FISH FRY AT NEW LIFE WORSHIP CENTER, IRMO SC

We had a great experience on October 1, 2011 at the New Life Worship Center, 90 North Royal Tower Dr., Irmo, SC where Dr. Samuel Nagi is the pastor. The fish fry event went extremely well, with the church's blessings, volunteers; Leroy Johnson, James, Inez and Trey Irby; Ronnie Entzminger and Annette Green for baking cakes.


Here is a picture of a few Tiger Cub Scouts from Orangeburg SC playing at the church playground while waiting on some fresh, hot, fish!


We sold at least 47 fish dinners and a few plates of fish "only". We would like to thank Renard Green and his co-workers at Jim Hudson Toyota of Irmo for their participation. It was good to see family and friends that continue to support our efforts to develop a young adult program in Irmo, SC.

Our next events are not scheduled until next year. We feel it only proper that other organizations have their opportunity to benefit from the generosity of others during the upcoming holidays. We will have a board meeting soon and hope that you maybe able to attend as we continue efforts to raise funds and awareness for young adult programs for those with special needs.

Many blessings to you and yours.

James Irby

Okra Strut 2011

Here is a report from the Okra Strut that was held in Irmo, SC on September 24, 2011. The pictures say it all. Trey was surrounded the entire day by individuals that enjoy football, having a good time with others in the community and demonstrating that when we do our best, we are winners no matter what the circumstance.

We realized that we all share a love for one another, rain or shine. The rain held off during most of the event , which allowed us to collect a total of $80 from the Gas card fundraiser. Congratulations to the winner of the Gas Card, T. Goss of Irmo. She has been informed about her success and plans are being made for her to receive her Gas Card.

Several participants at the Okra Strut came by our space. We shared stories about experiences we've had working, living, or just having an understanding about persons with special needs, regardless of our differences. People like, Joyce Flannery who works with students with special needs in Lexingon #5 school district shared plans to inform others in her community about our effort. We thank you for your efforts.

There were several food, health provider, and speciality item vendors at the event. The music was good also, a little to loud for some adults, but the teens and other young adults thought it was just fine!

Trey's Transition handed out brouchers and other free items that relate to young adults that could benefit from transition services i.e. Vocational Rehabilitation, Growing Homes Southeastern, Leaphart Place Residential services, SC Mentor of South Carolina services, Americorp Services sponsored by The United Way, S.A.F.Y. (Specialized Services for Adults, Family and Youth), and New Life Worship Center of Irmo. Even though our doors are not open yet, we still are committed to our mission to provide transition services that may benefit others in the community.

Some visitors shared an interest to be involved with our organization. We would like to meet you at our Fish Fry fundraiser on October 1, 2011 at New Life Worship Center in Irmo, SC (just behind the Shell Gas Station) . We will be there from Noon until around 6pm. If you would like a fish dinner, contact me before the end of the day on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 so that I can be sure to have enough product on hand to serve everyone that participates in this event. We need as many volunteers possible to help us raise the funds to modify the space in the church and to obtain the license to serve medicaid waiver participants. You can also contact me by email at james_irby2000@yahoo.com .

James Irby

Executive Director

The Spring Golf Event was held at the Charwood Golf Country Club on June 15, 2011. Four teams and several volunteers from the following organizations and businesses were in attendance:

CAPITAL PROSTHETICS, SC MENTOR, MCDONALD’S OF IRMO AND BALLENTINE, PERFECT PRINTING, NEW LIFE WORSHIP CENTER, DARRYL PORTER-PIGGLY WIGGLY, WAL-MART, BALLENTINE, SAM’S CLUB HARBISON, FIREHOUSE SUB- HWY 378 NEAR THE LEXINGTON HOSPITAL, CHARWOOD COUNTRY CLUB-KELLY LUCAS, AND TROY - GOLF PRO, STEPHANIE LEDBETTER OF NIKKIA’S CRAFT SHACK, SPORTS TROPHIES, LEXINGTON MEDICAL CENTER,-JANIS BOYD REPRESENTATIVE,


VOLUNTEERS-GROWING HOMES SOUTHEAST, ANGELA HARTWELL, SATRINA MCDANIELS, AND A HOST OF RESIDENTS FROM LEAPHART PLACE APRATMENTS .

BOBBY CHARLES DAVIS- IRMO, SC
LORETTA JOHNSON- CHARLOTTE NC

STEPHANIE MCCUMINGS, DALE ROBINSON , COLUMBIA, SC AND COUNTLESS OTHERS.

THANKS TO THE BOARD MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED AT THE EVENT AND GAVE THEIR TIME TO HELP MAKE OUR FIRST GOLF EVENT A SUCCESS.INEZ L-IRBY, JOHN HANCOCK, JERRETT SLACUM, TOM ANDERSON, LYN WHITEHEAD AND CHARLEY SPENCER.

GOLFERS-ROSS BROADWELL, BERT SLICE, ALEX AMES, BOB FARMER, SEAN FARMER, SAUNDRA ANDERSON, OCTAVIA, DOUG KRATZ, JAMES IRBY

Ross' team came in first place, followed by Team Anderson, the Farmer Team and then the Kratz team.

The Farmer team won the putting contest and Ross won the longest drive contest.

We had a great time and raised alittle over $200 after expenses. These funds will go toward the preparation and supplies needed to assist in the developing of Trey's Transition inside some space at the New Life Worship Center in Irmo, SC. We are still aways off from our goal but will continue to develop ways to raise the funds to make the program to become a reality.

The board has agreed to two (2) fundraising events for the Fall: raffle tickets for a gas card and a fish fry. The raffle ticket will only cost for $1 for the opportunity to win a $50 gas card. The winning tickets will be announced at 3pm at our location #313 at the Okra Strut in Irmo, SC on September 24, 2011. We will have information about Trey's Transition as well as other community resources that assist or provide transition services to young adults.

We are planning the fish fry the following weekend on October 1, 2011 at The New Life Worship Center in Irmo, 90 N. Royal Tower. The fish dinner will consist of whiting fish, hush puppies, coleslaw, and dessert. We hope to have cupcakes (donated by Kenneth Nix) a local businessman who is an independent contractor and bakes on the side. As he puts it, he's a jack of all trades. Yummy, construct the cupcakes man already!!!

The fish dinners will be $8 per dinner plate. Please contact James Irby at 803-318-2210 no later than Tuesday September 27th if you would like to purchase a dinner. We'd like to have enough food prepared for everyone to enjoy themselves or if you'd just like to make a donation. The funds raised will go toward the accomodations needed to the space in the church for the program as well as for the licensure needed to provide services to the medicaid waiver participants.

We hope the events will go well and look forward to any assistance you maybe able to provide as a volunteer or financially.

We were blessed to have SC MENTOR to donate two (2) office desks, chairs and a bookcase to our program to assist our participants. SC MENTOR provides fostercare and residential services across the state and relocating to a smaller space here in the Columbia area. There new offfice address is 3600 Forest Drive, Suite 100, Columbia SC 29204.

Growing Homes Southeast of Columbia and Leaphart Place Residential services have provided items to be handed out during the Okra Strut.

Let us know if you have a need to get the word out about services you provide to young adults that are transitioning from high school into the community. We can help. It's our mission to share resources from our community in anyway positive and possible to assist the community.

Please call 803-318-2210 or email james_irby2000@yahoo.com if you have questions.

I wanted to share that we have a new board member to Trey's Transition. His name is Karl Wilkes. Karl is an American artist that lives in the Columbia SC area and known throughout the nation for his historical paintings that educate others about cultures from yesterday, and today! His expressions have touched the lives of many and we hope that his work on the board will expand the mission we have to the community to touch the lives of others about transition services for young adults with special needs.

Welcome Karl.

Here is the golf registration form for those of you that have made contact but not able to receive the golf event information.

This will be a captian's choice golf event on June 15, 2011 beginning at 9 a.m. The cost for this event will be $50 per player or $200 per team. Golfers, and volunteers will enjoy 18 holes of golf at Charwood Country Club, located just off Fish Hatchery Road in West Columbia, SC. You will be treated to lunch, prizes, and information to enhance your awareness or take back to your community about the transitional service needs for young adults with special needs. Register early, or make a donation for the event by contacting James Irby at 803-732-5734 or by email to jamesirby8@aol.com for more information about participation for this event or about Trey's Transition.

Thanks you for your support.

Trey's Transition Golf Event

Trey's Transition will be hosting their first golf event to raise funds to develop the day program in the Irmo area. The event will be held June 15, 2011 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Charwood Country Club, 222 Clubhouse Dr., West Columbia, SC 29172, Phone: 803-755-2000 . http://local.yahoo.com/info-13409058-charwood-golf-club-west-columbia;_ylt=AssWaNWL3Yt75dsfuVUvZeaKNcIF;_ylv=3?viewtype=map

Please make plans to play, volunteer, donate or sponsor this captian's choice event. Sponsors may have their business displayed on a tee box sign or banner at designated locations of the golf course for maximum exposure.

Come have some fun, eat a good lunch, win a prize or 2 and learn about the growing need for services to assist young adults with special needs to be productive citizens in their home and community.

Contact James Irby by email at jamesirby8@aol.com or by phone at 803-732-5734 to learn more about registration information.

An AFIRMATION of thought

We are about to create something new in the life of the adult daycare service industry.

After months of exploring options to obtain a location, and space for Trey's Transition, a wonderful thing has ocurred.

I was having lunch with a good friend of mine. His name is Sam Nagi. Others in this community call him Dr. Nagi. We talked about visions of things we would like to see happen for our community. He wants his church to grow and to develop an emergency shelter. I shared our vision of a safe, functional, and progressive program to help young adults with special needs to enhance their abilities. He and I agreed to look at space in his church as a possible location for our program.

Trey and I attended their bible study later that evening and afterwards looked at several rooms with Sam and several church members that were eager for a program such as ours. One church member has a teenage son with autism. We rejoiced at the thought of our two organizations working together.

We agreed to have a meeting with members from both organizations (hopefully at the church) in effort to come to some conclusion of us working together. Here are a few other facts about the location that hopefully will encourage the board to consider the location for our program at this time.

• The church has a wheelchair ramp that is accessible to the area where the program would exist.


• The area(s) would have enough space to accomodate more than the number of individuals we would plan to start with.


• We would be able to assist the church in making one of their bathrooms accomodating to meet the Federal regulation.


• There will be enough parking for our program that would not compromise the church members.


• The church is located in Irmo and within the Lexington 5 school district.

"Every thought to make and every word you speak is an afirmatiom"

Louise L. Hay

We are well on our way.

The board members have been sent the a draft for the golf event flyer for one of this year's fundraisers. We hope to finalize the flyer and begin the campaign of endorsing the event to the public to participate in the event.

There was an event held April 1, 2011 at the Gateway Baptist Church in Irmo, SC . The church sponsored "the Joy Prom", which is an ocassion for special needs individuals to dress up and attend a Prom that some of them did not get to attend while attending school. The event was a huge success ( my son's personal opinion). We enjoyed being able to talk with other caregivers, church members, some old friends, and met some new friends about our experiences in a wholesome atmosphere.

He and others were greeted by church volunteers, annouced one by one while stolling down a red carpet to the flash of cameras, and a crowd clapped and cheered them into the party area. Pictures where taken, greetings were made by many at the church that were helping out or there with others who were in attendance. A DJ played music that appealed to everyone. Refreshments were provided, there was dancing, dancing and more dancing. The best part of the event was Trey and others got to have a great experience , got caught up with some old friends and will recall this event as a great night to remember.

Thank you Gateway Baptist Church for extending your church, time, effort and hearts for making all this possible.

Our next board meeting is being scheduled for April 8 or 9th depending if we can have the meeting at the church.

New Year meeting February 24, 2011

Happy New from Trey's Transitions.

It's been several months since our last meeting and I would like to give you an update on the progress since that time.


Several board members have been very busy addressing issues with their personal lives as well as working very hard to continue efforts getting the word out about our program. We planned a meeting for February 24, 2011 at the Richland County Public Library. The following members were present: James Irby and Charley Spencer. The following members were engaged in activities and not able to attend: Milton Kimpson, John Hancock, Lyn Whitehead and Jerrett Slacum. There was no report from Beverly Clyburn, The Criossants or Tyree Smith.


We reviewed the old business from the previous meeting and discussed new business. We could not vote on the new business because we did not have a quorum. We decided to contact the board members to get their input on the new business and then vote on the issues.



Old business:

• Trey's Transition is now on Facebook (FB). A donation campaign has been set up under the "CAUSE" tab for FB members to give to the program. Check it out when you get a chance. It's under James Irby wallpaper. Several FB members have donated, send well wishes for our success and prayers.


• The Re-cycle "Can"paign is moving along slowly. Neighbors, friends, and family have given alittle over 2000 aluminum cans for Trey to crush into cash!!! He's crushed about half that number so far, and needs more to keep in shape as well as raising the number of pounds before taking them to the recycle center. The more he takes at one time the higher the $ amount per pound. So tell others to keep the cans moving his way.


• Pennys from heaven funraiser has promoted arouund $110. The pennys have come from those in the community that I have shared about Trey's Transition. Some have given what they find in their car ash tray, others have collected from their desk drawers at work, while others found more than pennys inside their furniture at home. We were luck to get more than a few pennys from that donor.
• We continue to receive small donations from those interested in the development of the program. Thanks to The Gothie and Propst-Murphy family for their donations.


• The golf tournament was cancelled because we did not do enough in preparing for the event. We need to address efforts for a successfull event that will continue to promote advocacy for adults with special needs as well as developing our program.
• Exploring locations for the program in Irmo or Columbia area.
  

New business

Golf tournament is back on with plans for the event in early Spring of this year. Charwood County club maybe the setting for the event. Kelly Lucas, Event coordinator has been in touch with me about plans for the event. We need to decide on the specifics about the golf event i.e. sponsor and tounament price, prizes, and catering. A decision needs to be made by the next board meeting March 17, 2o11 in order to have enough time to pull the event together.
There are a number of indivduals each board members know that would be interested in participating. We agreed for each board member to commit to raising $2000 for the event. Members can earn the funds by getting golfers or sponsors to participate in the tournament

• A head start on learning about the beginning of adult day care. I shared about my learning about a new adult day program, Golden Years Adult day program off Leesburg Rd. in columbia, SC . Shemika Rivers is the director, recently received her license and able to accept clients thru private pay at this time until she has $10,000 in capital that DHHS now provides before she can attend medicaid waiver training for her to accept waiver clients in her program. Ms. River is eager to assist adults with special needs. Trey attends the program 2 days per week at this time. She can be reached at 803-783-7272.

• I spoke about adding the means for us to communicate meeting dates as well as completing the quarumn for us to vote. Survey Monkey is a application available for us to communite our interest and needs for the program existance.
• We spoke about having another board meeeting next month as well as introducing a means for the meeting to move forward even when I'm available to attend.
• I shared about plans to have my birthday wish to FB members, asking them to give donations to Trey's Transions. Thanks to all those who provided donations to our cause.