Center of Grace History

 

 

Center of Grace began over thirty (30) years ago as a Ministry Program within St. Peter's Sound of Praise Church in Paterson, NU.   Church volunteers organized this Ministry to address the problems of women incarcerated in the Passaic County Jail and New Jersey Prisons.  They began by visiting the inmates twice a month and served as liasons between the inmates, their families and social service providers.

 

Center of Grace volunteers also provided the women with care packages containing many of the items that are sold within the prison.  They provided support services for the families by soliciting contributions of clothing, food and school supplies from local organization, church members and the community at large. 

 

As a result of this Ministry, Centers of Grace, Director,  Ms. Marie Ligon, formally organized Center of Grace in 2001 as a non-profit organization and obtained 502(3)(c) tax exempt status in 2003. They began to expand their services to address the needs of the women who are released from prison, women displaced by divorce, released  from rehabilitation programs, and experienceing a loss of income either because of unemployment of income or discontinuaton of local, county or federal benefits.  They provide support services to families of these women and particularly their children who are greatly impacted by negatives changes in their family status. 

 

Center of Grace volunteers provide mentoring services for these children and actively recruit new mentors from the Faith Based and Fraternal Organizations within the City of Paterson. Center of Grace also provides support services to the extended family members who have custodial responsibilities for the children by bridging the gap between them and the social services providers, legal services and the school system.

 

Truancy Prevention Program

 

This ongoing involvement with the children  and families of prison inmates and their families, students participating in St. Peter's activities and the Center of Grace's interaction with the Paterson School system to address student issues has identified the need for a Truancy Intervention Program. A meeting was held with School District Assistant Superintendent and Mr. Hector Santos, School Student Director, who confirmed that School Truancy was indeed a critical issue within the School District. 

 

The School District has agreed to support the involvement of Center of Grace and a Truancy Intervention Program.  As a result of a Planning Meeting to discuss the school attendance issue, officials decided that the proposed Center of Grace Truancy Intervention Program would be an asset to the District's ongoing school attendance activities because of their long involvement with the families and students and schools within the 4th Ward of the City of Paterson. 

  

It was decided that the Truancy Intervention Program would concentrate on the students attending the three (3) elementary schools in the 4th Ward. Shools Number 4, 10 and 21 have a high rate of school truancy. The District also confirmed that their indicated that a review of student attendance indicated that a student's attendance problems problems began at the Kindergarten level.  It was recommended that the Truancy Intervention Program be structured to begin with Kindergarten students who were beginning to show signs of attendance problems. The School District will provide comprehensive support services, technical assistance, a staff liason and school counselor to Center of Grace who will conduct follow up activities of students and their parents.

 

The follow up activities will include direct contact with the student's family, monitoring the student's attendance, educational progress, providing a mentor for the student along with school after care activities.  Center of Grace will identify family needs and issues that impact on the student's behavior and school attendance. Parents will be encouraged to become an active participant in their child's education and will be provided with Parenting Skills training.  The District has agreed to provide parent education courses to help them understand their responsibility to their child's education and the school district's policies and procedures. 

 

The Center of Grace Request for Funds for the Truancy Intervention Program will enable the program to begin within the upcoming school year.  Ms. Marie Ligon, Director will be responsible for the Administration of the Program and volunteers assigned to mentor students.  Ms Jean Godfrey, retired educator be responsible for program activities including the student after care program, parenting workshops and district educational workshops.  Ms. Marilee Jackson will provide technical assistance to the program and will work directly with School District staff to develop a Strategic Plan, Program Goals and Objectives/Outcomes and Student/Parent Monitoring Instruments.

 

This Grant from the Office of Faith Based Initiatives will provide Center of Grace an opportunity to serve the children and parents in a community that is distressed beyond imagination.  Student gang involvement begins as early as Grade 4 and although the Truancy Intervention Program will begin with Kindergarten students, the program will work with and provide assistance to all students that have been identified as "problem students". 

 

Any and all assistance provided by the Office of Faith Based Initiatives and approval of this request for funds will be greatly appreciated.