News
CCC finishes in Top 5 of August Pepsi Refresh Project
CCC moved up the charts to the Top 5 vying for $250,000 in national competition
We've been overwhelmed with support from our many friends and supporters throughout Abilene and the world who worked hard this past month to vote and solicit votes for us in the Pepsi Refresh Project! We competed for $250,000 moving up from 456th place to 5th place during the month. We had mass text votes from throughout the community-- HSU, ACU, McMurry, ballgames, events, club meetings, everywhere! We cannot say "thank you" enough!
Thanks especially to our champions and partners who helped organize mass texts, get us on the radio and television and posted flyers and handed out cards and spread the word! Thanks to our local churches and universities who voted during your gatherings, too! (And to IN-Focus Digital for the courtesy photo above!)
If you're new to Connecting Caring Communities - visit around our website
Contact us for more information or to join us for a tour
Manufacturing home's blocks out of dirt
CEB stage begins at 2725 Hickory
On Monday, August 9, we started the wall fabrication stage of the project. We will be constructing the Compressed Earth Block (CEB) that is made from the dirt excavated from the site to form the exterior and interior walls of the home. This is the primary structural system of the home and is one of the secrets to its high performance and energy efficiency. The CEB production will continue through the August 21.
Volunteers from Hardin-Simmons University will be on the job site on the Aug 21 to actually lay the blocks and build the walls of the home as part of their New Student Orientation Service Project. CCC is seeking other volunteer groups to help with the construction and laying of blocks. No experience is necessary. Please contact us at volunteer@wecareabilene.org to sign-up!
Carter Girls Urge Votes for CCC
Watch the video of three young CCC fans getting out the vote
They are too young to vote in the Pepsi Refresh Project, so three young supporters-- ages 5, 4, 2-- decided to record a video to support Connecting Caring Communities and their dad in this month's contest. So they got out the dress-up clothes and headed to the front porch! Watch their video below. But, don't forget to vote:
Vote online daily: http://www.refresheverything.com/abilene
Vote via text message daily: Send 101909 to Pepsi/73774
CCC competing in Pepsi Refresh Project!
Vote daily to make us a winner!
We just learned that CCC is in the August Pepsi Refresh Project! We need your help to win! Here's what you can do to help:
1. Vote DAILY online at RefreshEverything.com/abilene
2. Vote DAILY via text message: Text 101909 to Pepsi (73774)
3. Tell everyone you know to help!
Two ideas will win $250,000 in funds from Pepsi Refresh at the end of the month. CCC will use the $250,000 to open new Friendship Houses, operate our other programs, and build sustainable, energy-efficient homes for families in Abilene. Make Abilene a winner by voting today!
At publication time, CCC is in the lead! Every vote counts!
CCC releases RFP for Consultant
We're seeking an HR professional for a short-term project
In order to build Connecting Caring Communities' capacity and effectiveness, we released an Request for Proposal (RFP) for an Human Resource professional to work with us on a short-term project. This includes a thorough review and revision of personnel policies and human resource management.
Download the RFP for more information
Friendship House Positions Accepting Applications
CCC seeks to hire two Community Coordinators for Friendship Houses
Connecting Caring Communities announced today the opening of two positions for Community Coordinator.
Community Coordinators live and work in a CCC Friendship House placed in vulnerable neighborhoods. The job of the Community Coordinator is to build meaningful relationships with and between neighbors leading to organizational outcomes.
One Community Coordinator is for a new Friendship House to be located in a northside neighborhood near downtown. The other position is for the North Park Friendship House where Danyel and Brandon Rogers have lived and worked for over six years. Danyel submitted her resignation to CCC on July 8. Both positions are expected to be filled this summer.
Download more information and the application packet (pdf)
Memorial Day Block Parties 2010
May 28-31: Eat Well. Play Hard. Make New Friends.
As Abilenians look toward the holiday weekend, CCC's caring partners are busy planning block parties to continue making their neighborhoods safer by making friends on the blocks where they live. Here are some tips for planning your own block party.
This is our fourth year to promote and coordinate block parties across the city. We are proud to partner with the many people who are committed to creating safer, friendlier places to live in all of Abilene's neighborhoods. While our Haven House Leaders are leading the way with their blocks, everyone is welcome to sign up and host a block party of their own.
Here are a few ideas to get you started...
1. Don't try to do it alone. Do enlist the help of your neighbors to plan the menu, games and locations.
2. Have a homemade ice cream contest. Give the winner a box of ice cream cones.
3. Put the neighborhood kids to work planning the games or helping you deliver invitations.
4. Make it a potluck event to discover more about the people who live around you.
5. Take lots of pictures. You'll want to remember all the fun you had!
For more practical ideas, invitation templates, and tools for keeping record of your party, remember to RSVP on our home page under the event calendar.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, and feel free to contact me with any questions at jordan@wecareabilene.org!
Eat Well. Play Hard. Make New Friends.
Jordan
Virtual Volunteer Fair - May 17-21
Got time but not money? Be a community volunteer!
Connecting Caring Communities, 2-1-1 A Call for Help and the Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas Board are co-sponsoring a virtual Volunteer Fair the week of May 17 - 21. This is an opportunity for you to learn about and sign up for a wide variety of volunteer opportunities without having to leave home. VolunteerTX.com will bring together non-profits and volunteers through a virtual, on-line event that’s accessible 24/7 through any computer with Internet access.
This is a great opportunity for anyone and everyone to become involved, to assist neighbors and meet new friends. Summer can be an especially challenging time of year for many non-profit organizations that rely on college student volunteers, who head home for the summer. It’s also storm season along the coast, which means that Abilene and surrounding communities are potential sites for providing support and shelter.
Volunteering can be a family activity, like delivering Meals on Wheels together or an opportunity to do something you enjoy like developing the next generation of community leaders. VolunteerTX.com is a free event that allows you to learn about volunteer opportunities and find a good fit for your interests, skills and schedule.
If you've been thinking about volunteering, but didn't know where to start or didn't know how to find out about the opportunities, visit VolunteerTX.com during May 17 - 21. Invest in your community. Spend your time wisely. Be a volunteer.
Haven House Leaders' Dinner
In partnership with Jordan Swim and Food Creates Community, Slow Poke Farms, and local coffee roaster, Jonathan Straker, Haven House Leaders gathered for a feast on May 1st to celebrate our work together.
Sitting on the porch of our newly constructed North Park Friendship House this weekend, I gazed down the long line of picnic benches at your warm, hopeful and well-fed faces with one thought in my mind..."I wonder what the next course will be!"
This is probably not unfamiliar to you. We were excited by the welcoming of our three newest Haven House Leaders, Margie, Grant and Laura. We were compelled to choose hope as we imagined neighborhoods renewed by friendship. We were inspired by the hearing and telling of stories. We were hopeful that the big block of dirt behind us will soon be transformed into a beautiful park and 10 new homes. But really, I know that we were all wondering about which delicious morsel would fill our plates next.
It truly was a lovely evening! Thanks to the 50 of you who were there to enjoy the evening, and I hope to catch the rest of you another time. You were missed. As wonderful of an evening as we enjoyed together, it only captures one small portion of the appreciation that I have for all of the Haven House Leaders and caring partners across our city who do the hard work of building meaningful relationships and transforming Abilene block-by-block.
Enjoy the pictures!
Jordan
BBQ, Air Castles, and Neighbors Equal Fun in the North Park Neighborhood
On Saturday April 10th the North Park Friendship House hosted its annual Spring Picnic while also allowing neighbors to see the new Friendship House if they had not previously done so. The party was done in partnership with HSU's Urban Sociology class and over 100 people from the neighborhood and class joined together for a great time.
This years neighborhood picnic was held at the new North Park Friendship House for the first time and neighbors were invited to see the new community space now provided for their neighborhood for neighborhood events and activities. Dr. JoAnn Roberts, sociology professor from HSU worked with the North Park Friendship House to help coordinate a fun picnic for neighbors. Her class knocked on doors, passed out invitations, set up the party, provided air castles, and face painting for the neighborhood kids and worked with neighbors Jay and Wilma Barbian to provide a bbq dinner to feed all who came. The Neighborhood Associaiton was able to tell about upcoming happenings including work on some more new houses coming in the neighborhood, and efforts to start a community garden, and neighbors were given the opportunity to join the association. Dr. Lanny Hall, President of HSU even stopped by to meet some neighbors and enjoy the festivities. There were approximately 100 North Park neighbors who came out to participate and around 20 students from HSU there to help. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed visiting with one another and enjoying a great meal. The spring picnic has come to be an annual event sponsored by HSU's Urban Sociology class, and this was the 4th year for the event. We hope to be able to continue with this neighborhood tradition in the future.