nonprofit organization
The Children’s Home Sets Kids Up For Success With Theatre
Last week my mom and I had such a treat. We were invited to The Children’s Home Lower School theatre production of 
Aladdin. It was so special for us. This wasn’t just any theatre production at any school, this was a way The Children’s Home has found to get kids who learn differently or who traditionally have struggled in the classroom to be excited about learning…in essence, setting these young people with so much potential up for success.
Below is a write-up I found on The Children’s Home website following the performance.
Over 30 students participated in the Lower School Theatre Program’s production of Aladdin for an audience of classmates, staff, board members and donors. The Lower School serves children in grades K-8 who have behavioral or learning challenges that have prevented them from succeeding in a traditional classroom. Many of them have experienced abuse and neglect or other factors that have inhibited their healthy development.
Last year, one student in particular had a very small role in the school play and he struggled to maintain his behavior and manage his emotions.
This year, he told Director Sharon Walterman that he wanted a bigger role “I told him that we needed to be able to count on him to maintain good behavior, because kids who take on bigger roles are harder to replace if they slip up and lose the privilege of participating in the play,” says Walterman. “He looked me in the eye and said, ‘You can count on me this year. This is what I want to do,’ and he’s done an amazing job,” says Walterman. He’s back on track and the theatre program is helping.
The Lower School started the therapeutic theatre program in 2006 to enhance student’s social skills, self-esteem, and 
appreciation of the arts. Students are involved in many aspects of the play, including learning to use the spotlight and helping with set design and painting. Several students also act as the stage crew, and their classmates rely on them to set up props and move the set around as needed during the performance. The Children’s Home is well equipped to help students learn to manage their behavior, and the Theatre program offers the perfect opportunity to practice. Children learn and develop their social skills, like how to accept feedback from the Director. Learning to accept feedback is one of the key pieces of the Teaching Family Model, the evidence-based behavior modification practice that has been implemented campus-wide at The Children’s Home.
Cincinnati Philanthropist Has A Personal Cause
I’ve known Myrna Ethridge for about five years now, about as long as I’ve been working with the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati. She is a board member of the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program who believes so wholeheartedly in the cause because she is so passionate about the success of young people. Several years ago the YMCA honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
I love being around Myrna because she always has a smile. This past year, however, I didn’t get to see as much of her. Myrna’s split second happened in 2000. Out of the blue, this vibrant wife, mother and grandmother was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH), a life threatening disease that has made even walking up a slight incline a difficult task.
Her challenges are real and her medication costs thousands of dollars each month, which was okay when she had medical insurance, but when she turned 65 in 2007, her drug plan was no longer covered and Medicaid only paid for a portion. An organization called the Caring Voice Coalition has eradicated her fear and eased her financial burden by providing her a yearly grant for the medications costs not covered by Medicaid.
It really struck a chord with me when Myrna told me the other day, “I probably wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for the Coalition.”
And so, it was no surprise to me when her next sentence was, “It is time for me to give back.”
Myrna is organizing (with help from a small committee) a dinner fund raiser for the Caring Voice Coalition, which is headquartered in Mechanicsville, Va. Pamela Harris, the organization’s co-founder and president, will be the special guest.
The With Every Breath dinner will be April 6, 2012 at the Sharonville Convention Center (11355 Chester Rd; 45246) beginning at 7 p.m. Cost is $80 per person. For reservations or more information, please call 513-374-8360 or email witheverybreath@fuse.net.
ABOUT CARING VOICE COALITION
Caring Voice Coalition empowers patients with chronic diseases to meet the challenges they are facing by providing financial assistance, insurance education and patient support programs. Their holistic approach and comprehensive program 
currently assists patients in the Greater Cincinnati area and nationally.
Chronic diseases supported by the Coalition are Pulmonary Hypertension, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Alpha-1, Complex Partial Seizures, Infantile Spasms, Huntington’s disease, Congenital Factor XIII, Chronic Granulomatous Disorder and Narcolepsy.
Photo right: Pamela Harris
Bake Me Home Enriches Lives…With Cookies
Meet 10 year old twins Emma and Amy Bushman. Born just moments apart, Amy is the artsy one who loves dabbling in the creation – drawing, building, and writing. Emma on the other hand is the more methodical, more critical thinker. You wouldn’t know it by looking at them that the girls are twins but it is pretty obvious they are best friends in the whole wide world.
And, as best friends go, they share an interest in music (Emma plays the flute while Amy plays the trumpet and piano), tennis, singing, and making a real difference in the world. They also happen to be entrepreneurs, volunteers, business women, and board members. That’s right. Emma and Amy (and their mother, Alison) began one of Cincinnati’s most unique nonprofits in their kitchen three years ago.
Today Bake Me Home serves hundreds of parents and their children each year (a statistic that continues to grow) through shelters and other agencies in four counties; and has more than 100 volunteers who assist. It is all about promoting volunteerism, enriching lives and strengthening family relationships, especially those who are facing significant personal challenges – and it’s centered around cookies!
The very beginning
Behind the scenes of Bake Me Home are two parents – Alison and Lee – who believe in teaching their children about the 
importance of giving back. The girls were not even in kindergarten yet when they began learning what it means to help other people. Alison said it really didn’t take a whole lot of convincing to get the twins to understand there are other kids who needed gifts much more than they did.
And so, at their fourth birthday party, Amy and Emma started asking their friends to bring books and toys for homeless children instead. Then they’d gather their gifts and deliver them with their mom to the Bethany House shelter for families; and while they were there, they made a pancake breakfast for everyone.
Fast forward three years
Being the astute person that she is, Emma was watching Teen Kids News one morning as she has many times. Only this time there was a story that spoke to her. It was the coverage of a Young Entrepreneurs Convention and Emma was blown away when she learned about other kids starting their own businesses. “Kids can really do that?,” she yelled to her mom – an expert at selective listening.
“Sure you can do anything you want to do,” was the response. Then Alison went back to cooking dinner.
(Somehow, I don’t think this Anderson mom who loved the idea of finding opportunities to teach her girls life lessons had any idea of what she was committing to.)
Cookie Bakers
Coincidentally, Amy and Emma had just come home from a ‘food as gifts’ themed camp with a jar of dry ingredients – everything needed to make soft and chewy cookies, their favorite thing to do when they wanted to spend quality mom-daughter time together.
It was that simple. They would have a nonprofit organization that would provide moms who are down on their luck with all of the ingredients necessary to bake homemade cookies with their children, starting with the residents at Bethany House. Sure, cookies may not be the most nutritious food on the chain but that wasn’t really what this was about. It was about giving parents and children a feel good activity, one where they’d talk and laugh and bond with each other just as Amy, Emma and Alison do.
First things first. Alison, who had no idea what it even meant to be called 501C3 had to do a quick study – on vacation – and, within eight months they were approved.
They needed to come up with a recipe that didn’t include vanilla extract (because it is expensive) and so there was a lot of experimenting – and taste testing. (lots of taste testing) They contacted their church to use its health department approved space. They held fundraisers, applied for grants and got donations. And they recruited volunteers and board members.
The girls wrote this on their website…”This pile of goodies made us realize that they were going to need something to carry all this stuff out of the shelter and into their new home, hence the introduction of the tote bag and the new name for our program! We knew our families would face one last obstacle when baking their cookies, the cost of the stick of butter and two eggs needed to complete their mix. We knew from our years of volunteer work at The Bethany House that many families moved into their new homes with little or no grocery money. We didn’t want money to keep them from baking our cookies while celebrating this happy time together, so we decided our Tote Bag needed one more thing, a Kroger grocery store gift card. Our $20 gift card allows them to get their butter eggs, and a few other essential items. We always suggest milk to go with their cookies!”
Other programs
Today Bake Me Home also includes –
Bake Me Home Pantry Totes that distributes totes as funds are available to area pantries.
Bake Me Home Family Portrait Program that provides a free 5×7 portrait to families at food pantries and shelters through the area.
Bake Me BACK Home Program where, for a $30 donation, two dozen cookies are sent to a military member overseas and proceeds benefit the rest of the organization’s work.
Bake Me Home Awards recognizing other kids’ for doing community service.
Lessons learned
The girls are the idea generators and help with every facet of the organization, including overseeing the financial statements. Alison laughed when she told me about how Emma had grilled her for spending an additional $30 on 1000 tote bags.
I asked Amy and Emma what they like most about Bake Me Home. “It’s all the things we learn. When we first started, mom used words we didn’t know like ‘fiscal’. I always thought it should be ‘physical,’” said Amy.
“It makes me feel good and helpful because I’m pretty sure not many kids have started a charity. Being a board member is really cool because I always thought you had to be an adult. We’re crossing our fingers that we can be Co-President of Bake Me Home one day,” said Emma.
I actually know the girls get a whole lot more out of it than just learning about economics, although that is a very important lesson.
“I feel that everybody needs to help out just a little,” Emma told me.
Yes, Emma, you’re absolutely right. We all can learn from your lesson.
