Christmas at The ZaGaMi HouSe

In a Perfect World; the organization that looks to empower and enrich the lives of children. The Zagami House; the place where hope is provided for children of low income families. On December 18Th 2008, these two became one in the same. With the guidance of the founder of IAPW, Manuela Testolini and Executive Director Dr. Towanna Freeman I was able to collaborate the motives and ideas of these two organizations to improve the lives of the children of the Zagami House. The managers of the Zagami House, Kristen Green and Vania Fields also dedicated substantial time and effort to see that the children received only the best Christmas.

Starting in February of 2008, the prosperous Zagami House was established by SOME (So Others Might Eat) to provide an affordable housing program for families that were formerly homeless or had extremely low income. Along with the establishment of affordable housing, Zagami House provides financial support services, helping the families to become increasingly productive and grow closer to becoming financially independent.

As one of many of SOME's affordable housing programs for families; Zagami House has become very successful in a short amount of time. Parents living at the Zagami House pay 30% of their monthly income as rent, are provided case managers that teach them how to save money and manage debt and are advised for improvement in parenting skills.

The children living in the Zagami House are provided opportunities for financial stability as well. These children participate in an after school enrichment activities. Among these activities are tutoring, mentorship and art classes. Aside from enrichment activities, the children work with a child development specialist to reach academic, social and behavioral goals.

As to do our part to make sure this program is a success for the future families to come, I decided in a Perfect World would contribute. In planning, months of communicating with Kristen and Vania, the wonderful managers of the Zagami house, were required. Our team was built by many of the members of my community that were especially anxious to see the looks on the faces of the children when they saw what we had been planning. Most of our team consisted of high school youth. Teens that participated in groups such as DECA (an association of marketing students) and even teens from local churches all contributed to the cause of these children and the Zagami House.

Days after classes were spent drafting ideas as to what each child would receive and planning the activities we would do with them during the PartAay. Shopping here, shopping there, the enthusiasm was ecstatic. We simply could not stop the flow of our ideas. Btween the teens involved in DECA and I, just remembering our own holiday celebrations and the toys we all wanted as children, made us realize the seriousness in our mission. So, just as you probably already guessed, for the holiday season of 2008, In a Perfect World contributed numerous gifts that would not only give the children happiness but that would also help them learn the importance of financial platforms.

Allow me to explain; as apart of the enrichment activities, each child is given a "job" to do around the house that they would be paid for in return for their hard work. Depending on how much effort they put towards their 'jobs" or how much time they spent on them, the income of each child differed.



During the Zagami House Holiday Party, the earnings of each child was announced. The top earners were allowed to then "purchase" items with their "money" from the holiday shop (above) that consisted of some of the gifts IAPW had contributed. In this the children learned that hard work and saving money leads to benefits and accreditation in the future. This all directly represented In a Perfect world's belief that when children are given the platform and experience that allow their ideas to be heard and shared, their desire for a perfect world will significantly change all. this activity was one that was directly supported by IAPW in hopes that it will continue to teach youth the importance of jobs and finances as a platform in their future.

Speaking of jobs, the team that was built to represent In a Perfect World was also assigned jobs. From bank tellers that exchanged the children's "checks" for "money" to Holiday Store clerks (above left), haha, our team was over and beyond expectations and "credentials" as you might say. As you can see by our kitchen team alone ( above right) we absolutely had a blast. We even got to break in a few of the new gifts that were donated to the house such as the cash register. :) To top it all off, just guess who we decided upon for our entertainment for the evening. . .. no, cant guess; Why, none other than SanTa ClaUse and his CrEw!! While Mr. Clause was taking wishes, Mrs. clause and the helper elf decided to hand out the gifts we donated.

And to add to all the chaos, I am actually proud to say that that evening a PlayStation was also donated to the Zagami House. This along with our team dedication overwhelmed the managers of the household and emotion struck us all. The kids were simply in awe; don't even get me started on Santa. In this it became hard not to realize that the gain we received as a team from the project was greater then what we could have ever given these kids.

In dwelling on the impact the House had on us later that evening during dinner, many of the group members of DECA and the church that had formed our team asked if they could adopt our project and spread In a Perfect World's cause in empowering children to become exactly who they want to be.

All in all I think both the children as well as the team gained so much from this project. Though I believe we gained more moralistically, the kids of the Zagami House had much to gain through the opportunities the House provides. I believe that through the support we recieved during this first presentation of the Zagami House Holiday Party and the amount of assistance the children will gain in the next year to come, only bigger and better things can be awaiting the youth of the Zagami House for the following holiday season. By reaching out and touching the lives of the children for just one day, we truly made a difference.

one step closer to A Perfect World. . .