Kenosha Vocational Ministry: Our Christmas Gift Recipient

In late 2015, Racine Vocational Ministry and a group of Kenosha citizens, under the leadership of District Attorney Michael Graveley and the Kenosha County Health Department, met to address the issues of gun violence and public health. After a year of discussion and planning, the challenges of people returning from prison emerged as a priority to lowering violence and strengthening families. In March of 2016, gifts from Kenosha churches St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church and St. Mary’s Lutheran Church, and a Kenosha board member gave RVM the opportunity to begin offering services in Kenosha. Through the generosity of Guida Brown and the Hope Council, KVM was given space to start programming and was not asked to pay for the use of the facility. Truly, this is what made our modest start possible.

From March of 2017 until January of 2018 a case load of one day a week was maintained to provide reentry services in Kenosha for the first time. In December of 2017, funding from Kenosha County and Light of Christ Anglican Church made it possible to triple the number of participants we could see as we moved into 2018. Karl Erickson and the Urban Outreach Center offered KVM a larger space and access to all of the amenities that were there to support staff and benefit our participants. We are laying a firm foundation for future successes in Kenosha.

Light of Christ’s gift this Christmas will mean another substantial increase in the number of participants we can see, aiding us in bringing our part-time case worker to full-time status. The more participants we can see, the more we can place in jobs and the greater the impact on our community. Thank you for your generous gifts!