School District 135 Outreach to Poor Communities
Originally published March 1, 2015
Orland Park may be a small blip on the map at only 22 square miles. However, locally and in some remote locations around the globe, we are making a world of difference.
During an Orland School District 135 Board meeting Feb. 9 honoring outstanding students and teachers, a presentation was given by Dr. Alexis Felder, founder of The Joseph Assignment, a Matteson-based nonprofit dedicated to building schools domestically and internationally.
Felder expressed gratitude to District 135 for donating more than 1,200 pieces of school furniture last summer. She passionately spoke about the work that still needs to be done, and thanked our elementary school district for its generous donation.
As a result of the donation, District 135 will have assisted in the development of schools that educate children living in extreme poverty in remote villages in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, all countries in Africa.
“These supplies will give new hope to people who have no hope,” Felder said.
She spoke of the 600 students whose two schools were destroyed in Liberia; and how students in Sierra Leone, where there are no classrooms, are holding classes under a tree.
Founded in 2004, The Joseph Assignment Global Initiative is a humanitarian project committed to responding to the needs of the world’s poorest children and families. The vision of organizers is to meet basic human needs in a manner that goes beyond what is typically considered charity. They strive to provide effective tools for sustainable development in remote villages.
Building a school in a village is good, but not enough to bring out the value inherent in every life. They ensure opportunity for children to obtain world-class education in the schools they build with partner donations. The Joseph Assignment maintains ongoing partnerships with village schools to ensure every student has library books, opportunity via a cutting-edge curriculum, school supplies, uniforms, health care and food needed to receive a quality education.
Additionally, they find partners to assist in their core areas of service: health care, education, clean and safe drinking water, services to orphans and vulnerable children, shelter, food and economic development through farming, implementation of green technologies, and ecosystem-preservation methods within villages. Helping in these areas provides foundations for transformation.
All contributions are used to directly impact the lives of people living within these remote villages.
The U.S. staff is a volunteer team of committed professionals who believe compassion must be followed by action that cultivates change and promotes holistic living.
Through their development efforts in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, India, Congo, Angola, Somalia, Jamaica, Haiti, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Guatemala, they have impacted more than 294,895 lives, according to the organization.
The district’s donation was actually its surplus. As explained by District 135 community relations coordinator Tracy Marc, “Last July, (we) began a surplus furniture project to extend the use of a large inventory of school furniture no longer used in the district. The project was started in an effort to save thousands of dollars in disposal costs and pass on the inventory’s extended use in other educational settings.”
Director of finance Carl Forn suggested to Dean Casper, the district contract and purchasing analyst, that he reach out to area private schools and organizations to find new homes for the furniture. The result has been incredible and has made a positive impact on local and international organizations.
Forn shared information about another surplus seeing new life. Encyclopedias that have been shelved in lieu of modern technology are being used in remote areas where Internet access is not available.
Felder always has had a heart for those in need. Receiving her training for international development through the YMCA of Metro Milwaukee’s International Division, she took her development experience, her own familiarity with poverty, the passion that her husband, the Rev. Trunell Felder, senior pastor of New Faith Baptist Church International, has for transforming lives, and with all of that, she started The Joseph Assignment.
The two have been blessed to adopt two children from Ghana – Nora, 13, and Andrew, 10. They also serve as “parents” to thousands of children living in poverty who depend on their love.
Seeing the impact that food, clean water, health care, shelter and education has had on the recipients encourages them to keep working to bring attention to the plight of children in poverty around the world.
Felder’s enthusiasm radiates as she tells about children who have “never seen a textbook are now able to hold one.” She said that “just because people are born into poverty does not mean that they have to remain in poverty”.
Felder explained that efforts are under way to bring supplies and educational equipment to Jamaica.
Jamaica? Our idyllic knowledge of the tropical paradise has us picturing resorts, beautiful beaches and all-inclusive hotels. However, a population of poverty-stricken residents who are forced to hide so they are not seen by tourists is a stark reality, according to Felder.
A quote on The Joseph Assignment website sums it up: “When a person does not have the capacity to dream for themselves, we must dream for them.”
For more information, visit josephassignment.org.