Buckner Children and Family Services

Volunteers Provide “Great Service” at Buckner Ministry in South Dallas
By Angela Best Buckner News Service “Volunteers are very, very key in what we do. I don’t believe as an agency we could provide the great service that we provide without the assistance of volunteers,” said Johnny Flowers, Wynnewood site coordinator for Buckner Children and Family Services. “I just can’t say that enough times. They make everything possible. “We like to consider this the Parks at Wynnewood Make a Difference Center -- a one-stop-shop social service center,” Flowers said. “Because whatever issues or whatever concerns our residents are dealing with, we try to meet them right where they are to come up with solutions for their problems.” The Parks at Wynnewood is a low income, multi-housing complex in a struggling community in South Dallas where most residents are on welfare and barely surviving. Buckner Children and Family Services provides a place of worship, a GED assistance program, after-school program and summer programs for kids, domestic violence counseling, an on-site food pantry, a mentorship program, job assistance training and a senior adult program at the Parks at Wynnewood. With about 25 participants in the GED assistance program, there are also an average of 34 pre-adolescents and 25 adolescents who participate in the after-school program. About 20 are in the senior adult program, and 188 women from the Metroplex area are currently participating in the domestic violence counseling program. Partners within the community are also crucial to the survival of the programs at Wynnewood. On June 6, Wynnewood teamed up with AMERIGROUP, a low cost medical program provider for children up to age 18, for a kick-off for the summer fitness camp that will involve the children of the community and will be occurring through the end of July.
The kick-off included hula hoop, basketball, sit ups, push ups and jump rope contests for prizes that encourage an active lifestyle, like basketballs and footballs; grilled turkey burgers and turkey hotdogs; and The Beat 97.9 FM radio station broadcasting live on site. The AMERIGROUP-sponsored fitness camp will consist of many weeks of good information and fun, including dialogue about eating healthy and how to prepare healthy meals, and aerobics workouts with a fitness instructor. “We just want to promote fitness and healthy lifestyles, especially with childhoodobesity being such an issue today,” said Veronica Moore, marketing manager for the DFW-area AMERIGROUP. AMERIGROUP has been a great asset and is a crucial collaborator with Wynnewood, according to Flowers. “They helped us get new computers in our computer lab and gave a donation for some improvements for the after-school program, including some more fitness equipment and some recreation games and tables for the game room,” Flowers said. Likewise, Dallas Baptist University has proven a solid collaborator with the Buckner ministry. Jen Taylor, a recent DBU graduate and one of two coordinators, said that the Pacesetters have had a long relationship with Buckner. “The first time the Pacesetters ever came out to Wynnewood they vacuumed andcleaned out rooms, and then it developed into a camp,” Taylor said.Concord Missionary Baptist Church, True Believers Baptist Church and the Dallas Baptist University Pacesetters will also put on backyard Bible camps for the children. Damon Halliday, of Damon Halliday Ministries, first became associated with Buckner five years ago through Concord Church. As a kid from inner-city Philadelphia, Halliday faced many of the same situations as residents at Wynnewood; however, he also experienced the power of God, and chose to share that power with the youth at Wynnewood through Bible studies as well as by participating in the mentorship program for young men ages 12 – 18, along with Flowers. “You can only change a community one person at a time,” Halliday said. “You have to educate people to help disciple them – they don’t know what they need to know to know how to live.” The men aren’t the only ones in the community receiving encouragement and advice – Sonya Wells, founder of Salvation in Bloom Ministries, a community-based outreach ministry, is leading programs for both young and older women at Wynnewood. “One of my hearts in my ministry is to reach women and youth – girls in particular – because as a young lady myself I didn’t really get a lot of education on what girls go through – the struggles of sexual pressure, dating, peer pressure, self-worth and identity,” Wells said. Ruby Sams, a Wynnewood resident since 1997 who currently serves as a volunteer and the church pianist at Wynnewood, has seen many changes implemented during her time as a resident. “Before Reverend Johnny Flowers, there was nothing here. The children in theneighborhood needed a place to go,” Sams said. “One thing I like about Buckner is that it’s ongoing and organized – it’s not a start and stop situation. The kids look forward to having a place to go every day. ”Sams is primarily involved with the senior adult group, or “Club 55,” where the members have to be 55 years old or more. As the youngest of the group, Sams sees it as her duty to see to the needs of the other group members during group trips. Both of Sams’ grandchildren, who are also residents at Wynnewood along with her daughter, participate in the after-school program. The after-school program features spiritual enrichment, life skills, academic support with one-on-one tutoring, recreation, and an enrichment activity once a month. Jennifer Kindert, a children’s book illustrator, volunteers in the after-school program and is fondly known by the children at Wynnewood as the “brownie lady” since she often provides the children with such treats. “It’s so gratifying because they are so enthusiastic and willing to learn,” Kindertsaid. “It’s just so inspiring to be around the children.” Raymond Johnson also works with the children, leading the children’s Sunday school class. He first became involved in 2002 after speaking with his prayer partner at Concord, who mentioned that God had led him to volunteer at Wynnewood. “Since I drove by Wynnewood every day on I35, whenever I would pass the exit Godwould tug at my heart,” Johnson said. “He wouldn’t leave me alone over it, so I felt led to go there.” Johnson eventually developed a Sunday school class of seven to eight 5th – 7th graders as well as a couple of two- and three-year-olds. He also began helping with the offering in the Sunday services. “There’s a lot of opportunity, and a lot of people who need to know about God’s will and how to apply it to their lives.” That opportunity is what Johnny Flowers and the rest of the staff and volunteers at Wynnewood take advantage of and hope that others follow suit. “Some of the success stories are when children come back after graduating from high school that participated in the after-school program and say, “Mr. J, you don’t know what you did for me – what Buckner did for me. How many times ya’ll fed me when I was hungry and we didn’t have anything to eat at home, the Christmas that ya’ll provided for me when we didn’t have anything under the Christmas tree,” Flowers said. “That right there is a motivating factor to continue to want to do this business of Buckner out here in Oak Cliff because it’s such a powerful ministry, and you touch lives one at a time. ”To volunteer at the Parks at Wynnewood, contact Johnny Flowers at 214-948-5153 or jflowers@buckner.org.