Ventura gets a win-win with welcomers

(Above) New Ventura resident Kate Andress (front center) was welcomed to the community with a welcome bag assembled and delivered by Linda Dorenkamp and Matthew Clark, both residents receiving support from Oppotunity Village at their West Lake Street home.  Also pictured are (back L-R) Penny Froiland, Opportunity Village employment specialist, and Sonja Jackson, Opportunity Village employee at the West Lake Street house.-Submitted photo.

New residents in Ventura can look forward to not only a welcoming community, but a warm personal welcome from some of its residents.

Penny Froiland, a Ventura resident and employment specialist at Opportunity Village, has created a welcoming service for new Ventura residents as part of her Leadership Pillars project, a Village-sponsored program in which she is participating. The purpose of the Ventura Welcomers is to welcome new residents to the community and offer them a package of goodies and materials designed to educate them about their new city and the resources and businesses available to them.

Froiland explained that for her project creation, she began by meeting with Ventura City Administrator Else Taylor.

“I shared my project idea to bring a group of people, living in Ventura and receiving daily supports from Opportunity Village, together to collect community  information and collate it into a welcoming package to distribute to new residents that have moved into Ventura,” she said.

The project has turned out to be a win-win for all involved.

In addition to providing a welcome service the community previously did not offer, it also serves as a way to connect individuals supported by the Village with their community.

The Village supports four individuals who live in a home on West Lake Street in Ventura.  They volunteer to assemble and deliver canvas welcome bags provided by the City of Ventura.  They fill the bags with maps of the city and lake, a telephone book, tour guide books and other materials donated by local businesses and organizations.

“The clients loved putting the bags together,” said Sonja Jackson, a staff member at the Village’s West Lake Street home.  “It was a super fun project and they took pride in making them

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up and knowing the people in the community would be getting them.”

Linda Dorenkamp, an Opportunity Village client who lives at the West Lake Street home, said the best part was knocking on the doors, meeting new people and seeing people happy when they received their new welcome bag.

“The project’s a great way for the people we serve to get to know the other members in their community, and it definitely helps them feel they are a part of theVentura community,” added Jackson.

Staff member Alison Salguero said the project has also helped the clients she serves get familiar with the town and meet new neighbors.  “We have gone for drives around the lake and found new walking routes when dropping the bags off,” she added.

Seven welcome bags have been delivered to date, and Taylor estimates as many as 17 may be needed monthly through the summer and fall.

Froiland said the effort has been very well received and Ventura welcomers may introduce the project to the Senior Citizens at the Ventura Community Center in hopes of generating some volunteers to join the project, or develop additional relationships and activities.

Taylor noted the welcome bags are another of the positive partnerships Ventura has with Opportunity Village. Residents already had tended planters for the city.  This year the city purchased flowers from Opportunity Village and clients planted and now weed and water them throughout the season. “We are real happy to have them fill that void for us.  We often don’t have the manpower for all those special touches in the community.”

The welcome bag project may even expand into Clear Lake in the future.

“We have multiple homes in Clear Lake and those residents who are not working are often looking for volunteerism opportunities,” she said.  “This seems to be a good fit for everyone.”

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