News
Dinner Table at the Friendship House
The College Heights Friendship House hosted one of the events for the recent Abilene Dinner Table.
About a dozen friends and neighbors gathered at the College Heights Friendship House on Saturday evening, January 24, for the fifth annual Abilene Dinner Table. The evening was sponsored by Connecting Caring Communities.
"We were so excited to be able to host one of the tables," said Dusty Garison, College Heights Community Coordinator. "It was a delight to be able to open our home to a cross-section of the community and meet new friends."
The group enjoyed a delicious meal of roast beef with potatoes and carrots, green salad, fruit salad, and hot rolls, and hot fudge sundae cake and ice cream for dessert; while they ate they discussed issues facing the Abilene community.
Partcipants agreed that one of the things they enjoyed about living in Abilene was the convenience of light traffic and a friendly community. They also praised community leaders for being generally forward-thinking, and looking ahead to future needs.
Dinner-goers also identified some of the challenges facing Abilene, including crime problems in some neighborhoods, as well as the isolation some segments of the community face. Everyone agreed that events like Abilene Dinner Table were helpful in bringing the community together and looking for solutions.
The Friendship House event was just one of many venues across Abilene where Dinner Table meetings were taking place. About 115 people at 15 separate locations took part in the evening's activities. For more on the dinner at the Friendship House, click here to see the video story from the Abilene Reporter News website (will open in a new window).
January Haven House Leader
January Haven House Leader training was a success with two more volunteers.
" Two more fun eager volunteers stepped up to reach out to their neighbors to build meaningful relationships in the neighborhoods where they live. A Haven House Training was held on January 22, 2009, Nancy Griffiths who is a resident of the Windsor Hotel Apartments, said, “I found the amount of Haven House Leader materials very helpful to assist me in making better connections in my apartment complex.” Angie Greer said she learned “the most effective way to spread the word and the idea of neighborhood enrichment or renewal to her neighborhood in a way that is well received and generates excitement to be involved.”
We are very pleased to have these two new Haven House Leaders join the team of other leaders. To help assist Haven House Leaders, Celebrations are held monthly to help support each other, share neighborhood stories and ideas and to inquire about innovative ideas for your neighborhood. A Haven House Celebration is scheduled at Spaghetti Warehouse on Saturday, February 21, from 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. Please visit our calendar to RSVP for training or a celebration.
Follow our ED blog: Brad Carter's Abilene
CCC Executive Director blogs about Abilene, community development and nonprofits
Beginning in late 2008, CCC Executive Director Brad Carter began blogging. His dream, to create another place for conversation and reflection on community development and renewal. Of course, his focus remains largely on Abilene, Texas, where our work is focused and will tackle local issues as well as challenges and joys of non-profit (or social benefit orgs, as he calls them) leadership.
Join the conversation over at his blog "Brad Carter's Abilene" at bradcarter.wordpress.com. And don't just visit, make a comment and subscribe to the RSS feed so you'll always be in the loop on the ongoing journey.
North Park Friendship House Kicks Off Semester with a PJ Party
On January 5 the Northpark Friendship House hosted a PJ party for the neighborhood. There was an abundance of food and information to get the semester started off right.
On January 5 five parents and nine kids attended the PJ party hosted at the Northpark Friendship House. Those in attendance enjoyed an abundance of waffles, sausage, eggs, fruit, and juice. After the meal, the parents were informed of upcoming events and plans for this semester. The parents were also asked to provide input concerning family and teen activities that would be beneficial to them. While the parents were meeting, the kids had a project of their own to work on. The kids were able to decorate paper bags and then chose from a variety of breakfast foods to put in the bag. The bags were a little treat that the kids could have for breakfast on their first day back to school. The PJ party was a success and everyone had fun!
by Sara Darden
Abilene Dinner Table Sign-Ups Begin!
Event builds new friendships around the dinner table
Abilene Dinner Table returns for its fifth year of making friends over supper. The event intends to connect diverse groups of people and be a place for conversation. Attendance is free and tables are held in places all over Abilene—homes, restaurants, churches—on January 24, 2009.
All Abilene citizens are encouraged to attend. Sign-up online here. By phone at 325-232-8241. Or by e-mail to jeremy@wecareabilene.org.
The goal of each Abilene Dinner Table is to enrich our community by bringing together people from diverse racial, cultural and religious backgrounds to dinner tables where communication begins and understanding grows as we come to know one another better.
“Is there a better way to build new relationships than around the table?” says Brad Carter, CCC executive director. “Abilene Dinner Table provides a way for us all to meet people in our city we might not meet otherwise.”
Abilene Dinner Table began in 2005 under the initiative of the Reporter-News editorial board. It has since been organized by Connecting Caring Communities. Over 1,000 residents have participated over the past four years.
Cookie Connections
CCC staff meets business neighbors downtown
“Wow! This is great, thank you. I’ve been wondering this, but what is CCC anyway?” We’re glad they asked and that we were able to make connections with our neighbors in the American State Bank building—all because of your cookie-gifts that we were able to share.
Through the distribution of these cookies, we came back with an offer to provide free bags of peanuts for healthy snacks for Kids Club for all year; access to massive amounts of venison for our families and the Food Bank; Abilene Dinner Table hosts and new relationships and interest from our neighbors.
We are especially thankful to our cookie bakers who brought the 35 dozen cookies we distributed this week: Linda Carleton, Marsha Jeffries, Rae Gravley, Danyel Rogers, Nadell Mangum and Angie Greer. Using the cookies, CCC staff was able to demonstrate to our business neighbors the value in connecting with each other.
Volunteers Help with Christmas Party
Women of CCC help make College Heights Christmas party success
“We get to have our picture taken with Santa! That’s great!” The kids (and some of the adults) at the College Heights Friendship House Christmas Party had a great time with several activities highlighted by pictures with Santa-- thanks to Amber Gilbert!
The professional quality photos will be enjoyed by the families for many years-- a true treasure for these families. Amber volunteered here skills as a photographer and a Woman of CCC to take the photos.
Holly Soben, Kathy Garison, Lori Thornton, and other volunteers were also present and organized food to make sure the party was a great success.
Read this article with more details and pictures from the College Heights Friendship House 2008 Christmas Party.
College Heights Neighbors Celebrate Christmas Together
Students from the Friendship House - and their families - share a fun evening
Nearly 30 College Heights students, along with their families, gathered Monday night, December 8, for the Friendship House Christmas party. The party was held in downtown Abilene at the United Way Community Room.
The evening had all the elements needed for a great Christmas party: bright-eyed youngsters, holiday decorations, bright red stockings, Christmas carols, and even an appearance from Santa himself. Each of the children - as well as a number of the adults - had their picture made with Santa, and each child received a stocking filled with candy and small gifts.
Party-goers enjoyed a meal of sandwiches and chili. While they ate, the parents were treated to a musical program by the students of Christmas carols they had practiced during afternoons at the Friendship House. Selections included "Away in a Manger," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Door prizes were awarded, and the children presented their parents with personalized coffee mugs they had made as a craft project - each mug with a photo of that child as well as Christmas artwork they had colored.
Dusty Garison, Community Coordinator for the College Heights Friendship House, said the evening was a fun way to cap off his first semester in the neighborhood. "I've had a lot of fun getting to know these kids and their families," he said, "and I'm looking forward to getting back together with them after the break. We've got some great activities planned for the spring."
Kids Club activities at the College Heights Friendship House will resume Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
Special thanks to:
- Mrs. Holly Sobin, for coordinating the food
- Ms. Amber Gilbert, for serving as photographer
- Mr. Randy Williams, for technical assistance
- Ms. Dixie Bassett and the staff at United Way of Abilene, for their kind hospitality
The Fall Semester Tumbles to an End
Friendship House volunteers and neighbors have an end-of-the-semester party at the Gymnastic Sport Center.
On Sunday, December 7, the Friendship House volunteers and neighbors got together for an end-of-the-semester party. The party was at Gymnastic Sports Center. There were foam pits, trampolines, bars, and beams. The party took place from 3:30 to 5:30. The volunteers and kids ran around and played on the equipment. The kids however, were not the only ones playing. While the parents did visit and talk, they were out in the gym playing just as hard as the kids. It was a blast! Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Friendship House Youth Earn Christmas Money
The youth at the Northpark Friendship House did some manual labor to earn money to buy gifts for friends and family.
Lange Hall, a dorm at Hardin Simmons University, donated money to the Friendship House. It was decided that the money would be given to the members of the Youth Club, but they would have to work for it. On Monday, December 1st, the Youth Club raked leaves at a house in the neighborhood. They worked hard for an hour that afternoon to earn the money. The money was given to the youth on Friday, December 5. That afternoon, several volunteers and the dorm director from Lange took the youth to WalMart to help them chose gifts. The youth had to buy a gift for someone; they were not allowed to keep the money for themselves. The trip was successful and the youth now have at least part of their Christmas shopping completed.