a volunteer opportunity. The students who attend The Greenhouse make it all the more to look forward to day in and day out, as they are very easy to get along with. Most of all The Greenhouse gives you the chance to make an impact in the lives of the people around us, so what can be more rewarding than that.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were younger?

I wish I knew how much my mother struggled financially while raising me, because when I was younger I found myself not appreciating what I had as much as I should have. Now I am always thanking her for everything she does for me, and expressing my love for her any chance I get; in hopes of making up for lost time.

Please provide any additional information you would like others to know about you?

When I graduate from Sacramento State University I intend on pursuing a Masters Degree in School Counseling, as I feel that The Greenhouse helped me become aware of the age group I enjoy working with the most.

Hooray for Dave our Volunteer of the Week!

This weeks (December 6, 2010) Dave Young is our Volunteer of the Week! Dave has been such a great addition to our team of volunteers and we thank him for being a part of The GreenHouse. Below is our interview with Dave. So read on and get to know a great individual that opens his heart to the community of students.

How long have you been a part of or volunteering at The GreenHouse and with what programs?

I started volunteering at the GreenHouse in 2009 during special events and then became a Study Buddy for the Evergreen Program.

Words to live by (personal quote or advice for living the good life)

Living well has to do with breathing. The in-breath is our work and all our doing and giving. The out-breath is stopping to listen to God and to re-center our souls on Him.

In a nutshell, describe your career path since high school.

After high school I worked in the high and mighty world of schlepping golf balls at Shoreline golf course in Mountain View, CA. During college I worked an array of jobs, from coaching junior high soccer teams to painting homes, and teaching English during summer school. Upon graduating, I was hired to teach high school Spanish at a private school in Vacaville, where I taught for one year before going into the Peace Corps in Paraguay, South America. As a Peace Corps volunteer I spent two years teaching future teachers at a teacher training college, mostly focusing on interactive teaching methods and how to use phonics. After returning from the PC, I began working, again, as a high school Spanish teacher in Fair Oaks, which is where I have been investing my time for the last year and a half.

What made you decide to volunteer at The GreenHouse Center?

I have been involved with The GreenHouse in some capacity for the last several years-helping out with special events, translating documents, etc. Last year I decided it would be great to volunteer my time once a week to get to know the students better and see if I could support them in their academics. I also decided to mentor a fifth grade boy, which was a great decision and blessed me in new and different ways. (Also, my wife works at The GreenHouse, so there's an added bonus of getting to share in her

work and see her on Mondays!)

Describe a day in your life as a volunteer at The GreenHouse.

I arrive at The GH around 3:30 on Mondays, the kids are usually jumping rope, sweeping leaves (a recently discovered and much loved activity), coloring, asking for snack, or playing board games. I come in, grab my name tag, and have about 10 minutes to

greet students and ask them about their day before announcements begin. When it's time to clean up, I help the students find a spot to sit and plunk myself down with them at a table to hear about the goings-on of The GH. After announcements, I grab 4 folders (for Alex, Oscar, Pavel and Nazar-5th & 6th grade boys) and either head upstairs for fluency practice or stay downstairs where we do a timed math practice. After we've finished both math and fluency, it's time to get started on homework! It can take a while for the boys to get focused, but once they do, they can be very hard workers. This is my favorite part of the day, when I can answer questions, encourage critical thinking, explain a difficult concept, and really connect with the students. We mix a little fun and teasing into our studying to keep things light, and it's really great to see the kids finish all of their work and feel proud of themselves. At 5:30 we clean up, doll out points for the day, and say our good-byes. I enjoy watching the students leave a little lighter in their work load and able to go home to rest and just be kids!

When you’re not volunteering, what do you do? What extracurricular activities are you involved in?

In my free time I enjoy riding my bike, writing, catching up with friends, playing fantasy football, and using my hands to do something productive!

Describe what you do in just three words.

Smile, listen, stay

What do you love about your job?

I love the moment when I can see that a student makes a connection with a foreign language (in this case, Spanish). If my students can leave with a really good feeling about learning Spanish, then I've done my job. I also really appreciate that I don't start work until 10:45am, allowing me time in the morning to drink some coffee and ride my bike to school.

In three sentences or less, convince someone that The GreenHouse is a great place to volunteer.

The GreenHouse lives up to its name. In that warmth and protection, young people grow and put down roots, and volunteers receive life and peace from being among them. The volunteer waters and waits, and there is satisfaction and power in the waiting.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were younger?

I know now that every moment we live has power and beauty, if we live fully into the present. I wish I knew that through high school and in the midst of all my insecurities.

Jansen is our Volunteer of the Week!

Volunteer of the Week – 11/29/2010

This week's Volunteer of the Week honor goes out to Jansen Wendlandt. Jansen has been a dedicated volunteer for The GreenHouse Center since 2005 and has committed many hours helping- especially during Fun Friday’s for our Evergreen Elementary Program. He has previously facilitated church youth groups, taking them on rafting, rock- climbing and hiking adventures and during the Living History Program educated students and their parents about the California Gold Rush and teaching them that God is more valuable than gold. Taking his experiences working outdoors Jansen has brought the outdoor adventure to our in-door facility

at the GreenHouse. Having a positive and influential male volunteer as been a blessing for our young boys creating an environment that is stable, safe and loving for all of our students. We thank Jansen for all the wonderful work andexperiences he has brought to the eyes’ of all our students.

Melvin's Hope Christmas Store and Christmas Love for GH family

Hello GreenHouse Volunteers!

We wanted to let you know about two different ways that we will be showering our neighborhood with Christmas Love this month. Both of these are OPTIONAL and not required of you as a volunteer/sponsor. But, if you would enjoy giving towards our kids and teens this Christmas, below are two ways that you can get involved:

1. Melvin's Hope Christmas Store - This will be an affordable "toy store" where parents can come in and shop for their own children. The store will be held on Dec 17th and 18th and will offer a variety of toys - all at a very affordable price - to the greater community. If you'd like to help stock the store, you can either donate a $25 gift card to a shoe store (such as Payless or Off Broadway) or a toy (we need a limited number of toys...mostly for teens...please email me if you'd like a list of items still needed). These donations would not be for a specific child - but would go towards the "store" where our kids' parents will be shopping.

2. Christmas Love for our GreenHouse Family - For those of you who would like to give a personal gift - from you to a specific child or teen enrolled in our programs - you will have an opportunity to do that this year! This is just for our GreenHouse Family (the 47 kids and teens that come to our programs on a weekly basis). To make it easy to figure out which kids have been picked and which ones haven't, we've created a Doodle Poll. It's usually used as a voting tool so it might be a little confusing when you look at the link! But, just ignore the red and yellow boxes. Please use the green box under the child's name to make your selection. If you decide to participate in this (again, this is optional), you would buy a gift for the youth you've selected and deliver it directly to the child's

home by Dec 10th. We have their wishes next to their names. Please keep all gifts under $25. To select a youth for this, go to the Doodle link here:http://doodle.com/79sxyvbsxtbzwa8w

Thank you and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. We APPRECIATE each and every one of you and we hope you have a peaceful season of Advent and a very Merry Christmas.