THANK YOU LETTER
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Words cannot express the joy that you have brought to my family. I genuinely appreciate all of the hard work and long hours that you dedicated to the building of our home. In addition to helping my family, the new home has helped the village of Riverdale. It has helped to improve the image of our community. You have torn down what once was an eyesore and built something beautiful in its place.
Obtaining my bachelor’s degree fulfilled one of my most important goals in life. I always knew that I would return to school, but it never seemed like the right time. Finally after 11 years of waiting, I decided that it was time. I had the support of my church family and I put my all into making a better future for my daughters. My faith in God and love for my children kept me on track even when I struggled. Then, along came the Swan Group with an offer that seemed too good to be true. The offer of a home from perfect strangers! I still have a hard time believing it sometimes, but when I walk through the door, it just feels like home. My children and I feel comfortable and secure.
I am always in awe of people who give so much of themselves and ask for nothing in return. It is people like you who make the world a wonderful place. You have inspired me to commit myself to service in my community and society as a whole. Your gift not only blessed my family with homeownership, but also gave me a giant boost in my effort to complete my education. I thank you and will always remember what you have done for us!
With Love,
Lynda Garrison
This reintegration pilot has trained inmates in construction trade skills with hands-on experience in the actual construction of a house, while providing community service for a non-profit organization. Attainment of these job skills will enhance the inmates' ability to gain employment and earn a living wage. Life coaches will assist inmates in this transition to encourage a responsible life skill in the community, thus enhancing community safety.
Swan Corp 1, Inc. and its consultants, provided a construction skills training pilot in conjunction with the Entrepreneurs of Color Council, Inc.’s project to construct a unit of affordable housing in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The housing unit was built for The Swan Group, a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization. Upon completion, a family headed by a single parent pursuing a college education will be awarded a housing scholarship to reside in the home.
In August, 2007, the second group of nine inmates began participating in this pilot. For 12 weeks, they received innovative classroom training at The Swan House. This training included industry awareness, carpentry, blueprint reading, employability training, career path planning, and motivational speakers.
Eight of these inmates successfully completed the classroom training phase. During the twelve weeks, each participent volunteered to do community service 2 days per week by working on the Swan House while they gained field experience. During their community service on-the-job training, the inmates worked with life coaches, and developed competencies in electrical, plumbing, drywall, cement finishing, and advanced carpentry, and on job retention skills.
After twelve weeks eight inmates successfully completed the program, each participant obtaining a future work release job.
FINDINGS:
While the majority of participants entered this program with little or no construction skills, they were able to gain these skills with relative ease. The area of greatest difficulty for participants appeared to be in the area of employability. They initially struggled to demonstrate productive workplace communication, teamwork, and general good work ethic. The majority of participants had never held a job outside of an institution prior to their involvement with this program.
Overall the consensus of the inmates participating in the project was that skills were developed. Inmates that had never worked a full time job felt that the program taught them life skills, reliability, and dependability. They also found that this project taught them diversity skills in a team concept.
Swan House Builds Homes for Single-Parents Pursuing Higher Education
CHICAGO, IL. – Oct. 5, 2006 – The Swan House awarded its first house Give Away to nursing student Lynda Garrison, a single parent who is a full-time student at Saint Xavier University (Attached is a photo of the recipient Lynda Garrison, Chris Swan Founder, Jim Rose Co Founder and Jane Swan of The Swan House.).
Newspaper Articles
Read the following articles about The Swan House. In order to view them, you will need the free Adobe® Reader plug-in. If you do not have the plug-in, click here to download it.- The Swan House :: The Business News :: March 27, 2006
Videos
Watch the following videos about The Swan House. In order to view them, you will need the free Macromedia® Flash plug-in. If you do not have the plug-in, click here to download it.- The Swan House 2006 (Filesize: 30Mb)
- Electrical Clip #1 :: Channel 7 News
- Electrical Clip #2 :: Channel 7 News
- Exterior Walls Clip :: Channel 7 News
- Floor Clip :: Channel 7 News
