Kokomo Urban Outreach to Honor Jeff Newton at Annual Fundraiser
BY HEIDI PRUITT
The Kokomo Post Staff
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
On Thursday, Nov. 10, supporters of Kokomo Urban Outreach are invited to not only reflect on the program’s impact over the past 17 years but also look ahead to what the future holds under new leadership.
The Unlimited Potential fundraiser will take place at Bel Air Events at 3014 S. Webster St., Kokomo at 6 p.m. to raise funds for the program and recognize Jeff Newton for his service as an executive director to Kokomo Urban Outreach prior to his retirement next year.
“My hope for the future is to be able to take the program to the next level. As far as more kids, more opportunities for the kids, and to be able to take the program to other communities,” said Deanna Ancil, a staff member at Up.
“What we have is really good, and it works,” Ancil said. “The more kids we touch now … that’s how we’re going to change the future.”
The night will feature a dinner from PASTArrific, a silent auction including items from Connor Prairie, The Children’s Museum, Healing Hands Spa and more, as well as testimonials from participants. Newton is set to reflect on his time at the nonprofit and introduce Sherry Rahl, recently named incoming executive director.
Kokomo Urban Outreach was founded in 2006 after Newton returned to his hometown of Kokomo to pursue a career in nonprofit work. What originally began as a program to the community offering food, clothing and other items to people in need, has evolved into something bigger than expected.
After noticing a pattern in who used the resources that the nonprofit offered, including children needing the same things their parents asked for, Newton and the KUO staff saw the need for a change in the way the program operated.
“We recognized that we were helping people through poverty instead of out of poverty,” said Ancil.
The Up Program at Kokomo Urban Outreach was imagined in 2016 after an EF-3 tornado caused roughly $10 million in damage ripped through Kokomo. This resulted in Newton recognizing the need for people who had bills to pay but had no job to pay them.
Newton saw this need firsthand and allowed those who were temporarily displaced from their jobs to earn $10 an hour cleaning up damage caused by the tornado.
“In the past, I would have just given them the money they needed,” said Newton. “But this time I didn’t do that. We gave them rakes, mowers and they started cleaning up the neighborhood.”
After Newton spoke with one of the workers and found out they had a dream of taking young men off the streets and teaching them how to work, that’s precisely what they did next.
“We tried it [the work mentorship programs] with the parents, and it didn’t work. So I realized we had to start younger, we needed to mold the kids and help them realize that they can take care of themselves,” said Newton.
The Up Program evolved and began pursuing the mission to ensure children have the education, work ethic and life skills to be successful adults.
Kids ages 10 through 18 can participate in the Up Program where they learn life skills, how to work, and other important skills to help them be self-reliant adults. Mini Up is a similar program that operates with even younger children, where they are paid $1 to “work” every time they attend the program.
“We like to say we’re working with kids now, but we’re also working with kids in 2035,” said Ancil. “If we show kids at a very young age how life works and give them the skills and tools that they need to be successful adults, they will raise their kids that way.”
There’s a very bright future ahead of the Up Programs at Kokomo Urban Outreach, Ancil said, including hopes of expanding the program into different communities throughout Indiana.
Incoming executive director Rahl will continue working alongside Newton until his official retirement from the program in 2023.
“I believe the more kids we work with, we can put a dent in generational poverty in Kokomo and Howard County, and get people out of the system,” said Newton.
Tickets are still available for the Unlimited Potential dinner. Purchase your ticket by clicking here.
