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.

Meeting with United Way

A lunch meeting was held today with Wes Hayes, Campaign Manager for the United Way.


We discussed our missions to strive in helping those in our community and efforts to collaborate with each other. The next step will be for him to meet with the board of directors to address specifically what we can do to assist each other toward our missions to the community. http://maps.google.com/places/us/sc/columbia/main-st/1800/-united-way-of-the-midlands?gl=us





Lunch went very well. Wes got a chance to meet Trey. We enjoyed good food at the Fuji Cafe' on Broad River Road in Irmo. I spoke with their manager about Trey's Transition to see if they would become a sponsor. They share plans to contact us later about their efforts to support the program as their business grows.



Wes plans to set up an opportunity for me to meet with Karen Oliver who also works with the United Way in efforts to coordinate services within the community.



I will keep you posted on this effort.



I've learned that one of my friends, Doug Kratz is president of a local golf association. We've talked about maybe getting together a golf torunament in effort to raise funds and "fun" for Trey's Transition. We will take this up at our next board meeting.



The next meeting is planned for the second Thursday in December, 9, 2010.
Charley hopes to have SKYPE back online. The location has not been confirmed yet.
Discussion has come up for us to have a working, eating board meeting. We can't bring food into the library.

Let me know your thoughts before the third week in November.

Thanks and keep us in your prayers.

board meeting and open house success

Here is an updated on the previous activities for Trey's Transition.

There was a board meeting at the Richland County Public Library, September 23, 2010.
The Following board members were present: Milton Kipmson, James Irby, Trey Irby, John Hancock, and Charley Spencer. Absent: Lyn Whitehead, Beverly Clyburn, Jerret Slacumm and Tyree Smith.

Discussed old business-updated fundraising opportunities,having the Business Account set up at Bank of America,the Pay Pal, Network for good and FaceBook accounts set up for Trey's Transition "Cause" being a good idea and demonstration on how the accounts were set up; the need for the donation button to be included on the website instead of just having the link. We talked about the excitement being created by these efforts. This effort will allow donors the ability to send $ to the account for the funds we need to get the building and start up cost to meet state regulations. We talked about this effort will continue to let others know about the need for young adult programs. I shared the need for at least $600,000 as start up cost for one year of the program for up to 20 individuals.

We discussed other ways to raise funds including contacting those from the community with large amounts of funds to commit to the cause i.e. Oprah Winfrey, Robert Mickle, and Steve Mungo to name a few of possible donors. We talked about getting Wofford alumni assistance as well. Plans are being made for board members to contact those mentioned to assist our efforts monetarily or as volunteers.

Trey's cousin, Alston Branndon Major, Jr., and family gave aluminum cans, his grandmother, Henrietta Irby and co-wrokers gave pennies "from heaven".
We welcome any and all donations and volunteer time for our efforts.

We talked about whether to own the property or leasing options and the most appropriate location should be based on the property at this time and not just to be in the Irmo area.
We agreed to look at all possible options to obtain the property that will meet our collective needs for the program.

I shared about the open house @ Dutchfork High School next week and plans for me to update them about the progress of Trey's Transition and to ask for volunteers and funds to help develop this opportunity.

Trey and I attended the Open House at Dutchfork high school. There were several parents, volunteers,teachers, school adminstrators, assistants, therapist and interns at the function. Rhonda, case manager for Helping Hands, presented information about their two day programs in Columbia as opportunities for adults with disabilities.

I shared about the issues and activities about Trey's Transition. The audiance received the information very well about the programs identified. Some parents shared ideas and advise on how to increase opportunties for funding for Trey's Transition and to keep them updated on the programs progress. I gave each of them a brochure about Trey's Transition.

I spoke with a family member (Cory Jackson) and Brantley Barfield about adding the donation link/button to the website. We're still working on completing that project so visitors to this site can click on the donation button straight to the Network for Good location.

Thanks to the Face Book supporters, Cory, Ms. Essie Ford, board members and others for keeping Trey's Transition apart of your lives.

Our next board meeting is scheduled for October 28, 2010 Noon to 1:30 pm at the Richland County Public Library. We hope to see you there or to hear from you about your interest and ideas for this program to prosper.

Donation Link to be added to Blog and on Facebook

I'm excited to report that we are now linked with Network For Good for non-profits to assist with the opportunity for Treys Transition to receive donations for the start up costs for the program. Go to https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=26-0143149

The donations will go toward the purchase of the building and expenses to get the building up to code to meet the state regulations/compliance as well as our board expectations for safety. The building will have around 2000 square feet of space to accomodate the number of young adults we plan to serve at this time. The cost for the buildings in the Columbia area average around $600, 000 or $2500 per month to lease. This figure does not include the cost associated to meet the state standards. An additional $20,000 maybe needed if the building does not have an approved sprinkler system no more than one year old. Our research for grants has not produced any funds for renovation costs to new or existing projects. We beleive this is one reason why there are not many adult programs available. We also believe that having support from the community shows grantors there is an interest for this effort. This is why it's important for you to show your support by donation or volunteer your time in our effort.

Here's the link for donation.

https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=26-0143149


The FaceBook is set up in my account in the "Causes" section in my name, James Irby.
Thanks to everyone that has already made commitments to support this endeavor to those in this community and the state.

Plans are being made for our next board meeting in September, a few fundraisers i.e. cake drawing and another fish fry in Beaufort , SC as well as in Columbia.

We are making application for a grant with the Developmental Disability Council of South Carolina. We need to show a collaboration effort with other organizations in the community as well as match 50% of the amount they maybe willing to fund our program. We are asking for $30, 000 to assist our program efforts. We are already in collaboration with Goodwill Baptist Church in Beaufort SC. Discussions are being coordinated for us to work with several other organizations in the community i.e Sharing God's Love, The Boys and Girl Scouts of America, The America Red Cross to name a few as well as around the state. These efforts will hopefully promote a greater awareness about the transition service needs for young adults with special needs.

If you are reading this blog and would like to collaborate with us, please contact me by email @ james_irby2000@yahoo.com. I will forward your interest to our board of directors for consideration and we thank you for your interest.

James Irby
Executive Director

P.S. Thanks to Eleanor, Ken, Kahlul, and other staff members of Guest Services @ the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort for extending themselves to Trey during his stay.

Summer Fish Fry and Board Meetings

It's been a few months since our last update to the BLOG about Trey's Transition. Much has happended to several board members since the event in February. Some board members have had shifts in their employment, a few others have received promotions and others are still maintaining their status. I'm pleased to hear that during our national and state's economic struggles, we're hanging in there. To those out there that are struggling to find employment or that job that will produce an increase in your bank or sanity, continued success.







Thanks to Robert Crossiant for taking outstanding pictures from the Fish Fry and posting them on the blog. Special thanks to all those who participated ( including the Cadets for the Youth Challenge Program) and donated their time, money and effort to make our first event a success. Thanks to the board members for completing the evaluations about the planning for the event. This will give us an opprotunity to build on future events.

Trey's Transition fan base is beginning to grow. More people are becoming interested in the effort to see the program to become a success for Trey and other young adults with special needs.

Congratulations to all the graduates from Kidergarten all up to those that now have their degrees from Colleges and Universities around the country. Good luck on your journeys and with the plans that have been laid out for each of you.




Our board meetings have recently been held by phone or email transactions instead of at the Richland County Public Library or other familiar locations. During those meetings, decisions were made for us to continue efforts to promote fundraising toward the building and operating costs. A decision was made for us to continue plans for a fish fry in the Spartanburg Area.



The event was to be held June 19, 2010. However everything didn't come together like we thought it would. Therefore the event will have to be postponed for another time this year.



There was a plan for a fish fry in the Beaufort area. Those plans are being coordinated for just before the K-12 students go back to school in August.







Our next board meeting is scheduled for June 24 @ the Richland County Library.
We have establised a business account now @ Bank of America on St. Andrews road, Columbia, SC. Thanks to the fine folk over there (Margie Mitchell, and Gayle Rabon). This effort will give us opportunities to make and receive transactions for fundraising.






Please let me know if you or anyone you know that would like to donate a building or funds to purchase a building in the Irmo area. We need a building with 2500 to 3000 square ft, plus enough space for parking at least 10 vehilces.







We are still pursuing grants to help fund our efforts. The main issues being accepted for grants right now fall on the grantors giving their funds to existing organizations instead of start up programs like ours.







Looking forward to seeing you on the 25th @ RCPL, or to contact me by email @ james_irby2000@yahoo.com to discuss issues before the meeting or to learn how to be involved as a board member or to make a donation to our efforts.







Enjoy the warmth of the Summer sun, because winter is just around the corner- February :)!!!

Please remember the sick, those who care for them, and those traveling the highways both day and night.


James, executive director

2010 Spring Fish Fry

Fish Fry photos

Fish Fry update

The fish fry effort is growing. Several board members and other interested in teh success of the progam are pitching in. Here's what going on at this time.

We're finalizing the details on the inventory for the event.
Great work John, on exploring the fish sales. Sharon, Robert, Leroy, Beverly, Lyn and George for making plans to help out! Thanks to Inez and her sisters for loaning us their recipes for cakes, and time in prep work for the event.

I've submitted a grant application to Sam's and hope to hear from them on what they can do to help out with the cost of some items for the event. So you may not have to come out of pocket. They gave us a $25 donation to help pay for some items already. I'm excited to learn how they may continue to help us to help our community. I've learned they have a program where their employees can volunteer to help us out! WOW! I'll let you know more later.

Inez has campaigned for cake donations and hopes to get PEPSI to donate some drinks.
Our family is responding well to the event also. They are excited about plans for us to put on a fish fry in their area i.e Inman and Beaufort!

Mean time, I've printed up tickets for us to sell before the event to purchase what we'll need.
Sharon and Robert Croissant gracioulsy agreed to print them for us. I had some card stock and ink left over from a project that Trey did last year. thank God for Spring cleaning!

Thanks Sharon and Robert offering to print the tickets. don't worry, we'll need more print work done I'm sure.
WE still need your help with the other items.

The ticket sales will generate the funds and the public exposure for the program.

Charley and I discussed at the last board meeting if each board member sold 20 tickets. We'd have enought $ to pay for everything we will before the event.

Call me when you get time. I will have some tickets with me and the others will be at the house with Trey and his assistant.
Let me know if you'd like to meet to get them or pick them up from the house.

I've sold a few of them already to my neighbor and co-workers!!! Lyn and George Whitehead got there tickets today.

Looking forward to hear from you and hope that all is well.

Please call me on my cell phone , 318-2210 so that we can continue to coordinate for the event on the February 27th at Seven Oaks Park. It's coming together very well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone is doing well into the new year.
It's been a few months since the last update, because I was not able to get on the blog to make updates. Thanks to Robert Croissant- board member, I am able to be get back in to share the latest going on's with Trey's Transition.

With that being said.

Please continue to pray for health, wisdom, and courage to make this life special for us all.
Congrats to Milton Kimpson and Family on the birth of their baby boy!

We're now officially a Non-profit organization!! With the help of board members and Mr. Mink- agent from the IRS to update information to the application. We became a 501 C 3 organization in December '09. We've only had a few board meetings during the end of the year to begin the next building block of making the Young Adult program a reality. We talked about fundraising opportunities to raise the funds. A report from the grant writers indicate that grantors are stretched to give funds because of the slow economic conditions. Some grantors are only giving to existing programs. So our efforts to earn funds will truly be a grassroots effort. Our grant writers are eager to engage. There is hope as long as you believe that hope exists.
There are a few local business' that are able to help out and I've made application to Sam's Wholesale and Wal-Mart to assist with funding our efforts for they Fish Fry we're planning for next month.
We hope as a board to firm up the plans for the event his week during our board meeting on January 28, at the Richland County Public Library- Bank of America conference room.

Several members have submitted ideas for the fundraising campaign. The ideas include the following:

Creating a campaign summary that promotes the fundraising effort, gives an example of what the effort is for and how the donor can make their contribution to us. I've spoken with the Bank Manager, Marggie Mitchell and Gale Rabon at the St. Andrews Road location in Columbia SC how donors can make their contributions to any Bank of America location. The donor will need to indicate making the donation to the "James D. Irby III, Contribution Account". It's that simple.

A suggestion was made to have contribution jars placed at stores in the community, flyers, and business cards to generate funds and get the word out about our efforts for the young adult program. We plan to firm up that effort at the board meeting.

We're still on the timetable for Trey's Transition to open sometime this summer.
There are several persons that I've met over the last few months that are interested in the development of our program. One young lady , Beth was a student Dutchfork High School, worked as a volunteer in Ms. Essie Ford's class. She lost her job recently from the Babcock Center- (downsizing).

Changes in medicaid funding to caregivers have also affected how services are delivered.
Therapy, and Personal Care Aide services have been cut or reduced. Which has effected the quality of care and performance to our population.

She, like so many others in our community are eager to work and don't have a place to help others. I hope that our efforts will soon help to employ those from the community interested in helping others with special needs. I also hope this effort will stimulate the economy in many ways. We will be providing a number of services e.g transportation, catering, thearpy to assist the young adults to get to and from the program.

PLEASE encourage others to support our efforts. If you or anyone has questions about our efforts, call me at 803-732-5734 or email me @ james_irby2000@yahoo.com


Thank you for your help.


James Irby

501 c 3 update

I sent the annual accounting period information to Mr. Mink of the IRS. I also left him a message in that regard. I hope to hear from him soon as to what else we can do to be accepted as a non-profit.

I'll share more as information comes along. We need to schedule our next meeting for October, 09'.

I'd like to have a full board meeting this month if possible before the November, December holiday season. Let's look @ meeting sometime during the last week of the month.
Thanks everyone and chat with you soon.

James

board meeting and first invite to inform about 3's Transition

A board meeting was held last week @ the Richland County Library. Thanks to Lyn Whitehead for suggesting having the meeting @ the Main Library campus and Ms. Lorraine Catoe, from the Library for confirming the reservation on short notice. It's a free space to county residence and non-profit organizations. John H., Charley S., Jarrett S., Lyn W. , Beverly C., and Errika K. were not able to attend because of previous engagements. No word from Angela W., Richard C. or Tom A. So Milton K. and I held the meeting.

The primary discussion centered around getting the 501 application approved. I shared about sending the response back to the IRS, Mr. Gerald Mink is the case manager handling the application and looking forward to their response as to what else we needed to do for the application to be approved. We talked about continuing efforts to fundraise in order to earn $ for the program. We talked about possible golf tournament with assistance from an event planner. I shared about an invitation from Ms. Essie Ford, Self Contained teacher @ Dutch Fork High for a representative to share with her parents during their Open house about Trey's Transition. I made contact with Lyn, Charley previous to the meeting about attending the event. Milton also ageed that we should share with the school about our program plans in an effort to getting the word out about the program efforts. We talked about putting a brochure together to share the mission , purpose...
Our mission statement and why the program came into being, picture of Trey and other participants and the need we hope to serve. The motion to attend the meeting and prepare the brochure was Approved. A copy of the brochure was prepared and handed out during the meeting held @ DFHS.

There were several parents, students and special education teachers @ the open house and expessed excitement about our efforts. Inez, Trey and I presented the brochure and information how the idea of Trey's Transition was started. We were well received and several parents were interested in viewing information from the blog about our progress. We talked about the 501 status and plans for growth in our board of directors in assisting to create the funds necessary to confirm the old attage, "Many hands make light work". It was good to see Trey's teachers again, sorrow to learn about the passing of one teacher, Ms. Thomas. We were also excited to know there was a new teacher (I'm sorry I forgot her name and will annouce later) from Pennsylvania in their mist. She brings new life and experience to the classroom and information that may in fact help our program in the near future.

I also shared with Milton about my contact with county councilman Malinowski for the Irmo area. He shared about us possibly receiving a portion of a tourism grant from Richland County by having others to spend time in our area during a function that we organize. I asked him about getting a commercial license so that we can start our program in a smaller building or home costing less money to get up to DHEC code, the program stated. He shared for us to get in touch with the county office for details about those plans. Milton also shared about the St. John's Baptist Church special needs and Puppet Ministry church for all ages. We hope to be able to coordinate their talent into our program activity plans.



I received phone message from Mr. Mink, case manager for the IRS handling our 501 application. He's ready to close out the application status and needs us to confirm one more item on the application (having to do with the annual reporting period). I've left message with him to contact me in that regard and plans to submit in writing a response to the issue.



We're getting closer to making the program a reality and thank you one and all again for your support. I left several brochures with Essie's class and hope those that read the blog will encourage others to contact me with interest about efforts to help this organization grow.



I hope your Autumn season is coming along well. Watch the summer fade, the leaves fall, get out rakes and lawn mulchers. It's getting COOL!


I will be discontinuing my AOL email account and using yahoo. You can now reach me @ james_irby2000@yahoo.com. economics!
James II

501 C 3 update

We received a response from the IRS about the application. They needed us to explain a few answers from the application. Several board members got together over a 10 day period to review the questions. The response was sent back to the IRS on September 4, 2009.

We may hear from them before the end of October regarding our status.

We're still working on the operations and training manuals. We're also accepting donations for our efforts to create the program.

Trey received $10 at the Wofford College football game this past weekend from a young man.
His name is David Hatcher. We were watching the ballgame together, cheering on the Terriers to victory. David came up to Trey and wanted him to have the money to help. Trey smiled and we accepted the fund. We shared with David and his family the program plans and they were excited to hear about the plans and shared their own personal story. David's mother expressed how pleased it was to see her son show compassion. Thank you David, parents and grandparents again for your contribution.

I also met a friend from Wofford who's interested in helping the community thru vocational means of assisting the hearing and visually impaired in packaging product. Keiser Thomas III is the director of Operations for JSAC LLC. The New Balance in Manufacturing out of Spartanburg SC. His email address is jsackt@charter.net. I hope to learn more about their business plan in an effort to help our program vocationally in the future.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Septmenber 24, 2009.

The location and time have not been confirmed yet. I hope to have the meeting @ my home if plans work out.

I'm excited about our future, keep the faith, continue to do good work for yourself and others and contact me if you hear of any other fascinating ways to build our program.

The 501 application has arrived!

I (James) checked the bank account recently and learned the application fee has been cashed. So it's safe to assume the Federal Government has recieved the application and the process for reviewing it is in the way.

I'm excited to share that I met a parent and former challenger baseball player (Monique and Cory). I had not seen them in years since Trey and Cory were teammates. She was bringing him to "Camp Sunshine". This is a wonderful day camp from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for indivduals with special needs, ages 5 to 26. The camp provides activities on the Denny Terrace Community Center campus. Richland County Recreation Commission provides quality staff for the campers. They do activities on the campus as well as going swimming and bowling in the community. The camp will have one more week this month and the next session will start in July. For more information, call Linda Carter @ 750-7672.

She told me that Cory is 18 years old. She was looking for afterschool and summer programing for him. I was excited to share our plans for Trey's Transition. I sent her the blog and Mission statement for her to view and get back in touch with me if she would be interested in getting involved with our efforts.

Jarrett Slacum (committee members) is considering being the coordinator for our meetings. He's on the Food Preparation and Safety committee.

Continue to encourage others to view this blog to spread the word about our efforts.

The committee members recently talked about getting Trey's Transition on FaceBook.
I'm looking into getting an account set up.

Charley Spencer (North Dakota) committee member came up with a great idea to extend the webcam to other members that maynot be able to attend our meetings. If you'd like to know more about our webcam effort, contact me @ jamesirby8@aol.com or charlie2wheels@csicable.net .

I met WC Hoeke this week. He's a staff member of Family Connections, an parent of a child with special needs and a committee member planning their Annual Conference for their organization next year. Family Connections links parents that have disabled children together and shares information to the community in an effort to advocate for those with special needs. The mission of Family Connection of South Carolina is to strengthen families of children with special needs through parent support. We talked about me being a part of their committee in their efforts to plan for next year's conference. We talked about the need to share more information about the growing popuulation of young adults with special needs, the services they could benefit from and us working together. I'll keep you posted on our efforts. Family Connections website is http://www.familyconnectionsc.org/

Our next meeting will be anounced soon.
Thanks for your support and prayers.

Another milestone achieved

I (James Irby) hope this message finds everyone doing well. It's been a while since a message has been posted. Everyone's been busy since our last meeting with work, celebrating holidays, and helping others to make it day to day.

There have been small meetings with some committee members to continue efforts to develop the program before the Fall of this year. The "Power of One" fundraiser continues to be a success. The board members have done a good job sharing the message about Trey's Transition. I'm excited to report that we have the $750 needed to submit the 501 c 3 application for non profit status. The application was placed in the mail today!!!

We're one step closer to making the program a reality. Several board members are working on the policy, procedures and training manuals for the program. We also have severl others interested in the effort for the program. Ms. Gloria (Candy) Spigner (nurse), Ms. Charmine Primus (clinical social worker), Ms. Dottie Davis to name a few.

There will be a lunch meeting later this month to continue working on the assingments for the manuals.

We need someone gifted in web design, and a accountant (experience in adult day care) to be a part of our efforts.

Thanks again to everyone for their efforts and have a cool summer!