www.jesuscenter.org Issue No. 22 - September 2015 No Charge

Touching Lives for 31 Years1297 Park Ave. Chico, CA 95928

Ph 530.345.2640 • F 530.345.2449

esuscentero f fe r i n g h o s p i t a l i t y i n t h e n a m e o f J e s u so f fe r i n g h o s p i t a l i t y i n t h e n a m e o f J e s u s

HOW WE ARE HELPING IN 2015HOW WE ARE HELPING IN 2015

MARK YO UR CALENDARS!MARK YO UR CALENDARS!Join Run For Food as it Celebrates 10 Years Chico!This 5K run/walk will begin and end at the One Mile Recreation Area of Bidwell Park on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2015 at 9am.Run for Food began in 2006 when a group of Chico families and businesses saw the amazing impact the Jesus Center had by pro-viding food and services to those in need in Chico. Knowing the Jesus Center was funded solely by community support, they came together to organize the Thanksgiving Day run/walk benefiting the Jesus Center. And the response has been wonderful! Each year the 5k has grown, and in total, over 32,000 people have participated! We hope you, your friends and your family, will spend this Thanksgiving morning working up an appetite, helping our community and enjoying the beauty of Bidwell Park as you join us at Run For Food.STAY TUNED!! Online registration generally opens in October at www.runforfood.com

* Figures based on Average of Jan-July 2015

Meals8108

Resource Center

281 Individuals

979 Visits of Use

18 Haircuts

6 Eyeglass Vouchers

JobLink9 Participants Worked 123 Hours

Showers173(133 Men- 40 women)

Jesus Center Community Farm 1400 Pounds of Produce Grown

Sabbath House687Nights of Shelter for Women & Children

Mail Services400 Guests

Free Store685 Visits for Supplies (439 Men - 246 Women)

123 Volunteer Hours

THROUGH THE HOUSE OF HOPE THROUGH THE HOUSE OF HOPEThis ministry of the center is a transitional home for women coming out of a shel-ter. By providing transitional housing the program allows women to learn to live with structure and routine and through life-skills classes women can gain person-al confidence and to re-enter society with strong coping skills. So far in its 2 year of operation 12 women have found employment at these locations:Flyer’s Gas Station, AM-PM Market, Walmart, Enloe Hospital, Two Men and a Truck, Life Touch, IHSS In-Home Supportive Service, Salvation Army

THROUGH THE JESUS CENTER CLEAN-UP BRIGADEThe Clean-Up Brigade is a team up to four Jesus Center guests who are paid by the Downtown Chico Business Association to work downtown six days a week to clean the sidewalks and business fronts. They pick up litter, sweep sidewalks and entryways, blow leaves, scrape gum and clean other messes they encounter. The team is recruited from people eating at the Jesus Center and looking for work.

THROUGH LIFE-SKILLS CLASSES taught at the Center which help people to develop self-awareness, socially responsible behavior, good interpersonal skills, independence, decision making, and communication skills, appropriate work habits, seeking and maintaining employment.Basic Communication Skills, Role Modeling, Anger ManagementIdentifying Distorted Thinking, Goal Setting, Nutrition, Making Right Choices, Living a Spirit-filled Life, Assertiveness, Budgeting,Conflict Resolution, Boundaries

But we want to do more so the Jesus Center is investing in a nationally recognized, biblically-based work program called Jobs for Life.

THROUGH DRESSING THROUGH DRESSING FOR JOB INTERVIEWS FOR JOB INTERVIEWS“I am happy to report that due to the gracious giving of our community the Free Store has been effective in assisting many of our homeless guests with the appropriate cloth-ing necessary to make a positive impres-sion when presenting themselves for job interviews and potential employment.”

l

ling Anger Management

THE JESUS CENTER IS ALREADY HELPING PEOPLE FIND JOBS...THE JESUS CENTER IS ALREADY HELPING PEOPLE FIND JOBS...

• Resource Room-(Reception Desk)- Answering and routing incoming phone

calls, record keeping, information referral• The Farm (Agriculture and Gardening)-Planting,

harvesting, weeding, staffing Farmer’s Market booth and other duties

Through JobLink in 2014-15 seven people have obtained employment at these locations in Chico.-1 Kristy Kreme -1 Dollar Tree Store-1 Goodwill Industries -1 99-Cent Store-1 Bridge’s Firestone Tires -1 Janitor at Behavioral Health in Paradise

THROUGH: JOBLINKTHROUGH: JOBLINKAt these training sites in the Jesus Center participants learn the necessary skills to keep a job.• Kitchen

- Dishwashing - Cook- Food Prep - Janitorial

• Landscape• Cafe Connect – Retail (Operate Snack Bar)

- Customer service, cash register, reconcile day-end receipts

• Free Store (Retail Store)- Customer service, record keeping, cashiering,

• Warehouse- Sorting, stocking, inventory maintenance

Jesus center is already helping people find jobs through programs that stem from a mission statement of “offering help and hope in the name of Jesus.” Bible studies in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings in Sabbath House and the House of Hope, along with Celebrate Recovery provide the spiritual nourishment to help men and women prepare for jobs.

l-

-of

ing

THROUGH THE THROUGH THE RESOURCE ROOMRESOURCE ROOM Using our Resource Room at the Center Pony Green found work in construction.

TTTDtbf

BUT WE WANT TO DO MORE...BUT WE WANT TO DO MORE...SO WE INTRODUCE...JOBS FOR LIFESO WE INTRODUCE...JOBS FOR LIFE

How can you help?The foundation for the class is the support team in place to meet with and encourage students to work through class assignments and gain the mentality for getting and keeping a job.

The foundation is built upon 5 pillars:The foundation is built upon 5 pillars:

1.1. Prayer Team. Margaret Gunnell is leading a group of people to pray regularly and specif-ically for all people involved in training – from instructors to mentors to business personnel to the students in the course. To be part of our prayer team email Bill at bill@jesuscenter.org.

2. Course Instructors. All in-structors for the first course are in place. Center director Bill Such will teach classes along with Holly Nevarez , a professor in nutrition at CSU, Chico, Ashley Lundberg, a development director with Care Net in Paradise, Katy Valentine, a minister of arts worship at First Christian Church in Chico, and the Center’s director of develop-ment Amber Abney-Bass.

3.3. Champions (Mentors). We are in need of dedicated men-tors who will walk beside the students throughout the 8 weeks of training. Their job is to build a strong relationship with stu-dents so they can help students overcome any obstacles in the course and reach graduation. To be part of our champions team email Bill at bill@jesuscenter.org.

4.4. Business Relations Leaders. We need business-sav-vy people who can be “spokespersons” for our job training efforts to the business community in Chico. These individu-als connect students with potential entry-level jobs by ask-ing business leaders to consider employing graduates of the course. The business leaders share the value and benefits of the course with business and community leaders. They also work with course instructors to invite business representatives to visit and participate in Jobs for Life training in conducting mock interviews and offering advice on how to be and remain employed. To be part of our business leaders team email Bill at bill@jesuscenter.org.

5.5. Administrative Assistant. This position needs someone who can maintain all course records, organize student and volunteer information and be the point person of contact for the organization of each class. To be part of this team email Bill at bill@jesuscenter.org.

Margaret Gunnell

aaNaCtmAshley Lundberg

Holly Nevarez Katy Valen ne

A

Holly Nevarez KK

Amber Abney-Bass

J obs for Life currently runs in over 300 cities and 41 states in the US. Jobs for Life is a global nonprofit organization that addresses the impact of joblessness through the dignity of

work. Jobs for Life training is intended to help people engage in a journey —a journey from unemployment to employment or from under-employment to better employment. It is also intended to help them through a bigger journey, a journey through life. To do that, the course uses the Bible as a textbook, a tool that helps make sense of this journey. The Bible provides stories and examples of people who have been transformed and have overcome barriers to succeed. Because these stories transcend time, age, class, race and culture, participants find themselves in these stories and can apply the lessons learned in ways that help them better understand who they are and their unique purpose in life. Jobs for Life has equipped thousands of people for employment since its beginning in the 1990s and has an 80% success rate. In other words – it works!

Without work there is a loss of purpose and dignity. The Center feeds people and houses women and children and is now building on past efforts to help people find employment by beginning a nationally recognized program to help those who are able to work and looking for jobs to provide for themselves and their families.

The program is character-driven - training focuses on the most important quality employers look for in their employees – charac-ter. Through the combination of biblical training and community support, Jobs for Life graduates learn the importance of working hard, showing up on time, respecting authority, taking responsibil-ity for their actions, and being a team player. Those in the program are trained to be reliable, trustworthy employees who arrive on time, have smiles on their faces, and do whatever it takes to get the job done. They are screened, qualified, and supported workforce ready to meet the pressing needs of companies in their community.

What does this program do?Restore a person’s dignity and purposeOffer a handup instead of a handoutBring jobs and hope to underserved communitiesKeep ex-offenders from going back to prisonHelp eradicate homelessnessEmpower young people to dreamEquip others to provide for themselves and their families

How does it work?Specifically – by starting a 16 session class that meets for 4 hours each week over a 2 months period. The class is designed to prepare committed students for work. Over 8 weeks students will learn:The Journey to Employment, Vocational Planning, Job Search, Workplace Culture, Interview Practice, Being Employed

When will it start? The first session begins in October. The class will have 10 students.

JOBS LIFE™

OUR DAILY BREADOUR DAILY BREAD

Aaron Draper, a local photographer & professor at Chico State, chose a topic for his thesis without knowing how powerful the project would be. In his series, “Underexposed” Draper’s task was to make street-persons “as visually appealing as possible.” Th e goal of Underexposed was to make the homeless as visually ap-pealing as possible in a society that is visually demanding. Draper used lighting as a way to interest the viewer in the subjects shown in Underexposed. “I use light for both a physical and a metaphorical reason. When something is underex-posed, it means it’s lacking light; there are few details in the shadows. Using a strobe helps illuminate my subjects, bring them into the light and out of the shadows for others to view and appreciate. Steinbeck has infl uenced me and informed my view of the world. In Of Mice and Men, and Th e Grapes of Wrath, I was introduced to a philosophy regarding society, about economic disparity and Steinbeck’s eff orts to shed light on the problems of the poor in our society. Steinbeck hoped to bring about societal change, hoping to enable people to gain a more humane view of the homeless. He was, and still is, a voice for the people that have no voice. He craft ed narratives that have endured the passage of time and have infl uenced generations of readers. If I’m able to aff ect the way that one person view s the homeless, I will have considered my series a success.”

Richard Hobbs works 1-5pm Monday through Friday. “My duties consist of running a Bible Study using Our Daily Bread devotional. I also facilitate a group using tools from the Celebrate Recovery program called “Club Now.” Th is encourages people to take responsibility for themselves so they can receive resources which they have lost. I take every opportunity given to me to pray with people and to extend grace. Other time is spent enforcing the policies of the Jesus Center serving as security.  I also work with people completing their community service re-quirements. I also work with volunteers for the neighborhood watch “ambassador” program. My main duty is to guide people to Jesus Christ.”

Richard Hobbs

Th e Jesus Center Community Farm is in need of a variety of supplies. Our needs include up to 50 yards of organic compost, volunteer labor, 100 feet 1 in. schedule 40 pvc pipe, 10 feet 1 in. pvc 90s, 100 feet 1/2 in. poly tubing, organic foliar amendments such as fi sh emulsion, maxi crop and com-post tea and organic soil amendments such as bone meal, blood meal and microriza. Contact Jim Mathys at 520-5467 for ques-tions and donations. 

FARM NEEDSFARM NEEDS

be

Jim Mathys

Turning the Lights Lights On!On!

Aaron Draper