Mission of Rebuild-ing Lives Continues

Vista Maria started 130 years ago by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Detroit under the name ‘House of the Good Shep-herd.’ As time went on the mission grew as did the industry in Detroit and it was time to relocate to an area that was surrounded by nature and was a vi-sion of the Good Shep-herd Foundress, Mary Eu-phrasia. She had instilled within the sisters; ‘ Chil-dren need to be in nature, surrounded by beauty, have room to grow and feel safe.’ In the 1970’s, not even 40 years ago, the Good Shepherd Sis-ters invited staff to join their mission work at Vista Maria and help them to preserve this spiritual foundation they had grown for almost 100 years prior.

Vista Maria has since con-tinued to proudly carry on the mission to work for the salvation of souls by provid-ing programs for our youth who are in need and at risk; to seek out the lost, that have no voice and bring them to safety so they can rebuild their lives. This is our Good Shepherd Spiritu-ality and it is being taken to a whole new level with the addition of our new Human Trafficking Building on cam-pus. This building which was made possible by spe-cial funds and grants contin-ues to align with the work of our Good Shepherd Sisters. For years now the Good Shepherd Sisters have been doing work in the Human Trafficking field all over the world. Although VM has al-ready been working with girls involved with Human Trafficking, this new building here on campus will allow us to treat each survivor of Human Trafficking in a way that is specific to their need.

Some may come into work every day and look at this building as that, a building made of walls, nails and cement, but I challenge you to see beyond that. It is a building that is being made with love, hope, dreams, safety, new beginnings and with every new wall or roof that is being completed we continue to walk in the path of our Good Shepherd Leg-acy in living out the VM Phi-losophy Statement, “One Person is of More Value than a World.” To learn more about the Human Trafficking Program here at Vista Maria please con-tact Lamaryah Sutton or Mere-dith Reese. To learn more about the Good Shepherd Sisters Ministry use the link below. http://www.goodshepherdsistersna.com/en/About/socialjustice/Anti-Trafficking.aspx

Residents Honor Earth Day Adrienne Jones, Donna Maria Staff

On April 22, 2014, Donna Maria young ladies participated in “Earth Day.” The young ladies received vital information on the importance of keeping our earth green. The staff and residents helped plant their own individual flowers for Earth Day. The residents worked on grasping the understanding of making a change one step at a time.

Summer 2014

Inside this Issue: Page 2 Celebrating Women Memorial Day JTS DREAM Page 3 Convent Corner Volunteers Make a Difference Foster Care Page 4 Living the Values Chartwells Focus Benefits Buzz Youth Deterrent Program Page 5 JTS DREAM Anniversaries 4-H Club Page 6 Coming Together as One 4-H Club Experience Page 7 Dates to Remember First Annual Youth Expo JTS College Kits Petal for your Thoughts

Annual Vista Maria Picnic

RSVP by July 14th Lasso up because this year’s theme

will be Western BBQ!

All VM STAFF and immediate family members, Chart-

wells, and CBF/VMA Faculty are invited!

July 25, 2014 1pm - 7pm

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Written by employees, for employees

Volunteers Create a Special Night to Celebrate Our Girls and Women in the Business Community

Vista Maria’s 15th Annual Celebrating Women Event was held on

campus May 1, 2014, and was a resounding success. More than 350 sponsors, honorees, partners, friends and employees were in attendance to help Vista Maria honor extraordi-nary women from our community and to celebrate girls in our care who have overcome the daunting odds against them and have grown in their treatment. There was plenty of applause and cheers as our lovely honorees shared personal stories before receiving their awards from our President and CEO Angela Aufdemberge and event emcee Taryn Asher of FOX 2 WJBK-Detroit. We are grateful to our Presenting Sponsor, Ford Motor Company Fund, our other event sponsors, our dedicated Volunteer Committee and Co-Chairs Mary Williams and Shannon Quinn for their support, hard work and leadership to make this event such a great success. The event grossed more than $140,000 and will al-low Vista Maria to continue to make an enormous impact on the lives of our girls. Lastly, we could not have achieved this goal with-out the tireless efforts of the employees of our Vista Maria family. Thank you!

Lourdes Hall Honors our Veterans Linda Krawford, Youth Counselor

Memorial Day at Lourdes Hall was a cele-bration of our fallen soldiers. Lourdes Hall supervi-sor, Mrs. Hunter, and staff provided residents with a fun filled day of food and games. Staff barbequed chicken and hot dogs for residents and there were also lots of other goodies. The evening ended with an all out water balloon war, staff versus residents with staff winning the final battle.

Donna Maria Moved by Their Speaker

During the Memorial Day Weekend Donna Maria Residents had some special speakers in to give them some uplifting praise and remembrance of why they are so special. This group spoke from the heart and helped the girls realize that they are capable of changing if they believe in themselves and the Holy Spirit… Donna Maria Super-visor, Adrienne Jones, shared this about the group, “I think the ladies really need to hear how much they are really loved in God’s eyes and how he will make a way for them if they just have faith in him. They spoke power to our ears.” The group that came in, Diamonds, asked if they could come back and have a service with the young ladies on a regular basis.

Women of AT&T Scholarship Winners Adnan Khalil, Lead DREAM Coordinator

The D.R.E.A.M. mentoring program regularly provides youth with

scholarship opportunities from community partners, mentors, and internal

staff. Recently students were given an opportunity to apply for a $1,000

scholarship from the Women of AT&T. There were five scholarships

available and two student members of the D.R.E.A.M. program, Jayelo

Harvey and D`Ontai Lewis, were awarded the Women of AT&T scholar-

ship on May 22, 2014. Lewis and Harvey were thrilled when hearing they

earned the scholarships and realized this scholarship will have a great

impact on their college journey. The ceremony was a joyous event,

which allowed Lewis and Harvey to reflect on their lives,

dreams, and future college plans. Both Lewis and Harvey

stated that ‘The Women of AT&T scholarship will help

shape their future dreams of becoming scientists some-

day.’” Both students will be attending Michigan State Uni-

versity in fall 2014. Lewis plans to double major in chem-

istry and physics, and Harvey plans to double major in

biochemistry and psychology. Congrats to both!

Rec Therapy Keeps Tradition Going Debra Slavin-Glazer, Recreational Therapist

We have an annual Memorial Day tradition of making Red, White and Blue Jell-O parfaits with the girls. We choose the colors to honor those who sacrificed to keep our country safe and honor the American lifestyle. It also marks the beginning of summer, we discuss how Jell-O is a great sum-mer time dessert to make, it is versatile, light and refreshing and making it won’t heat up the kitchen too much. We also discuss presentation and how making something look nice makes it more special, we make sure we build our parfaits in clear plastic cups, so they can get the full effect of the layers of the red Jell-O, the white whipped topping, the red and blue berries and the blue Jell-O, finished off

with another dollop of whipped top-ping. We also discuss the wide va-riety of fla-vors and colors of Jell-O available, so by changing the colors/flavors, this treat can be adapted for any occasion!

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Thoughts from the Convent Corner… Sr. Janice Rushman, RGS

Here at Vista Maria, our Good Shepherd Core Values are truly the heart of the matter. In essence, they are our CORE … these values are the foundation on which all our services, our best practices, our exceptional customer service rests. It is important to recognize that this “foundation” comes forth from our deep spiritual roots. It is this deep spirituality which both tells us how to serve, and also provides the on-going motivation to be faithful in good times and in difficult times. As a part of the broader Good Shepherd Family, Vista Maria is a faith-based organization. Our Foun-dress, the holy woman Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, medi-tated often on the Sacred Scriptures and especially on Jesus as presented in the image of the Good Shepherd. The spiritual heritage which had been given to Mary Eu-phrasia was further developed through her own prayer and lived experienced, and all this has shaped the values inherent in every Good Shepherd program or endeavor. Through time, we have come to identify four specific Core Values which encompass a number of attitudes and behaviors which Good Shepherd People strive to practice: INDIVIDUAL WORTH - “One person is of more value than the whole world.” We recognize that the intrinsic dignity and inherent worth of each person is because each person is created by God in God’s own image and likeness. MERCY/COMPASSION – “Mercy is love that pardons.” It is in our own experience of receiving the healing mercy of God, in the presence of our personal failures, that we find ourselves called to extend mercy to another person who also has failed in some way. RECONCILIATION – “Forgive us our wrongs as we forgive the wrongs done by others.” It is in knowing that the All-Holy God forgives us of our wrong-doing that we find the courage and willingness to forgive another who has fallen short. ZEAL – “Hold the deeper vision.” Commitment and endurance, enthusiasm, flexibility and creativtivity are hallmarks of Good Shepherd zeal. Those who serve in Good Shepherd ministries

come from many different faith and/or religious back-

grounds. Good Shepherd spirituality at Vista Maria is not

about “religion;” rather it is about the relationship of each

one of us with greater Reality, with the Holy One, how-

ever we may understand that One. We are each invited

to touch into the depths of our own spiritual heritage and

to discover how Vista Maria’s Core Values may ex-

press our own spiritual sensitivities and gifts. The Great

Heart of God is vastly creative.

Volunteers Make a Difference at Vista Maria On Wednesday, April 9 during Na-

tional Volunteer Week, Vista Maria had the opportunity to honor our dedicated and amazing ‘regularly’ participating volunteers here at Vista Maria. We had over 50 volunteers attend the 2

nd Annual Appreciation Dinner. Shortly

after arriving guests were invited to network and fellowship before eating a wonderfully catered dinner, thanks to our very own Chart-wells team. After dinner the volunteers in atten-dance were all presented with a personalized Certificate of Appreciation and a Volunteer bookmark as a keep sake. A highlight of the evening was recognizing the volunteers for

their 5, 10, 15 and even 20 years of service. Volunteers make a difference in every aspect of our organization and have a big impact on the youth that they interact with. Our volunteers work directly with the youth; they do on campus beautification projects and provide our girls with a great spiritual and moral compass. Last year alone we had over 1,500 volunteers on campus who gave nearly 16,000 hours of their time. Not even halfway into the 2014 year we have already had over 600 vol

unteers on campus giving over 6,000 volunteer hours!

Please be sure to recommend your friends, family and co-workers who would like to volunteer and help us rebuild the lives of our youth to check out the Vista Maria Facebook page or the agency website for more information. We are always looking for volunteers to be mentors (residential and community based), spiritual volunteers, tutors, AA/NA, Afterschool Programs and Group Volunteers.

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Can you see us now?

Vista Maria will be represented in style with this new tent featuring the VM Logo. The tent was jointly pur-chased between the Foster Home Recruitment and JTS department. This tent will be used at community events when VM staff is out promoting and recruiting volunteers for all the amazing programs and opportunities we have available.

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VM Staff Living our Values Allowing our Youth to

Feel Safe in Our Arms… As you know Vista Maria welcomes youths with open arms everyday, so sometimes in the busi-ness of our day we may take for granted that it is just what happens. However it is important to re-member that these youths are coming to us for care, support and guidance, and although they may put up a good front, they are scared, unsure and maybe even nervous. It is our job as Vista Maria Staff, regardless of where you work on campus, to use that encounter with them as a teachable moment. Letting them see how others are valued by taking a minute to share a smile, say hello and reassure them that they are safe. Even when youth graduate from our program and have to return, we should allow our value of mercy to come forthright and we need to treat them as if they are new, not scolding them, not making them feel like they are any less because they made a mistake. I would like to share a story that was sent to me about how our staff on many levels helped make an impact on one of our CMH Respite youth; When it was time to be discharged one of our child respite clients arrived to us in tears. When her mother came to pick her up, she did not want to leave and begged her mother to let her stay another night. While staff called to see what arrangements could be made the young lady began to tell her mother about the fun that she was having with all the activities that were provided, the outings our girls have participated in this week and how welcomed she felt here at Vista Maria. Clinical Unit Manager, Lamaryah Sutton, had an opportunity to talk with the mother and the mother was so grateful to us for providing respite services for her child and was so thankful because she knows her child is well taken care of with us. She couldn’t thank us enough. Lamaryah shared this with the team, “What you do day in and day out DOES MATTER and means the world to our girls and to me. I thank you for being you and for all that you do! You all are such a phenomenal team and the most awesome group of people to work with and to love on our girls!” Our Vista Maria team really displayed our Vista Maria values and allowed the words of our Foundress, St. Mary Euphrasia come to life. “Take care not to scold too much; be serious but full of kindness, especially to new arrivals, because no matter the color of their tears, they are always bitter, and if you are not good and compassionate to them they could succumb to despair.” ~St. Mary Euphrasia, Conferences, p. 438

Healthy Blue Xtras is a program that offers big sav-ings and special discounts to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network members. Enjoy exclusive savings on healthy products and services, from groceries to fitness gear and travel from companies across the great state of Michigan. For members. Healthy Blue Xtras makes it easy to get the balanced lifestyle you deserve. Go on Blue Care Website http://www.healthybluextras.com/, for daily coupons and downloadable apps!

“Be aware that what would change one person, could do just the opposite to an-other. It takes great tact to say things at the right time and in the right way” ~SME

The Detroit Re-Entry Center and Youth Deterrent Program Carlos Marino, JTS Program

The JTS Community Based Counseling program is proud to an-nounce that the Detroit Re-Entry Center will recognize both Jayelo Harvey and Carlos Marino at a ceremony on July 22, 2014. Jayelo Harvey will re-ceive a scholarship and be recognized for overcoming many obstacles and his participation in the Male Responsibility Group held on Vista Maria’s campus. Carlos Marino and the JTS Community Based Counseling (CBC) program will be recognized for outstanding work in Wayne County working with youth. As part of the Male Responsibility Program, group participants are taken on a field trip to the Detroit Re-Entry Center where they speak with both prison officials and inmates about what “prison life” is really

about and the negative decisions that the inmates made to find them-selves there. For the past 2 years Mr. Marino has been taking the male responsibility group into the prison to have discussions with the prison warden, other prison officials and Youth Deterrent Program inmates. This group focuses on such topics as decision-making and how prison is known as the “dream killer.” The Community Based Counseling pro-gram has taken over 200 young men to the Detroit Re-Entry Center to date.

FRUIT FOCUS Healthy Eating Tips From Chartwells

This month’s food focus is Fruit; especially stone fruit. Stone fruit have a single seed in the cen-ter of the fleshy fruit that looks like a stone. They are one of summer’s seasonal fruits that include, cher-ries, peaches, plums and apricots. Stone fruits, like peaches can be added as a topping to ce-real or oatmeal or in fruit salads and smoothies.

Adnan Khalil, Lead DREAM Coordinator

The D.R.E.A.M. Program

Have you ever wondered if there was a program out there

that could improve your life and your skills through mentoring

and education? If you’ve been searching then look no further.

The D.R.E.A.M. (Dreams Realized through Education and Men-

toring) program has been proven to help students advance to the

next level in their lives. The D.R.E.A.M program is a wonderful

weekly session in which students and adults interact with each

other to discuss and learn many concepts about life and the

world. Even though the D.R.E.A.M. program is committed to

helping students learn, learning is only one half of what dream is.

The other half is taking what you have learned from the program

and applying it to your life and future situations that may occur.

The D.R.E.A.M. program is very beneficial. At most sessions, the

D.R.E.A.M. program has a guest presenter that provides us with

job and club opportunities as well as scholarship possibilities.

Adnan Khalil, Lead DREAM Coordinator

Alternative Spring Break

One of the many great things youth are participating

in at Vista Maria’s Journey to Success D.R.E.A.M. Pro-

gram is the 4-H club. The 4-H is globally recognized as a

student-led leadership club devoted to improving the

world through the power of youth leadership. The 4-H

club at Vista Maria allows students to gain leadership ex-

perience, strengthen communication skills, and work ef-

fectively in a team. Part of the 4-H mission is to help the

community and during this year’s spring break the 4-H

club did just that. The students planned an entire week of

community service during their spring break and the ac-

tive youth felt that rather than hanging out, they would

use their time to do something productive. During that

week the 4-H club cleaned the Vista Maria Campus,

worked in the clothing boutique at the Children Center of

Detroit, and cleaned up

a horse farm located at

the River Rouge barn.

They were able to learn

the importance of hard

work, community ser-

vice, and teamwork.

We would like to take this opportunity to announce the employees who have

reached their anniversary milestone in the 2nd quarter of 2014.

1 Year Erin Crouch

Latavia Garrett Dolores Guerra-

Schnapp Keila Harris Mary Hines

Lavita Howard Nichole Huziak Whitney James

Danielle Johnson Eva Kopas

Danyael Kinard Lavel Little

Tamika Merriman Thomas Roethlisberger

Dontonio Thompson Stacey Wilson

5 Years Nicole Wadley

Mieshia White-Belcher

10 Years Patrice Allen

Spencer Cartwright

15 Years Carol Blevins

16 Years

David Yankopulos

24 Years Metaxie Simon

26 Years

Dirvonia Jones

“Be good to persons, not reproaching. Which of us can put our hand on out heart and say: ‘I have never failed.’” ~SME

"We must have untiring zeal and never fear diffi-culties. If we have to climb the highest mountains

we must do so with courage." ~SME

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WRITE FOR VISTA VOICE!

Vista Voice is published quarterly and dis-tributed electronically and in hard copy for those without email. Vista Voice welcomes articles from employees. If you wish to share an article, please submit your article to Janet Jones in Values educa-tion jjones@vistamaria.org or contact the HR de-partment. Next Issue: October 2014 Article submission due date: September 1, 2014

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4-H Club Kettunen Center Experience Adnan Khalil, Lead D.R.E.A.M. Coordinator

The 4-H club is committed to more than just serving the community, they also believe in healthy living and agricultural education. Over the course of the past two months, three 4-H members were selected to go to Washington D.C. for two different national 4-H projects, “Promoting Healthy Living” and “Challenging Youth to be the Solution”. Challenging Youth to be the Solution is a grant sponsored by Mon-

santo to educate, expose and promote agricultural career fields to youth ages

11-18. As a part of the project, six Vista Maria 4-H club youth were selected to

go to the Kettunen Center in Tustin, Michigan to receive training to teach other

students across Michigan about agriculture and aquaculture, its effect on soci-

ety, and how to inspire youth to pursue it.

~ Coming Together as One for the Mission~ Janet Jones, Values Education

"Those who cook, bake, do the laundry, the garden, all work very hard. Everyone must do her/his best because together, with

one mind, we must contribute to the good of the Community/mission." St. Mary Euphrasia, Good Shepherd Foundress On April 2, 2014 Vista Maria staff came together and made this quote come alive in true Good Shepherd fashion. On my way to work this day I received a text from my co-worker asking, ‘Are in you the office today? There was a big water main break and we need all hands on deck all day.’ My reply,’ Umm ok. Where and what time and what do you need from me?’ The rely I received was simply, “ CFRC at 10 and will explain then. “

Honestly my first thought was, oh man I really have a lot to do today, I can’t be available all day. Many of you I am sure have that same instinct to say this when asked to deviate from your schedule. However once I arrived at the CFRC I remem-ber seeing staff coming in from the Finance Department, Foster Care, Marketing, JTS, various managers and thinking wow this must be something big because eve-ryone is here. From that point it was time to hit the ground running so we could transform the CFRC into a fun day for the residents who unexpectedly could not at-tend school due to the water break and the staff were not prepared to attend to their needs because their buildings were not all up and functioning correctly.

As a team, all of us worked together and never did I hear someone all day question the need to be there, the need to jump in and help. Before long I was mak-ing popcorn for the girls to enjoy while they watched the Disney movie ‘Frozen.’ Next to me was Angela our CEO, Yulonda, a Clinical Unit Manager and two of our Foster Care recruiters, Sarah and JeriLynn enjoying each other’s company and spreading a spirit of Zeal. As I then peeked into the next room over, I again had an over whelming feeling of pride when I saw Janet and Becky from Volunteer Services working with Monica, Program Developer and Stacey a FC Recruiter. They gave up most of their day so they could make our residents feel special.

Throughout the day there were many different staff from all levels checking in and asking what needs to be done. Al-though I was only on campus one day during this mini crisis I enjoyed hearing from others their stories of support and what a great feeling it was to have to make that time to be available for our girls and more importantly for ourselves. When the day was over our work was still there, still needing to be completed, however it was a lot easier to get it done because we had this opportunity to remind ourselves about why we are here at Vista Maria and that our Mission goes beyond our office and way beyond our daily schedules.

“Whether you are busy sewing or writing or cooking or anything else, always remember to have the intention of

working for souls…. Be proud of the noble work entrusted to you.” ~St. Mary Euphrasia, Conferences, p. 47

“Correct with kindness and love but also with zeal and holy freedom. If you do not speak out, if you do not sound the alarm when it is needed, you will be justly convicted by your silence.” ~SME, Conferences, p. 336

Upcoming Dates Jul. 4 Independence Day Jul. 14-31 Summer School starts Jul. 25 Agency Picnic at Warrendale Picnic Area Jul. 31 St. Mary Euphrasia’s Birthday Aug. 14 9

th Annual Women FORE! Women Golf Outing

at Fox Hills Golf and Banquet Center Aug. 14 Residential Pool Party on campus Aug. 21 Residential Ford Field Day on campus Aug. 22 JTS Fun Fest/Back to School Rally Sept. 1 Labor Day Sept. 2 STUDENT ORIENTATION Sept. 2 Student Advocate Orientation for new/returning students Sept. 11 Patriot Day Sept. 24 Town Hall Meeting Sept. 24 Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Oct. 21 Haunted House planned on campus Oct. 30 Trick or Treating planned on campus Nov. 4/5 Mission Effectiveness Team visits Detroit to provide annual training

College Starter Kits Adnan Khalil, Lead DREAM Coordinator

On Thursday, June 12, 2014 during the DREAM recognition event the graduating classes from both Clara B. Ford and Vista Meadows Academy were presented with college start up kits. These kits were put together thanks to generous donations from DREAM mentors, Vista Maria staff, and other caring individuals. Inside each kit were a pillow, sheets, comforters, mis-cellaneous toiletries, and any other items that made the kits unique. The kits were hidden until it was time to present them. The graduates were shocked and it warmed their hearts. These kits were a great gesture of kindness, love, and support. We in DREAM are both sad and proud to see our kids transition, but it is with hope that by providing these kits, we have already helped them climb their next mountain in life. We would also like to give special thanks to our corporate sponsors: The Meadowbrook Insurance Group, Plastipak Packaging Inc, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, The Women of AT&T Michigan Chapter, The Michigan State University Extension, ISIS 4-H Youth Group, and The Amerisure Mutual Insurance.

First Annual Youth Expo Carlos Marino, JTS Program

On June 7, 2014 the Community Based Counseling program held its First Annual Youth Expo in the CFRC and Vista Meadows Acad-emy. The attending youth were treated to several excellent workshops and dynamic speakers such as Chris Summerall (Going the Extra Mile),

Thomas Jackson (Job Readiness), Dr. Charletta Dillard & RN Leah Dobson (living a Healthy Life-style), Kevin Butts (Financial Literacy) and Crys-tal Gunn (Parent workshop). The Youth Expo serviced over 300 stu-dents and allowed both parents and students alike as far as Gross Pointe, Romulus, Harper Woods and West Bloomfield to see Vista Maria and our Community Based Counseling program as a leader in positive youth development and a community leader. This Youth Expo was also able to promote each component of the JTS program with some students signing up for summer programming and DREAM.

Each staff and the youth we serve begin our journey at Vista Maria as a small delicate flower, but as time goes on one-by-one our petals bloom as we share our beauty with others. Use this as a reminder to pause and reflect on your surroundings by taking time to look at the beautiful campus we have cultivated that blooms with spiritual heritage. Most of our flowers were planted by our Good Shepherd Sisters and they return each year as a reminder of the legacy that was entrusted to us by the sisters.

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