A Message from our Director, Jill Miller...

Location, Location, Location !!!

You don't have to be a real estate expert to
understand that the right location of a home
or business can make all the difference in the world.

The Tuscarawas PAL House is fortunate to have the home it currently occupies but truth be known.....it isn't big enough to accomodate five teens girls nor adequate from which to operate a business. We've tried our best to make it work for 3 1/2 years but it's definitely time to move on. Therefore, we are mounting a public appeal for assistance with locating a new home for the Tuscarwas PAL program.

We are looking for a new facility that would provide a minimum of 3,000 sq. ft. with plenty of rooms which could serve as common living areas, as well as residents bedrooms, staff bedroom and two offices. We also need at least two bathrooms. We prefer to remain in New Philadelphia in order to be in close proximity to our store/job training site, the Bearly Worn Children's Store.

Due to fixed revenue sources and a decline in donations (translation: economy), there are some limitations to the lease amount we can afford. We want to hear from those of you who may have a property that matches our need. Reminder !!! We are not in the position to purchase at this time. Lease arrangements only!

Please call Jamie at the Tuscarawas PAL House at 330-339-3515 if you think you can assist us!

The Tuscarawas PAL House is also in need of new furniture! We appreciate the furniture that was donated to us when we first opened the Tusc PAL House 4 1/2 years ago but all of it has seen its better days and our young women deserve new furniture! If you're interested in helping us purchase furniture, please send your donation to P.A.L. Mission, 1634 Market Avenue South, Canton 44707. Please be sure to note what your donation is for, specifying the room you are helping to furnish. Ex: Tusc PAL Bedroon.

Your donation will be publicly noted on a plaque in our new home!

Warm Regards!
Jill

"Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay." Psalm 40:17

Tim Hawkins - Another Amazing Event!

Thank you to everyone who attended,
the Tim Hawkins Comedy Concert on April 4th.

You helped us to achieve our first ever sold out event!

We hope that it will be the first of many.

Thank you again for your support!


Highlights & Program Updates from the February P.A.L. Mission Newsletter

Graduation

A former P.A.L. resident remembers...
"In many ways I saw PAL as a safehaven, an environment that created for me a new foundation and a fresh start. Instability was the constant of my life, filled with one disappointing situation after another.
After just a few weeks at PAL I began to see a change in myself. The structured life I always searched for became my reality. PAL allowed me to dream, it gave me hope and a new approach on life.

PAL provided me with the tools and fundamental skills to insure a promising adulthood. PAL gave me a choice ~ a choice to become more than the potential people saw in me but the women I knew I could be and for that I am truly grateful."

G.I.F.T. Program
We are happy to report that the two young gentlemen in our G.I.F.T. program are doing very well in the first few months of being the sole residents of their households. Both are seniors in high school and on track to graduate in May from their respective schools. One of the young men plans to attend college for social work, and the other will further his studies in auto-mechanics. These guys have proven themselves to be excellent housekeepers, and can definitely give the girls a run for their money in meal preparation! Do we smell a cook off in the future?!?

Genesis
With two young women successfully graduating from the program this fall, the Genesis program has been in a time of transition. Genesis has recently accepted two young women, one of whom spent time as a resident in the P.A.L. program while in foster care. As costs rise, and our supplies dwindle, we welcome any donations of new pot and pan sets, dishes, kitchen, bed, bath and cleaning supplies that are provided to our young women as they transition into their apartments. They are always so excited to learn that they earn ownership of these items, as well as their furniture, after they have completed nine months of program requirements. In conclusion, P.A.L. and its partners would like to officially congratulate Val and Karen, our recent graduates, and express our sincerest pride in all of their personal growth and achievements during the two years that they spent in our program.

Turning Dreams Into Reality... Step-by-Step
In early December, one of our Canton PAL House residents went on her first campus visit. The Case Manager accompanied the young lady to Malone University, where the two of them took an hour-long campus tour and spoke at length with her admissions counselor. A determined athlete, the young lady also took advantage of the opportunity to speak with the University's track coach about what it would take to qualify for the Pioneers' elite team.

Since her arrival to the PAL House in late July, this young lady has been goal-oriented and admirably focused on making her dreams a reality. (Have we mentioned that she spent a portion of her Christmas break studying for the ACT?!) The young lady left her campus visit that day beaming from ear-to-ear, excited about all of the possibilities. She hopes to schedule another visit to the University at the start of the second semester in order to sit in on a few business classes (her current area of interest) and interact with some of the students.

The Canton PAL staff is very proud of this young lady and the lengths that she has gone to to set the course of her future in a very positive direction.
2009 is finally here and it looks like it is going
to be another exciting year for P.A.L. Mission!

We were recently notified by the Stark Community
Foundation that P.A.L. Mission was chosen to be
its first highlighted non-profit through a new
Foundation outreach they've instituted for 2009.
A recorded interview with P.A.L.'s founder and director,
Jill Miller will be featured on their website for the entire
month of January along with print ads featured in the
Canton Repository.

The Stark Community Foundation is comprised of people with ties to the Stark County Community who are dedicated to promoting the betterment of the county along with enhancing the quality of life for all of its citizens. In 2007, The Stark Community Foundation gave more than five million dollars to area non-profit organizations, awarded over $430,000 in scholarships to 330 students, and provided 50 students with low-interest college loans.

P.A.L. Mission has been blessed by The Stark County Community Foundation in many ways and being highlighted for the month of January is just another way that they are helping to promote organizations that reach out to the community.

Please visit their website to learn more about their organization and to watch the video interview with Jill Miller. Click here to visit The STARK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Website

Thank you to The Stark Community Foundation for this opportunity.
Happy Holidays!

Thank you to everyone that attended our 2nd Annual "An Evening
with Angels" Christmas Concert. We appreciate you coming and
so generously supporting P.A.L. Mission. We hope that you had a
wonderful evening that will bless you throughout this holiday season!

Another way that you can support P.A.L. Mission and make your holiday shopping a little easier is to give a gift in honor of your friend or family member through our Holiday Giving Program. You can make a donation in your honorees name and even select a specific area of our program to support. We will send a lovely handmade card to the person you have selected to honor to notify them of your donation.

To learn more about the Holiday Giving Program, click on the "Our Store" link above and then use the left menu to select Holiday Giving.

Thank you again for all of the blessings you have bestowed on us this year!

Happy Holidays,

The Staff & Residents of P.A.L. Mission





NewPointe Community Impact Day
August 2009

Special Thanks to the Perennial Small Group from
NewPointe Community Church which assisted
with the move of the Bearly Worn Store during
the church's Community Impact Day on August 2nd.

Right, members of the group join PAL staff
Jamie, Mindi and Jill in the new store located at
127 West High Street, New Philadelphia.

Click here to see all the photos from the day.

Handle with Care Retreat
2009

Once again, the P.A.L. Mission was selected to be a recipient of funding
from The Women’s Endowment Fund of the Stark Community Foundation.
The Women’s Endowment Fund is a permanent endowment to benefit future
generations and increase vital funding for programs which advance the
economic, educational, physical, emotional, social, artistic, and personal
growth of women and to educate and inspire women to become leaders in
philanthropy.

The generosity of The Women’s Endowment Fund allowed us to facilitate
our 2nd retreat for the young ladies involved in our programs. We are so
proud of our youth and their accomplishments and recognize that the hard work they perform at school, work and home is often above and beyond that of the average teenager and young adult.  In addition to the burden of looming premature independence, most of them are weighed down by feelings of abandonment, pain, anger, distrust and confusion.

This year’s funding from The Women’s
Endowment Fund allowed us to travel to Ohio’s Amish country for an
overnight stay in a cozy cabin in the country. The theme ‘Handle with Care’
focused on the emotional baggage we carry as individuals and the lifetime
benefits of shedding that weight. An exercise facilitated by guest speaker Kim
Dent involved our girls carrying a backpack filled with rocks labeled with their
burdens and psychological strife and a discussion about developing tools to
deal those distractions.  Following that was a fun exercise led by Stephanie
Crone which allowed each girl to create a ‘Bag Daddy’ purse that served as a
symbolic place to carry the tools they had developed during the retreat to
handle their ‘weight’. The event was wrapped up with a visit to an authentic
Amish farm and a wonderful meal at a local ‘amish’ restaurant.

Our sincere thanks to The Women’s Endowment Fund of the Stark Community Foundation for their financial support to allow the retreat to occur; our sincere appreciation to Stephanie Crone for facilitating the Bag Daddy event; our love and hugs to Kim Dent for everything she does for our girls; and special thanks to staff members Melanie Burleson and Stacy Lawrence
who used their creative juices to make the weekend fun and memorable.

Click here to view all the photos from the retreat.