WANTED:  Individuals who are willing to cut wood for a fundraiser project at GSM.  For more information, contact Kathy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Congratulations to our new Sewing class students, pictured showing off their latest work of art!

The Seeds of Change is a program consisting of three levels of growth offered to the people we serve.   

THE BRONZE LEVEL

The educational opportunities we offer are designed to appeal to the general population and are a means of familiarizing those who come to GSM to receive help, with people, services, organizations, agencies, and skills through workshops and training.  We partner with the likes of Red Cross, St. Joseph's Hospital, Regions Bank, and many others in our community interested in investing in others.  We wish to build a sense of community and trust between our patrons and the service providers.  As these organizations and businesses visit, we get to familiarize ourselves with them and build relationships.

Here is what that looks like:  At 7:00 AM we open our doors and people file in to sign in and we pass out numbers in order to facilitate the food basket distribution process.  Most people enter the Chapel to wait for the 9:30 - 10:00 AM opening of the Food Pantry.  This is an ideal time to reach out and offer opportunities for growth through community.  We have speakers scheduled from 8:30 - 9:00 AM, e.g. Parenting for Men by Bill Cruz (our resident Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist), David and Carlos for the Red Cross, Lou and Jeissac for Regions Bank to discuss financial opportunities, Ninfa offering tips to save money through refinancing, Ruth from The Spring on Domestic Violence, Matt  offering tips on how to better search for employment and encouragement to consider becoming small business owners, Sergio from Workforce Alliance, Gizelle and Melissa who volunteer for Human Trafficking, Jason from Law Enforcement, all reaching out to intercede on behalf of the vulnerable and often exploited individuals.  Between 9:00 and 9:30, Bill Cruz is reading through the Bible (in Spanish and English) to a mostly illiterate audience.  Following the reading of the day, the community of attenders process among themselves what they understood the Scripture to tell them.  Then, from 9:30 to 10:00, as the numbers are called by 50's, people line up to receive their baskets.  We schedule either an encore of the 8:30-9:00 or other speakers as available to address the people who come after the 9:00 hour. We find that although people come to receive food, clothes, and furniture, they leave with a real sense of belonging.  (One week we had so many new people come after the 10:00 hour that we also repeated the Chapel.  The people were very receptive).

We found that language is a barrier which can be overcome by various means: translators, sign language of sorts, contextual communication, , but the true barrier is a lack of trust or an atmosphere of suspicion from lack of relationship, or understanding each other and our respective cultures.  WE all tend to fear the unknown and unfamiliar.  When most of us don't relate to others we generally distance ourselves and interact cordially.   When given the opportunity to build relationship through various means, e.g. spending time, and honest, candid, natural, open times of exchange, we build acceptance and appreciation for each other, while finding commonalities.  This, our friends, is the foundation for relationship and community. 

THE SILVER LEVEL

Our Silver level takes place throughout the week.  Our beta (trial or testing period) began in early March with weekly Sewing and Computer classes. The Sewing class was on Mondays for two hours.  However, the ladies attending the class asked for the class to be extended an additional hour; the volunteer teacher complied.  It now runs Mondays, from 9:00 to Noon. Computer classes are on Wednesdays.  We ran a six-week Computer 101 class, covering such subjects as Turning the Computer On, Managing the Mouse, and Surfing the Net.  Throughout the week as people come to Seeds of Change Resource Center for advocacy and referral needs, we offered to sign them up for various classes that they might be interested in attending.  We also advertise at the entrance where clients come to receive their numbers and sign up for food baskets.  When we hold Chapel we announce all of the opportunities and sign all interested parties, briefing them on details concerning their choices of classes. During the week, the Seeds of Change agents phone people to confirm their class dates and times. We also offer classes such as Discipleship, Auto Care, Prenatal Care (T.O.P.W.A.), GED, Musical Training, English as a Second Language (ESL), just to name a few.  This is done in order to equip families and individuals to better themselves and others (purpose, community, gratitude). When our patrons attend these classes, we provide them with incentive assistance of various types.  For example, the T.O.P.W.A. ladies receive a gift basket containing toiletries, hygiene products, hand-crafted baby blankets (provided by women's groups who support the program), baby clothes, and other items.

THE GOLD LEVEL

This level is currently in the developmental stage.  We will offer long term training opportunities in niche cottage industries (organic, heirloom, exotic farming), Fabric/textiles (clothing re-design), Fine Arts (wood carving, jewelry making/design, graphic arts, greeting card design), Food preparation and production, Business (small business ownership, office procedures, retail training), all bound together with Shadowing, Apprenticing, and Mentoring.

Below are some of the highlights of what is going on at the Seeds of Change: 

• Penny Fletcher's article appeared in the newspaper.  Find it here: http://www.observernews.net/artman2/publish/Top_Stories/Seeds_of_Change.shtml
• May 4, 2009.  Bill Cruz is invited to serve as a mannequin for the Haircutting Class.  Yes, he did go.  No, there are no before and after pictures. No, he is not currently wearing a cap.  The "trim" was, actually, not that bad!
• April 21, 2009.  Mr. Bill showed up with potatoes, onions, and tomatoes.  His contribution came just at the right time.  Thank you, Mr. Bill!
• April 20, 2009.  We had a freelance journalist come to the Mission to write about the Seeds of Change program.  She visited the Sewing Class after the interview with Theresa and Bill.  The Sewing Class had gained two more ladies today.  Judy, the seamstress, was desperately trying to let us know that she needed two more sewing machines.  Theresa uncovered a cloth covering the main sewing table, to reveal two more machines that Ben and Sarah Ansley had just dropped by not long ago.  Judy was delighted that God had provided through the Ansleys!
• April 7, 2009. We had a full house, standing room only, at the Chapel this morning.  We read from the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 4 (in English and Spanish).  We followed this with the Gospel message, using the EvangeCube as a teaching aid.  Around a dozen people made profession of faith for the first time!
• Sergio Sodre, with the Worforce Alliance, has, so far, helped 18 individuals find employment.
• T.O.P.W.A., a program of outreach and education to pregnant women, has been conducting workshops and support groups.  Today (03/31/2009) one of the women went into labor.  We heard that a supporter of the program has vowed to provide her with a crib.
• On Tuesday mornings we continue to read the Bible to all individuals who show up for their food baskets.  Understanding that a large number of our patrons are unable to read, we are attempting to open up more possibilities for evangelism by literally reading reading through the New Testament. Dozens of individuals show up weekly to hear the Word of God.  After the reading of the day (may be a chapter or two), the floor is open for discussion of the passage read.  Since our patrons are originally from a community-based background, it is interesting to observe how they process the Bible reading among themselves and come to their own Spirit-inspired conclusions.  "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
• Starting the first Monday in April, the Seeds of Change program will host Haircutting Classes.  These will run every Monday for two hours.