WELCOME TO OMEGA ALTERNATIVE SERVICES
Omega Life Alternatives provide a transitional housing program for parolees that includes: counseling, job training, chaplaincy, career development, social skills, leadership training, and a mentoring program that targets adults and troubled youth, including at-risk kids and gang members.
Omega Life offers the parolee an opportunity to be a part of a full rehabilitation ministry and the community through our mentoring program, which is an alternative to help fight against crime, gangs, illegal drugs, and other related activities that have made a negative impact on the structure and development of the family and broader community.
Successful rehabilitation will lower recidivism and provide alternatives to returning to habitual patterns of crime and/or dysfunction. Where possible, individuals who have successfully broken out of the institutional cycle will be instrumental in providing hope to those newly released.
Omega Life Alternatives is a faith-based non-profit 501 (c) (3) Charitable Ministry. Our offices and residential facility are located in South East Grand Rapids, MI
PURPOSE
Our primary purpose is to facilitate endings to old habits and nonproductive ways of thinking for the individual. We desire to promote an alternative that creates a new life for the individual. We believe that individuals can be reformed and placed back in the community to live productive and prosperous lives.
Offering a two-year program that operates 24 hours a day is the vision of Omega Life. This program will focus on job training, volunteer work, missions in the community, career development, and spiritual development. Upon completion of this training our participants will become mentors. They will take what they have learned to help restore communities through project building within the city, rural areas, and the nation. The mentored student will be enrolled within our sister organization Fire Starter Ministries (under the auspices of the National Heritage Foundation), that serves indigenous people in various countries around the world.
1. Mentoring/chaplaincy – Each resident of Omega House will be assigned a mentor in the community to assist with reentry into society and the identified challenges unique to each resident. Mentors and chaplains will meet with their assigned men to keep them on track with goals—both societal and spiritual—and to provide accountability at all levels on a weekly basis. Recruiting and training of community volunteers to serve in this capacity will be coordinated by the Chaplain and Mentoring Director.
2. Counseling – (substance abuse and psychological counseling) – As coordinated by a licensed Omega Life Alternatives Counselor, this portion of the program/goals will incorporate onsite group sessions for residents and individually chosen outpatient and partner sessions in the areas of substance abuse and psychological counseling, as well as family therapy. Treatment goals will be assessed at a resident’s entry to Omega House, and they will be tracked and documented in detail throughout the term of residency. Focused training for staff (for example, anger management issues in the ex-offender) also will be included in this component.
3. Workforce development – This goal will be accomplished through a network of partnerships and in close coordination with the Workforce Development Director to enable men to indentify, develop, and implement skills to be utilized in the workforce. Measurement goals and criteria will be established and tracked for each resident, and professional as well as social and physical needs will be addressed (e.g. application and resume drafting, computer skills, GED acquisition, social dynamics in the workplace, educational barriers, learning and/or other disabilities, etc.). Collaborations between employers and potential employees will be important in achieving this goal.
4. Residential/living – This component will include meeting housing needs, providing structure and life skills for reentry, and overseeing focused learning sessions (e.g. budgeting, personal hygiene, etc.) for group interaction and individual growth throughout the resident’s time at Omega House. Conformance to house rules (curfew, chores, meeting attendance, etc.) and improvement in identified areas of life skills deficiencies will be closely monitored and documented by the Residential Director.
VALUES
We believe in and honor the uniqueness, dignity, and inherent worth of every individual through the eyes of God.
We are a proactive team in which contributions are openly communicated and honored.
We embrace innovation, flexibility, and reflection, and the continuous ministry, improvement, and growth of the individual.
We thrive in a culture of learning, personal development, and growth through God.
We accept personal responsibility and hold ourselves accountable for our actions to achieve superior outcomes.
CONCLUSION
Omega Life Alternatives desires to be a cutting-edge ministry that takes the individual without hope and reforms him to help rebuild our world and society. Your prayers, faith, encouragement, and endorsement are appreciated.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
