2008-2009 Summary and Accomplishments

Tomorrow’s Present began in 1988 with a grant from the Lilly Foundation. It started as a project of St. Francis Seminary and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In 2005, it became a ministry of House of Peace. In 2008, Tomorrow’s Present became a collaborative ministry of both House of Peace and The Leadership Center of Cardinal Stritch University. Tomorrow’s Present is directed by Dr. Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart.

Pebbles of Peace starts with a November youth forum, where 140 teenagers from different Milwaukee neighborhoods meet and discuss local issues with community leaders. They design projects to address the issues, and implement them throughout the school year. They gather again for a showcase of leadership in the spring, where they bring display boards and photos and give presentations about their projects.

In 2008-2009, Pebbles involved 266 people – 184 youth and 82 adults. The youth projects probably reached over a thousand other students in their schools, churches and organizations.

Hope Is Something You Do teaches the skills for peaceful conflict resolution to middle school students. It’s presented by the House of Peace Teen Leaders, a group of high school students who meet each month for leadership training. The workshop uses skits, activities, role plays and stories to get the lessons across. “This is such important work. If more children learned how to be natural peacemakers, they would grow up knowing those skills, and eventually, we would have a country full of peacemakers.”

Our workshops in January and March of 2009 involved 37 middle school youth,

12 adults, 13 college students and 51 high school youth.

 The House of Peace Teen Leaders present Pebbles and Hope Is Something You Do. “Leaders influence every aspect of our lives.  The House of Peace gives us the chance to teach others the wisdom of how to peacefully resolve conflicts. This can bring about a much more peaceful society for future generations.” This year, the calendar for our 17 Teen Leaders included 23 days (about 113 hours) of training and service.

 Middle School Youth Leadership Forums are day-long forums for youth in middle school that teach leadership skills, build Catholic identity, and bring about youth-designed projects related to faith, prayer, and service. One youth participant summarized the day by saying, “I learned I can make a difference, and I’m only 13!”

In the fall of 2008, we held two youth forums, with 147 youth and 12 adults from 8 schools.

Milwaukee Area Interfaith Youth Cafés provide the opportunity for young people from different religious traditions to gather four times a year for snacks and drinks to “strengthen interfaith dialog, reduce misinformation, and promote peaceful relationships among all people.” In our 2008-2009 year, 78 youth and 25 adults

attended our three cafés. “The Interfaith Cafés are a great way

 to understand other religions and stop being so ignorant.”  

The Interfaith Earth Network bridges ecology and faith by challenging communities to reflect upon care of the Earth and encourages people of diverse cultural, economic and faith perspectives to live, work, pray and worship in environmentally sustainable ways.  During 2008-2009, our workshops and conferences involved 494 people.

Other Opportunities… Tomorrow’s Present brings leadership training to churches, schools and organizations in Milwaukee and around the country, using formats that last a day, a weekend, or a few hours. Topics include conflict resolution, communication and presentation skills, personal reflection, Sabbath time, family programming, Christian practices, and Transformational Ministry. Our local partners have included the Boys and Girls Clubs, Casa Romero, and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. This past year, 1203 youth and adults attended our leadership events, including a week-long series of workshops in Alberta, Canada.

Make a difference in the lives of young people! The work of Tomorrow’s Present is only possible because of the generosity of foundations and individual donors. During the 2008-2009 school year, $94,140 was spent on programming for 2557 participating youth and adults. That’s an average of $36.82 per person, making Tomorrow’s Present a very cost-effective investment. Our teaching methods are based on Dr. Calderone-Stewart’s own research on what factors encourage young people to want to be leaders.

 Click here for the 2005-2006 summary.

Click here for the 2006-2007 summary.

Click here for the 2007-2008 summary.