A Slam Dunk Day of Support and Inspiration for Pontiac Families

A Slam Dunk Day of Support and Inspiration for Pontiac Families
(C. Proxmire, Jan. 31, 2015)
How do you move from stress to success? That was the theme for the children who came to the New Day, New Life and New Hope event held for Pontiac Families on Jan. 31 at Salvation Army and hosted by Community Network Services.
The program for kids focused on giving kids tools for coping with life’s challenges, including finding healthy social support, being healthy overall, and having calm and healthy responses to the inevitable stresses of life.
Students listened to inspiring words of wisdom from QTMC – Quest To Make a Change’s Steve Coleman, heard the hip-hop optimism and spiritual praise of “Ituha Cloud,” and watched the Detroit Pistons Flight Crew Dunk Team demonstrate the outcome of determination and practice. As the kids soaked up the inspiration and guidance, parents had workshops with their own theme: It’s Okay to Talk About It.
“Our goal was to give families the starter tools and resources that are needed to have healthy relationships, which in turn create healthy families and healthy communities,” said Pastor John Smith, who is the Community Outreach Consultant for Community Network Services.
Community Network Services (CNS) offers many services including case management, mental health services, family support, community living supports, support groups and therapy.
“We had about 100 children of all ages and ethnicities, about 80 adults, 30 volunteers, 9 community partners/vendors, and 14 CNS professionals,” Smith said. Elected officials were also on hand to inspire and support the young people, including County Commissioner David Bowman, Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman and representatives from the City Council and the School Board. In addition to the experience, many families were able to go home with prizes, including 30 who were given Visa gift cards.
Volunteer Tiffany Sollars-Cloud called the day “amazing.” She said “Our prayer is that the seeds that were deposited today impact and change people’s perspective of who they are and what their purpose is! God has a plan for each man, woman and child that attended today’s event! What a blessing it was to be a part of this outreach.”
Learn more about CNS at http://www.cnsmi.org/.
Learn more about Pontiac Schools at http://www.pontiac.k12.mi.us.

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