These partner agencies show measurable results helping people acquire the skills needed to lead independent and productive lives
The Home and Community Based Services program of the Marc Center of Mesa helps enable children and adults of Mesa with cognitive disabilities and behavior health challenges to live in their own home or with parents/guardians. Over 105,000 hours of services were provided to these individuals this past year which allowed them to remain in the community and enjoy an increased quality of life.
Adults with developmental and behavior health challenges were paid for over 363,800 hours of “real work” job training by the Employment Related Services program of the Marc Center of Mesa this year. They gained transferrable skills necessary to be placed in community employment and to maintain jobs with minimal or no ongoing support.
East Valley status offenders, at-risk youth and their families receive assessment intervention and stabilization services at the Mayfield Alternative Youth Center to help reduce further involvement with the juvenile justice system and increase family functioning. During the past year, 597 individual youth were assisted by this program operated by A New Leaf. During the last quarter, youth at the center demonstrated an 80 percent improvement in at least three targeted functional areas within 45 days of joining the program.
Sunshine Acres Children’s Home provided a loving, wholesome Christian home for 79 children this year. Seven graduated from high school and are now attending college. The ultimate goal of the program is to facilitate a child’s development to overcome challenges and mature to the point they can voluntarily leave the Sunshine Acres Children’s Home and function in a style that is both meaningful and purposeful to themselves and the community.
Thirteen new “55 and older” volunteers were recruited by the East Valley RSVP program this year to serve at the new Mesa Self Serve Library and at Sunshine Acres Children’s Home. Members of this program, operated by East Valley Adult Resources, provided almost 94,000 hours of service at non-profit, governmental and proprietary health organizations located in Mesa and the surrounding communities during this past year.
Over 12,200 hours of free legal services were provided under the Legal Advocacy for Low-Income Mesa Residents program during the past year. This valuable service ensures equal access to the justice system by making attorneys available at no charge to those who cannot afford them to resolve critical, civil legal problems and protect their basic human survival rights. The attorneys at Community Legal Services closed 284 cases during the year. Over 98 percent of the clients experienced a change in condition or status as a result of the attorneys’ efforts.
Save the Family educates homeless families about community resources through their supportive services, thus decreasing the number of homeless families by guiding them to financial, parental and personal self-sufficiency. During the past year, 528 family members participated in the Transitional Living Program which increases the number of families who are able to transition from emergency and domestic violence shelters or the streets into safe affordable housing with a living wage. At the end of the last quarter (April-June 2011), 67 percent of the clients increased their income to at least $10 per hour at exit. Seventy-eight percent of the families obtained permanent housing prior to program completion (within 24 months).
The Assistance for Independent Living program provides non-medical affordable in-home support services and volunteer support to older adults who are frail, homebound, low income and reside in the East Valley. Over 22,300 hours of service were provided to over 350 clients under this East Valley Adult Resources, Inc. program during this past year. One hundred percent of clients said that their lives had been improved and they could not have remained in their homes without the AIL services.