During this season of thanks, we are grateful for some of the wonderful organizations in Dayton that are committed to improving the lives of Daytonians and inspiring us to action.
Good Shepherd Ministries
Speaking with Shawn Trapp, program director for Good Shepherd Ministries, you immediately feel his passion for Good Shepherd. For him the journey has come full circle.
“I have been on a spiritual path to where I am today,” said Trapp. “I traveled from Cincinnati to Dayton to attend treatment at Woodhaven Residential Treatment Center, and I was involved with Good Shepherd.”
Trapp is proud to be celebrating six years of sobriety; but there’s a greater sense of accomplishment as he discusses the brotherhood of Good Shepherd Ministries.
Established in 2001, Good Shepherd Ministries is a faith based nonprofit recovery organization that partners with Woodhaven Residential Treatment Center. The nonprofit operates three recovery homes on Linden Ave., as well as an apartment recovery complex on Xenia Ave. Currently 25 clients are in the program.
“We have a 60% success rate of our clients’ staying sober for more than five years,” said Trapp. “Our brotherhood is a bridge to those who are actively engaged in recovery. We provide housing, food, job training, job placement, crisis coaching, life coaching, and, most important, spiritual guidance and encouragement for a life of sobriety; but we also help our clients leave with a sense of purpose.”
While each person attends recovery groups and Bible study groups Monday to Friday, they are also committed to helping the community.
“Over the last three years, we have picked up 60 tons of garbage, as well as 25 tons of tires, on the east side of Dayton,” explained Trapp. “We partner with local businesses for cleanups whenever needed.”
This group is dedicated to helping families in need. “Each Christmas our brotherhood adopts five families. With the proceeds we get from selling Christmas trees, we give back to those five families.”
As part of the program, Good Shepherd Ministries clients perform service work in the community; and many work with the microbusinesses that Good Shepherd has established to develop life and trade skills. The ministry runs a thrift store for the community. From working at a commercial landscaping company to contracting, carpentry, plumbing, and other trades, clients earn job training and certifications, in partnership with Miami Valley Career Technology Center.
To help Good Shepherd Ministries, visit its thrift store. Follow it on Facebook (@GoodShepherdMinistriesDayton), to keep up to date with community events and its journey to restore a bus to help its Feed the Streets program.
Victory Project
Victory Project aims to offer an alternative to the street for America’s youth, through a privately funded 501(c)(3) afterschool program mentoring disengaged young men of Dayton through education, entrepreneurship, and enlightenment.
“The Victory Project is not designed to force compliance, but to create an environment so valuable that the student modifies their behavior to maintain membership,” said Monnie Bush, founder and CEO.
The organization is committed to providing individualized tutoring, to get all young men in the program to graduate high school. These students work alongside business mentors to run Victory Improvement Projects and Victory Landscape Management, LLC, to gain critical business skills. The organization is also dedicated to sharing dinner each night, to provide a safe and consistent family environment for its students, while encouraging religious studies.
To learn more about the success stories of these young men and help the organization change the trajectory of young men’s lives, visit www.VictoryProject.org.