Greetings F3 Pax.
Here is the post in three sentences. The details can be found below.
1. Palmetto Place serves kids and young adults from approximately 14 – 20ish, and are in great need of strong male leadership.
2. F3 has been awesome in the past to support the mission of Palmetto Place and I believe there continues to be a strategic fit for both organizations.
3. I need your help and need a core group of 5 men who can be committed to this cause. Please message me (contact below) if you are interested in being committed to either 1) The core group or 2) Future participation.
Here is the meat of it:
1. Many of you participated in the F3:Turf Friday afternoons. That initiative stopped when Palmetto Place conducted a $1 million capital campaign to improve its 100 year old home. In that time a few things have slightly changed the average age of the kids at Palmetto Place. It still retains the same mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for children and teens who have faced abuse, abandonment, neglect and/or homelessness.
The first thing is that in the past year we have added a second location in West Columbia to increase our capacity of support for the community to almost 50 beds on two campuses. (Original we were 20 something beds.)
The second thing is that we will mostly only get kids that are teens through DSS as they will not place younger kids in group homes like ours.
The third things is Palmetto Place’s strategic initiative to support unaccompanied youth and up ( meaning post “high school”). We have received a substantial three year grant to support this newly uncovered segment of our community that is being better understood. With the help of the United Way, Palmetto Place is the first organization to cater to kids and late teens who may find themselves with no home, no school community, no job, and no family. Transitions is a great resources for the “traditional” homeless population but does not meet the needs of teens and young adults who have different needs. The shelter not only serves those who stay at the house, but also to anyone else who may need a place for a shower, resources, or other support.
What this means is that our initiative of F3 Fridays is going to have to look different. There is a new segment of older teens and young adults who may engage differently, have different time constraints and needs. Plus we now have two locations of kids.
2. First, thank you to those who made F3 Fridays happen in the past. It was a great experience and worked really well. F3 has a mission to invigorate male leadership in our communities. We did that. Also, I know that F3’s mission includes leadership as “Dads” to your children. Palmetto Place is in great need of a strong male presence, or that is to say “Dads”. Many of these kids probably can have a negative perspective on males in their lives. I am not suggesting a daily or even weekly commitment, however, it would be great to brainstorm and get creative with ways that we can engage with these kids who I know can be positively impacted by your presence.
I have had conversations with KJ (Russ Webb) and staff at Palmetto Place to think about how we can do something. I believe we keep coming back to a monthly visit that could be a career discussion determined by the shelter residents, and/or a workout as well. This is going to be tough as we have to face the logistics of finding Pax who have both the desire and the time to commit. We do want to have some level of consistency in those who participate but also know not everyone can commit to an ongoing effort. Also, these kids have jobs, school, sports teams, and live life like normal teens. That means they are busy! So we got to find a time when they are available as well.
3. This is a call for two folks. 1) the Core group of 5 men who share in the mission to serve these teens and 2) those who share interest but might not be able to commit extensively, but want more information. If you are interested, please reply to this email to what your are interested in. Further, if you are not interested please consider spreading the word and passing on their name. Retweet any information you may see on social media and the pre blast I am about to post.
Thank you for taking time to read this, and your concern for these awesome kids. I know there is a great opportunity to serve these kids, and for them to serve us in return.
Here is my contact information:
Trevor Knox – Termite
803-422-4277
Thank you,
Trevor