IN THE NEWS
Published in the New Britain City Journal
KOHOE Youth Center Opens at Chamberlain Square
By Robin Vinci at October 11, 2013 | 8:00 am |
In the summer of 2008, Michele Ruiz had a vision from God and didn’t really know what it meant at the time.
“My vision was so real and vivid I just couldn’t ignore it. In this dream, there were many rooms being built. Every night for about a week I had the same dream. I never experienced a dream like this before,” said Ruiz. “In these dreams, there was a very large youth group center with an amazing facility and activities for youth. I could see a theater room, a game room, a workout room, music, and a café. There was even a recording studio and musical instruments for the youth to learn how to play.”
On Saturday that vision started to become a reality as Ruiz opened The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (KOHOE) at Chamberlain Square, 600 East St.
To a group of about 50 people, Ruiz from Light of Hope Ministries, opened the center, offering tours of 12 rooms that will include a café, theater room, recreation room, classroom, a food pantry and more.
“We are not about religion,” said Ruiz, who is from New Britain, but moved to Windsor and did not expect to come back to this City. “We are faith based. We want to welcome everyone.”
The mission is to build a place for youth and women to come, learn and be treated with respect.
In order to make it into the place of Ruiz’ visions, several things are needed such as volunteers, sponsors and donations.
“We want our high school students to be involved as well as college students,” Ruiz said. “This is a place for our youth to gather and enjoy and learn to have a better life, peaceful and joyful in the midst of the madness that they go through.”
Ruiz presently leads a women’s fellowship group that holds hour-and-a-half meetings on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. Fridays.
“The goal is to bring the women who don’t have an education that are in shelters and are homeless to be wise and get a job,” said Ruiz. “We will have mentors and tutors or whatever they need.”
Jim Sanders, owner and manager of the Chamberlain Square Business Center at the former Chamberlain School building has allowed Ruiz to build her vision asking for only 50 cents on the dollar of its worth.
“They are going to renovate it and we are putting the heating system in,” said Sanders. “To me this is a good thing. Overall it is a good fit and I see that it will happen.”
When Sanders bought the property in 2008 it was borderline blighted property with graffiti on the walls. Sanders has been cleaning it up and renovating it.
Ruiz hopes to have KOHOE open for everyone by next summer.
Ruiz is looking for volunteers in the following areas:
Teachers/Mentors with the following skills: computer literacy training, resume creation, musical instrument instruction, vocal instruction, dance instruction, health/wellness, basic finance literacy, technical recording studio experience, technical theatrical and youth recreation.
Other areas and volunteer opportunities include building security volunteers, painters, food services for our food pantry and café, artistic mural painting, web-designers, draft designers, architect, calligraphy, youth recreation mentors and administrative assistance
Donations needed include clothing, computer hardware/software equipment, food pantry donations, desks and other furniture, flooring and lighting fixtures
If you have a skill, talent, and heart for the youth, or you have another area of interest and would like to be a part of this amazing vision, please contact Ruiz by sending an email to [email protected] or call Ruiz at 203-214-6682. The group is also looking for monetary donations of any amount as well as sponsors. To donate, go to www.LOHMinistriesNB.org.
KOHOE Youth Center Opens at Chamberlain Square
By Robin Vinci at October 11, 2013 | 8:00 am |
In the summer of 2008, Michele Ruiz had a vision from God and didn’t really know what it meant at the time.
“My vision was so real and vivid I just couldn’t ignore it. In this dream, there were many rooms being built. Every night for about a week I had the same dream. I never experienced a dream like this before,” said Ruiz. “In these dreams, there was a very large youth group center with an amazing facility and activities for youth. I could see a theater room, a game room, a workout room, music, and a café. There was even a recording studio and musical instruments for the youth to learn how to play.”
On Saturday that vision started to become a reality as Ruiz opened The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (KOHOE) at Chamberlain Square, 600 East St.
To a group of about 50 people, Ruiz from Light of Hope Ministries, opened the center, offering tours of 12 rooms that will include a café, theater room, recreation room, classroom, a food pantry and more.
“We are not about religion,” said Ruiz, who is from New Britain, but moved to Windsor and did not expect to come back to this City. “We are faith based. We want to welcome everyone.”
The mission is to build a place for youth and women to come, learn and be treated with respect.
In order to make it into the place of Ruiz’ visions, several things are needed such as volunteers, sponsors and donations.
“We want our high school students to be involved as well as college students,” Ruiz said. “This is a place for our youth to gather and enjoy and learn to have a better life, peaceful and joyful in the midst of the madness that they go through.”
Ruiz presently leads a women’s fellowship group that holds hour-and-a-half meetings on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. Fridays.
“The goal is to bring the women who don’t have an education that are in shelters and are homeless to be wise and get a job,” said Ruiz. “We will have mentors and tutors or whatever they need.”
Jim Sanders, owner and manager of the Chamberlain Square Business Center at the former Chamberlain School building has allowed Ruiz to build her vision asking for only 50 cents on the dollar of its worth.
“They are going to renovate it and we are putting the heating system in,” said Sanders. “To me this is a good thing. Overall it is a good fit and I see that it will happen.”
When Sanders bought the property in 2008 it was borderline blighted property with graffiti on the walls. Sanders has been cleaning it up and renovating it.
Ruiz hopes to have KOHOE open for everyone by next summer.
Ruiz is looking for volunteers in the following areas:
Teachers/Mentors with the following skills: computer literacy training, resume creation, musical instrument instruction, vocal instruction, dance instruction, health/wellness, basic finance literacy, technical recording studio experience, technical theatrical and youth recreation.
Other areas and volunteer opportunities include building security volunteers, painters, food services for our food pantry and café, artistic mural painting, web-designers, draft designers, architect, calligraphy, youth recreation mentors and administrative assistance
Donations needed include clothing, computer hardware/software equipment, food pantry donations, desks and other furniture, flooring and lighting fixtures
If you have a skill, talent, and heart for the youth, or you have another area of interest and would like to be a part of this amazing vision, please contact Ruiz by sending an email to [email protected] or call Ruiz at 203-214-6682. The group is also looking for monetary donations of any amount as well as sponsors. To donate, go to www.LOHMinistriesNB.org.
Published in the New Britain Herald
Kingdom of Heaven on Earth Youth Center gets ready for its open house on Oct. 5th
Sunday, September 22, 2013 10:45 PM EDT
By BRIAN M. JOHNSON
CORRESPONDENT
NEW BRITAIN — A city-born pastor hopes to have a youth center in Chamberlain Square up and running in a couple of weeks.
Michele M. Mercado-Ruiz, now of Windsor, who founded Light of Hope Ministries in 2011, said she plans to have the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth Youth Center on the second-floor at 600 East St. ready for an open house Oct. 5 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Mercado-Ruiz leads a women’s fellowship group that holds hour-and-a-half meetings at the East Street facility Thursdays at 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. Fridays. New youth programs at the center, she said, would begin next summer.
The space has been rented to Mercado-Ruiz by Jim Sanders, owner and manager of the Chamberlain Square Business Center in the former Chamberlian School building, at half market value. The two have been working on establishing the youth center since 2011.
About 30,000 square feet of the 77,000-square-foot building is undergoing renovations, according to Sanders. When completed, the second-floor will feature a chapel, cafe and food pantry, classroom, theater, recreation area, library/conference room, office room, clothing room, dance room, music room and recording studio.
Mercado-Ruiz plans to reach out to city residents and local businesses, schools, ministries and churches to invite them to see the youth center during October’s open house. She is looking for volunteers, teachers and instructors to staff the facility.
Sanders said he has requested a meeting with Mayor Timothy O’Brien to discuss electrical improvements, heating and inspections, but it has not yet been scheduled.
“This is all just getting put together,” he said. “We’re approved for just about anything zoning-wise, we just need to bring an architect in to see what we need to upgrade. We’d also like to see if we can get any assistance along the way.”
Mercado-Ruiz said she received her divine vision in a dream in 2008.
“My background is in the human resources field, which I had been part of for 19 years,” she said. “My job had just closed down when the Lord instilled in my heart a mission to work with women and youth to make a better place. I saw a vision of a building with many rooms. I first met Jim in November 2011 when I shared with him my vision. During our first board of directors meeting I was showed the upstairs of the building, which I had never seen before, and it was the exact same room from my dream.”
The purpose of the KOHOE Youth Center is to “give hope to the hopeless.”
“Our youth are out on the streets, hurting, broken and lost,” she said. “Our goal is to shed love and light on them. We are a faith-based group that is open to everyone. We accept people for who they are; we don’t judge or condemn. We will teach young men and women to have a better life in the midst of their hardships. New Britain has the Boys and Girls Clubs and the YMCA, but we want to provide a place where youth can do all kinds of activities, learn job skills, volunteer, find employment, find their talent, and be clothed and fed, all under one roof.”
Sanders said he looks forward to working with the city to make the project a success.
“We’re looking for their support on all fronts,” he said. “I think Michele’s overall plan is a good fit for New Britain and the East Side.”
For more information, visit LOHMinistriesnb.org, call Mercado-Ruiz at (203) 214-6682 or email [email protected].
Published in the New Britain City Journal
Native Begins Ministry to Help Youth, Women By Robin Vinci February 6, 2012
Michele Mercado-Ruiz began Light of Hope Ministry last year in order to help women and youth deal with the issues facing them.
The New Britain native who now lives in Windsor, said she began the mission because she feels in order to make good decisions, we must be wise.
“It’s really motivating. We talk about women becoming wise with their choices (in the woman’s group),” said Mercado-Ruiz. “A lot of times we don’t always do everything with love and patience and kindness. There is so much depression and anxiety and stress out there and no one takes the time to quiet their mind and read the word of God.”
With the youth, Mercado-Ruiz has had sessions about love, trust, depression, living in the light, suicide, temptation, anger and gratitude. Self-esteem, peer pressure and divorces are part of the upcoming schedule.
“It’s not a place they come and are told what to do,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “This is their place and their time. It’s a place they can come and be themselves, express what they are feeling without anyone judging them.”
Mercado-Ruiz said society has brought a lot of negatives in the world. Teenagers can make better decision with the right guidance.
“If you don’t get the right guidance and make the right choices at that age, or know what kind of choices to make, what are you going to become tomorrow in the future?” said Mercado-Ruiz.
Youths come to meetings from New Britain, Hartford, Newington, Manchester and more. Mercado-Ruiz started with her daughter and her group of friends.
“I’ve had this desire (to help teens) in my heart for a long time because I see what they go through,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “You don’t need to look for love in the wrong places whether it is drugs, sex or whatever.”
Presently there are about 16 teenagers in the groups, but there is room for more.
“There are hungry children out there not knowing where to go or who to talk to,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “A lot of kids don’t feel they have anyone they can talk to. They need to go somewhere they can feel confident, have guidance and know they are doing things with love.”
The Woman’s Group is made up of adults and they speak about some of the same subjects such as love and how it relates to them and avoiding worry.
“We need to learn the way God loves us and accepts us,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “What does worry do to you? It takes love and peace away.”
Mercado-Ruiz said she used to work with children in her church and at a shelter, but these are not related to her church.
The Youth Group meets every Thursday night from 7-8:30 p.m. The Woman’s Group meets on the third Saturday of the month from 12-2 p.m.
She holds the group meetings at 600 East St., Chamberlain Square and they are free.
For more information call 203-214-6682.
Native Begins Ministry to Help Youth, Women By Robin Vinci February 6, 2012
Michele Mercado-Ruiz began Light of Hope Ministry last year in order to help women and youth deal with the issues facing them.
The New Britain native who now lives in Windsor, said she began the mission because she feels in order to make good decisions, we must be wise.
“It’s really motivating. We talk about women becoming wise with their choices (in the woman’s group),” said Mercado-Ruiz. “A lot of times we don’t always do everything with love and patience and kindness. There is so much depression and anxiety and stress out there and no one takes the time to quiet their mind and read the word of God.”
With the youth, Mercado-Ruiz has had sessions about love, trust, depression, living in the light, suicide, temptation, anger and gratitude. Self-esteem, peer pressure and divorces are part of the upcoming schedule.
“It’s not a place they come and are told what to do,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “This is their place and their time. It’s a place they can come and be themselves, express what they are feeling without anyone judging them.”
Mercado-Ruiz said society has brought a lot of negatives in the world. Teenagers can make better decision with the right guidance.
“If you don’t get the right guidance and make the right choices at that age, or know what kind of choices to make, what are you going to become tomorrow in the future?” said Mercado-Ruiz.
Youths come to meetings from New Britain, Hartford, Newington, Manchester and more. Mercado-Ruiz started with her daughter and her group of friends.
“I’ve had this desire (to help teens) in my heart for a long time because I see what they go through,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “You don’t need to look for love in the wrong places whether it is drugs, sex or whatever.”
Presently there are about 16 teenagers in the groups, but there is room for more.
“There are hungry children out there not knowing where to go or who to talk to,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “A lot of kids don’t feel they have anyone they can talk to. They need to go somewhere they can feel confident, have guidance and know they are doing things with love.”
The Woman’s Group is made up of adults and they speak about some of the same subjects such as love and how it relates to them and avoiding worry.
“We need to learn the way God loves us and accepts us,” said Mercado-Ruiz. “What does worry do to you? It takes love and peace away.”
Mercado-Ruiz said she used to work with children in her church and at a shelter, but these are not related to her church.
The Youth Group meets every Thursday night from 7-8:30 p.m. The Woman’s Group meets on the third Saturday of the month from 12-2 p.m.
She holds the group meetings at 600 East St., Chamberlain Square and they are free.
For more information call 203-214-6682.