Community Outreach 2021
In 2021 Om Center for Spiritual Living is honored to sponsor three different organizations; Canine Companions, Alpha Project & Urban Street Angels. If you would like to support these outreach entities with donations, please click on our donation buttons and the designated funds will be added to our Monthly Donations.
Founded in 1975, Canine Companions for Independence® is a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships.
The assistance dogs we breed, raise and train aren’t just the ears, hands and legs of their human partners. They’re also goodwill ambassadors and often, their best friends. They open up new opportunities and new possibilities and spread incredible joy. We unite people with dogs in a powerful program that leads to greater independence and confidence.
Our Core Values
Teamwork – We believe in the joyful, transformative power of the human-canine partnership.
Compassionate Service – We act with respect, empathy and collaboration in service of our community, our constituents and each other.
Integrity – We do what is right guided by honesty, accountability and sincerity.
Community – We practice inclusion and acceptance to build impactful relationships within our diverse community.
Excellence – We conduct ourselves with professionalism in pursuit of the highest standards.
Innovation – We reinvent possibility to unleash our greatest potential.
Supporting Our Homeless Youth
We hear a lot about the homeless population in San Diego, especially families with children and veterans. But an often invisible and underserved group is "transitional aged youth"--those between the ages of 17 and 25.
Urban Street Angels, a non-profit organization, works to provide immediate services and supplies to such young people, through a Tuesday night shelter in North Park (offering dinner, haircuts, showers, clothing and hygiene supplies, medical attention, community referrals, and a safe place to sleep); as well as a Friday night outing in Ocean Beach, offering dinner and supplies. The Tuesday night shelter is limited to 23 young people and is very often filled to capacity.
But the organization's intention is "a hand up, not a hand out." The overnight shelter allows volunteers to begin to establish relationships and rebuild trust with the guests, many of whom are given the opportunity, when they are ready, to become involved with 8West, a program that provides housing (funded by the County of San Diego) and employment in a high-end bar soap business. For More information contact Rev. Jerry Troyer directly
The mission of the Alpha Project is to empower individuals, families, and communities by providing work, recovery and support services to people who are motivated to change their lives and achieve self-sufficiency. The agency’s many programs are available to all persons in need regardless of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Alpha Project strives not to manage homelessness, but rather to end it for its clients by offering jobs not handouts, respect not pity and empowerment not control. We provide the homeless with the tools they need to be the very best they can be.
Each program offered by the Alpha Project focuses on assisting participants to attain their own optimal level of independence. For most of our program participants, successful completion of our programs will mean complete and permanent independence through education, employment, sobriety, and stability. For those clients with special needs, our programs maximize their own potential and supports as much independence as possible. All of our clients regardless of their history are encouraged, supported, and assisted in reaching their maximum potential with dignity and respect.
What is a Living Room Conversation?
A Living Room Conversation is a simple way to heal divides.
It is a conversational model developed by dialogue experts in order to facilitate connection between people despite their differences, and even identify areas of common ground and shared understanding.
Within this model, we have developed nearly 100 conversation guides on all sorts of topics that can otherwise be tense to talk about with friends, strangers, and even loved ones of differing backgrounds and political persuasions.
Last Year the San Diego CSL Centers had discussions after services on the following topics. These events are open to the public and will be an open conversation that will expand our ability to make our world a better place. Click on the Logo to the left and you will be directed to additional information. Once the Pandemic is under control and we are back live, Om will be offering these topics on the highlighted months below.
January: The America We Want to Be: Founding Aspirations
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February: Peace Building in the US
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March: Refugee Families and Zero Tolerance
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April: Climate Change
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May: Politics in Faith Communities
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June: Mental Health, Addiction, and Incarceration
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July: The Opportunity Gap
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August: United or Divided
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September: Free speech, Hate Speech, and Campus Life
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October: Tolerance
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November: Relationships Over Politics: Connecting with Friends and Family
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December: Homelessness (Culture and Society)
Retirement planning involves setting goals for your retirement income, then creating a strategy and taking concrete steps to achieve them. It requires you to identify your sources of income, set up a savings plan, estimate your expenses during retirement and to plan for unforeseen events. Om Center for Spiritual Living does not endorse any business, however we do provide community resources that we feel with support the good of all. For more information click on the Logo above.
As part of the La Mesa Community we sometimes reference different businesses. Caring happens to be one of them. Caring.com is a leading senior care resource for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses and other loved ones. We have been featured by AARP, The Administration for Community Living, The National Legal Resource Center, and Forbes, as well as referenced by many governmental agencies and organizations across the Internet.
A few of thei offering include:
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Senior Living Directory
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Home Health Care
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Medical Supervision
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Daily Activities
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Skilled Nursing
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Financial Guidance
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Geriatric Care
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A Resource Guide for Retirement Planning https://www.indyfin.com/resource-guide-for-retirement-planning/
For more information please click on the photo or link above. Om Center for Spiritual Living does not endorse any business, however, we do provide community resources that we feel will support the good of all.
Most Americans admit to having more stuff than they use on a daily, even yearly, basis. Shoes and clothes lay un-worn in the bottom of drawers and baskets. But what good is doing other than taking up space? Are these truly sentimental items or are you just too busy to deal with them? The Shoes With Heart, a project we collected gently worn, used and new shoes. This footwear assisted in an amazing economic boost by creating micro-enterprise opportunities in developing nations like Haiti and many parts of Latin America and Africa. Instead of holding onto the items we no longer wear or use, Shoes with a Heart gives them new life and repurpose them to change lives in remote communities around the globe. Last year Om Collected over 2200 pairs of shoes from the local community and our congregants. The majority of the shoes were cleaned up, recycled and re-distributed to those in need all over the world.