Jericho Road Pasadena

History

Jericho Road Project Pasadena is the first west coast offshoot of the successful Jericho Road Project, which originated seven years ago on the east coast. Jericho Road Project Pasadena was spearheaded by members of Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasadena, who worked with the Flintridge Foundation to assess whether there was a need in the local non-profit community for the services it offered. When the answer was a clear "Yes", local volunteers began raising operating funds and creating its structure. Like its four east coast affiliates, Jericho Road Project Pasadena will bridge communities by providing to non-profit community benefit organizations needed professional or technical expertise free of charge. Jericho Road will find the skilled volunteer expertise within local churches and industry, work in collaboration with local non-profit organizations to define the skills needed to meet their challenges, and then coordinate the resulting capacity-building effort on a project-by project basis. The Jericho Road Project is a non-sectarian, non-profit corporation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service with 501(c)(3) status. The name "Jericho Road" is derived from imagery in a sermon by the Rev. Martin Luther King, when he exhorted his listeners to follow the example of the good Samaritan tending the injured traveler on the road to Jericho.

Jericho Road Pasadena officially opened its doors in mid-May 2010 when a new Program Director, Melanie Goodyear was hired. Melanie comes to Jericho Road Pasadena as a nonprofit professional with 15 years of program experience. Melanie has dedicated her career to helping the needy, leading her to diverse experiences, such as working at an orphanage in Mexico, and doing community organizing in a poor immigrant neighborhood in San Diego. For the past six years, she has managed volunteers within public libraries. She has consulted extensively with nonprofits, helping to build their capacities. She has a B.A. degree from Wellesley College and an M.A. degree from Claremont School of Theology. Melanie lives in Pasadena and is excited about launching Jericho Road Pasadena.

Steering Committee:

John Blue, Steering Committee President, has practiced civil litigation law in Los Angeles for almost thirty-eight years. He is now a partner in his own firm, Blue Schoor & Diehl. He has been married to his wife Betsy for the same thirty-eight years. They have one daughter, Catherine Blue Holmes, who is a law student at St. Louis University. Since coming to Pasadena in 1975, both Betsy and John have been active at Neighborhood Unitarian Church of Pasadena and have been involved in local politics. John has served on several civic commissions of the City of Pasadena.

Thom Daniels, Steering Committee Secretary, is the Managing Partner of Jefferson Property Group LLC, a real estate asset management firm based in Los Angeles, focusing on residential redevelopment in Southern California. For ten years, he consulted with high-tech and entertainment clients in strategy development and business planning as a Principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers Management Consulting and IBM Business Consulting Services. At the Atlantic Richfield Company, he served as a manager in Marketing Operations, responsible for various operations at ARCO sites and am/pm convenience stores. Before this he worked as an engineer with the Hewlett Packard Company. He is an active volunteer with the LAPD in community policing and with Reading to Kids, a local literacy organization. Thom graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Engineering and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.

Dr. Barbara Eaton is a recently retired general surgeon who practiced at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, for nearly 28 years. She was educated at Antioch College and Tufts University and then received her MD at George Washington University Medical School. During her tenure at Kaiser Permanente she served as Chief of Staff for 2 yrs and as a member of the Bioethics Committee, and member of the Surgical Morbidity and Mortality committee. The hospital where she practiced is in the greater Los Angeles area and draws patients from many ethnic back grounds. Her greatest satisfaction came from forming long-term close working relationships with her diverse patients, many of whom had complicated surgical problems. She lives with her husband in South Pasadena and is the mother of two adult children, two grandchildren, and three Labrador retrievers.

Dick Hirrel is a retired lawyer, who now does mediation work. In his retirement, he enjoys golfing, summers in Michigan, and a variety of nonprofit and foundation work. Dick joined the Jericho Road Pasadena Steering Committee in early 2010.

Francisca Neumann, a California native, has lived in the Pasadena area with the exception of her four years at Sweet Briar College in Virginia where she received her Bachelors Degree before returning to Los Angeles to receive her Masters in Special Education at Cal State, Los Angeles. After teaching in the Pasadena Unified District, then working at Childrens' Hospital, Los Angeles she returned to Pasadena to found the program for disabled students at Pasadena City College. She then co-founded a coalition to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse which was named "Day One: take charge of your life; take care of your community." She also worked part time as Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church's Director of Outreach. Meantime she has served on a wide variety of non profit organizations that range from the Pasadena Humane Society, Lambda Advocacy Council of San Gabriel Valley, Descanso Gardens, the Garden Club of America and continues to volunteer for the Pasadena Police Department in the First Offender Program.

The Rev. Hannah Petrie serves Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasadena as the Associate Minister. Along with pastoral, membership, and homiletic duties, she oversees the social justice programs, projects and service opportunities of the church. As a church leader she is familiar with the similar challenges that non-profit organizations face. She also grew up with a father who has been CEO of two large youth-serving NPOs for over 40 years. Strengthening the capacity of the non-profit world is in her blood!

John Wilson, Steering Committee Treasurer is originally from Concord, Massachusetts; his involvement with the Jericho Road Project runs deep. John interned with JRP and volunteered in Lowell in 2005. He joined the Jericho Road Pasadena Steering Committee upon its inception in June 2009. His capacity on the committee includes serving as treasurer, managing information technology for the site's Old Town office, and advising on marketing and outreach.

Beyond his personal history with JRP, John's career has spanned public policy, international affairs, and non-profit consulting. He has facilitated survey research for the RAND Corporation. He has helped launch a trade office with the foreign ministry of Peru in Los Angeles; and has worked with organizations like the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, Community Partners, LA Artist, and Sweatshop Watch (now the Garment Worker Center). Currently owner of his sole proprietorship Wilson Enterprises, he is a sales agent with Cardinal Assurance. John has a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College.

Contact :

Melanie Goodyear, JR Pasadena Program Director at mgoodyear@jerichoroadproject.org, 626-319-6466.