About Us

Origin Of Ikan Power, Inc.

The origin of the name Ikan Power came from Chief Ignatius Emeluwa Kanu in 1942 to assist the community to empower themselves with self help projects. The name Ikan Power was established in 1942 in Nigeria; the birth place of Chief Ignatius Emeluwa Kanu. Ikan Power was registered in 1958 and was incorporated as a Limited liability in 1973. The civil war in that country prompted Chief Ignatius Emeluwa Kanu to create an orphanage and housing projects as well as other community projects to assist families in coping with the difficult times of the war. In the process, Ikan Power’s Foundation Child Rights Organization was born. The Child Rights organization helped women who had unwanted pregnancies to successfully give birth in the Ikan Power medical complex. The mothers and children were well taken care of and later sent to better homes for upbringing.

At the death of the founder Chief Ignatius Emeluwa Kanu aka Dr. Ikan Power in 1999, the heir Mr. Anthony C. Kanu, son of the late Chief Ignatius Emeluwa Kanu was working for the Michigan Department of Corrections. While there, he witnessed the recidivism rate of prisoners in the correctional facilities back into the society. One of the major factors that contributed to his decision of this Non-profit organization, was seeing the children of the incarcerated parents becoming prioners themselves in alarming numbers.   After self-evalution and the incorporation of critical thinking into the observation process, specifically, several interviews with the returned prisoners and the newcomers in the correctional facilities; he realized that there had to be changes on how we address the individuals when they return to society in the consideration of the costs and effects of these crimes to the communities. With years of experience in dealing and interacting with these individuals, he decided it was about time to create a good community based program that will assist the non-violent ex-offenders to re-integrate successfully back into society.

In May 2006, Anthony was given permission by the Ikan Power family to use the name Ikan Power to start the Non-Profit Organization in the United States of America, hence Ikan Power Inc. was formally re-established and incorporated in Michigan, as a non-profit organization.

Community Programmes

The purpose of Ikan Power Inc. is to provide transitional housing and support services for natural disaster victims, homeless, non-violent  ex-offenders and  parolees.  To assist in the re-intregation of these individuals into society through counselling and to strengthen families by mentoring their children.

The mission of the organization is to address the full spectrum of re-socialization and re-entry of non-violent individuals, who may be productive citizens in the society. The services will be rendered regardless of creed, color, religion, sex, race or national origin.

Children,s Program 

The Ikan Power Children’s Rights and development Program ( IPCRD )  is a mentoring program that helps young people from age of 4 to 18yrs in greater Grand rapids of Western Michigan . The program focuses on the children of incarcerated parents, although no child in need will be turned away. Our intent is to work with all areas of the correctional system at the local, state and federal levels.

According to The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, more than two million children and youth in the United States have at least one parent in a federal or state correctional facility. These children experience disruption in the relationship and detrimental economic, social and emotional effects from having an incarcerated parent. Some of these children may have emotional shock that can cause lasting psychological effects. This may be caused by alternative living arrangements when removed from their family circle or their “umbrella of hope”.

Children in this situation tend to blame themselves and feel rejected while going through all the changes caused by the incarceration of one or both of their parents. They sometimes look for alternative ways to cope with the situation and the depression that arise. Often they succumb to peer pressure and turn to drug and alcohol usage.

Statistics prove that children seem to copy their parents. Our mentoring program can help to break that pattern and help these young people focus on their academic and physical training. This intervention program is a proactive way of reducing “child of a prisoner” risk behavior. We hope to advert the behavior “acting up” or the initiation of violence by discouraging them from criminal activities. We want to break the “Prison mentality Badge of Honor” before it ever gets started in these young people.

We intend to inspire the children to focus on a positive thinking behavior by providing them a caring, supportive adult. A positive role model to assist them in the understanding of the Criminal Justice system. To assure them that the system is not against them.

The IPCRD mentoring program is a one on one relationship that provides children with role models. The adult mentors will interact with the child on a regular basis and consistent basis to maintain positive, encouraging support, and advice. The mentor will inspire the child to make good choices in future endeavors.

IPCRD will train and screen adult volunteers for all one on one relationships, to ensure positive matches with the volunteer and the child. IPCRD will establish the goals and evaluates the outcome of the mentored children. A successful mentor could be a good friend,  a parent of a child,  teacheror pastor and have to be age 18 or over with good standing in the community.

 

Ikan Power Work Preparation Program.(Teen Project)

 The Work Ready Project is an employment preparation program for the youth network. The program will introduce  high school students to the essentials of employment readiness. The essentials include strength and weakness inventory, resume building, professional communication, proper interviewing, attire, time management, and goal setting.

Students in the program will be exposed to routine interviews that are conducted by local professionals. Interviews will be conducted over the phone as well as on select sites throughout the Grand Rapids area. The interviewer will be provided with a score card that helps to critique the students interviewing strengths and challenges. The score card will have a section for additional comments by the interviewer.

 This program will begin with seven core students and one alternate. In order to provide students with a real work experience students will work in areas of custodial maintenance and mini- business where they will learn building maintenance, inventory control, pricing, yield factors, cash handling and salesmanship skill in related fields.

 Students selected for this project will gain on-the-job-training by working in the Teen Snack Shop and carrying out various functions during teen network leadership, social debating,  dances  or other special events. Students will be required to carry out these functions in a professional manner and will also receive a stipend for duties voluntarily performed. Stipends will come from the Teen Dance, Snack Shop, Open Gym and other fund related proceeds.

 Looking ahead:  The formation of regularly scheduled, supervised teen activities.  A league for basketball which may also provide two or three additional jobs for teens. The said job would include set-up, breakdown and clean up of the gym and other traffic areas.

 Students must qualify to participate in this program and therefore must meet the following requirements:

 Complete a minimum of 6 hours in the After School Program activities

Must maintain good behavior and attendance at school

Must provide weekly behavior reports from school and parents

Must spend a minimum of 1 hour reading to child care students

Must show improvement in grades if performing below 4.0 GPA (tutoring may be required).

Must also participate in Teen Leadership training.

Must participate in weekly Teen Talks.

Must conduct themselves in respectful manners at all times

Must cooperate with Ikan Power Administration and Staff.

Must complete 2 hours of service training in the related area or field of assignment.

The Work Ready Project components satisfy the following State’s standards for After School Programs.