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Stories of Community Support More Stories of Community Support Summer of Safety program
Mona Gonzalez, Founding Director of River City Youth Foundation, has worked for over 20 years to revitalize and reclaim one of Austin’s most challenged neighborhoods. In the summers of 2005 and 2006, the Dove Springs neighborhood lost two youths to violent shootings. Mona’s response, which caught the eye of Bread for the Journey of Austin, was to organize neighborhood churches and residents into an Interfaith Group called DOVE (Directing our Vision Ecumenically). DOVE’s aim was to bring hope to the neighborhood and erase the stigma of an area plagued with the reputation of violence. As Bread for the Journey of Austin was conducting outreach to seek out visionary neighborhood leaders, Mona Gonzalez quickly came to mind. We visited the “ Success Center” she established that offers wrap-around services to families and youth in particular. It was humming with children and community members. Mona requested funds to expand their “Summer of Safety” program to one of the churches involved in organizing DOVE, so that “at promise” youth could find shelter and support to realize their potential. Bread for the Journey of Austin granted $500 to purchase supplies for the new Summer of Safety site at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church. KPWR – The People Will Radio KPWR — The People Will Radio — is an urban community web-based radio project, providing a safe space for local under-represented members of the community for the dissemination of information and entertainment that is not readily available to the public. They use web radio to empower each other and provide a forum for grass-roots community programming, focusing on issues of local interest to teach, learn, and inform their listeners and contributors while sharing this experience with the global community. KPWR strives to provide that forum for a diversity of voices within their community. KPWR requested $300 from Bread for the Journey of Austin so they could get their message out to people in the surrounding area. The grant was used to have bumper stickers, posters, and t-shirts printed, which would then be given away at neighborhood and community events. The Rhizome Collective The Rhizome Collective in Austin, Texas, is recognized nationally as a model for grass-roots urban sustainability. Their interest is in addressing environmental concerns as well as social justice issues. A widely varied group of organizations function under their umbrella, using the Rhizome facility for meetings, events, and a workspace. These organizations include The Inside Books Project, Food Not Bombs, The Residents’ Collective, Bikes Across Borders, KPWR—The People Will Radio, The Indy Media Center, Art Reach, as well as several individual members. Their request to Bread for the Journey of Austin was for $300 to fund the conversion of a small space on their site into an office to be used by all of these organizations. Recycled and used equipment was purchased, including a computer, a filing cabinet and a desk. When the office was completed, regular office hours were established, so that members of the various organizations could make use of the photocopier, phone line, computer and files. Immediately upon completion, the Rhizome Office and Welcome Center was in regular use. Dharma Punx
An Austin writer and philanthropist extraordinaire, Spike Gillespie’s most recent contribution to our community was the creation of the Office of Good Deeds, which is “all about promoting sharing, healing and the practicing of good deeds all around the world.” We at Bread for the Journey of Austin contacted Spike feeling that she might know of someone with an inspiring vision we might fund, or that she might be incubating another one herself. Having experienced some painful personal losses, she responded to our inquiry, saying “Your email came on the heels of my direct plea to the universe asking for help in recognizing the abundance in my life. Thanks for answering.” Spike suggested we consider supporting Dorje Spragens, co-founder of Austin Dharma Punx “Dorje is serving many people in our community who really need it. I myself have felt profound relief from my grief after attending his meetings. The place serves a lot of recovering addicts and people seeking personal peace. Their hope is to contribute to a greater peace through mindfulness and meditation.” Dorje was raised by practicing Buddhists in the 1970’s in Colorado. One of his boyhood friends, Noah Levine, had a similar upbringing, yet both young men rejected the faith tradition in which they were raised and went down a long path of what Dorje described as nihilism, drugs, punk rock, etc. Eventually each of them made his way back to the spiritual path. Now living in Los Angeles, Noah Levine is a counselor and author of the book Dharma Punx. Recognizing the need to bring Noah’s approach to Austin, Dorje began offering Buddhist meditation and discussion at a local coffeehouse. He hoped to have 2-10 people attend the first meeting, however more than 40 actually showed up. Dorje explained that — since many of them are in some stage of recovery — they might feel intimidated by the more established and formal centers for Buddhist teaching in Austin. Spike Gillespie suggested one more project for us to consider – one that dovetailed beautifully with Austin Dharma Punx as she shared the following story, we began to see the way in which a whole community becomes woven together. It unfolds like a classic Bread for the Journey story, in several parts, as follows. As Spike explains, “I know a young woman named Blossom who came to me years ago asking for help with her grief. Her mother, a woman devoted to meditation, had died when Blossom was so young that she could not remember her. Yet her mother had left her a sewing machine. Together we worked on healing Blossom’s grief by making a quilt for another student whose mother had just died. During the quilt-making process, I met and fell in love with Blossom’s father. We married, so she became my step-daughter. Sadly, my marriage did not last due to the difficulties of blending a family. However, I hoped to rebuild a bridge with Blossom. I have been helping her teach a sewing camp for kids since she is an excellent seamstress. My dream is to acquire a small amount of money to pay Blossom and a few friends to sew the zafus (cushions) for Austin Dharma Punx and, if there's any money left, to buy some copies of Noah's book for the meditators.” Cecilia Berner and Cathey Capers — both board members of Bread for the Journey of Austin — met with Spike, Dorje and Blossom to discuss the potential grant. As the story unfolded, Cecilia shared with Blossom about her own program, a micro-enterprise project in her native Brazil called, “I Believe in You.” They provide loans to women to purchase sewing machines so they can make their own living, thus lifting them out of poverty. As she listened intently, Blossom became excited by the idea of making the zafus and could see the value in her sewing skills. As Spike later said to Cathey, “I really think that in listening to you, Cecilia and Dorje yesterday, Blossom had a chance to reflect on the bigger picture of life and how we’re all connected.” Bread for the Journey of Austin is honored to support this healing project that builds on the generosity of Spike, Dorje, Blossom, and the Office of Good Deeds with a grant of $1,000. Posada Esperanza: The Women’s Empowerment Project
Patti McCabe is one of those special young people who wears her enthusiasm and positive energy on her sleeve. As the very hands-on director of Posada Esperanza ( Hope Inn), she has built a home-like environment to shelter immigrant women and children in Austin, Texas. Patti recognized the need to create an opportunity for the women, many of whom are victims of domestic violence, to come together to create a future free of violence for their families. The Women’s Empowerment Project aims to do just this through education, healing, and support. Patti turned to several of the former residents — women who have “shown us their courage to bring their families to safety, access their rights, and support their peers in recognizing that each person is worth being treated with dignity and respect.” These guests will share their experiences while videos and PowerPoint presentations will be used to impart information, provide perspective, and initiate discussion. The grant from Bread for the Journey of Austin of $900 will provide the videos, educational handouts, and incentives to make this valuable educational workshop a reality for the resident women and children. As women transition to the larger community they will carry this education and empowerment with them. Florence’s Comfort House
The primary mission of Florence’s Comfort House (FCH) is to provide a safe haven for the children of Montopolis, a neighborhood where families confront poverty, unemployment, drugs, prostitution and violence on a daily basis. Children receive a variety of services including meals, snacks, books, educational materials and outings. The children learn to give back by helping elderly neighbors, caring for stray animals, and performing other community services. FCH also assists other neighborhood residents including the elderly, teens and adults who are going through temporary difficulties. The Austin Chapter of Bread for the Journey felt very privileged to help FCH establish a new project which will help a group of women in the community teach neighborhood youth how to sew. As the older youth learn, they will in turn mentor the younger ones. A grant of $1,000 will fund the purchase of two sewing machines and all related supplies. The project will not only serve to pass on a useful life-long skill but will also strengthen the bond among the women and youth in the community, while bolstering the self-esteem of all involved. You can contribute to our local effort of giving seed grants to people working to make our community a better place to live by: -Contributing online through Just Give to Bread for the Journey of Austin -Sending a check made out to Bread for the Journey of Austin to: Bread for the Journey of Austin -Letting us know about people who need seed money for their community projects; bfjaustin@yahoo.com Copyright
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