From couponing, learning how to save dollars on groceries, to making your dreams come alive with vision boards.  You, too, may become a part of this fantastic parent group, working on behalf of yourselves and your children.  Learn tools to engage and be more active in the lives of your family. 

If you are wondering how to become the parent you always wanted to be, join us at Living Stones' peer-to-peer support group called Parents Engaged for Life (PEL) program.  We meet 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month--our next meeting is February 22, 2018 at our location, 1341 Cross Creek Circle.  Call (850) 765-0320 for further information.

Children are welcomed at the 2nd Thursday and the 4th Thursday is for parents only.  Doesn't it look like fun--join us today!

Living Stones International (LSI) is a faith-based children, family outreach and social services organization delivering a comprehensive, multi-component, program addressing the effects of parental incarceration on children and their families.  Our programs also entail COVE Academy Learning Lab (CALL) After School Tutoring/Mentoring, Children of Inmates special bonding visits, and Civil Citation for Leon County.  Visit us at welivingstones.org today to know more about our organization.

Ho-Ho-Ho says the merry old soul. What a wonderful sight to see the children laughing at Walker Ford Community Center, the site of Living Stones' 5th Annual Holiday Dinner.  Kudos goes out to our partner for the fifth year, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.  For the past four years, our program has outgrown four sites.  It appears the venue at Walker Ford may hold us at least another two years. A total of 300 children and parents attended.  Food disappeared fast with no leftovers and was great thanks to Mom and Dad's Italian Restaurant.  Also, special thanks to New Salem Dance Troop for the awesome performance our children and families enjoyed.

​For Pastor and I this is the time of year we usually celebrate less with our children.  They knew that with the things we did throughout the year as a family made up for a one time event during the holidays.  Unlike many children, our children were blessed with two parents, ​who cared about their physical as well as spiritual needs.  Yet there are many children, who may not have this advantage--hence, the reason for the season. Thanks to the support of the community through Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Mainline Information Systems, Office of the Mayor, City of Tallahassee, All About Smiles, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (Noble) of North Florida Chapter, Elle Belle Photography, Toys for Tots, Peyton Tuthill Foundation, and the many supporters and volunteers for the evening, it turned out to be beautiful.  

​Our goal is to spread cheer and goodwill to children who come in our midst as we did our own.  The smiles you see are genuine as we continue to make this the merriest season ever.  Don't forget, there is always room to do more that's why we are so ever grateful to your gifts, time, and support for these children.  You're only paces from blessing the least of these...

Be a recurring giver today and make these smiles continuous throughout the year.  Remember--"people don't care how much you know, until you show them how much you care."                                                             

Children always know how to have fun. The return of the wet soggy and smelly T-Shirts tells the T-A-L-E!  The trip to St. Marks in Apalachicola was a great lesson in the environment.  The children found a horseshoe crab that was brought back to the classroom.  Only one of the children knew what it was.  As you may see from the pictures, children always know how to find water, sand, and grit.  It was a great experience and some of the children expressed an interest in a career of marine biology, environmental solutions to keeping our waters clean, and yes a day away from the urban scene they know.  Many want to attend another trip, which are incentivize with a baseline of commitment from good grades, better behavior, and progress reports.  

It started as a beautiful morning.  The canvas was bare and staff with volunteers made it a great site for launching Living Stones' 5th Annual Family Fun Day, at Walker Ford Community Center.  We want to thank the City of Tallahassee again this year for their partnership, as well as Bridges International, and FASTSIGNS.  Thanks to our many supporters this year--note the logos below and make sure they are on your list of places to shop, explore for services, and buy from in the near future.  We loved the vendors and want to share with them that their presence makes the difference in offering their services with the neighborhood and Tallahassee community. 

The recommendation made to have everything surround the stage was spot on--thanks, Malachi.  Newly constructed games made for great competition for the prizes being given away and children were walking around with stuff animals throughout their time at fun day. To our surprise, Prime Meridian Bank provided to us two electronic billboards going north and south on Interstate 10--it's the last picture above---Awesome! Our children and families enjoyed the hot dogs and buns donated by Mom's and Dad's - a blessing. LSI appreciates WFSU PBS covering our story and highlighting it on Tom Flanigan's Show.

​In years past we always skirted the rain, but this year would be different.  IT POURED! When lightning struck about 1:15 pm, Pastor had to call it a day.  As you see from the pictures, it was going to be a great start, yet the finish never came, but we look forward to everyone joining us next year, Saturday, June 16, 2018 at Walker Ford again.  ​Tallahassee, are you ready to have fun-fun-fun! 

 What an awesome way to start Steamhack 2017 by having our Children of Value (COVE) Academy meet at Florida A&M University Black Archives. 

Vincent Hunt, Creators Camp leader, revs up the children's creative juices, in a  diverse atmosphere of black history lessons.  During the time children were working here, the actual hackers were coming up with solutions at DOMI Station at Railroad Square. 

Time ticked on with a continental breakfast starting at 10 am, lunch at noon, and pizza at 6 pm.  The children used every minute of their time to create their own scenarios; while the hackers were developing theirs.  Of course, the end of the day, everyone including staff and volunteers blew off some steam.

​Everyone believed the children were exhausted, but that showed up differently outside.  They were still climbing and jumping even after all the brain power used. 

. . . The winners of the Children's Award--Children of Value (COVE) Award are two college students from FSU with building virtual reality.  Of course the children would pick the goggles, but so did the professional judges.  Way to go children. Scale of 1 to 10, 10 the highest score, they received a 10.

The Theme ~ Our Family Reunion would not have been successful without our sponsors, City of Tallahassee’s Walker Ford Community Center, Bridges International, FastSigns, and Farm Share; to name a few. There were 25 vendors that showcased their services to the community. Those services ranged from Voter registration to health services with Florida Blue and so much more. Some vendors were able to provide activities and games for the children.

Our performers did a fantastic job like the jazz duo…. We even had Pastor and Elder JC’s son, Malachi, performing as well.  Blazing 102.3 provided a live remote from 11 am to 1 pm and even brought pizza to share with everyone. BJ The Clown provided the children with face painting, balloon animals, and caricature portraits. 
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Law enforcement were present with police officers from The City of Tallahassee and Leon County Sheriffs’ Department providing the kids with activities.  Some candidates running for office join us at the Fun Day, too.  Candidates were given the opportunity to announce themselves and the office they were running for as well as be a part of our special announcement— the first recipient of Living Stones’ newest scholarship program, Darius “BJ” Johnson.

Darrius ‘BJ’ Johnson, was the first to receive this scholarship. His family was the first in our Children of Inmates program. Overcoming the odds set before you are what sets BJ apart and the values Living Stones would like to develop in our future scholarship recipients. Congratulations, BJ!
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LSI will continue to raise funds to benefit children of inmates as they continue their education in the future.

​ Thank you to everyone that came out to help make Saturday, June 18, 2016 a great success for our children and families in the community

​On May 20 – 22, 2016, Reverend R. B. Holmes Jr. and the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church hosted the Criminal & Social Justice Awareness Weekend. The weekend recognized persons and organizations involved in prison ministries.   
 
Several qualified guest speakers shared the panel or facilitated workshops.
 
The culminating event was held at Bethel Baptist Church on Sunday, May 22, 2016, at the 11:00 a.m. Worship Service. Living Stones International’s founders were recognized for our Children of Inmates Program and involvement with working in prison ministry for the last four years.
 
Reverend Dr. R.B. Holmes spoke about “The Strength of the Lord” and “The Strength to Stand Up.” The scriptures were Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 27, and Ephesians 6:10. He also congratulated those in attendance for their work in prisons.
 
All activities for the weekend were empowering to witness.

Fresh air and great food plus good company will get children playing games every time.  The after school program took time to head out to Tom Brown Park for food, fun, and fellowship.  The mentors were ready, games in hand, and some nifty ways to see if children are paying attention.

A pep talk from Eddie received well because when JC drove up, she started to snap pictures seeing how everyone was paying attention.  After our snack of subs and juice---the games began.  There were 3 stations that lasted about 10 minutes each.  Have you ever tried to get through a hula hoop holding another hand in a circle without breaking the circle?  What laughter and fun everyone had that afternoon.  

As staff and mentors, we decided this was more fun for us than the students. Tom Brown Park will be back.  We know there are many sunny days awaiting some more surprise visits to the park.