COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS

Three choices for hands-on involvement in community service projects will be offered.  An overview of each project will be offered on Friday morning from 10:45-Noon.  Meetings to organize and coordinate the projects by states and regions will take place on Friday afternoon from 3:45-5:00 pm.

 Please choose a project and get involved!

PROJECT #1 -- Ministering to the Children of Incarcerated Parents

Led by Angela Beatty and Marsha Beatty from St. John's Christian Care Center's C.H.O.I.C.E.S Mentoring Project.

Angela Clarice Beatty, BA

Angela Beatty has served as a Project Coordinator for the C.H.O.I.C.E.S. Mentoring Program since its inception in November 2008.   In that capacity, she is responsible for the recruitment, screening, background checks and training of all mentors, as well as for recruitment, assessment and orientation of mentees and their caregivers.  Angela is also responsible for making mentor-mentee matches and for providing support for mentor-mentee relationships through regular contact with program participants, by coordinating program-sponsored social and cultural activities and by coordinating referrals to community resources as needed. 

Angela graduated from the University of Tulsa in 2007 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Sociology.  Prior to joining the C.H.O.I.C.E.S. program staff, she served the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as a Child Welfare Specialist and has been actively involved with Children’s and Youth Ministries at St. John Missionary Baptist Church for a number of years.  She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and resides in the Oklahoma City area with her family.

Marsha W. Beatty, MPH, BS

Marsha Beatty has been an active member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church for more than 25 years, and recently served 4½ years on the church staff as its Public Relations Minister.  During that time, she was responsible for coordinating the marketing, public relations and community outreach activities of this large (2000+) congregation, including the development of press releases and feature articles for internal and external publications, the design and production of promotional materials, promotion and management of special events, and production of a weekly radio broadcast.  Marsha also coordinated the preparation and submittal of various grant applications on behalf of the St. John Christian Care Center, Inc. and was instrumental in securing funding for the C.H.O.I.C.E.S. Mentoring Program for Children of Incarcerated Parents.  She continues to fulfill a myriad of volunteer roles within the St. John church family.

A 1977 graduate of Stanford University, Marsha also holds an MPH degree from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston School of Public Health with a concentration in program planning and development.   She is currently employed as a Research Assistant at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.  Prior professional experiences include serving as a Health Program Planner for the City of Houston Health Department, as Director of Marketing Research for a hospital management company, and as Director of Marketing/Client Services Coordinator for i2E, Inc., a non-profit organization that assists Oklahoma high tech start-up companies with their business development needs.  Marsha is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Oklahoma City and currently serves on the boards of directors for Youth Leadership Exchange (YLX) and St. John Christian Heritage Academy.  A native of Corpus Christi, TX, she and her husband, Clarence, are the proud parents of three young adult children:  Christina, Angela and William.

Additional Research Materials

The Children of Incarcerated Parents:  The Facts, The Needs, The Gaps, Recommendations, and Resources by Lindsi Hines, BSW for the 2009 New Baptist Covenant Midwest Regional Meeting.

Storybook Project by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Children of Incarcerated Parents:  A Bill of Rights 

Oklahoma Study of Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children (Phase 1) (2004) by Susan Sharp, Ph.D. for the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

Oklahoma Study of Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children (Phase 2) (2005) by Susan Sharp, Ph.D. for the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

The Real Cost of Incarcerating Mothers in 2008  by Susan Sharp, Ph.D. for the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

Focus on Children with Incarcerated Parents:  An Overview of the Research Literature by Creasie Finney Hairston, Ph.D. for the Annie E. Casey Foundation.