by Adam Moore
How well do you know Waco? I don’t mean Waco history, politics, or where to find the best burrito in town (I tend to favor Sergio’s food truck). Rather, I mean have you actually seen the different areas of our city? Have you been to the various neighborhoods? Are you familiar with the historical parts of Waco? Have you spent much time on ‘the other side of the train tracks’ or ‘the other side of the river’? How big is your idea of Waco? Is it centered on your particular neighborhood and the most common places you frequent, or is it bigger than that? I think these questions matter. And I think most of us don’t know Waco as well as we think we do. At least, I know that was true of me. Even though I’ve lived in Waco for much of the past 17 years, I’ve only recently gained a broader perspective of the geography of our town. And oddly enough, it took getting a little lost for me to begin to open my eyes to the larger city around me.
About six months ago I fixed up my dad’s old bike and started riding it around Waco. I figured it would be a good way to get some exercise, but I was also interested in getting out and exploring some areas of town I had never been to before. At first I would just leave my house and start riding, not really sure where I was going or how I would get back. I live in a fairly central part of town, so no matter which direction I went, I was likely to find somewhere new to get a little lost. Originally, the goal was just to explore, but as I started to discover more of our city, I also began to take photos of what I was seeing–houses, businesses, murals, churches, parks–anything that caught my attention. I created an Instagram account (@Lost_in_Waco) and starting sharing what I was seeing. I was fascinated and intrigued by the history, the culture, and the hidden beauty to be found everywhere I went, even in the so-called ‘less desirable’ areas of town. Riding through Waco I made a concerted effort to pay attention to what was around me–while also keeping my eyes on the road–and to try and notice what might normally go unappreciated. Of course, not everything I’ve seen has been positive, but I do try and see beauty where it might typically be overlooked. And I’ve realized it isn’t that hard to find.
So why does this matter?
I think there are a lot of good things happening in Waco right now–there is much to be optimistic about. However, if we fail to have a broad geographic vision of our city, then we cannot have a comprehensive vision of a prospering Waco. Any dream of a more vital and flourishing Waco must include much more than the few areas of town I most often frequent. What I have found is that by getting a little lost in Waco–going out into the city and exploring the unfamiliar–I have come to better understand both the challenges facing our community and the significant assets of our city. And I do not mean assets that can simply be appropriated for my own benefit (or the benefit of people like me); I mean the existing businesses, neighborhoods, and people that already make Waco a great community. Perhaps you would benefit from going out and getting a little lost in Waco–what do you think?
If you do decide to go explore, I certainly recommend riding a bike, but you might want to drive to a different area of town and go for a walk, or simply find some local businesses to support in areas you seldom frequent. Not only will you broaden your knowledge of Waco geography, you’ll also get to interact with new people. Of course, you can also get on Instagram, start sharing your own photos, and join the growing community posting photos under #wacotown, #waco, #wacoisawonderland, #wacomurals, #housesofwaco, #churchesofwaco, and even #lostinwaco. And if we ever cross paths on Instagram, or if you see me riding my bike around town, be sure to say hello. I’ll be happy to point you in a great direction to get lost.
Adam Moore rides his bike and takes pictures around Waco. You can find his photos on Instagram (@Lost_in_Waco) and on Facebook (Lost in Waco). He lives in Waco with his wife, Brooke, and his two daughters, who both attend Lake Air Montessori in Waco ISD. Adam works as a program coordinator for the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core in the Honors College at Baylor. You can contact Adam at [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
by Dr. Cristina Cleveland (Special thanks to Rocio Ramirez for her great input! – CC)
In Mexico and in other Latin American countries on November 2nd, we celebrate the “Day of the Dead.” It is, in fact, a two-day celebration since the day before, on November 1, we celebrate the “Day of Innocent Saints” referring to children and infants who have passed away.
The origins of Dia de los Muertos come from pre-Hispanic civilizations, from 3,000 years ago, long before the Spaniards arrived to Mexico. Trust me… they tried hard to eradicate it, but instead, it emerged as a new way to honor our ancestors. Now even for the Catholic calendar, November 1st is All Saints’ Day, and November 2nd All Soul’s Day.
The tradition is to prepare an altar (at home, schools, parks and government offices) with the four elements of nature — water (beverages), wind (music), fire (candles), and earth (flowers) — to honor and show respect and love to the important people in our lives that are already dead. We also cook the food that the deceased person used to love and make a very special bread called “Pan de Muerto.” You may also see plain water in vases with soft towels since we invite our ghostly “guests” to clean themselves and get ready before the party begins. Sometimes there are toys for the children.
The main flower that is used to decorate the altars in zempazuchitl, (marigold) a deep orange flower only available during October and November. People sometimes create floral arches or different and very sophisticated designs of flower bouquets. They also include some pictures and items that belonged to the deceased person as part of the decorations.
It is believed that all souls are eternal and they can travel from this world to the next one back and forth, so a few days before November 1 families engage in the preparation of food and presents for the family members and friends from the other world who will visit them during those days.
This celebration is far from being a sad occasion! It is, in fact, one of the most beautiful and fun holidays we have. There are parades where people dress nice and in fancy costumes and they paint their faces as skulls. There is music and dancing from downtown all the way until you arrive to the graveyard, which has already been cleaned, decorated and prepared for the celebration. Once there, you can perfectly see a lot of candles everywhere, mariachi music and trios, and people are laughing and sharing stories about the people they are honoring and sharing the food that they prepared.
Of course, sometimes you can see a lonely person with few ornaments crying over a tomb, is not easy to remember someone that you cannot embrace anymore without some tears…
El Dia de los Muertos it is a celebration of life. It is also a reminder that we all will be there someday, but we’re not afraid, because we will come back every year to eat our favorite food and be around our beloved ones.
People also write “calaveras” (literate skulls), short rhyming poems making fun or telling anecdotes about people that are still alive (for some reason politicians are very prone to get one of these). Kids go out and ask for “calaverita” kind of trick or treat, but they’re asking for a sugar skull with their names printed on them.
One of the most iconic symbols for this date is also “La Catrina”, which is a very fancy dress up lady created by Mexican Artist Jose Guadalupe Posada in the late 1800’s to mock the lifestyle of rich Mexicans trying to tell them, that even money can’t keep us from death.
On November 7th, 2003, the 18 member countries of UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) voted unanimously to make Mexico’s November Day of The Dead traditions a part of the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This means that UNESCO has identified these traditions as an essential component of cultural diversity and creative expression. They are a worldwide cultural treasure. The practices should be safeguarded, and we should enjoy the responsibility of making sure more people are aware of them.
Celebrate Dia De Los Muertos at the Art Forum of Waco:
October 31 – Dia de los Muertos Reception at the Art Forum – Join the Art Forum of Waco, as they celebrate Dia de los Muertos through art and traditional stories, events and activities. Over 20 artists, including students from McGregor ISD, will be participating in this event. Cost: Free, with donation accepted. Time: 6 PM-9 PM. Location: Art Forum of Waco [1826 Morrow Ave.]. For more information contact Arthur Huron at 254.733.1525.
November 1 thru 7 – Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Art Forum – Join Art Forum of Waco, as they celebrate Dia de los Muertos through art and traditional stories, events and activities. Over 20 artists, including students from McGregor ISD, will be participating in this event. Cost: Free, with donation accepted. Time: 11 AM-6 PM daily. Location: Art Forum of Waco [1826 Morrow Ave.]. For more information contact Arthur Huron at 254.733.1525.
This Act Locally Waco blog post was written by Dr. Cristina Cleveland. Cristina was born and raised in Mexico City. She’s a Pediatric Neurologist and when she moved to Waco back in 2008, she was planning to be a stay-home-mother of their now 7-years-old-twins. Things changed (as usual) and now, after getting a Master’s Degree in Education, she works for the Foreign Language Department in Waco ISD. In her spare time you can see her driving her twins to the library, karate, soccer, swimming and art classes. If she could just get a “time out,” she would probably be walking, swimming, reading or watching a foreign movie.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
By Tiffany Fry
As I go out and about in the community, I always have fun when I talk about our Waco Goodwill Learning Center. A lot of folks I meet have shopped and/or donated goods to our retail stores. This is always great to hear! And no worries to any folks that have not. One of my roles as the Learning Center coordinator is to share the work of our mission services. Mission services you say? Why yes, we at Heart of Texas Goodwill actively pursue the full participation of folks with barriers in society through our employment and training programs. We fulfill this mission through our four Learning Centers located in Waco, Belton, Temple, and Killeen.
At our Waco center, we provide employment readiness and computer training services. While our focus is on folks that have barriers such as unemployment, criminal history, etc. or disabilities, we will serve anyone that walks through our doors. Our employment readiness includes job search assistance, career exploration, resume preparation, interview skill training, and job retention training. These services are offered in both class and individual sessions. Our Job Opportunity Boot Camp is a weeklong workshop that covers all of our employment readiness topics in a class setting. In addition, one of the services I’m most proud of at our Learning Center is that we can meet with you on an individual basis and provide our employment readiness services to you as many times as you need. Want to learn how to write a resume and then practice interviewing two or three times? Just schedule an appointment with our staff! We have a heart for teaching and equipping people with the skills they need to successfully find and maintain employment.
Additionally, when you visit us, you can learn about two of our initiatives, Operation Good Jobs and Careers in Retail. Operation Good Jobs is a program that helps veterans and their immediate family members find and maintain employment in a field of their choice. Through this initiative, financial assistance can be provided for education, credentialing, and/or training. Our second initiative, Careers in Retail, is a program to equip people with the skills they need to move into mid-level and/or supervisory positions in the retail, hospitality, and restaurant industries. Training and certifications are provided at no cost for participants enrolled in the program.
Speaking of no cost, we also provide free weekly computer classes. We offer beginner classes in Computer Basics, Internet & Email, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel. Additionally, we offer $10 Continuing Education classes through McLennan Community College. Currently, our MCC classes are Basic Workplace Computer Skills, Word 2010, and Excel 2010. These classes provide more in-depth training and are useful for folks that want to learn about certain Microsoft Office Suite programs for the workplace.
And our services do not end there! We know it’s important to equip folks with the skills they need on the job readiness end of the spectrum, but we also want to connect our participants to businesses in our community. We work to build relationships with businesses so that we can refer our qualified participants to hiring managers. Additionally, we host monthly hiring events for businesses around the community. Our hiring events are a great opportunity to help our community members get placed into local jobs.
All that to say we certainly have quite a bit that goes on in our center. At the same time, I am reminded that our learning center is a part of the whole picture of folks working hard to make our community a better place. A big part of my job is to build relationships with community organizations and I’m constantly meeting people that have great ideas of how to better develop our workforce. I think it’s important that individuals and organizations engaged in workforce development partner and strategize together. We can better address the challenges many of our community members face with employment by looking at our community holistically and connecting workforce development to education, health, and financial stability. I have to say I am encouraged by the work going on in our community with the Prosper Waco initiative and I hope that we can all continue the work that has been done to make Waco a better place. I know on our end, we will certainly continue to work hard to fulfill our mission to build an inclusive workforce!
Tiffany Fry made one of the best decisions of her life by switching from UT Austin to Baylor at the last minute. She graduated in 2011 and decided to make Waco her home. She is a thankful graduate of the Diana Garland School of Social Work MSW program. In her spare time she likes to hang out with her cat, husband, and friends (in no particular order), be outside, and read history books. Feel free to contact Tiffany at [email protected] or 254-753-7337 x 140.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
By Ashley Thornton
First thing in the morning on October 19, the first day to vote early, I hustled down to the McLennan County records building and voted “Yes!” for the WISD Tax Ratification. I know the final votes won’t be tallied until November 3, but I couldn’t wait.
I have high hopes for Waco. Everywhere I look I see evidence that my hopes are justified. Downtown is starting to blossom; we just got a National Park designation; Fixer Upper has put us on the map with the HGTV crowd; the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaboration (BRIC) and SpaceX are drawing the technology of the future into the Heart of Texas…the list of positives is growing every day.
Perhaps because of all this good buzz , fairly regularly I get a phone call or an email from someone who is moving to Waco and wants the “inside scoop” on living here. I have not had one of these conversations yet that did not end up being a conversation about school districts. People who have school-age kids obviously want to know for the good of their own children, and people who don’t have kids want to know because it affects the value of whatever home they might buy here. These conversations reinforce for me what we all already know: Any community that expects to thrive must have a strong school district.
Bluntly, our school district needs to be stronger, and, bluntly, it will cost money to make that happen. We can keep dinking around with the resources we have, trying this or that new program, but in the end that’s like pushing the food around on your plate to make it look like there’s more than there is — not a satisfying strategy.
We have a high percentage of children in our schools who come from very low income situations. Every speck of research that I have ever seen points to the plain fact that it costs more to educate children who come from families with very little money. Imagine two cups. The first cup is half full and the second is nearly empty. If you pour a half a cup of juice in the first cup, you will fill it up. If you pour a half a cup of juice in the second cup, the cup will still not be full. I feel like that is what is happening with our school district. Kids from higher income families are more likely to come with their education cups already half full. Kids from lower income families are more likely to come with their education cups much closer to empty. It takes more juice to fill them up, and getting more juice – additional programming and additional instructional staff — requires some investment.
Put another way, I have complete confidence that if we took our exact same school district with the same teachers, same buildings, same administrators, same budget, same everything, and plopped it down into the middle of a town with a more affluent student population, we would be knocking the top out of the state accountability measures. Fair or unfair, though, that is not the case. Fair or unfair, when you look at the list of schools in WISD, you see a sprinkling of “improvement required” ratings mixed in among the “met standard” ratings. And, fair or unfair, families and businesses make decisions about whether or not to move into our community based on those ratings. What we are doing now is getting us to where we are now. If we want to get better results, we will need to do what we are doing now… plus more.
Money invested in that “plus more” will be money well spent for the future of our children and the future of our community. It is easy for me to say “yes” to that investment, especially when the amount requested is so modest. The net increase to our taxes will be five cents per $100, from 1.35 to 1.40. My house, for example, has an assessed value of $110,140. When the tax is ratified, my taxes will increase $44.49 annually, a little less than $3.75 a month. An increase twice that big would be well worth it to me for the value I believe it will bring to Waco.
“Hold on a minute,” you say, “just pouring money on the problem won’t help.” That’s true. It is true in the same way that just pouring gasoline on a car won’t make it run. To get your car to move forward requires two things: you have to have the gasoline, and you have to pour it in the right place. I think the same is true regarding money and schools. To get the schools to move forward you have to have the money, and you have to pour it in the right place.
I believe WISD has the right idea about where to pour the money — straight into the campuses. As a former teacher, I am impressed that school district officials wisely went to parents, teachers and campus staff to find out what was most needed. I am impressed that they have been disciplined about sharpening the focus of their planning, to three targeted, strategic, measurable priorities — literacy, behavior, and dual credit college courses. These actions give me confidence that my investment will be well spent.
I believe this Tax Ratification will provide resources that are crucial to build the kind of school district we need to keep Waco rolling toward its bright future. That’s why I was antsy to vote “YES!” as soon as the polls opened for early voting, and that’s why I hope you will do the same on or before November 3.
This Act Locally Waco blog post is by Ashley Bean Thornton, the Manager of the www.www.actlocallywaco.org website and the editor of the Friday Update newsletter: The WHOLE Enchilada. The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco.
If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
by Diego Loredo
You just graduated high school, you’ve been anticipating this moment all year, and now you’re finally here. You’re a college freshman! Although it can be fun and exciting, starting college can also be a huge challenge.
Starting college is a huge step in your career and in life. So don’t feel bad if you’re intimidated by it. Everyone goes through challenges during freshman year. Some may include making new friends, getting used to the classes, etc.
I’ve experienced many challenges my freshman year at UNT, so I know how it feels. My first semester was particularly tough. Mostly because of one class, statistics… That was, and still is, the toughest class I have ever taken. There were numerous homework assignments that took me hours to do, several exams that I studied all night for, and concepts that I just could not understand. Luckily, I made a few friends in that class who helped me get by. Statistics was also the first class ever where I got a D on an exam, which was the final exam (I still managed to pass with a C).
I didn’t really have any problems making any friends, literally the first week I moved into my dorm I made a small group of friends. Also, I was roommates with a good friend of mine that I have known since freshman year of high school. I introduced my roommate to my other friends and we all started hanging out all the time. We made a team for the outdoor soccer intramurals and met some other people who joined our team. After the tournament, which we made it to the playoffs but unfortunately lost 3-1, we had our own little group. They made it easier for me in my transition to college.
During my freshman year, I’ve encountered many different kinds of people, such as the guy who walks around campus with a flower pot on his head (I’m serious). I also enjoyed, and disliked, some of my classes and learned many things. Here are a few things that have helped me get through freshman year and will hopefully help you too as you continue to go through your transition into college and for others who will soon start their freshman year.
Find your own clique!
This is what I think is the most important thing to do your freshman year. You may have chosen to go to a college away from home to get a fresh new start, but it always helps to have a group of friends that you can depend on. Start by introducing yourself to people in your dorm or in your classes, or if you are living with a friend, the two of you can introduce yourselves to others. Having your own little clique will no doubt make college a lot easier, and more fun, for you.
Join an organization!
Your college is bound to have something that interests you. Whether it’s a debate club, photography club, or various sports clubs, find something you like! Joining some club or organization is always fun and it keeps you busy so that you won’t be stuck in your dorm all day (more on that later). Plus, joining an organization will help you meet people with similar interests as yours.
Attend events!
College campuses are always holding events to get their students involved. Your college should be no different. I’m sure there are countless events going on at your college every month. Go to a few of them! Get your roommate to go, or a few of your friends. Going to campus events are usually fun and you could win free stuff! Plus, it can get you interested in something you thought you never would.
Get to know your classmates!
This is extremely important. Introduce yourself to your classmates. I suggest you share notes or host study sessions. You never know when you will need your classmates’ help and vice versa. This will especially come in handy when exams start. Also, get to know your professor and attend study sessions held by TA’s.
Don’t stay in your dorm all day!
This was difficult for me. Every day after class I would head to my room and take a long nap. Sometimes I would just stay in bed all day. Luckily, my friends convinced me to get out more. If possible, don’t stay in your dorm all the time. Get out more! Hang out in your dorm lounge or game room, play sports outside, or go to various locations on campus with some friends. Although it’s fine to stay in your dorm every now and then, make sure that you go out too!
I’m not going to lie, freshman year was tough. It took me a while to get used to it but once I did, I became a lot more comfortable at UNT. My friends no doubt played a huge part in it. We made a lot of memories together, such as playing football in the snow and intramural sports. Along with having those friends, getting involved on campus helped as well. I believe these things that I did are what all freshman should do. Make new friends, get involved, study, and just have fun!
Diego Loredo is a sophomore at the University of North Texas. He is majoring in public relations. He graduated from University High School in 2014. Although he is still not quite sure what exactly he wants to do, he thinks he wants to work somewhere in sports PR (preferably soccer or college football). His hobbies include playing soccer and golf. He is 19 years old.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these Aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
by Josette Ayres
Recently a brightly colored t-shirt slogan caught my attention. In the center was a rhinestone “T” in the middle of a Superman like logo. Below it read, “Teaching is my SUPERPOWER”. My thought was a resounding, “AMEN”. Amen to those who’ve answered the calling to foster the education of our children. Those amongst us who not only provide a safe and engaging environment for young minds to explore their potential but who also inspire young minds to develop their optimal potential. To me that’s absolutely a “Superpower.” If you’ve ever had the good fortune to see a teacher in action, inspiring, encouraging and developing, you know it’s a special calling. I can rattle off to you a long list of these superheroes, starting with my mom who has devoted over 50 years to education and is still going strong. Educators are special individuals who invest time and energy into young people in the belief that the return on their investment will manifest into respectable, productive members of society.
While the mission of teachers has not changed, the demands on them are very different when you take into account today’s social climate where kids are coming to school with needs exceeding the educational realm. Hunger, mental health, poverty, homelessness, etc. have broad effects on a student’s ability to succeed in the classroom, yet our schools are required to “teach on” in spite of lacking resources to serve the pressing social needs of the child. Every model for student success shows the need for a continuum of contributors including students, the community and parental involvement. Despite this understanding, many of our educators are challenged with raising student achievement seemingly alone.
As a public school advocate with Parents for Public Schools of Waco (PPS Waco) I know all too well the impact empowered and informed parents can have in partnership with schools. Over the years our organization has helped foster relations between schools and home by encouraging parents to become educated on the issues, empowered to use their talents and interest to make a difference in the lives of all kids and to help mobilize parents to action. Through our shared belief in quality education for all children, teachers and school officials can rest assured they do not stand alone in their efforts to equip young minds to succeed.
With that, I encourage WISD parents, friends, and supporters to turn out in large numbers for the upcoming tax ratification election. Early voting begins, Monday October 19th and the election will be held on November 3. The tax ratification will provided a net increase of 5 cents in the District’s tax rate and will generate $8.2 million in revenue per year. The funds will be used to impact student achievement through programs that support:
Literacy
- Achieve 83% of third graders reading on grade level by 2020
- Hire highly qualified literacy aides for every Pre-K and Kindergarten classroom
- Additional reading teacher positions at middle school
- Expand Brazos Credit Recovery program to include older middle school students
College Credit Opportunities
- Maintain an 8 period day – allows students to take more classes and broadens the learning experience
- Allows all Junior and Seniors to take every dual credit course they want at MCC or TSTC at no cost to families
Behavior and Discipline
- Provide campus-based health services (health professional, social workers, behavioral specialists, etc.)
- Expand Saturday Diversion Classes for students and parents
A Link for more information on the tax ratification is provided below along with dates to the final to community information sessions.
It is my sincerest hope; Waco ISD parents and community members will turn out and vote “yes.” The passing of this tax ratification would significantly impact the opportunities for all students across WISD and set our District on course to transform lives through education in a way that’s never been achieved. Thank you WISD trustees and Superintendent Bonny Cain for your leadership in providing a comprehensive case for community support and for seeking the community voice and input throughout the process. Now we all have a vested interest in student success.
Links & information
Upcoming Town Hall Meetings
- Monday, November 19, 6:00 PM, JH Hines Elementary, 301 Garrison St
- Tuesday, November 20, 5:30 PM, Lake Waco Montessori School, 4601 Cobbs Dr
Josette Ayres is a small business owner of Ink & Stitches and currently serves as the Board President of Parents for Public Schools of Waco. Parents for Public Schools of Waco is a volunteer community board of parents and public school advocates who promote and strengthen public schools by engaging, educating and mobilizing parents.
For more information on PPS Waco check out our Facebook page at Parents for Public Schools of Waco, or contact Josette by Phone/Text at 254-229-7172, or by email at [email protected] . Join Parents for Public Schools for an information session: Monday, October 26, 6:-7:30pm Waco Central Library- 1717 Austin Ave.
By Jenuine Poetess
This past Saturday a collection of seven very diverse individuals—some strangers, who had never met each other before—gathered together and shared a meal, poetry, artwork, dialogue, and selves. Why did they meet up? What compelled them to circle around several tables pushed together in the back room of a local family restaurant, Rufi’s Cocina?
Art.
It was art that called us together this weekend. Waco Poets Society Nuestra Voz open mic to be more precise. We gathered around a shared interest in creative expression—both the needing to create and the needing to share. Over home-made nachos and panbazos, we exchanged verses. We also engaged in conversation enriching our expressions with narratives and backstories about grief, struggle, names, hopes, dreams, losses, disabilities, mental health, identities, and much more. Our sharing unified us in resounding, “me toos” of recognition and validation.
You see when we choose to be vulnerable in sharing our stories—in whatever medium they are manifest: word, image, movement, sound, object—we invite others in to our experiences. We are mirrors–where we can see our own radiant reflections in one another. We extend a hand to assist another to cross over, for a moment, into our own shoes. More often than not, what we discover, is a familiar story.
These moments cultivate relationships. We gathered on Saturday as strangers and we departed with hugs and warmth and calling each other by name. We were known by one another. What a remarkably transformative art-work!
(photo credit: JenuineArtworks, at Nuestra Voz open mic, Rufi’s Cocina, October 10, 2015)
When I came to Waco, TX, in 2012 there was not much that I could find in the way of community open mics and arts opportunities. As a result of conversations I had with a handful of writers I met, it became clear that there was a need and desire for regular written and spoken-word arts programming. Because of a relationship I had with someone, they recommended I contact Katie Croft, of the then, Croft Art Gallery on Austin Avenue about the possibility of holding events there. In 2013 I founded Waco Poets Society and began holding open mic and ITWOW writing circle at the gallery weekly. At the end of the year it was time to find a new venue as the gallery was making transitions of it’s own. Through my relationship with Brook Hampton, owner and visionary of Enchanted Cedar, we collaborated to bring open mic to Lorena, Texas, at this most magical tea house. I met and became friends with community organizer, Fernando Arroyo who introduced me to the Art Forum of Waco and later, to Eric Gama, owner of Rufi’s Cocina where we now have monthly open mics. During my monthly Word Around Waco booth at Waco Downtown Farmers’ Market one Saturday I met artists, Angie Veracruz and Steve Veracruz. As we began to talk we formed the beginnings of an inspiring friendship that bloomed into the founding of Central Texas Artist Collective and all the subsequent projects, exhibits, pop-up painting in the park events, and empowering of artists to thrive into their creativity that have transpired since its founding in February 2015. Steve reached out to a new business, Tea 2 Go and we collectively began to collaborate as Angie and Steve curate visual art exhibits in the tea shop and I hold monthly open mic events.
Many of the people who are my creative colleagues are people I read about in the paper and cold called/emailed asking if I could buy them a cup of coffee. I asked if I could sit with them to learn more about the work that they are doing here in Waco and how I could get involved and serve alongside them. Seriously.
We have a lot of conversations and meetings and summits and strategy sessions and consultants around the questions of ushering our city and surrounding areas into prosperity. As long as we couple all of that with seeking out and building up of authentic and intentional relationships—especially with those who have different stories and creative expressions that are unique from ours—then we, as a community, will indeed be on a path toward thriving.
I have such pride and joy looking over the years since I arrived in Texas. I am deeply grateful for the relationships that make so many rich programs possible. It is our collective visioning and volunteering, it is our friendships and conversations, it is our willingness to literally sit down and listen to one another share stories, which is transforming the landscape of our community.
Get Involved:
- Viva Waco! Celebrating Waco’s Latin Cultura continues through November. Click here for complete schedule and details!
- Joe A. Diaz Collection at the Martin Museum of Art
- Coloring & Cookies every Friday afternoon at the Art Center of Waco! FREE, all ages
- Art Center of Waco Fall Festival, FREE, all ages 10-31-2015 4-7pm
- Dia de los Muertos events at Art Forum of Waco, October 31 – November 7, 2015
- ITWOW womyn’s writing circle, October 26, 2015 @ Waco Central Library Austin Ave. 6-8:30pm. FREE, all ages, any genre, open to all womyn-identifying persons
- Nuestra Voz Open Mic @ Rufi’s Cocina, November 14, 2015; 6:45pm sign-ups. FREE, all ages; music, spoken-word, poetry, story-telling, y mas!
Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW), an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon. Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective. She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities. She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city. You can contact her at: [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
By Cameron Goodman
Lacking a safe and permanent place to call home brings about many challenges for the homeless population in Waco. The effects of homelessness on our community are wide-ranging. Just a few examples of these effects include:
- Children who are displaced from their housing may lose up to 4-6 months of academic progress each time they are moved.
- Living on the street increases the chance of exposure to communicable diseases such as TB and respiratory illnesses.
- Existing health conditions are exacerbated by the lifestyle that comes with living on the street. Minor issues such as colds or small cuts can develop into serious illnesses.
- Homelessness has been linked to an increased risk of becoming involved with the criminal justice system. Having a criminal record often compounds the problems faced by this population and can make finding employment even more difficult.
With these factors in mind, it is important to decrease the amount of time people remain homeless and unconnected to the resources that are available in our community to help them. By moving quickly we can help people avoid these risks and get on a path towards the independence and self-sufficiency that is made possible by becoming stably housed. As of October 1st, Waco has a system in place that does just that.
This new system, called Coordinated Access, makes it possible for homeless individuals and families to make a single phone call or visit to an entry point where they will fill out a single form to determine what shelter services or housing opportunities they would be eligible to participate in. Mission Waco’s Meyer Center and The Salvation Army’s Social Services Office serve as the two main entry points for this system and have social workers staffed to help those seeking assistance with completing the assessment form.
This may not sound like an exciting improvement, but this innovation has several real benefits for those who are the most in need in our community. Moving to a coordinated process means that we are now able to make sure that people seeking assistance are placed in the program that is the best fit for their unique situation. Using our assessment tool, we are also able to essentially triage services and housing to those who have the highest need. Much like an emergency room nurse who has a patient with chest pain, we are able to assign a score using this tool to prioritize service for persons with high risk factors.
This approach also has the benefit of removing many of the barriers that less coordinated systems experience. With the old system, families may have had to visit multiple agencies, sometimes located across the city, and fill out forms at each location before finding a service that best fit their needs. This new approach eliminates that duplication of effort, both for the agencies and for those seeking help, and helps to reduce the number of people who fall through the cracks while attempting to receive the help they need.
If you know of anyone who may be experiencing homelessness or who is at risk of becoming homeless, then you can direct them to the two entry points for the Coordinated Access system below.
Salvation Army Social Services
500 South 4th Street
8-5 Monday-Friday
(254) 756-7271
The Meyer Center
1226 Washington Ave.
7-1 and 4-5 Monday-Thursday and Friday 7-1130
(254) 296-9866
Cameron Goodman is a Program Analyst for the City of Waco’s Housing and Economic Development Department. He is interested in public policy and local government. Cameron can be reached at [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
By Denise Mason
In August 2015, 342 children from Central Texas were in foster care placements, with 217 age 10 years or older. That means more than half were in 4th grade or above. These children have been separated from their primary caregivers and placed in substitute care…a foster home, kinship home or in a residential treatment facility. This is heart breaking.
Let me personalize this by sharing Mary’s story:
“My name is Mary and this is my story. When I was 9, the State removed me from my biological home because my parents beat me daily. Even though my parents hurt me, they were the only parents I knew. I was terrified to be with a (foster) family. It took me several months to begin to feel comfortable. My foster parents kept reminding me that I was safe, they would take care of me, and I did not have to worry. I started to trust them and began to feel closer to them. They were wrong. Within 6 months, I was taken back to my biological parents. Everything was fine for a little while but then the physical abuse began again. This went on for several months. I expected to be rescued again but no one came. I began to believe that no one cared and knew that I could not trust anyone. Finally, the case worker came back to get me but the foster home I was in before no longer had available beds, so I was placed in a different (foster) home. This time I was not scared; I was angry. How dare (my first foster parents) not keep their word? How dare they let me be hurt again? Clearly, it was me against the world. Because of my behavioral issues, I was moved again and again and again…I was 13. In four years, I went through 13 placements and 7 different schools. At the age of 13, I had no hope and no dreams. Kids like me had no one who cared and no real future. We were just ‘foster kids’. Other kids could think of what they wanted to be when they grew up, could plan for college, think about getting married someday, but not me. That life was not for me. The path that was laid out for me was one of pure survival and my options were limited. ”
All children should be well loved and given the opportunity to explore their gifts, abilities and dream of their future. Without a loving, nurturing caregiver, the focus turns instead towards surviving…fight or flight. Mary is not the only child that has ever faced these traumatic circumstances. Unfortunately, this is the case of too many children in our communities. Every child’s story is a little different but the problem is the same – kids that are hurt lose hope. Statistics, unfortunately, show that without someone stepping in to aid them, the outcomes are bleak
- Only 46% of foster children, complete high school.
- Within 18 months of emancipation, 40-50% of foster youth become homeless.
- Nationally, 27% of the homeless population were once in foster care
- Within 2 years of emancipation, 51% will be unemployed.
- Within 2 years of emancipation, 25% of foster youth will be incarcerated.
We can change a child’s trajectory in life by getting involved! Unfortunately, there are not enough foster families willing to care for children of any age, but particularly, children over 10 years old! We need loving, nurturing adults willing to care for children that are in desperate situations.
A World For Children (AWFC) is a private, Christian, child placing agency that provides foster and foster-to-adopt services for abused and neglected children across the state. Our agency began in 1997 with a single office in Round Rock, Texas. Today, AWFC is represented in all 12 regions of Texas caring for 850 children in 350 foster homes. It is our mission to serve children and families through preventative, supportive, and therapeutic services. We strongly believe that each child is unique and deserves an opportunity to develop his/her potential in a safe and nurturing environment.
In the fall of 2009, AWFC created the L.A.U.N.C.H! Program for foster youth in an attempt to address specific needs related to youths in foster care and positively impact their life outcomes. The program focuses on 6 areas: social skills, daily living, health care, employment skills, driving/vehicle maintenance and post graduation plans. With a safe, loving and nurturing environment established through one of our foster homes, it is our hope that foster youth would be free to explore their gifts, abilities and dream of their future. Last summer, AWFC hosted their annual L.A.U.N.C.H! Camp with 100 foster youth celebrating the skills they have learned through the L.A.U.N.C.H! Program!
If you’d like to learn more about foster care, fostering youth, or the L.A.U.N.C.H! Program please join us for an Information Night on Tuesday, October 20th at Waco Central Library (1717 Austin Avenue, Waco, TX) from 6-7:30 pm.
Denise Mason developed a heart for traumatized children while volunteering at the Methodist Children’s Home, Waco Center for Youth, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Since graduating from Baylor and being licensed as a Child Life Specialist, she has worked in the child welfare field with private child placing agencies. She and her husband, Lyle Mason, are raising three children and can often be found on soccer or football fields or in the Midway AG Barn. In her current role with A World For Children, Denise is bringing awareness to the foster care needs in Central Texas as a Foster Home Developer. As she recruits and trains prospective foster parents, she takes delight in equipping and empowering families to be successful foster parents. For information, please contact her via email: [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
By Deshauna Hollie
“Solidarity means that no one in our community has to stand alone.” – Jody Money
I heard this definition of solidarity four years ago at a community meeting in Waco on immigration and it has stuck with me ever since then. I always seem to remember this quote around this time of the year. Monday is Columbus Day. It isn’t a day that I think much about, except to wonder whether government and city offices will be open. Although this year as I am being very intentional about ‘discovering Waco’ and all that it has to offer, Columbus Day has crossed my mind a little more frequently.
I recently viewed a TED Talk by Taiye Selasi entitled “Don’t ask me where I’m from, ask me where I am local.” Selasi discusses the complexities of having lived in and experienced life in many places that have helped shape her self and cultural identity. I grew up in Waco, but I have lived in Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts during various times of my life. I find myself migrating back to these places, because some of these are places that I consider home just as much as I consider Waco my home. So I can relate to Taiye Selasi’s request that you ask her where she is ‘local’ rather than where she is from.
As an adult Wacoan I am ‘local’ to North Waco and more specifically the Sanger Heights Neighborhood. I also have lived in South and East Waco. As a child I would have considered myself ‘local’ to those places as well. These places have helped shape my own self and cultural identity. In my discovering and embracing of life in Waco, I find myself becoming more engaged in my community and I think back to Jody Money’s quote on solidarity.
Taiye Selasi notes that people can be connected by rituals, restrictions, and relationships despite where they are from. In Waco I want to be connected to those people who don’t look like me, think like me or even live like me because I want to be able to stand in solidarity with them when they struggle. I want to stand in solidarity with them when they are ostracized. I want to stand in solidarity with them so that they will not be alone. I see this happening in small ways all over the city and I am glad that we, the Waco community, can be ‘local’ together as our community continues to grow and evolve in new ways. I suspect that for many locals, my discovery is in fact not a discovery at all but just a reflection of a community of people who care deeply about each other.
This Act Locally Waco blog post is written by Deshauna Hollie. Deshauna grew up in Waco and moved back a few years ago. Biking is her favorite way of getting around Waco, and she regularly writes poetry about biking in Waco. She is currently working on a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
Note: Selasi, Taiye. (2014) “Don’t ask me where I’m from, ask me where I’m local.” Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/taiye_selasi_don_t_ask_where_i_m_from_ask_where_i_m_a_local