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| Last updated on October 13, 2008 |
The mission of Oakridge Neighborhood is to provide safe, secure, and supportive housing in a way that assists children, adults and families in becoming self sufficient and self-reliant.
Providing a holistic approach to addressing the needs of the working poor is the cornerstone of Oakridge Neighborhood Services. Oakridge invests in our community’s social and human capital by offering a variety of traditional and non-traditional human service programs designed to break the cycle of poverty. Oakridge Neighborhood Services provides its residents and their families with the life skills needed to move toward sustained self-sufficiency and self-reliance by addressing the issues that keep the working poor from getting ahead; affordable housing, affordable childcare, transportation, education, and case management.
Description:
Affordable Housing: Many working poor families cannot find affordable housing. Almost one in six households is cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of household income on housing expenses. Housing at Oakridge is on a sliding rent schedule based on income, number of dependents, and if the head of household is a senior citizen, or disabled. Oakridge has been the intersection of community and opportunity for the 1,014 residents living in the 300 housing units that make up the Oakridge Neighborhood. Comprised of a highly diverse mix of people, 49.46% African American, 13.72% Caucasian, 19.49% Asian (Vietnamese, Cambodian & Laotian), 13% African (Sudanese, Ghanaian, & Liberian) and 4.33% Hispanic, Oakridge is larger than 71% of the 948 cities in the state of Iowa and it is the largest residential block in downtown Des Moines.
Childcare: Working-poor parents face the challenge of finding affordable, adequate childcare, just as all working parents do. However, paying for child care is a much greater economic challenge for the working poor. At Oakridge 60% of the residents are children and youth whose family income is less than $8,500 per year, 98% of the Oakridge families are headed by a single parent, and 95% fall below federal poverty guidelines.
Oakridge’s nationally accredited Early Enrichment Childcare Center provides pre-school children with the tools and activities necessary to assure that they grow and develop to their full potential. The Center’s programming also encourages family development by offering access to educational opportunities for both children and families, providing information, and referral to partner educational agencies and developing and maintaining active parent volunteer participation and involvement. The preschoolers who complete the Oakridge Early Enrichment program are well prepared for Kindergarten and are ready for the challenges that await them. Oakridge has an annual enrollment of 80 three, four and five year olds participating in the EECC and has prepared over 1,000 children for kindergarten since its beginning in 1975.
Transportation: Transportation is a major barrier to financial self-sufficiency for many working poor families. At Oakridge, transportation assistance is provided through a partnership with the Des Moines Metro Transit Authority’s OTT reduced bus pass program and Oakridge has used emergency funds to help with the transportation needs of those enrolled in its Human Services Programs.
Education: Oakridge Neighborhood Services provides educational service for adults and youth.
Youth Programs
The Oakridge Neighborhood Services Youth program provides a variety of activities and programming. It is designed as an after-school enrichment program for school aged youth ages 5-17 that incorporates such components as personal growth, character building, violence and drug prevention, creative arts, computer literacy, team building, and social development. An education component provides academic assistance, school visits, and tutoring sessions. In addition, the Oakridge Neighborhood Services Youth program provides day camps during spring, summer, and winter breaks from school. A unique teen component provides local pre-teens and teens an opportunity for growth in areas such as character development and life skills. Youth program components are implemented with appropriate developmental activities to advance and promote positive social behaviors and life-style choices, as well as broadening youths’ perspectives through positive educational experiences. The purpose is to develop positive values and encourage youth to become productive citizens.
Adult Programs
Oakridge Neighborhood Services Adult Programs are comprehensive in scope and client-focused in delivery. Programs provide crucial services to assist adults in achieving self-reliance. Programs include job training and retention, English as a Second Language (ESL), Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED), and case management services for families and individuals.
A Job Coach provides individualized assistance in assessing needs and identifying skills for employment. The goal is to train individuals and build on pre-existing skills, which will lead to quality employment, job satisfaction, and job retention.
Oakridge Neighborhood Services has had a long-term partnership with Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in providing assistance with various projects. Currently, DMACC is providing the Adult Programs with an ESL instructor on-site. The ESL and program continually is in high demand, with a class size of 15 students. In collaboration with the Des Moines Public Schools Oakridge offers Language and Life Skills classes for our Sudanese and Asian residents.
Knowledge of Self-Sufficiency Programs: The Case Management program is a vital component within the Adult Programs. Many Oakridge residents experience one or more of the following risk factors: domestic violence, drug addiction, school failure, relationship concerns, health issues, limited education, financial literacy needs, and many other basic needs. Case management is a family-centered intervention program, which empowers families and individuals to explore, experience, live safe and healthy lifestyles and develop a self-reliant family and/or individual system. This program allows full inclusion of the client partnering between the client and case manager in the development of planning goals and focusing on strengths.
The Case Management staff provides Oakridge Neighborhood residents with the services needed to meet the challenges they encounter daily. The office assists residents in locating and obtaining outside resources that will provide assistance with food banks, rent, and utilities. Residents often move into Oakridge with little or no household possessions. With the assistance from surrounding churches, private donations, and other outside agencies, residents can secure needed household items. In addition, referrals are made to the Oakridge Neighborhood Services youth, adult, and childcare programs.
Organization target populations
1,014 residents live in the 300 housing units that make up the Oakridge Neighborhood. The population is comprised of a highly diverse mix of people, 49.46% African American, 13.72% Caucasian, 19.49% Asian (Vietnamese, Cambodian & Laotian), 13% African (Sudanese, Ghanaian, and Liberian), 4.33% Hispanic. Oakridge is larger than 71% of the 949 cities in the state of Iowa and it is the largest residential block in downtown Des Moines. Almost 60% of the residents are children and youth whose family income is less than $8,500 per year. 98% of our families are headed by a single parent and 95% fall below federal poverty guidelines.
For many at Oakridge, poverty results from crisis - a divorce, a job loss, or catastrophic illness. For others we are their first place of residence in a new country they have come to after fleeing the poverty, strife and violence of their own war torn lands or violence inflicted at the hands of a spouse or significant other.
The youth whose families call Oakridge home are constantly faced with risk factors such as poverty, violence, limited parental involvement, gang activity and substance abuse. Being exposed to these negative influences ultimately results in low self-esteem, delinquent behavior and poor academic performance.
Community needs addressed by organization
Oakridge Neighborhood and Oakridge Neighborhood Services has been addressing affordable housing and human services community needs for the past 30 years.
- Recent reports issued by the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s Project Destiny, the Polk County Housing Trust Fund and the Human Services Planning Alliance have identified the need for an increase in affordable and or subsidized rental housing to meet the demands on the current housing infrastructure. With the growing need for temporary, transitional or permanent rental housing, the long-term sustainability of Oakridge is critical.
- At Oakridge, we look at childhood development as a continuum where early experiences and opportunities help shape later ones. Our programming focuses on continuous healthy development from preschool through high school. Investment in our children from preschool through high school results in greater returns when they become adults and help to ensure that youth become valuable resources to the community and its workforce rather than a drain on resources through high cost social programs, and lost earning power. Research indicates that:
· Children who are born healthy and raised by parents who are involved in their lives and
learning are more likely to succeed in school.
· Children with positive early childhood learning experiences are less likely, as young adults, to
be involved in crime or receive public assistance.
· Children raised without violence in their home are far more likely to use peaceful conflict
resolution when they are older; those who witness violence are more likely to use it.
· Children who read at grade level by third grade have a greater probability of succeeding in
school and in the workforce.
· Young people who experience a greater number of developmental assets are less likely to be
involved with risky behaviors and more likely to adopt positive behaviors.
· Young people with specific life skills are more prepared for success in the workforce.
· Youth engaged in civic responsibilities are more likely to carry that behavior to adulthood.
Preparing for a lifetime of learning at an early age is seminal to the development of the pre-school aged children participating in our nationally accredited Early Enrichment Childcare Center. The Des Moines Public School District has set as one of its priorities having quality pre-school available to an increasing percentage of three and four year olds through expanded collaborations with community groups. The Early Enrichment Childcare Center at Oakridge provides pre-school children with the tools and activities necessary to assure that they grow and develop to their full potential. From early literacy skills to socialization and learning through play, our Early Enrichment Childcare Center is committed to providing programs that go beyond national standards. Our clients are the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society. The child-friendly approach we offer our clients allows them to enter kindergarten on a level playing field with other children in the Des Moines School District.
Our multi-faceted Youth Program provides educational, cultural, recreational, social and character building programs, to the school-aged youth on the Oakridge campus. Our Youth Program works closely with the schools, continues to improve programs that support local school efforts and prepare members for transitions to their next level of education whether middle school, high school or institutions of higher learning. In conjunction with the Des Moines School District’s goal of improving communication with parents, community and staff, for increasing parent involvement and for engaging parents and community in strategies to meet district goals workshops are held annually to prepare parents to become active participants in their children’s education.
The youth after school programs are aligned with the Des Moines Public School District’s benchmarks of 75% of all students will read on grade level; reduce by 1/2 the academic achievement gap between minority and poor students and others in the district; increase the graduation rate to 93%; and reduce the number of suspensions while maintaining a safe and orderly environment.
By instilling a desire to learn and giving them the tools they need to excel, Oakridge programming provides the young with an apprenticeship to adulthood by preparing them to continue to educate themselves throughout their lives and empowering them to meet their full potential.
- Working poor families face many barriers to self-sufficiency Oakridge Neighborhood Services helps to break down those barriers by providing a variety of traditional and non-traditional human service programs, which are developed to allow residents and their families to move towards sustained self - sufficiency and self- reliance. Our unique combination of housing coupled with available and accessible human services programs and systems allows the Oakridge organization to impact lives, create opportunities and realize important change in the lives of our residents. The programs we offer provide our residents with hope, coping skills that help them survive, workplace skills that will allow them to thrive, and safety for their children.
History:
In 1967, after two-failed public housing referendums the Des Moines Area Council of Churches (DMACC) voted overwhelmingly to sponsor a public housing facility in Des Moines. During this time the public housing facilities being built around the country were cold, institutional designs that felt more like storage facilities for the poor and indigent. The vision of the DMACC was to develop a neighborhood that happened to also be a public housing facility. These visionaries felt that this type of design would provide residents with dignity and inspire a sense of community. Oakridge opened its doors on June 21, 1970. In keeping with the vision of providing dignity and community to its residents the human services arm of Oakridge was formalized in 1975 and Oakridge Neighborhood Services began programming designed to break the cycle of poverty and give the working poor families who call Oakridge home a chance at sustained self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Today, as envisioned by its initiators and supporters, Oakridge is the mainstay of affordable rental housing and an innovator in human services programming for the working poor in the Des Moines metro area.
Contact people:
Office fax number: (515) 244-2604
Address:
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1236 Oakridge Neighborhood Services
Des Moines, IA 50314
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Web Site: None specified
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