Press Release – The community’s help is needed to deal with the serious problem of child hunger in McLennan County, which worsens in the summer when many children are home from school and cannot receive free, nutritional meals provided in schools. A special spring food drive is being conducted to aid in this effort. The ninth annual “Spring Onto Summer Food Drive,” which will take place on Saturday, April 13, 2019, is designed to help local food pantries better meet the increased demand for supplemental food that is expected during the summer—a time when there is also a decrease in food and monetary donations to these organizations.
Pantries to receive food donated through this drive are Shepherds Heart Food Pantries, Salvation Army, and Caritas of Waco.
When school is out families in need have more mouths to feed at home. The demand for food is much greater at local pantries. We are asking the community to help stock the shelves of these local pantries to assist them in caring for people in need.
Individuals are encouraged to donate food on April 13th between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at one of the following locations:
- Wal-Mart, 1521 N IH-35, Bellmead
- Wal-Mart, 600 S. Hewitt Dr., Hewitt
- Wal-Mart, 4320 Franklin, Waco
- Wal-Mart 733 Sun Valley Blvd, Hewitt
- Sam’s Club, 2301 E. Waco Drive, Bellmead
- Brookshire’s Food Stores, 100 Peplow St., Robinson
- Brookshire Brothers, 406 N Frontage Rd, Lorena, TX 76655
Volunteers will be handing out lists of needed food items and encouraging shoppers to purchase such items while in the store and to place this food in specially marked containers before leaving. Among needed food items are canned meats, canned vegetables, cereals, baby food, peanut butter, macaroni & cheese, dry beans, rice, corn meal and pasta/sauces. Monetary donations are also accepted.
Wal-Mart and KXXV-TV–Channel 25 are serving as corporate sponsors for the drive.
For information about how to donate to the food drive, please go to www.shepherdsheartpantry.org or contact Bob Gager at 254-722-9517 or shepherds.heart@yahoo.com or Buddy Edwards at 254-722-7698 or bedwards@caritas-waco.org.
By Brooke Davilla
Imagine that you want to run a marathon, become a cake decorator, travel the world, or start a new business. Okay, now what? Wing it. Wait, no. What? Of course we don’t wing it. Most of us would not launch into an important undertaking without some level of preparation. For some, it may be enough to watch a quick You Tube video or read the highlights, while others may seek to become experts on the subject. Either way, we typically approach new endeavors with an openness to learn.
Yet, when it comes to raising children, one of the biggest adventures in the human experience, we tend to think we must intuitively know what to do and instinctively be able to do it. Worse yet, when we find ourselves in a parenting pickle, we often feel a sense of shame around the idea of asking for help. What if we approached parenting with the same openness to learn as we would any other adventure?
Four reasons why you should attend a parenting class:
1. Gain tools: Stuck with only the tools your caregivers gave you? A parenting class can help you learn new strategies to engage, guide, and discipline. As children grow and change, what worked yesterday, likely won’t work today, and what works for this child rarely works for the next. As my husband likes to say, “You can never have too many tools.”
2. Learn the latest: Research on human development and relationships continues to evolve. Thoughts on best practices for raising children has changed over the years. Attending a parent education class is one way to stay up to date on evidence-based practices when it comes to caring for little ones.
3. Build confidence: Am I doing enough to ensure my child grows up to be a well-adjusted contributing member of society? The million-dollar question that every parent asks every day. Having a safe environment to ask questions and practice new skills is a great way to strengthen your confidence as a parent.
4. Create community: ‘It takes a village’ might be cliché, but oh-so-true when it comes to parenting children. Attending a group parenting class will give you a chance to meet other caregivers and expand your support system.
Whatever journey brought you to your caregiving role – surprise or planning, biology or adoption, permanent or temporary – a parenting class could add to your preparation to handle the many loops of the adventure we call parenting. MCH staff is passionate about supporting children, youth, and families and have been trained to teach three different evidence-based curriculums – Nurturing Parenting®, Circle of Security®, and a Trust-Based Relational Intervention® class called Connected Caregivers. There are always new groups starting and they are always open to partnering with schools, organizations, and congregations to open a new class.
Wherever you are on your parenting journey, MCH Family Outreach exists to support you! Please call 254-750-1263 to find out more about our free services and determine how we can best serve you and your family.
6 Week Nurturing Parenting (NP) classes curriculum include Philosophy and Practices of Nurturing Parenting; Ages & Stages (Infants & Toddlers); Brain Development (Children & Teens); Building Self-Worth; Communicating with Respect; Praising Children and their Behavior; Dealing with Stress; Understanding Feelings; Alternatives to Spanking; Family Morals, Values and Rules; Humor, Laughter and Fun with Children. Childcare is not provided.
Next Class: April 30 – June 4. Tuesdays, 12:30 – 2:30 PM. Tuition: Free. To register, call: 254-750-1263
Brooke Davilla is the Director of MCH Family Outreach Waco for Methodist Children’s Home. She graduated from Baylor University with a MSW in Social Work, concentration in Community Practice, where she now teaches part-time. Brooke is passionate about cultivating a trauma informed community and is a TBRI® Practitioner. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons traveling, being in nature and often at the baseball fields. You can reach Brooke at bdavilla@mch.org.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.org for more information.
By Kristen Drumgoole
Parenting: It’s the best, hardest job. It’s joy and laughter and fun…and heartache, worry, and weariness. Behavior challenges, financial strain, traumatic experiences, and many other things can be roadblocks to family bonding and growth.
MCH Family Outreach exists to offer support to families facing such challenges. We support families in a number of ways – through caregiver education, connecting families to community resources, and planning for achievement of goals set by family members. One of the unique ways MCH Family Outreach seeks to support families and caregivers is through Caregiver Empowerment Groups (CEGs). CEGs are regular meetings designed to offer support and empowerment to caregivers through education, discussion, and the opportunity to connect with and learn from others who are on a similar journey. These groups are always open to new members, so you are welcome to drop by any of them at any time.
Here is a quick overview of the Caregiver Empowerment Groups we currently offer:
Adoptive & foster parent CEG: This group offers monthly meetings to support adoptive and foster parents. The next meeting will be Friday, March 22, from 6:45-8:30 PM, at First Baptist Church, Woodway, 101 N. Ritchie Rd. Childcare is available with a prior RSVP. To RSVP or get more information, contact Marissa Smith at msmith@mch.org or call 254-750-1263.
Grandparent & relative caregiver CEG: This group is open to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins – anyone who has taken in a child of a family member or friend. Raising a relative’s child as your own comes with a unique set of joys and challenges, and this group exists to support caregivers through this journey. The next meeting will be Monday, March 25, from 10:00-11:00 AM at the MCH Family Outreach Center, 524 W. Waco Drive. Childcare is not provided. For more information, contact Kristen Drumgoole at kdrumgoole@mch.org or call 254-750-1263.
Spanish language CEG: This group is open to all parents and caregivers who speak Spanish. The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 27, from 12:00 PM-1:00 PM at La Puerta Waco, 500 Clay Ave. (First Baptist Church, Waco, 2nd floor). Childcare is provided. For more information, contact Ana Chatham, at achatham@mch.org or call 254-750-1263.
Family fun CEG: This group is open to all families who want to build attachment and bonding by having fun together! Parents and children will learn skills like healthy communication and appropriate rules and boundaries in the home, through play and family fun. The first meeting will be Saturday, April 13 at the MCH Family Outreach Center, 524 W. Waco Drive, from 10 AM-noon. Please RSVP to this group by emailing Maegan Bennight at mbennight@mch.org or calling 254-750-1263.
Wherever you are on your parenting journey, MCH Family Outreach exists to support you! Please call 254-750-1263 to find out more about our free services and determine how we can best serve you and your family.
Kristen Drumgoole has been a Case Manager with MCH Family Outreach for one year. She holds her MSW degree from the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor, where she is also an adjunct instructor. Outside of work hours, you’ll likely find Kristen at her church (Calvary Baptist) or dancing up a sweat at the REFIT Studio. She has called Waco home for the past 6 years.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.org for more information.
By Clay Springer
Last May, three local entrepreneurs came to me with a challenge. They had purchased a 14- passenger bicycle car six months earlier and launched “Waco Pedal Tours” (WPT), a startup providing entertainment tours in Waco’s downtown.
Cory Dickman, Jake Cockerill, and Danny Abarca are true entrepreneurs, ready to bet it all in the belief that their product, a pedal car, could play a vital role in shaping the downtown experience for locals and guests alike. But, by the time they came to me, they were emotionally drained. It turns out the pedal car they had purchased was a hodge-podge of mis-matched imperial and metric parts that the previous owners had thrown together with a working philosophy of “get the next tour finished and worry about the rest later.”
Keeping this Frankenstein pedal car running was a nightmare. They had spent countless hours doing cross-country searches and talking to engineers and designers and still they had no solid replacement parts. I signed on to help with the project, and we spent additional countless hours researching, brainstorming, designing, and working with the best old-school machinist in Waco until we finally had the pedal car back on the road.
Even after my involvement with WPT, however, problems with the old pedal car were a constant problem: holes in watered batteries, cracked brake drums, split axle shafts, electrical shorts, etc. The original pedal car was built in China and then shipped to America for final assembly. Most problems related to a metric or Chinese version of something not being compatible with what was readily available for purchase in Waco, Texas.
We realized it was time to build from the ground up. We wanted a frame that could be repaired with parts from local stores or junkyards in 24 hours or less. We wanted a better suspension for a more comfortable ride on bumpy roads. We spent hours scheming possible new additions to the bike: water misters for hot days, on board hot chocolate tap for winter, karaoke, massive sound system, air-ride suspension for comfort, Mario Kart (a personal favorite and I still remain the 9-time undefeated champ at the annual RAPS Mario Kart races!), and so much more.
We had lots of ideas for improvement based on customer comments… added space between pedals and bar for folks with long legs, a space to lock up personal items or coolers, a step with a handle for loading and unloading, and an extra seat or two. We wanted a technical service manual and a troubleshooting guide.
Of course, all of this conversation about new features and improvements led to some dreaming about scaling the product up into multiple pedal cars and serving as a vendor for other entertainment startups.
Cory, Jake and Danny knew we could build a better pedal car, but the crossroads of time and money spent to get the original bike on the road again had taken its toll. As we dreamed up design ideas and worked through trade-offs we kept up a running cost analysis on building a new pedal car. How could they afford it? Who would build it?
The pedal car project fascinated me. I was drawn to the problem-solving challenge of working on a vehicle that seems simple from the curb but is oddly sophisticated below. I began to wonder if this was a job that my students at Rapoport Academy Public School (RAPS) could do.
For over a decade the RAPS robotics team has competed every year in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). This competition focuses on technical skills like DC electronics, CAD, CAM, CNC machining, pneumatics, LEDs, fasteners, gears and pulleys. One problem we have always faced while competing in FRC is the time commitment. Our students have to balance their time between wage earning jobs and after school activities like robotics.
Just like that, the idea was born: bring students on at WPT as full W-4 employees! The students could earn OSHA certification and be covered under workers comp insurance. This would help students balance having a job to earn an hourly income and earning class credit. Unlike in a regular robotics project, in this build we wouldn’t have to fundraise the cost of the materials, so we could spend more time teaching fabrication techniques and safety.
We formed a team – four RAPS high school students, three partners from WPT, and one teacher (me!) – we were in it not just to build a product, but to build a company.
It is almost impossible to list all the good outcomes and highlight moments that have come from this project: The close personal interactions between the students and owners; the opportunity to learn project management, marketing, finances / loan structure; the opportunity to connect STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) learning from the classroom to real experience in the field. Students were pressed to quickly learn how to read, interpret and fabricate blueprint drafts. They learned how to communicate within a team to get a project up and running.
The brightest highlight by far has been the four high school students themselves. Each student brought a unique skill set and personality to the team. I have known these students since they were in the 5th and 6th grades and it was an incredible experience to go from being a teacher in front of a class to working alongside them on a daily basis. We worked through conflict together. We got in trouble with management for playing music too loud together. We spent time talking about cars, college, and life… but most of all we learned together.
In the beginning this project was about welding some tubes together, throwing axles and brakes under it, adding a little paint, installing a stereo, and sending a pedal car down the road. It soon transformed into a project about high school students developing the skills to be successful in college, career, and life.
Yes, you have to know how to align gears, and calculate weight-to-gear ratios to build a pedal car, but those are skills we can teach in a classroom. You cannot teach the rush you feel when you meet a high-stakes deadline, or the satisfaction that comes with successfully managing a project that relies on three different people with six different parts progressing at once, or the attention required to improve a design by listening to customers. You have to experience these things. I have learned many, many things through this work-based learning partnership, but one of the most impactful things I will take from it is, “You cannot simulate authentic real-world learning.”
After two weeks of rigorous testing over spring break we will fix and fine tune any problems that arise with the new pedal car. Then we will bring on another set of talented students to help write the technical guides that will accompany the pedal car, to use RAPS drones and cameras to video and photograph the pedal car for marketing packages and social media posts, and to serve as drivers for tours.
This new pedal car is a prototype, created from our imagination. It is full of imperfections with improvements to be made, but I guarantee you this: our RAPS team is up for the challenge and we are just getting started. So, go take a ride on the new pedal car, your dollars will support local education and you might just have one of the builders from our team as your driver!
Waco Pedal Tours and Rapoport Academy Public School entered into a formal partnership to promote Entrepreneurship and STEAM education together. From trade and technical disciplines to entrepreneurial finance and marketing, local companies like Waco Pedal Tours are the key to the success of our next generation. I applaud WPT for taking a risk on a couple of knuckleheads with power tools (me included).
Rapoport Academy focuses on entrepreneurship in STEAM disciplines. We are looking to partner with more companies to meet the interests of every student. I would personally love to connect you with some amazing young talent to help grow your idea or established business.
How could your business and our students mutually benefit from the tools, training and facilities that RAPS has to offer? How can we create some authentic student learning experiences together? There is a little something for every passion in entrepreneurship and it takes every person pedaling for the bike to move forward.
Clay Springer currently serves as STEAM and Career and Technical Education Director for Rapoport Academy Public School. Clay started his educational career at Rapoport Academy in 2010 as a teaching assistant for Quinn Middle school before becoming a classroom teacher and advocate for STEM and Authentic education. Clay and his wife, Joi, welcomed their first child, Shepherd, on Thanksgiving day 2018. They enjoy spending time on the Brazos River on old boats that Clay boldly claims someday will be as good as new.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.orgfor more information.
By Rae Jefferson
Family Health Center has a long history of working to serve the primary care needs of low-income and uninsured patients in the Waco area. With 14 clinics across McLennan County, FHC is constantly expanding and working to improve the scope and quality of care offered to patients. Here are five programs and strategies we use to offer the best medical, dental, and behavioral health care we can to our community.
1. We address social problems that negatively affect the mind and body. Social determinants of health are conditions within a home, school, workplace, and community that influence health risks and outcomes. According the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, “unstable housing, low income, unsafe neighborhoods, or substandard education” can have a negative effect on a person’s health, both physical and mental.
While addressing these health concerns is often complicated, FHC has implemented a few programs to help find solutions. Low literacy levels are shown to increase “adverse health outcomes, including increased mortality, hospitalization, and in some cases poorer control of chronic health conditions.” Reach Out and Read is a national program that supplies free books to FHC patients aged 6 months to 5 years. The program, currently sponsored by the Junior League of Waco, helps doctors and parents ensure young patients have tools to develop literacy skills that can improve health outcomes later in life. Books are available in both Spanish and English for all age levels.
Additionally, FHC has formed a Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) with Greater Waco Legal Services, which helps medical providers understand and treat legal issues affecting the health of patients. The MLP allows medical professionals at FHC to refer patients to legal services, and for the legal team to have a physical presence in the medical clinic to consult with patients and providers about how to address health-harming legal needs. The partnership also educates medical staff on how to recognize health-harming legal needs during patient visits. Interactions between patients and medical staff or the legal team are confidential, and citizenship status is never shared with outside parties.
2. We offer unconventional approaches to managing health and promoting wellness. If you’re around FHC long enough, you’ll realize we care a lot about treating our patients in ways that will create lasting change in their lives. Through unique prescription programs, we give patients the tools to succeed in achieving a healthy and active lifestyle. Physicians can give patients a prescription for exercise, allowing them free access to the Wellness Center, located in our Madison Cooper Community Clinic. Fitness advisers work with each patient to evaluate exercise needs and abilities. Baylor University and individuals in the community have graciously donated all equipment in the workout facility.
Physicians also have the ability to give patients a Produce Prescription, which provides them with a free box of produce each week while the program is in season. Each box includes seasonal produce grown and provided by World Hunger Relief, Inc., as well as recipe cards to assist patients as they prepare meals.
3. We offer support groups that can improve health and well-being. Centering Pregnancy is a program that allows expectant mothers to find support and familiarity with one another. For some patients, familial support is limited or nonexistent. The groups allow them to find much needed community while decreasing chances of experiencing complications during pregnancy and delivery. Foster care groups are also available, and allow families with foster children to share their joys, challenges, and support for one another.
4. We are developing a greenspace in a Waco neighborhood. The Community Gathering Space is under development at our main clinic at Colcord Avenue and N 16th Street. In the future, the plot of land, adjacent to the Wellness Center, will be a greenspace with sitting areas and a walkway. It will also feature a small garden mirroring vegetables in the Produce Prescription boxes, which will allow patients to see the produce at all stages of growth and encourage a foray into home gardening. We broke ground in January and have already built a few raised garden beds and a portion of the walkway.
5. We bring behavioral health care into the exam room. Physicians in the U.S. often report that their patients do not have access to adequate mental health services. Furthermore, mental health diagnoses made by primary care doctors are often incorrect. Integrated Health Management is a method of treating patients that brings more accurate mental health care into exam rooms and gives them more time with a team of healthcare professionals. During routine visits, patients who would benefit can choose to see a mental health professional, also called an Integrated Health Manager, during the same visit to quickly receive a diagnosis and discuss treatment options. This process allows patients to more easily access mental health resources without sacrificing quality of care.
Rae Jefferson is a creative, Netflix binger, and marketing professional, in that order. Originally from Houston, she stuck around Waco after graduating from Baylor University with a B.A. in Journalism, PR, & New Media and a minor in Film & Digital Media. Now she’s the Communications Director at Family Health Center, where she gets to spend each day serving Waco. When she’s not working, find her at home snuggled up with her dog-daughter, Charlie, watching “The Office” for the hundredth time.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.org for more information.
By Tiffany Gallegos
A lot of people are familiar with the retail side of Goodwill. Did you know those donated items fund Goodwill’s services and programs to help put people to work and build their skills for successful careers? If you’re thinking “no,” don’t worry! I must admit, before I started working at Heart of Texas Goodwill four years ago, I was not aware of the mission side of Goodwill. I also did not know there are 161 independent, local Goodwills across the U.S and Canada that customize mission programs according to the needs of the community. I have a passion for community development, so once I learned how Goodwill operates, I jumped onboard to help carry out the mission of building an inclusive workforce. Part of my role at Heart of Texas Goodwill is to share our services and programs with the community, so I invite you to engage with me in this blog post and beyond (I’m a fan of coffee meetings) to explore what we do and how we can work together as I share an exciting update for our new program, Rise, an accredited online high school.
2019 has been an eventful year so far and it is only March! In January we had our first woman step into the role of CEO/President (shout out to Shannon Wittmer, our former Mission Vice President who does not like shout outs but I’m doing it anyways).
We also implemented Rise to kick off the new year. The purpose of the Rise program is to help individuals advance their careers and achieve financial stability by obtaining an accredited high school diploma.
We found in a community assessment conducted in 2018 that people without high school diplomas earned the least yearly income in our territory and often struggle to advance their job skills and earn higher wages. As a result, we decided Goodwill could offer an alternative path for people to earn a high school diploma. Rise’s career-based curriculum is delivered through Ed2Go, an online learning platform that allows students to work through the program self-paced. This also gives folks, especially those that need to work or meet other obligations, the flexibility to work around their schedules.
Completed high school credits and/or GED testing can be transferred and credited towards completion of the program as well. What I love most about this career online high school is that there are no quizzes or testing. Instead, the course gives students small wins as they build competencies and progress through the program. This is great for people like me who have testing anxiety and/or have faced obstacles in a traditional classroom setting. At the same time, students have access to online counselors through Ed2Go that know the curriculum and are trained to address educational trauma. We also have a wonderful program specialist that will provide weekly check-ins and coaching to help students successfully complete the program.
Our mission for Rise is to foster a culture of lifelong learning by connecting students to postsecondary education training options. In addition to working towards a high school diploma, students can receive a career certificate in the following fields: Food and Hospitality, Retail Customer Service, Office Management, Professional Skills, Child Care and Education, Transportation Services, Homeland Security, Certified Protection Officer, Hospitality, and Home Care Professional.
Our program specialist will work alongside Rise students after they obtain a high school diploma to help them move into higher wage jobs and pursue additional education/training. This could look like enrolling in a technical/trade school, apprenticeship, college/university, or a workforce training program that offers industry-recognized certifications/credentials.
I think overall, providing an alternative path to obtaining a high school diploma is one way our organization can help upskill our workforce and build an additional pipeline of students accessing postsecondary education and training.
I have to say I’m excited we are in the process of enrolling our first cohort and are able to provide financial assistance to six students. If you or someone you know would like to talk more about Rise enrollment, program fees, financial assistance, or perhaps sponsoring a student for Rise, feel free to reach out to me at 254-753-7337.
I also can’t wrap up a blog post without giving a shout out to our four Job Connections in Waco, Temple, Belton, and Killeen. We have awesome staff at each of these centers that can help folks with job searching, resume writing, interview skills training, and beginner/intermediate computer classes at no cost. We are able to provide all of these services thanks to our community donating goods to our retail stores, so next time you clean out your closet or are tidying up your home, consider dropping by your closest Goodwill store to donate!
Tiffany Gallegos is the Development Director at Heart of Texas Goodwill and has called Waco home the past 10 years. She graduated from Baylor University in 2011 and earned her Master of Social Work degree from the Diana Garland School of Social Work in 2015. She is the proud mom of a soon-to-be toddler and enjoys gardening, home projects with her husband, and spending time with friends and family. Feel free to contact Tiffany at tgallegos@hotgoodwill.org or 254-753-7337.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.orgfor more information.
(Carver Park Baptist Church is helping to lead a healthy food revolution in East Waco through their food related ministries. They have so much going on that we couldn’t squeeze it into one post. This is Part 2 of the story. Click here for Part 1. – ALW)
By Khristian Howard
Carver Park Baptist Church stands as one of the main resources for food in the East Waco community. Their food pantry, open every first and third Friday, serves 120 to 150 people each month. Though doors do not open until 9:30, a line of people from almost every Waco zip code can be seen stretching around the building as early as 8 a.m. Led by Helen Lewis and a team of volunteers from Carver, TSTC, and the community, the food pantry at Carver Park Baptist has proven to be a major resource and lifeline for the residents of East Waco.
In a recent chat with Mrs. Evelyn Moore, one of the leaders of the Carver Park Culinary Arts Ministry, we learned some of the history behind how Carver Park responded to the need for food in the neighborhood and evolved into the fully stocked pantry they run today.
Reflecting on the early days of Carver Park Baptist, Mrs. Moore remembers the events that inspired the opening of their food pantry back in the 80s. “We had a small one [food pantry] that we partnered with TSTC in the 80s. We would carry milk, baby food, and other sustainable things like cereal.” The food pantry effort was a response to the newly adjusted programming at TSTC that allowed women to attend. Mrs. Moore stated, “…young girls that were coming to TSTC were coming with babies and other things trying to improve their lives, and there were many needs not being met because the program was not designed for women.”
In addition to the resources for TSTC students, the church would keep a small selection of shelf stable items for nearby residents who came seeking help. Usually though, they had to purchase foods to help these individuals to fill in the gaps. Moore stated, “We would have food drives and canned good drives and stuff, but it just was not substantial enough to help all of the people who would come in…so a lot of times they received a check or someone took them grocery shopping.”
In its beginning, Carver Park’s food pantry was a product of collaboration with a sister church in the area, Lake Shore Baptist Church. In the beginning each church had its own food pantry working to fill food gaps and addressing the needs that affected not only their congregations, but the surrounding communities. Food pantries, however, while a widely popular idea among churches, are generally difficult to keep afloat at a sustainable level. Eventually, the pantry at Lake Shore Baptist closed, and the two churches agreed to have those clients use Carver’s pantry instead.
Eventually, the church gained the capacity to host a full food pantry in partnership with Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB). The CTFB provides a consistent, low-cost source of food. Partnerships like the one that Carver Park has with CTFB are vital to the sustainability of a pantry. The food that organizations like CTFB provide supports nutritional variety and health.
Helen Lewis keeps a nutritious diet in mind when placing orders with CTFB. She makes a careful selection of fruits, vegetables, and meats, and encourages pantry visitors to try new veggies and fruits before picking up sweets and other shelf stable goods. Her goal is to create a balance of both.
While the partnership with CTFB helps keep the pantry is well stocked, Ms. Lewis depends on relationships and collaboration with the community to supply many items as well. One such relationship is with Caritas, who provides in-kind toiletry donations. In addition, the senior group at Carver Park Baptist contributes by having a baking supply drive every February.
Volunteers from the church and TSTC help out on pantry days. Regular pantry users check-in quickly, and volunteers help new clients complete the short intake process that gauges family size and what benefits they can receive. Once the pantry guests are checked in, volunteers also assist with selecting and carrying food to their cars.
Ms. Lewis and her team have also found a way to reach clients who are unable to physically come to the pantry. The team prepares boxes for clients that are referred to them. These boxes are delivered to each client’s residence or kept at the ready for neighbors and loved ones to pick up.
Carver Park Baptist is just one example of a church stepping up to meet needs in the East Waco community. Other churches in the area have developed systems to address needs for food assistance, childcare, mentorship, and more. A network is growing of people who have made it their goal to take care of their own in a place where outside services do not always cover the needs. The ladies at Carver Park’s food pantry have shown that a mixture of inside and outside support may just be a reliable model for sustaining a healthy food pantry.
Khristian Howard is an Atlanta native and a recent graduate of Georgia State University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. She has a passion for empowering communities through service, and seeks to connect advocacy to creativity. Currently, she is serving as the AmeriCorps VISTA for Texas Hunger Initiative Waco, where her work focuses on fostering collective impact to improve health and eating habits in East Waco. When she is not working, you may find her sharpening her culinary skills or exploring new poetic and artistic pathways.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.org for more information.
(Welcome to the Act Locally Waco/Towny blog series. Towny is an app that connects consumers with local businesses for coupons and other great deals. Through this blog series, the folks at Towny will be sharing the stories behind some of our high-quality, local products and helping you get to know some of our energetic local entrepreneurs. For more posts in this blog series, click here: Towny Waco.– ALW)
By Tori Freeman
Many business owners have dreamed of owning their own store for years…not so for Kim Dailey. Though she’s never been especially artistic, she just kind of stumbled into a hidden talent of cake decorating. Turns out she stumbled into something pretty sweet. And suddenly, All Sugar’d Up was born (and we’re SO glad it was!).
What’s the scoop – or should I say slice – on All Sugar’d Up?
“Well short story version: I actually was working a full-time job in a call center and I was looking for something to do because I was bored when I got off work.
I started tinkering around with cake design and started making baby shower cakes for people at my job or their kids’ birthday cakes and then it just kind of blew up from there. I didn’t ever intend on this being what it was, but I found out that I had a knack for it. It kept growing and eventually it got to the point that I couldn’t maintain my current job and go home and bake all night long because I wasn’t sleeping.
So, I left my job at that time in 2012 and opened a store front. My husband literally found a spot that was open and he rented it. He just came in one day and said, ‘By the way, I did this. Get your stuff and go!’”
Had you always been a baker?
“Honestly, not really. My mom made my birthday cakes growing up and she was pretty crafty so she tinkered around with that kind of stuff. And I was around lots of birthday parties – my parents worked at a roller skating rink and they did birthday parties like every weekend, so I was around cake like all the time.
So I was familiar with it in general but I was never really a baker. The most I ever did was make some sugar cookies or chocolate cookies or something like that.
When I decided to start tinkering around, I took a Michael’s class, just one single class that taught us how to make buttercream and icing flowers and things like that. From there I just was like, you know this is pretty cool. I can do this.
After that, I engrossed myself in anything and everything to do with cake decorating. I was online looking at stuff, I stalked people’s Facebook pages, looking at high profile celebrity bakers and watched what they did and blew pictures up and sat down and just started teaching myself. I’d sit there and work and work and work at it until I figured out the technique. So, I’ve pretty much been self-taught.”
What’s your favorite memory involving cake?
“I told you my mom made my birthday cakes as a kid, and when I think back to the very first cake I can ever remember her making, it was a sun. She made the full round cake, and then she made another one and cut it into triangles to put around the outside and iced it up in yellow and covered it in coconut. I think she used maraschino cherries for the eyes and the nose and the mouth.
That’s the first cake that I ever remember from my childhood. And it doesn’t seem like it was anything big, but back then we were in a time where nobody had the big elaborate cakes. Everybody had a sheet cake, you know, they got a little sheet cake at a local grocery store.
But my mom always came up with something different every year, one year it was sunshine, the next year it’d be a rainbow. And so for me that was so special.”
Do you think there’s any misconceptions people have about cake decorating?
“I think the biggest misconception that people have is when they’re comparing a bakery like us to a supermarket or a grocery store. The work that we do here and the kind of cake that you get there are two completely different things.
Most people don’t understand the time that goes into making something. They think it’s just, oh I just call you and you can whip it up in an hour kind of thing.
They don’t understand the art that goes into it and the time that goes into it. It’s not a cake made in a grocery store that was frozen and shipped in and the decorator came in and slapped some icing on and wrote “Happy Birthday.”
This is something that’s custom. What you’re getting from us is a fresh, baked from-scratch cake with homemade icing and someone sitting down and custom creating what you envisioned. And that takes time. You know, just the general wedding cake, you’re talking 15, 20 hours of work between baking, decorating, stacking, all those sorts of things just for a simple wedding cake.”
That’s amazing! And you’ll have multiple orders at once – how do you get it all done?
“I struggled with that for a long time when I was doing everything on my own, and that’s why I wasn’t sleeping. Now, I’ve got two employees: one is my mother who is my primary baker. And then I have another employee that’s been here for almost two years. So we’ve developed ourselves a system now to get everything done.
Even so, when you hit wedding weeks, it is mass chaos and long hours. We’re here an hour or two before opening every single day, and there’s a lot of times we’re here hours after we close at night.
But it’s the life of a bakery, you do what you love and you build yourself a reputation based on the quality of your work. Cakes can be pretty all day long, but if they don’t taste good, nobody wants them. We pride ourselves on providing a product that not only looks spectacular, but it tastes just as good. Our customers come back time and time again.
That’s where our business has built itself so much over the past few years: word of mouth. The majority of our business has been off of referrals. People that have seen our work or have heard their friends talk about us, and they try us out once and they’re hooked. I can’t thank my customers enough for believing in us enough to give us a try, and then for telling everybody about us.”
If you’ve been, you know: All Sugar’d Up is well worth a go! But before you drop by, you’ll want to check out Towny for some special deals. Towny is a free guide that helps you explore Waco businesses and rewards you for choosing local. Find Towny online or download the free phone app!
Tori Freeman is a Colorado native turned Texan and a graduate of Baylor University. She works as a part-time paralegal and creative freelancer with expertise spanning writing, editing, and photography. Tori knows firsthand how local businesses can change lives—she met her husband, Braden, while working at the Hippodrome! They now happily live in Waco with their spoiled golden-doodle and their even more spoiled baby boy.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.org for more information.
By Summer Shine
Most people are affected by alcoholism or addiction in one way or another, whether it’s their own struggle, or a family member or a friend. The disease of addiction and alcoholism has infiltrated our everyday lives. It’s become so prevalent that the CDC proclaimed the opioid crisis in northern states is becoming a national crisis. According to a recent study by the Surgeon General’s office, 1 in 7 Americans suffer from drug or alcohol addiction. Many are touched, but few know what help there is for people who have this disease.
When I decided to get sober in 2013 I, fortunately, had previous experience with recovery and family and friends who were still willing to help. Not all who are afflicted are as lucky as I was. Many find themselves without resources or on long waitlist to get into any sort of treatment facility. Another challenge is that after a short term stay, typically 30-60 days, clients in recovery are expected to figure out a new lifestyle, housing and a recovery plan, with very little assistance. This becomes a major turning point for many people who are seeking long term recovery. What are they to do? Where are they to go? Who is their new support system? These can be stressful and confusing times.
Sober living communities are popping up all over the country as solution to this problem. These homes offer safe, affordable housing in an environment where a recovery lifestyle is commonplace, and mistakes are used as learning tools. Most Sober Living Houses (SLH) require participation in 12-step recovery programs, have straight forward house rules and adhere to probation requirements.
Another study by National Center for Biotechnology Information shows that people in recovery who live in short-term housing for 6-9 months after treatment have a 70% better chance of staying sober for 2 or more years than people who go straight back into old environments.
In 2015 when Sunshine Recovery House opened its doors, there were 5 sober living houses for men in the Waco area and none for women. Historically women are underserved both in addiction recovery and in mental health services. Being a woman in recovery and having many close female friends who are both in recovery and have mental illness, I found the lack of resources disturbing and appalling.
Not being one to take the sidelines when there is a problem to be solved, I addressed the issue and opened a sober living house here in Waco for women! We currently rent 2 small houses close to the old Hillcrest. We have nine beds and are usually full with a waitlist. We recently formed as a nonprofit organization and are raising money to purchase one large house close to downtown that will house 12-14 women and host a live-in house manager.
Waco has been an amazing advocate for Sunshine Recovery House! We’ve seen people come out of the woodworks (figuratively and literally) to show us support and help us expedite the process. It’s been both heartwarming and awe inspiring to see the amount of love people have shown us. More importantly we have been privy to seeing the lives of women in this community radically changed. We’ve seen miracles happen and that is the real game-changer. Women get their kids back, pay off debt, find wonderful careers, go to school, finish probation or clear CPS cases. THESE ladies are the reason we fight through the hard times, and trust me, there are hard times.
I am lucky. I’m lucky to have women in my life who are fighting the same fight I am, who show up to support me and who make the simple, yet hard decision to allow God to change them completely. I’ve learned along the way that I can only keep what I’ve been given, freedom from active addiction, by giving it away.
If you, or someone you love is suffering from addiction or alcoholism, know that there is help. There are 2 treatment facilities in the Central Texas area and a whole host of them in DFW and Austin. More sober living houses are being opened and often I am seeing young people get sober before they have had to suffer some of the same consequences that many have. It’s hopeful and magical and God induced. Some may say it’s a lofty goal to want to eradicate addiction and alcoholism all together, but why not try?
Rollin’ 4 Recovery
Join us March 23rd for a night of laughter, music, food, fun and friends. Comedian Shayne Smith is unapologetically goofy and recants his experiences through hilarious rants about life as a real gangsta….er, geek! Hear some sick beats laid down by Waco’s own Ryan Thomas as he takes us on a lyrical journey through interpretive spoken word, also known as rap. Enjoy a delicious meal provided by Waco’s #1 food truck Club Sandwich and signature mocktail beverages provided by Luna Juice Bar. Not to mention the savage live auction items up for grabs. Trust us, you won’t want to miss this night! If you’d like to mail a check for sponsorship or tables please mail to: Sunshine Recovery House 1516 Austin Ave Suite 3 Waco, TX 76701 Rollin’ 4 Recovery
- March 23 – 7 PM
- Brazos Event Center, 520 Elm Ave.
- General admission $50 – $70. VIP and Table Sponsor opportunities available. Click here for Tickets: Rollin 4 Recovery.
Summer Shine is Owner / Operator / General Juice Slinger at Luna Juice Bar and a Hip Hop Dancer at God’s Great Kingdom.
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 ashleyt@actlocallywaco.org for more information.
WACO, TX – The second-annual “Chords & Conversations” Songwriters event is set to return on March 30 at the Waco Hilton and will feature three Nashville songwriters who will perform acoustic versions of their hit songs in support of Texas Tech University Higher Education Teaching Site at Waco, directly benefiting Waco-campus students through scholarships.
According to Dr. Lewis Snell, director at TTU Waco, this event is a rare opportunity for music goers to connect with three of the most acclaimed hitmakers in the music industry in an intimate, live performance and discover the stories behind the songs.
“Not only will each artist perform acoustic versions of some of their most well-loved compositions, but they will also relate stories about the people, places and circumstances that inspired those songs,” Snell explained. “More importantly. The event will give you an opportunity to support—in a powerful way—local college students who are pursuing their dreams.”
Set to perform are Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame member Bob Dipiero, three-time
Grammy Nominee Lee Thomas Miller, and “Song of the Year” Nominee Wendell Mobley, who have penned more than 30-combined chart toppers, including Blue Clear Sky, Take Me As I Am, The Impossible, Fast Cars and Freedom and How Country Feels.
The event will start at 6:30 p.m. and include a pre-show reception catered by Hilton Waco’s executive chef Nathaniel Gay, the performance, and then conclude with an after-show reception where visitors are invited to mingle with the artists over coffee and dessert.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available for this event. For more information, please contact Lewis Snell at 254-299-8288 or email at lewis.snell@ttu.edu. Individual tickets for the event are now available for $150 each and can be purchased at https://www.depts.ttu.edu/waco/chords-and-conversations/ or visit the Facebook page @TexasTechWaco.