NE NE - Jason Jolkowski, 19, Omaha, 13 June 2001 - #1

[Love_Mama]

Kelly, Jason and your family are in my prayers every day. I pray that this bill once it get's to the State Senate will be passed!

My love and prayers to the Jolkowski family.

xxxxxxxooo
mama

 

[Kelly]

Omaha, NE: February 18, 2005-- When one woman’s son became missing, she looked for him in the faces of the homeless. Even though it seemed inconceivable that she would find him among the thousands upon thousands of faces, it was not impossible that other missing persons might be found.

It was because of this search that the new and unique national missing person's locator program, Come Home, was developed by nonprofit organization Project Jason.

Project Jason, which assists families of the missing, was founded by Kelly Jolkowski, the mother of missing young adult Jason Jolkowski, of Omaha.

There are an estimated 3.5 million people in the United States who experience homelessness each year. People may become homeless for varied reasons, which include mental illness, addictions, domestic abuse, poverty, trauma, and lack of affordable housing.

Project Jason's mission statement includes creating and increasing public awareness of missing persons. With an estimated 850,000 new cases per year, it remains a challenge to find avenues to reach all facets of society in an effort to locate missing persons. It is not known how many of the homeless may be reported missing persons, but it is a certainty that many are.

In order to reach this segment of the population, the Come Home program was created. The bi-monthly Come Home poster will feature all of the necessary data and contact information about a selected missing person. It will also include a personal message to the missing person from their family. They simply want their loved one to Come Home.

Come Home posters are placed at homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other locations where homeless persons gather. Project Jason has a growing database of participating shelters and related organizations nationwide. Twice per month, a new poster is produced and this information relayed via email to Come Home participants nationwide. A link to download and print the poster is available on the Project Jason website, and can also be accessed by the public.

Project Jason believes that working together with the nationwide participants, the Come Home program will help decrease the numbers of missing persons and of the homeless. Somewhere, someone loves them and wants them to Come Home.

A press conference is being held at 1:15pm on Friday, February 18th at the Siena/Francis House homeless shelter in Omaha, NE to announce the roll-out of the Come Home program. Local media may be contacted for assistance with footage of the conference.

For additional information about the program, please email ComeHome@projectjason.org, or call Kelly Jolkowski at 402-932-0095.

The Come Home website is located at http://www.projectjason.org/comehome.html

 

[JJJJaded]

God Bless You Kelly...you are doing such tremendous work.

M

 

[smile22]

has anyone yet come foward after seeing the pictures of them ?

 

[WasBlind]

has anyone yet come foward after seeing the pictures of them ?

Pictures of who, smile22? Persons on the Come Home Program?

Blessings, Lanie

 

[englishleigh]

I just wanted to thank everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. The candle of hope burns brightly for Jason, always.

Kelly

Kelly, you are wonderful. I pray every day that Jason comes home to you, safe. You do wonderful work in Jason's name. God bless you, Honey. I pray that this legislation passes quickly!!

 

[audrey77]

Kelly- I like the layout of the posters- makes them less of like a "wanted" poster... and more like a loving plea or outreach. Great job.

 

[Kelly]

Thank you to all. That was the exact idea behind the poster. My homeless consultant said that a typical Missing poster would make them nervous, so we developed one that was calming.


Published Friday
February 18, 2005

Group starts missing-person campaign

BY KRISTIN ZAGURSKI

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1339508

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The parents' desperate words call out from the poster:

"Michael, we miss you so much. We miss our walks on the beach. . . . We miss seeing your smiling face. Not knowing where you are or seeing you is so hard. Please come home."

Michael Allen Jarvi, 31, was last seen in March 2002 in Portland, Ore.

He's just one missing person that the Omaha nonprofit group Project Jason hopes to reunite with his family by distributing posters nationwide to places where homeless people gather.

The group will e-mail Internet links to participating agencies twice per month under its new "Come Home" program.

The organizations will then print the posters and hang them where staff members and homeless people can see them.

The posters will initially be put up at more than 1,100 locations in 34 states, including Omaha-area shelters, said Kelly Jolkowski, president and founder of Project Jason.

They will include a photo and physical description of a missing person who's possibly homeless, contact information for investigators and a message from the missing person's family.

Jolkowski said the personal plea is key to the posters.

"We had to reach out," she said. "We had to let them know that no matter what had occurred or how long they've been gone that they are loved and missed."

Jolkowski hopes the fliers will do some good by prompting homeless people to contact their families.

"Our hope is that they will read that and they will think of their family and that they will be encouraged to, if not go home, at least call home," said Jolkowski, whose son Jason has been missing more than 31/2 years.

The public also is invited to distribute the posters. They'll be posted at www.projectjason.org under the "Come Home" link.

 

[WasBlind]

Reuniting Families
Come Home Project
Posters share the message

Everybody has a home. That's the thought behind a national program started by a local group trying to connect the homeless with family.

It's the Come Home Program, the work of Omaha's Project Jason.

Posters give families a way to try and connect with people like 31-year-old Michael Jarvi. A note from his family reads, "Michael, we miss you so much. We miss our walks on the beach."

Michael is out there somewhere and now, so is his picture.

As part of the Come Home Program, Michael's poster is going up in the Siena Francis House and other shelters across the county.

Siena Francis Director Mike Saklar sees family heartache like this every day.

"It's really a tough situation when you have grandmothers; mothers; sisters; brothers calling and asking about a lost loved one," he says.

Kelly Jolkowski is behind the posters.

She came to a shelter more than three years ago looking for her son, Jason. She is still looking for hime but she's also helping other families of the missing.

Kelly says, "What we believe is that even if this missing person, Michael Jarvi, never sees this poster, that some of the other homeless will and at least be encouraged to call home, and maybe even find a way to go home."

Twice a month, more than 1,000 shelters, soup kitchens, crisis centers and other places in 34 states will download the posters that can be reached by anyone at www.projectjason.org.

Saklar says these posters will help him as he tries to help others, like one family that stays with him.

"I felt so bad, because mostly the person who would call me was the grandmother, and they wanted me to pass on how much they loved their grandson," he says.

Now he can tell the family about the posters while another family hopes that Michael will see his picture, get the message and come home.

There is no clearinghouse for missing persons in Nebraska. Project Jason has been working on legislation for that for a couple of years now.

Iowa does have a clearinghouse through its Department of Public Safety Web site ( http://www.state.ia.us/government/dps/dci/mpic/list.htm ) and Council Bluffs also lists missing persons on its police Web site ( http://www.cbpolice.org/missing.asp ). They have 15 open cases.

Video story available here

 

[WasBlind]

You Can Help Find Missing People
02/18/05

A new national attempt to bring missing family members home and it began on Friday right here in Omaha.

Kelly Jolkowski helped introduce the come home program, a program she helped develop to decrease the number of homeless and missing people.

A picture of a missing person will go up in homeless shelters twice a month. They'll have a message from the missing person's family.

Jolkowski's son Jason disappeared over three years ago. She says she looked to homeless shelters in hopes of finding him.

Jolkowski says, "We believe that among the homeless there's a fair percentage that are actually reported missing people."

Jolkowski's son Jason has never been found.

If you would like more information about the program e-mail comehome@projectjason.org

Channel 42

 

[WasBlind]

Internet Project Aims To Bring Homeless Home

Kelly Jolkowski Wants To Link Missing, Families

POSTED: 4:29 pm CST February 18, 2005
UPDATED: 4:34 pm CST February 18, 2005

OMAHA, Neb. -- There are about 2,100 homeless men, women and children in Omaha, the city estimates, and many of them have loved ones looking for them.

The mother of a missing Omaha man launched a new program Friday to try to help unite the homeless with their families. Kelly Jolkowski has spearheaded the use of a new missing persons locator program in Omaha.

Kelly's son, Jason Jolkowski, was last seen in June 2001 while walking from his home to Benson High School. He was supposed to get a ride with a friend because his car was being repaired.

As his mother was searching the Internet for any sign of her son, she had an idea.

"I also looked at all the faces of the homeless. There were so many. I looked at them as I drove down town," Kelly Jolkowski said. "It came to me how we could do this. How we could connect the dots between the missing and the homeless."

The project is called "Come Home" and it will make posters of the nation's missing available on the Internet. It will also target shelters and soup kitchens nationwide. Each poster and entry includes the missing person's picture and a message from loved ones.

"A personal message from their family can trigger something that may allow them to have those thoughts again," said Candace Gregory, with Omaha's Open Door Mission.

At Sienna Francis House, counselors said many homeless go by an alias or have a mental disability.

"Through the course of the year, we get calls from all over the U.S., from mothers, fathers, grandparents who are looking for their lost," said Mike Saklar, with Sienna Francis House.

The shelter always took descriptions over the phone, but it was nearly impossible to match an identity. The Come Home program could help fill the gap.

A new poster will be put on the site twice a month. If your organization would like to receive updates, or if you have a missing loved one you believe may be homeless, e-mail Come Home at ProjectJason.org. You can also call (402) 932-0095.

story link

 

[Kelly]

Jason's Law passed out of the committee today, so that means, for the 1st time ever, it will make it to the floor to be debated upon by the whole Senate. We will launch our big letter writing campaign when it gets close to the time for the debate. Our Senator's aide will let us know when to start.

Thank you.

Kelly

 

[Gabby]

Jason's Law passed out of the committee today, so that means, for the 1st time ever, it will make it to the floor to be debated upon by the whole Senate. We will launch our big letter writing campaign when it gets close to the time for the debate. Our Senator's aide will let us know when to start.

Thank you.

Kelly

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Great news

 

[inquiringmindz]

Kelly,
I'm so happy to hear the good news!
(((((((HUGS))))))
Jennifer

 

[Kelly]

Thank you!

I'll keep you posted.

Kelly

 

[meggilyweggily]

Good luck, Kelly. I'm sure Jason would be stunned if he knew all of the stuff that's being accomplished in his name.

 

[Sudzi]

Excelent news !!!!

:woohoo: :woohoo:

 

[VespaElf]

Kelly,
You an an angel here on earth!!!!!!!!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:


I dont know how you manage but God bless you as always!!!!!!

 

[Kelly]

Somehow, I think Jason does know and he approves wholeheartedly. What I would like most in the world is if he came back and was here with us. I know he would gladly work right along side of us. He is such a natural with the children.

BTW, I'm no angel...just ask Lanie. :angel: I have a mischevious streak a mile wide.

Many blessngs to all,
Kelly

 

[Kelly]

Jason's Law, LB111, has been chosen as Senator Patrick Bourne's Priority Bill for this legislative session. This should help other senators understand that it is of great importance when the time comes to debate it on the senate floor. Thank you.

Kelly