TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Volunteer

. How Do I Become a Shepherd Volunteer?

▪ Pray about where God is calling you to serve. You don’t need to know exactly where you want to volunteer to attend an orientation.

▪ Determine how much time and how often are willing to invest. Is it one-time, once a week, one to three years, or more?

▪ Register online to attend an orientation/training session.

▪ Complete an online application prior to attending the orientation (link will be sent with registration confirmation).

Complete/review paperwork at orientation including:
 Background Check Agreement
, Statement of Faith Agreement, Volunteer Manual. For the Clinic: Proof of license, Malpractice Insurance or forms, Statement of Confidentiality, health records.

For more information, visit Shepherd’s website

Tutoring Training with City Mosaic

Do you have a heart for children, especially children growing up and attending school in the inner city? One of City Mosaic’s focus initiatives is on serving children attending IPS schools. One of the most effective ways to do so is by becoming a tutor. Tutors not only help children learn in a difficult environment, they also provide an opportunity for these children to learn how much they are loved by others. City Mosaic’s pilot tutoring programs have been incredibly successful and rewarding to both students and tutors. The need for tutors is growing and will continue to grow in the future as City Mosaic expands its programs.

City Mosaic will be providing tutoring training on April 10 from 10:30 A.M. to 12:00 noon at IPS School 15. This training will include an explanation of the tutoriing program and the resources used, and will also focus on cultural issues that will allow tutors to be more effective in this environment. If you would like to make a difference in the life of a child growing up in a difficult environment, this is a great opportunity to get involved.

About City Mosaic: City Mosaic is a coaltion of Indianapolis Christian churches committed to transforming the city of Indianapolis. Through collaboration between suburban churches and front-line urban churches, City Mosaic seeks to unify the Body of Christ in order to create holistic solutions to the issues of poverty. Outlook is a City Mosaic Ally Church and is committed to addressing the issues of poverty in our community in order to futher God’s kingdom. You can learn more about City Mosaic at http://www.citymosaic.org.

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Internships

Summer internship opportunities are available to work with elementary, middle school or high school youth through our Summer EXCEL program. The goal of the Heart of the City Summer Intern Project is to develop young, emerging leaders through a dynamic, hands-on experience in an urban culture.

Through this internship, you will:

▪ Be immersed in ministry with the same group of children and teenagers for 6 weeks.

▪ Receive professional development as you gain valuable experience in the fields of education, ministry, and the humanities. (In addition, Shepherd will work with your professors to fulfill any requirements you may have for major-required internships.)

▪ Experience working with different cultures as you begin to understand what it truly means to serve others.

▪ Be challenged both physically and spiritually as you learn more about who you are, who God is, and the direction He is leading you.

▪ Receive training and participate in weekly discipleship and Bible studies.

▪ Be provided with housing, materials and meals.

▪ Be given a small per diem during the summer to help with incidental expenses.

To apply for an Internship, visit Shepherd’s website

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Special Events

Shepherd’s special events are designed to provide a little relief from the everyday stresses caused by poverty. Through special events, Shepherd’s neighbors come together for food, fun and laughter. Most importantly, however, special events help to provide HOPE.

Fall Festival – A safe, family-friendly alternative to Halloween for children in preschool to 6th grade. It features a Trunk-or-Treat, food, crafts, games and other fun activities for our neighbors.

Baskets of Hope – Through partnership with Indian Creek Christian Church, over 800 volunteers fill and deliver Thanksgiving dinner baskets to area residents. A basket includes all of the ingredients and supplies for families to cook a Thanksgiving meal together.

Christmas Kid’s Shop – Allows the students the opportunity to experience the joy of gift giving, by selecting presents for their parent(s)/guardian(s). too.

Christmas Festival – Families enjoy entertainment, a meal, family photos, and activities together. The Christmas Festival also serves as an opportunity for parents to sign-up for the Christmas Store.

Christmas Store (Parent Shop) – A unique event that empowers parents to be able to provide Christmas for their children. Parents select toys and other necessities, such as gloves/hats, socks, and underwear.

To learn more, visit Shepherd’s website

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Free Clinic

In an effort to fight the fragmentation of health care, Shepherd opened a free neighborhood health clinic on March 3, 2007.

The health clinic is open to Shepherd program families and operates on the first four Saturdays of each month from 8:30 am to Noon. At the health clinic, neighbors can be seen by a nurse, nurse practitioner or physician, have lab work done, and get prescriptions filled all free of charge to the patient and their family.

Through the health clinic, the Patient Navigator also works to connect the neighbors to a permanent medical home and a health care payer, and guides them through the process of applying for insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.

Visit Shepherd’s website

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – College Program

The final piece to Shepherd’s Continuum of Care is their College Access program, which began in January 2012.

By tenth grade, their high school students are paired with a college coach who works intensively with the student to help them and their families reduce barriers to college access.

Shepherd is proud to have over 50 students in colleges across the nation!

They strive to give each of them unique tools and guidance that they would not normally have without the program. Shepherd also sends their students to college with a laptop and a Kindle for digital textbooks.

What an awesome and encouraging program!

Shepherd’s website

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Individual & Church Mentoring

Shepherd Community programming envisions a community in which every youth experiences a nurturing one-to-one Christian relationship with an adult role model, which in turn, allows them to develop into their full potential.
What does it mean to be a mentor?

Shepherd Mentoring believes that the best strategy to develop lasting mentoring relationships is weekly meetings for 1-2 hours for a minimum of one year. This meeting will be time spent one-on-one between the mentor and the mentee outside of any other programs or services in which the youth may be involved.

The main purpose of the one-on-one mentoring meetings is for the mentor and mentee to grow in relationship with one another. Mentoring sessions are meant to be enjoyable times and can include activities like going to the Zoo, throwing a baseball, enjoying a hot chocolate together, visiting a museum, or finding a long-term art project to complete. Through these times together, trust is built, and youth become more willing to open up about their lives in conversation.

Church-Based Mentoring Initiative

Shepherd Mentoring desires to serve greater Indianapolis churches to be equipped to mentor and disciple the youth in their church body as well as the youth involved at Shepherd Community. They are striving to develop lay-led church teams who will oversee the process of developing and maintaining a safe and effective mentoring ministry. Shepherd is partnering with the Christian Association of Youth Mentoring (CAYM) who has developed church-based mentoring teams across the country.

Learn more by visiting Shepherd’s website

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Mentoring Mission

Shepherd’s Mentoring Mission:
To provide youth and mentors the opportunity to cultivate a lasting relationship that inspires growth, in both lives, as they become more like Christ.

From the beginning of Scriptures we see a call for God’s people to be parents to the parentless. This overflows directly out of how God is described: “He defends the cause of the fatherless.” (Deuteronomy 10:18).

The reality for neighborhood youth that Shepherd serves is that 2 out of 3 grow up with no father or an inconsistent one. Consequently, their mothers have to work hard to raise them and maintain the household – an emotionally draining lifestyle.

As a result, the James 1:27 call to the Church of Indianapolis has never been more relevant: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress.”

It has been stated that children of the next generation are becoming less and less interested in a personal relationship with Christ and are therefore abandoning the church for good. Because of this daunting reality, it is estimated that each child should have five positive role models, within their lifetime, who will instill in them, a love for Christ and a desire to follow His Will.

Mentoring a Shepherd youth provides a tangible opportunity to respond to this need and pour out the love of Christ to them.

To learn more, visit Shepherd’s website

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Sports Programs

Shepherd’s sports programs are offered year-round in connection with their educational program offerings. While each sport has a different schedule, youth practice two or three times per week, and participate in tournaments and other special events relating to their sport.

Through Shepherd’s sports programs, youth:

Receive close interaction with their coach and adult mentors, which in turn enables each participant to develop a trusting relationship with an adult role model.

Begin to see that they can accomplish something, and accomplishment becomes a major springboard to building confidence and self-esteem.

Learn about personal discipline which lends itself to goal setting. Each sport requires the perfecting of technique and intense practice. For many youth, setting goals for achieving a higher level is the first opportunity that they have to think about the future.

Want to volunteer? Visit Shepherd’s website for more information.

TARGET ON: Shepherd Community – Summer Programs 2

Shepherd is pleased to announce for the Elementary school students in 2012:

▪ 77% of students maintained or increased their reading and language arts skills by the end of the summer
▪ 90% of students were exposed to remedial or advanced science and math concepts
▪ 90% of students were exposed to Christian concepts and positive character/behavior principles through activities
▪ 90% of students were exposed to basic gardening techniques and healthy living concepts
90% of students were exposed to physical fitness

Shepherd is pleased to announce for the Middle & High school students in 2012:

▪ 88% of students improved in grammar and writing skills
▪ 100% of high school students are now able to correctly fill out a usable resume
▪ 88% of high school students showed improvement in their interviewing skills.
▪ 89% of middle school students and 65% of high school students gained a better understanding of how to manage and budget their money
▪ 60% of middle school students and 80% of high school students increased knowledge on college, including application procedures and statistics relating to furthering education.
▪ 80% of high school students better understand the difference between career and job and different job-related terminology
88% of middle school students and 88% of high school students participated in physical fitness activities.

Visit Shepherd’s website here