About Restore Orlando
Restore Orlando Background and
Organizational History
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Restore
Orlando recently completed fifteen years
of service in the Holden
Heights Community of Orlando. Since that
time, Restore Orlando has assisted the
Holden Heights community to achieve a
higher standard of life through
home ownership, education, economic
development and Christian values. |
Our primary
goal is to raise a generation of people
who are spiritually,
emotionally, and physically equipped to
use their God-given talents to bring
about permanent and positive growth in
themselves and in their families and
community.
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Specifically, since 1992 Restore Orlando
has touched over 20,000 family
members per year through our various
programs. In our first ten years we
served 155,329 hot lunches and 9,817
dinners. This is a total of 165,146 hot
meals served to those in need. 42,996
food boxes were distributed, which feed
87,003 individuals within families.
During the year 2000 Restore Orlando
served 7,852 hot meals to children
through our Kid’s Café program.
Restore Orlando has historically and
presently been excellent stewards of
its financial resources through the use
of volunteer labor. In our first
ten years 118,247 hours in
volunteer service were exercised
through Restore Orlando.
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Imagine if these hours were
calculated at $8 per hour, it would
equal $945,982 in donated labor. Over
our fifteen-year history we have
rehabilitated over twenty homes, which
provided much needed housing for those
in need.
Grand Avenue
Elementary, which is representative of
our community, has a student population
comprised of 89% African Americans,
8% Caucasian, and 3% Hispanic. Eighty
percent of the children come from single
parent homes; many are in the legal
custody of a grandparent. Grand Avenue,
Pine Loch and Catalina Elementary have
an average of 89% of the student
population receiving Federal lunch
programs, a poverty indicator (March 14,
1999 Orlando Sentinel). Each of these
schools have been rated either D or F by
the Department of Education of the State
of Florida, as noted in the Report Card
on Schools . These harsh realities
simply underscore the importance of and
need for Restore Orlando.
Purpose and Goals of Restore Orlando
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When the
congregation of First Church of the
Nazarene at 1030 W. Kaley
Avenue, Orlando, Florida decided to
relocate, they wanted to leave a
positive influence in this neighborhood
of Holden Heights. |
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The leaders of
the Central Florida District Church of
the Nazarene asked Jerry and Polly
Appleby to pioneer a new project – a
compassionate ministry center.
Restore
Orlando, Inc. opened its doors for
ministry in June of 1992. The first
Board of Directors was formed at this
time. Those first board members were
Rev. Jerry Appleby, Executive Director;
Dr. William Bott, surgeon; Larry Stutes
and Don Hastings, businessmen.
The first
task that Restore undertook was a
community based needs assessment through
informal interviews of members of the
community. Through that assessment,
Restore discovered that the need that
the community most identified was
emergency relief. Restore began
providing emergency services as a way to
begin servicing the community to add
programs that lead to long term change.
The effort started with a program to
provide meals for the homeless and low
income residents of Holden Heights. The
feeding program soon developed into a
large scale food distribution effort.
Donated used clothing was also made
available to those having need.
In addition to the food and clothing
distribution program, an after school
program called T.A.S.K. (Tutoring After
School Kids) was developed for area
elementary school age children.
Eventually the program grew and was
expanded by adding R.A.P (Restore
Achievement Program) for middle school
and high school kids. In 1995, Restore
opened a gym to provide an after school
recreation program for kids in a safe
environment. With time and growth they
combined these programs into what is now
our After School Youth Education Program
and Mentoring Program.
From the beginning, Restore Orlando
became involved in a community
restoration effort that included the
renovation of homes around Restore’s
location. We accomplished this in
cooperation with NationsBank (now Bank
of America), the Parramore
Heritage Foundation, and the Orlando
Neighborhood Improvement Corporation.
Through this revitalization program
twenty homes received varying degrees of
repair or were completely renovated.
The ultimate goal of this effort was to
assist local families in becoming
homeowners.
Other programs and services have been
added over the years to fill other
community needs and to help raise needed
funds for Restore’s growing
programs and services. A thrift store
was opened in 1997. It began with
selling used clothing. Over the past
couple of years household items,
appliances and furniture have been added
to the store’s wares. While the
items are sold at a nominal price, if
someone presents a need for some
clothing, they receive what they need at
no charge. The store sees about
seventy-five customers per month on
average.
Through its many programs and services,
Restore touches 20,000 family
members each year. From June 1992 until
June 2005, Restore served 177,000 hot
meals and distributed 49,000 family food
boxes. The food boxes alone fed over
99,000 individuals.
The After School and Mentoring program
now assists 25-45 kids per week. In
April 1998, we started a daily meal
program, designed specifically for the
children of the community. It is
operated with the funds and donations of
food from several generous sources,
including Second Harvest Food Bank of
Central Florida and the Father’s table
Foundation. We serve a meal to an
average of fifty children per day.
In October 2000, we added an Adult
Education program to provide instruction
to any and all adults in the areas of
basic computer skills, financial
management, parenting skills, cooking
and nutrition. Volunteers are the
backbone of the workforce of Restore.
From 1992 until the present time
volunteers have logged over 135,150
service hours. If those hours were
calculated at $8.00 per hour, it would
equal $1,081,200 in paid labor.
Under the current Leadership, the
emphasis of Restore’s efforts is
educational programs that empower others
to achieve independence. While we still
offer relief services, housing
initiatives, and referral services to
those in need, these services are also
used as a way to guide people to our
educational and community development
programs. We are committed to
listening to the desires and dreams of
the community, and assist in reaching
goals. It is our calling to reinvest in
the lives and development of
others. |
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