"For over two years Derek has dedicated himself to providing support to the families at the Rebele Family Shelter. This has all been done on a voluntary basis. Derek has shown up weekly to offer tutoring to the children. He knows the importance of consistency in young people's lives so he comes three days a week to help them with their homework as well as offer kindness and connection. Derek has been very responsive to our needs for childcare. He has organized volunteers and has shown up along with them to be with children as their parents participate in Community Meetings, Parenting Classes and Financial Education. This has made it possible for the parents to give the groups their full attention because they feel confident their children are well-attended. Finally, though equally essential to our program, Derek has worked with community churches to donate needed supplies. He has helped to keep our closet stocked and our children warm at night with new pajamas. Derek clearly demonstrates where his heart is. We are grateful to him and his faithful service to the families at the Shelter."
Letitia Schwarz MFT
Associate Director of Programs
Rowland and Pat Rebele FAMILY SHELTER
Page Smith Community House
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831.458.6020 ext. 3110
"Derek Dominguez and his student volunteers provide regular and individualized tutoring services for the children of RFS. While working as a case manager at RFS, I watched the children in his tutoring program go from a place of low self esteem related to their school abilities to one where their new found academic confidence extended well beyond school performance. His tutoring ministry also provides additional support for the participating childrens' parents by meeting the educational needs of the children which provides their parents with more availability to complete job training programs, conduct job searches and look for low-cost housing additional support.
Derek's ministry is one of the few groups that have been a consistent presence since its inception at RFS in 2005. His great programmatic organizational skills, ongoing direction of his tutors and coordination with the RFS staff has made it successful program it continues to be. His ministry gives an ongoing example of Christ's love for all of us, being there to support RFS families experiencing poverty and often the lowest points in their lives. By providing much needed tutoring services for the RFS children and stability from their regular involvement, Derek and his tutors have touched everyone who has had any contact with his ministry with their inspiring acts of service and commitment."
Maria Demarest
The idea of putting together the collective power of the church of Santa Cruz is a fantastic idea. That idea is explosive if it can actually be put to work! I believe in Derek Dominguez as a godly man who has been given a great vision by God to unify and activate the church of Santa Cruz to make a difference in the name of Jesus Christ. I encourage you and your church body to participate in the vision of unleashing the compassion of Christ into our community."Andy Lewis
Lead Pastor
Faith Community Church
831.429.9000
www.santacruzfaith.org
"For over two years Derek has dedicated himself to providing support to the families at the Rebele Family Shelter. This has all been done on a voluntary basis. Derek has shown up weekly to offer tutoring to the children. He knows the importance of consistency in young people's lives so he comes three days a week to help them with their homework as well as offer kindness and connection. Derek has been very responsive to our needs for childcare. He has organized volunteers and has shown up along with them to be with children as their parents participate in Community Meetings, Parenting Classes and Financial Education. This has made it possible for the parents to give the groups their full attention because they feel confident their children are well-attended. Finally, though equally essential to our program, Derek has worked with community churches to donate needed supplies. He has helped to keep our closet stocked and our children warm at night with new pajamas. Derek clearly demonstrates where his heart is. We are grateful to him and his faithful service to the families at the Shelter."
Letitia Schwarz MFT
Associate Director of Programs
Rowland and Pat Rebele FAMILY SHELTER
Page Smith Community House
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831.458.6020 ext. 3110
"I have had the privilege to witness the journey of God's unfolding grace as He reveals His heart of compassion for the "least of these" in Santa Cruz County. I have seen His desire for his collective Church to embrace her calling and identity as His missional people participating in His mission in this world. The incarnation of this is the birthing of Compassion Santa Cruz. It is the answer to 13 years of prayer that God would raise up someone to lead the Body of Christ to be the living response of "His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven" right here and now. I believe Derek is that someone - anointed by God and infected with a real passion for assisting the Church, united, to live out her calling, participating in the mission of God, in Jesus, as described in Luke 4:18-19. We as a congregation are supporting this ministry through prayer, participation, and finances. We pray that God will raise up many congregations to do the same for His glory, our joy and the blessing of the world in the fulfillment of His will."
Don Ferris
Lead Pastor
High Street Community Church
Santa Cruz, CA
"My senior year at UCSC I was leading a small group on campus with InterVarsity. I felt confident that God had called me to this and was blessed by it in many different ways. However, by winter quarter I felt like there was something lacking in my walk with God. The year before I had been learning about Jesus loving the poor and being among them and had gone overseas to work in a Peruvian slum during the summer to further understand what that looked like. I had all this mental knowledge but back in SC I had no way to apply it. That is when my friend told me how much she enjoyed going to tutoring with the college group at our church and that I should come along.
The first week I went I was a little nervous. I had loved the poor overseas but this was just a mile or two from campus. It was a whole new experience. The kids were full of energy and excitement for when the tutors came. I thought I would just go the first time but I was way too busy to go every week. Of course that is not what happened. I loved it so much I came every week for the rest of the year. God was present at this shelter and I could feel it. I loved not only working with the kids because it was fun but because I got to see them through God's eyes. These were his children I was helping with their homework, playing tag with, or finger painting with. I started praying for these kids more during the week and realized I was filled with hope for what God could do for them.
Tutoring at the shelter was such a huge blessing for me I started inviting friends and they loved it too. Not only that, winter and spring quarter I had a class that I had to leave 15 minutes early in order to go to tutoring and my teacher gave me permission after I talked to him about it. He always asked questions and it provided a practical way for me to share about my faith and who I thought Jesus was to my teacher and classmates. The shelter gave me a heart for Santa Cruz. So much so that I am staying in Santa Cruz hoping to be a part of the work of developing CompassionSC and the work that they want to continue to do in the shelter and the community. The last year has shown me that this is a place God is working at and a direction I think he is moving and I am excited to see where he leads us as a family of believers in this city which is "Holy Cross."
Tanya Mancheno
Recent College Graduate from UCSC Spring 2008
