For many
families, the difference between a life of poverty and the ability to succeed
is developing a rich set of life skills. Journey
House, a social
service organization supported by the A.
O. Smith Foundation,
helps provide these skills.
Since 1969 the
Journey House has been serving the residences on the near south side of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Journey House mission is to empower families to move
out of poverty by offering adult education, workforce readiness, youth development,
and family engagement programs. Their mission is achieved by three methods: education, relationships and exposure.
Journey House
Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Michele Bria, explained how the community has
benefited from the program. “Every day, Journey House makes dreams come true
for children and families on Milwaukee’s near south side. We annually serve over
7,000 people in our adult education workforce readiness, youth development, and
family engagement programs.”
“Through
education, relationships, and exposure, we empower families to move out of
poverty and develop top talent. At the end of the day, if we are not moving our
kids towards college/institutions of higher learning, full-time employment, or
the military, then we are just playing a game. Journey House programs develop
top talent through education and character development/life skills, reduce unemployment
and crime, strengthen families, and revitalize neighborhoods,” Dr. Bria
continued.
One of the Journey
House success stories is Markesha Parker who began her involvement in eighth
grade. Markesha came from a poor single-parent family. She was an active member
in several of the leadership programs and college careers.
Through her
hard work, Markesha was accepted at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville
(UW-P). She earned her Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering in
December 2014 and won several awards for her leadership. Her biggest award was
from the entire UW system for academic achievement, which was given to just
three seniors. In January 2015, Markesha began her industrial engineering
career at a Fortune 500 Company. She aspires to give back to her community and
continues to volunteer at Journey House.
The Journey
House adult education program helps people earn their General Educational Development (GED), as well as learn the
English language, basic computer skills and financial literacy.
Youth
development activities offered by the Journey House include extensive programs with
an emphasis on life skills training. They also offer leadership, civic
engagement, tutoring, homework help, college careers, workforce readiness and
computer classes, as well as an athletics program.
In the workforce
readiness program, Journey House offers training in soft skills, customer
service, resume writing, financial and investment training, and office
technology.
As Journey
House is impacting many lives for the better, the A. O. Smith Foundation is
doing the same to make its communities a better place to live and to work.