News
Good Neighbor Breakfast Thanks!
A special thank you to our guests at our first Good Neighbor Breakfast
We just wanted a chance to say again, "Thank you for joining us at the Good Neighbor Breakfast on March 31!" Truly, we couldn't do the work of building a safe, caring, whole community without you. So far, CCC raised over $50,000 in gifts in pledges at breakfast-- thank you!
- Want to learn more about CCC? Visit around our site for awhile. There's lots to see...click on some tabs at the top of the page.
- Want to stay in touch? To keep up-to-date with our happenings, events and news; you can subscribe to our e-mail newsletters. Sign-up for the ones you want to receive, skip the ones you don't. Sign-up and set your preferences here.
- Want to see more of our work in person? Join us for a CCC Neighborhood Tour. Our tours last one hour and while there you hear our history and story, meet some neighbors and see our work up-close. You can RSVP for tours via the Calendar section of the home page or let Jordan know you'd like to attend.
- Did you want to use your credit card to make a contribution? Click Donate Now to make credit card gifts-- including automatic monthly withdrawals.
- Interested in volunteering? We believe in doing what you love...so take a moment to complete the volunteer checklist so we'll know what your talents, skills and interests are in volunteering.
- We'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment below or contact us with any questions, comments or advice you have!
Snow Day Fun in North Park
Neighborhood kids came out to play after school at the field across from the Friendship House on February 11th.
North Park Neighborhood kids, teens and a few adults and a few HSU volunteers came out to play on the HSU intramural field across from the North Park Friendship House. They had snowball fights, rolled down the hill, made snow angels, took over a snow fort built by HSU students, and made real "snow cones". One new neighborhood family that just moved in 3 weeks earlier came out to join the fun to discover that they knew other kids from the neighborhood from their classes at school. The family got so excited to find other families nearby and to discover their children already knew several neighborhood kids. Everyone went home soaked and tired, but it sure was fun! Check out a few of our pictures below:
Dress Up Fun
This last week at the North Park Friendship House volunteers and neighborhood girls had fun playing dress up.
Kelsi, one of the North Park Friendship House volunteers, sent me an email last week asking if we could use some dress up clothes at the Friendship House, her family was moving and cleaning out things and she had found all her old dance outfits from growing up. On Thursday volunteers along with neighborhood girls played for 45 minutes trying on Kelsi's dance uniforms from over 14 years worth of dance. Every girl and volunteer was able to find something to put on and just have fun being silly and feeling like dancers, princesses, and little ballerinas. We got lots of fun photos and lots of laughs just hanging out and being silly. Hope you enjoy some of our photo fun!
CCC Works to get a Complete Count in Census 2010
KTXS NEWS' Melissa Garcia reports on CCC's Census work
ABILENE -- The 2010 census is right around the corner.
Connecting Caring Communities is teaming up with the Census Bureau to make sure in the 2010 count, lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, don't get left out. In the 2000 count, less than 48-percent of homes in the College Heights neighborhood turned in a census form. It's one of 5 areas in Abilene the census bureau identified as "hard to count." The count, directly affects the cities federal funding.
Brad Carter: Making the Connections (ARN)
Progress 2010 Profiles include CCC executive director Brad Carter
Brad Carter’s ultimate goal as executive director of Connecting Caring Communities may seem unusual.
“We are trying to work ourselves out of a job,” Carter said. Considering the objective of the 4-year-old nonprofit organization, however, the goal makes sense.
“CCC exists to build meaningful relationships where people are connected to each other and resources are connected with needs,” Carter said.
Read the rest of Laura Gutschke's profile from Jan 31, 2010 Abilene Reporter-News here
Abilene Friendship House Expands (KRBC/KTAB news)
Local news anchor Brittany Pelletz files this story on CCC
"A lot of people are different from us so we've gotten to meet a lot of different people...Right here in Abilene without having to move from the other side of the world...So it really has fit in with who we are and what we do...Just not the way we thought it would be at all," says Danyel Rogers, a resident of one of Abilene's Friendship homes...
See and read full story online at Big Country Homepage.com
Friendship House Activities about to Begin Again
January 25th the North Park Friendship House will be kicking off a new semester of Neighborhood Activities and is excited that sometime during the Spring there will be a transition made to the new Friendship House that is being built on the corner of Hickory and Lowden.
This is an exciting time in North Park neighborhood and we have some new activities and events we will be a part of this year at the Friendship House. This semeseter we will have the opportunity to offer Junior Master Gardener program to the North park neighborhood children and teens on Thursday afternoons. This is a program where kids can learn the basics of gardening from growing roses, to cucumbers and everything in between. The class will be taught by Community Coordinator Danyel Rogers and neighbor Patri Bailey. The class will also help prepare the space for the North park Community Garden that will begin this Spring as part of the new development where the North Park Friendship House, Park and other new homes will be built in the neighborhood.
Also, this semester our neighborhood teens will be involved in a city wide teen program: Da-Cipher, which is coordinated by Robert Lilly and seeks to give teens in the Abilene community a safe place to have their voices heard on important topics as well as experience a postive environment where they can be encouraged to make good decisions, make a difference in their neighborhoods and schools and enjoy inter-racial and inter-generational friendships.
Some of our one time events will include a Parents Night Out, a Census Party, a Neighborhood Fun Run/Walk/Bike to just encourage neighbors to get outside and meet neighbors, and the highlight of the Spring activities will be a big Neighborhood Party and Open House when the new Friendship House is completed. The open house will feature some neighborhood talent, as well as games and food and a time for neighbors and those interested in the friendship house to come out and just celebrate caring in the North Park Community. We can't wait for the Friendship House to be back in full swing and see what fun 2010 brings to our neighborhood!
Local News Covers Abilene Neighborhood Initiative
CCC's partnership with churches and City of Abilene brings renewal...and headlines.
Where It's Safest in Abilene by Sarah Kleiner Varble
"Margie Ornelas-Youngblood remembers playing Red Rover and other games late into the night with her brothers and other children in the Holiday Hills neighborhood. In the same house, decades later, she listens for gunshots." Read more in the Abilene Reporter-News
Abilene's Alameda Area has Crosswalk by Sarah Kleiner Varble
"Children walking to Reagan Elementary and Clack Middle schools from the Alameda neighborhood don’t have to wait for a break in traffic to dart across South 7th Street anymore." Read more in the Abilene Reporter-News
Abilene Reporter News Reports on CCC Efforts in North Park
This past week, Emily Peters from the Abilene Reporter News spent time with Brad Carter, The Rogers Family, and Patri Bailey learning about the new development in the North Park Neighborhood.
A nonprofit organization is seeking four qualified families to purchase subsidized homes in the North Park subdivision of Abilene, where residents say the older neighborhood has bloomed with a new community spirit in recent years...
Read the rest of this article from the Abilene Reporter-News here.
North Park Families Enjoy Relaxing and Playing Together
Sunday, December 6th neighborhood families from NorthPark enjoyed meeting together at the Gymnastic Sports Center for a party where all ages just got to let loose and play and eat and spend time together.
"I haven't seen my sister and husband play like that in years, they were just having so much fun and acting like kids", said neighbor Stephanie. The North Park Friendship House sponsored a neighborhood party at the Gymnastic Sports Center where neighborhood families could come and play no matter their age. They jumped on trampolines, swung on ropes in to pits of foam, flipped on big mats, and slid on a slick wooden floor on floor mats. Parents had just as much fun jumping in to the foam pits as their kids and teens, and it was fun to watch neighbors and Friendship House volunteers play and have fun, and witnessing some unknown talent from neighborhood kids who could flip and jump in all different ways
. "My husband was just sitting and watching the kids play at first, and I kept asking him if he wanted to get out there and jump too, but he was hesitant at first. Then finally he went for it and he had so much fun playing and laughing with our kids", said neighbor Brenda. Thank you Gymnastic Sports Center for providing us an affordable place to come and play with our friends and families as we get to know one another better!