Twilight League Softball

We are thrilled that Room Service Atlanta is back on our campus to make over not just one, but TWO cottages! Williams Cottage is home to young men and Smith is home to young women, all in our Independent Living Program.

Their crew of professional interior designers and design bloggers have been working for weeks, and this is their big install week. We will be posting previews (like the one above) all week on Facebook and Twitter, so be sure this “like” us and follow our updates to see this:

Transformed into something like this:

This is the second time that Room Service Atlanta has transformed our campus. They renovated Sam Bell Cottage in 2012 (pictured above and below) which now serves as our Honors Cottage for our high-achieving young men. We can’t wait to see the magic in Williams and Smith! Thank you Room Service Atlanta and designers.

Steven Hart and Tracy Pierce are two volunteers every nonprofit would love to have.

They are imaginative, funny, dependable, and they love doing things for our children, youth and families. These two men, both from Dahlonega, are proactive in finding creative ways to serve.

Here are some examples of their service:

They have brought hundreds of pounds of potatoes, cases of beef stew and other food items for our residents on campus.

They started a garden to turn over to our residents and began it with blueberries, figs and raspberries that they dug out of their land in Dahlonega.  They prepared the soil and did most of the planting.

They brought hundreds of free seedlings which were sold at our last flea market.

They treated our children and families to a fishing derby at Camp Glisson. As you can see, there were big smiles every time the kids caught a fish. It was a new experience and a huge confidence-builder.  The folks at Camp Glisson grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a great day!

And they’re not tired yet! They already have plans to take our residents to a Gwinnett Braves game in August.

Thank you, Steven and Tracy! We are grateful for your creative, enthusiastic and dependable service.

Tracy teaches UMCH children about fishing

Learn more about volunteering at UMCH.

Josiah came to Jesse’s House, our summer day camp and after-school program, by way of our Family Housing program this school year. Since his first day with us, Josiah’s creative, fun-loving personality was very apparent.

As is often the case with those who have creative brilliance, Josiah really struggled with math and was unable to perform very simple addition and subtraction facts that were well below his grade level. To add to the frustration, working in an area with his peers was very distracting for him, and his default was to create an entertaining atmosphere that kept him and others from learning during homework time.

Fortunately for us, not long into the school year, a wonderful volunteer, Susan Peterson, came to us ready to help with homework time, and we put her to work with Josiah on her very first day. Susan’s warm, kind and calm personality was an excellent fit for Josiah, and we found that giving him one-on-one attention in a space away from the other kids in his group was just what he needed in order to succeed.

Susan so enjoyed working with Josiah that she referred her friend from church, Tim Albrecht to us. Within just 2 weeks of Susan beginning to volunteer, Tim came and began working with Josiah weekly on a different day.

Josiah’s transformation with these 2 dedicated volunteers was simply magical. Mr. Tim’s love of music and creativity and Susan’s kindness and patience opened new ways of learning for Josiah, and we began to see tremendous progress in his math skills.

As the semester continued, we were blessed to have 2 more weekly volunteers, Paige Sullivan and Janna Wofford, work with Josiah one on one. With these 4 dedicated volunteers, Josiah has had the amazing gift of one-on-one attention during homework time every day this school year.

With their help, he has not only conquered many a math fact, but has also had fun and been shown love and affirmation in the process. Because of dedicated volunteers like Susan, Tim, Paige and Janna, Jordan has consistently thrived during homework time.

This is just one story. Dozens of other volunteers have made their mark on the Jesse’s House program throughout this school year. The stories we could tell would be endless. To put it simply, Jesse’s House could not exist without our amazing volunteers. Each of you touches the children’s lives in a unique way. We cannot begin to express our gratitude in words, but to all of you who give so much, THANK YOU! We are a better place because of you.

by Sarah Paxton,

Jesse’s House Volunteer Coordinator

Find out more about volunteering with Jesse’s House at UMCH

Thank you to the many groups that braved the mild but seemingly never-ending winter we had this year to volunteer or tour our campus! If your group would like to volunteer or tour, contact Alina Crews (404.327.5854).

Youth attending the D Now conference at Mount Bethel UMC volunteered as part of their weekend retreat.

These lovely ladies from Washington GA brought a car FILLED with diapers when they arrived for their tour.

The confirmation class of Griffin First UMC toured our campus one cold March morning.

Northbrook UMC confirmands volunteered - and had a lot of fun while working hard!

Volunteers from Word of Faith church's singles ministry.

Youth from Sacred Tapestry UMC volunteered on a beautiful March morning.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who keep our campus safe and beautiful!

Learn more about volunteering here.