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 [email protected] or Buddy Edwards at 254-722-7698 or [email protected].
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 [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 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected]for more information.
By Gabrielle Chaney
The idea of creating a natural hair club at Baylor University started in my 2001 Honda in Spring 2017. My friend, and now former president of ROOTS NHC, Victoria Ellison and I were casually discussing how it would be a great idea to create an organization on campus dedicated to promoting, celebrating, and educating people about black natural hair on campus. Three weeks later I start receiving text messages and emails about becoming an officer on campus. I was shook! We started something that I would never have thought would be possible at a predominantly white institution.
The start-up of ROOTS NHC was not easy. In the beginning, many students did not understand our purpose and were skeptical about having a new organization on campus, administration did not understand our vision.
To gain traction we knew we needed to find something different to attract people to attend our meetings. One huge initiative, which we still continue to do, was providing natural hair products and samples to students who join our organization or students in need. “Why not provide something useful and cost efficient for students to try in their hair?” we thought. In the black community, natural hair products are not cheap. Quality brands of natural hair shampoo and conditioners for black hair can cost over $20, so our goal is to try and provide opportunities for students to win prizes, hair products & samples that natural hair companies provide us, at every meeting. We have been blessed to receive donations and support from huge companies, such as Aunt Jackie’s Natural Hair Products, As I Am, Curls, Cantu, Palmers, Do Gro and many more.
The concept of our meetings is that hair is the starting point for larger discussions. We have discussed issues such as colorism in society, natural hair in the newsroom and journalism, natural hair in the business world, hair education, and even hot topics such as culture appropriation and the historical roots of African hair. The conversations dive deeper into loving the skin God has blessed us with, appreciating the hair on our heads, and educating non-blacks on the importance of black culture.
As a result of these conversations we had the idea of creating a hair event. We hosted the ESSENCE Hair Show & Expo at Baylor in the spring of 2018. We worked to bring vendors and to have hairstylists showcasing their work. At the event we provided giveaway products, free haircuts, and performances.
This year we will be hosting the 2nd Annual SPRING FEST Hair Show & Expo at Baylor University. Our goals in planning this event are to invite the entire Baylor and Waco community to witness something new and unique in Central Texas. The event has gained traction from start-up businesses, entrepreneurs, and local businesses. We will have vendors from Waco, Dallas, Houston, and Austin that specialize in natural hair products, hair accessories, skin care, and so much more. We will be hosting even more performances, vendors, bigger prizes, free food and haircuts than last year. All of the ticket sales will be donated to the Family Abuse Center of Waco, Texas.
I am blessed to have this opportunity and grateful for how far our organization has come in the past two years at Baylor. As I close my senior year, I only pray our work as servants of God will continue through this organization.
ROOTS Natural Hair Club is more than just a hair club. We want every attendee at our meetings and events to leave feeling loved and appreciated. I pray, as a president and advocate for black culture, that I have helped cultivate leadership in my officers and freedom of expression in all our members and attendees. We have great ideas and I know that, if we have the drive, ROOTS NHC can reach even further in accomplishing our dreams.
If you are interested in attending the SPRING FEST Hair Show & Expo it is on March 30th, 2019, from 2-6pm at Baylor University’s Bill Daniel Student Center. Tickets are $2 presale and $5 at the door. You can purchase tickets through www.Eventbrite.com, type in “SPRING FEST Hair Show & Expo.” All ticket sales will be donated to the Family Abuse Center.
Gabrielle Chaney is a senior Athletic Training major at Baylor University. She is from Missouri City, Texas, and originally from Lafayette, Louisiana. Her career goals are to work as an Athletic Trainer and Physical Therapist for a University. Eventually, she would like to have her own business. She loves getting to know people, watching sports, music, cooking, and also discussions on social justice and activism. One of her big passions is ROOTS Hair Club at Baylor University. “This organization allows me to have a voice on campus and express the love of hair and community!” she says. One of her other passions is leadership and working on becoming a better leader. “I believe Baylor University has cultivated an atmosphere where my leadership abilities have had room to grow and shine,” she says. “I am grateful for my time at Baylor and ready to see what the world has in store for me in the future.”
By Brandi R. Ray, Ed.D
The Heart of a Teacher Educator
When I was 9 years old President Ronald Reagan announced that the first citizen to go into space would be a teacher. This teacher would be a part of the Challenger Mission that was set to launch in January of 1984. The teacher that was eventually chosen for the mission was Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher from New Hampshire. She spent a year away from her classroom preparing for the Challenger Mission and training for space travel. I followed the news intently that year, watching TV clips about her preparation. Nine-year-old me believed a teacher, a professional lifelong learner and scholar, could do anything…even travel to and teach in space.
Fast forward ten years to January 1994. The 18-year old me was a senior at Coahoma High School, set to graduate third in my class of about 75 students. Although I was a good student, I was unsure of what I wanted to be or what major I should choose for college. I was meeting with my high school counselor. “A teacher,” I mentioned that day, “I think I could be a great teacher.” The counselor looked up at me with a concerned gaze. “Brandi, how about becoming lawyer? Major in Communication then go to law school. You can do so much more than just teach.” She encouraged me to “set my sights high,” teaching could be my “fallback.”
As I pursued my career journey, that counselor became one of many who referred to teaching as my “fallback.” Boy were they wrong!
Teaching, and now teacher education, are my purpose. Teaching is my calling, my vocation, my chance to be a difference maker, a change agent. As a teacher I have had the opportunity to continually learn and be creative, to profoundly impact the lives of children, to contribute to my community, and to work in an environment that is never dull. For me, teaching was and is a rebellion. Teaching is a way to impact others and transform myself on a daily basis. I can be a lifelong scholar and student, seeking new knowledge my entire life. I can work and always be relevant. Teaching is my chance to change the future. As the author Henry B. Adams once said, “A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops.” Teaching is power.
The Call to Teach
Each day, over 350,000 teachers in the state of Texas enter their classrooms and work tirelessly to educate our children. In a recent opinion column for the Dallas Morning News two of my personal educational icons, Wesley Null and Diane Ravich, discussed educational reform in Texas. They noted that: The heart of any school is the teacher. The only way to ensure that every Texas child receives a quality education is to place a well-educated, well-prepared teacher in every classroom. That truth will never change.
The demand for qualified teachers is growing desperate. According to Texas Education Agency (TEA) estimates, Texas will require a 26% increase in teachers to keep up with our rapidly growing population. According to Jessica Attas, Vice-President of Public Policy for the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, there are some tremendous challenges in teacher recruitment and retention in our own community. Citing a recent InvestED TX report, Attas notes that the higher education teacher pipeline is down 22% since 2010, while the K-12 student enrollment growth has increased 10%.
The Call to Act
This data translates into a very clear local directive. Simply stated: If we expect to have the excellent, well-prepared teachers required to meet our needs in the greater Waco community, we need to start growing our own.
We need some of our best and brightest Waco area students to become teachers. We need an excellent, affordable, local option for those students to get the higher education they need to become high-quality teachers. We need the best teaching professionals in our local school districts to mentor these teacher candidates. Then we need these brand new, well-trained teachers to go to work for our local school districts and stay here in the Waco area to build a bright future for our community.
TechTeach
In September of 2018, I was hired by Texas Tech University Waco and Texas Tech University College of Education to begin the work of establishing a quality, affordable teacher education program in Waco.
That program, “TechTeach,” is a clinically intensive, competency-based degree program designed to prepare teachers who will improve the academic achievement of K-12 students. New teacher candidates will start working in classrooms in their first semester of college. They will use state of the art digital technology to capture their instruction. Then they will use this video footage to evaluate and improve their teaching effectiveness.
TechTeach candidates will work in partner districts alongside an experienced, handpicked mentor teacher. This co-teaching will involve working together to plan, carry out, evaluate and adjust instruction in whole-group and small-group settings.
Our program is an important one. It is rigorous and it provides an affordable educational opportunity for would-be teachers in our community. We expect our graduates to enter the classroom confident in their ability to teach and with very little debt. This can have a profound effect on teacher retention.
High quality teaching in our local classrooms is a critical need. Institutions of higher education have a responsibility to recruit and train a strong, diverse pool of teacher candidates who can meet that need. I believe our program at Tech Waco will do just that. I am a teacher. Teaching has never been my “fallback” profession. I am proud to say that teaching and teacher education have been my lifelong rebellion. Just as Christa McAuliffe said during an interview before the Challenger Mission, “I touch the future: I teach.”
Dr. Brandi R. Ray is the Site Coordinator / Instructor for the College of Education at Texas Tech University Waco. Receiving her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, Brandi has worked in teacher education at the university level for over 15 years. She has been married to her husband Lee for 18 and half years and has three children, Aidan who is 16 years old, Lily who is 11 years old, and Leighton who is 6 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.
Notes:
- “Remarks at a Ceremony Honoring the 1983–1984 Winners in the Secondary School Recognition Program”. The American Presidency Project. August 27, 1984.
- Texas Education Agency, Texas Educators Certification: https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Educators/Certification/
- Projections Central, Long Term Occupational Projections: http://www.projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm
- Texas Workforce Commission: https://twc.texas.gov/
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2015 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Texas: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tx.htm
- The heart of a school is its teachers, and teachers should be at the heart of school finance reform By Wesley Null and Diane Ravitch https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/02/10/heart-school-teachers-teachers-heart-school-finance-reform
- Teachers aren’t losers. They’re lifesavers. By Kristin Karnitz. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/opinion-teachers-arent-losers-theyre-lifesavers
Money, Money, Money! On Saturday March 9, 2019, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Alpha Omega Chapter will host its First Annual Building Your Economic Legacy Conference. Ten workshops will be offered centered on building your wealth. Participants will be able to select from workshops including topics such as:
- Financial Planning
- Credit Building and Repair
- Home Ownership
- Health Care and Senior Planning
- Building your own business and brand
Dynamic presenters are prepared to provide information and answer any questions attendees may have.
The conference is Delta Alpha Omega chapter’s implementation of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., International Program Target 3 which emphasizes financial planning, asset accumulation, and wealth building in communities that have traditionally struggled in these areas. The Conference was the brainchild of Rosemarie Tatum, the chairman of Target 3, along with her committee members, and Delta Alpha Omega’s Vice President and Program Coordinator, Rolonda Burns.
During Delta Alpha Omega’s annual program planning meeting in August, The Target 3 committee posed this question, “What are the biggest obstacles to building wealth in economically disadvantaged communities?” Resoundingly, the chapter responded, “Access to information and opportunities.” The Building Your Economic Legacy Conference is designed to address these obstacles. It will provide the community with one-stop-shop access to information and resources geared to building your financial security.
“It is not often that we talk about wealth building in African American communities. Money is indeed a sensitive subject, but a necessary subject if we want our communities to flourish,” says Connie Nichols, President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Delta Alpha Omega Chapter. “We want to break that silence and begin conversations that empower our community, to support its businesses, and establish a lasting legacy,” she continued.” “It is Delta Alpha Omega’s hope that by providing access to information on wealth building, the community members will seek out opportunities to start the process of planning for a healthy and successful financial future,” says Rolonda Burns.
Delta Alpha Omega Chapter believes that this conference will truly benefit the Waco Community by allowing community members to select topics that are important to their financial success and learn how to be strategic in planning. “There is no better time than now to start planning for tomorrow,” says Rosemarie Tatum.
The Building Your Economic Legacy Conference is free and open to all who would like to start the process of planning for their financial future. It will take place at Carver Middle School, 1601 J. J. Flewellen, Registrants can select up to two of the ten concurrent workshop session to attend beginning at 8:30am and concluding at noon. Lunch will be provided to attendees at no cost. You may contact Rosemarie Tatum at [email protected] for additional information and to register. There is no better time to start planning than now!
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., is the oldest Greek letter organization established by women of African American descent. Beginning with the vision of nine college students on the campus of Howard University in 1908, the sorority has flourished into a globally-impactful organization of nearly 300,000 college-trained members, bound by the bonds of sisterhood and empowered by a commitment to servant-leadership that is both domestic and international in its scope. Chartered in 1946, Delta Alpha Omega Chapter has continually served the Waco community, implementing programs that are designed specifically to address the local needs of the Waco community.
By Barbara Bridgewater
I was swimming the other morning at the Doris Miller YMCA on Elm Street, enjoying the feel of the water as it flowed over my broken body, aware of how kind the water was to me. I don’t swim like my friend Ruth, quick laps up and down to get good exercise! I float and let the water flow over and around me. The water is so kind.
I’m grateful that I have a place to do this in Waco: I’ve been a member of the YMCA since 5 years ago when I had to have a hip replaced. Since then, I’ve had to have 2 other surgeries and have been very grateful that water is so kind to me. Although I would prefer other kinds of aerobic exercise like running, playing basketball or hiking, my body right now is only able to handle the kindness of water.
Although I like the larger Family YMCA for all the programs and pools they offer, I prefer the Doris Miller YMCA because it is closer to me and because I really enjoy the people that attend swimming with me there at the 8:00 aerobics class. I often can swim by myself if I get there early or late, but most of the time, I choose to start my days by floating with my classmates. I hear all the local sports and political news, learn new recipes, and enjoy hearing of life experiences from the others in the class. I’m grateful for all of them. I’ll miss them for the next 6 weeks until I recover once again from surgery. I’m already eager to return!
When I traveled to Portland, Oregon this summer, I was surprised that they didn’t offer a local YMCA pool for me to swim in. When I went to Ohio last year, I noticed that they didn’t have such an offering, either. It had not occurred to me that we are so lucky here in Waco to have so much kindness offered.
I feel God’s love and grace surrounding me in the midst of the water. I feel my body, a little like a penguin, enjoying graceful movement, while on “land”, I have to limp and hobble around. Perhaps there are others who need some kindness to their bodies: come join me (in 6 weeks, anyways) at one of the local YMCA’s pools…
Barbara Bridgewater has lived with her husband, Phillip, and 2 daughters in the diverse north Waco neighborhood of Sanger Heights for 17 years. She teaches English to adults through MCC and works with homeless families at Compassion Ministries (while Phillip works with Habitat for Humanity International). Barbara attends a church in that neighborhood called Hope Fellowship, where Casa Azul was born.
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.
(Thanks to Beatriz S. Wharton, Senior Planner, Planning Services, City of Waco, for providing most of this information. – ABT)
By Ashley Bean Thornton
Waco Walks and the Centex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are hosting a walk on LaSalle Avenue. We hope you will join us! We’ll meet up on Saturday, March 2, at 9:30 at the Centex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce offices at 915 LaSalle Aevenue. (Click here for the details.)
As usual, we will be sharing some history and telling some stories as we explore part of Waco on foot. As is often the case, we will also be learning a little bit about urban planning and, in particular, what “steps” (Get it?) we can take to help make Waco a more walkable community.
One of the tools a community can use to improve walkability is to create an “overlay district.” The term “overlay” or “overlay district” has been in the news quite a bit lately as the city and business owners consider the future of development on LaSalle Avenue. With that in mind, it seemed like a good time to learn a little bit more about the whole concept of overlay districts and in particular what is being proposed for LaSalle.
What is an “overlay district?”
An “overlay district” is a tool that a community can use to regulate development in a particular part of town or “zone.” Almost all land within Waco is “zoned” for a particular use. For example, some land is zoned for commercial use and some for residential use. Each zone has a particular set of rules that govern what may or may not be built in the zone as well as regulations and restrictions about design elements, for example, sidewalks, set-backs, parking, windows, landscaping, etc.
An overlay district is a set of rules that “overlays” the existing base zoning district in a particular area. It provides additional design regulations that address issues that are unique to a specific area. It can include increased regulations/ restrictions or relaxed restriction/ codes. Waco has five existing overlay districts: Brazos River Corridor District, Downtown District, West End District, Neighborhood Conservation District, and College and University Neighborhoods District.
Who can propose an overlay district?
Overlays in Waco have typically been proposed by the city, but can also be proposed by a group who is interested in implementing guidelines to protect or preserve a specific area’s characteristics and/or guide future development. The proposed LaSalle Avenue overlay, for example, has been more of a grassroots effort. A group of owners of property along La Salle Avenue organized public meetings and brought a proposal to the city.
Who makes the final decision as to whether an overlay district will be implemented?
Overlays are ordinance regulations and therefore must go through the public process. This means public hearings before Plan Commission and City Council (with two required readings). City Council makes the final decision. City Council can approve, disapprove, or approve an amended overlay. Notices are mailed to all property owners within the proposed overlay boundaries, as well as property owners within 200 feet of the proposed overlay boundaries, prior to public hearings.
What are some of the Pros and Cons of an overlay district?*
* Adapted from https://www.rcsanda.com/default.htm, downloaded 2/26/2019.
Highlights from LaSalle Avenue Proposal
(The full proposal can be found here: https://www.waco-texas.com/userfiles/cms-root/file/Planning/LaSalle%20Ave%20Overlay.pdf )
Purpose:
The purpose of the LaSalle Corridor District is to preserve and enhance a business district that is rich in heritage, historic architecture, business activity and significance as both a destination and a connector. It further aims to guide the LaSalle Corridor’s development into an area that serves: nearby neighborhoods and neighboring institutions; Waco residents and visitors; and vehicular and pedestrian travelers.
Application of Regulations:
Within the LaSalle Corridor district, the regulations of each respective base district shall continue to apply to property located in that district, except as expressly supplemented or modified herein. These regulations only apply to new development or a substantial renovation to an existing structure. Designated historical landmarks located in the LaSalle Corridor district may be exempt from section “Architectural Requirements”.
The following uses would be specifically prohibited in the LaSalle Corridor District:
- HUD-Code manufactured homes.
- Television and radio broadcasting towers.
- Automobile sale (except as incidental to primary use).
- Repair and servicing of automobiles and other passenger vehicles.
- Automobile car-washing establishments (unless screened and/or architecturally compatible with surroundings)
- Heavy machinery storage, rental, sales and repair.
- Machinery, farm sales, repairing and overhauling.
- Warehouse storage.
- Feed processing and grain elevators.
- Tire retreading, recapping or rebuilding.
- Motor freight and truck service terminals.
- Sand and gravel extraction except from the bed of the river.
- Junkyards, automobile-wrecking yards, salvage yards and scrap operations.
- Acid manufacturing.
- Cement, lime, gypsum or plaster of Paris manufacturing.
- Distillation of bones.
- Fat rendering.
- Fertilizer manufacturing.
- Gas manufacturing.
- Garbage, offal or dead animals, reduction or dumping.
- Glue manufacturing.
- Storage or refining of petroleum or its products.
- Smelting of tin, copper, zinc or iron ores.
- Stockyards or slaughter of animals.
- Agriculture feed lots.
- Asphalt batching.
- Screened or unscreened open storage.
- Sexually oriented businesses.
- Enclosed outside storage.
- Smoke shops
- Pawn Shops
- Payday Lending
- Well drilling shops.
Sidewalks
- All new developments and substantial renovations fronting on LaSalle must construct and maintain a 10-foot-wide pedestrian way along the pavement of the street.
- Fronting LaSalle, the pedestrian way must consist of a minimum 6-foot-wide sidewalk and a minimum 4-foot-planter strip between the sidewalk and street.
- Fronting other streets, the pedestrian way must consist of a minimum 5-foot-sidewalk and a minimum 4-foot-planter strip between the sidewalk and street.
- If the paved portion of the pedestrian way exceeds 8 feet in width then streetscape and landscaping must be incorporated into the design of the pedestrian way.
Want to learn more about LaSalle Avenue and how all this might look “in real life?” Join us for our walk! See you Saturday! Want to find our more about Waco Walks? Follow our Facebook page or join our email list.
This Act Locally Waco blog post is by Ashley Bean Thornton, she has lived in Waco almost 20 years now. Far longer than she ever lived anywhere else. She likes to walk. If you see her out walking, honk and wave and say, “Hi!”
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 Jaja Chen
On January 17, 2019 at Baylor University, we had the opportunity to hear Jemar Tisby (see news report) speak on fighting racism in our communities, cities, and congregations.
We can see through Waco history the impacts racism had on our city through the lynching of Jesse Washington in May 1916. Regardless of what one may think regarding Washington’s case, the fact that there was a lynching in downtown Waco with thousands of spectators should be enough to reveal the deep, pervasive, and horrific impacts that racism can have on people and our town.
While this blogpost is too limited of a space to expand on what Tisby shared regarding the history of racism and present realities of racism in the United States, I encourage you to follow-up with his newly released book The Color of Compromise and/or podcast series Pass the Mic to learn more.
Some practical application points that Tisby challenged us with include the A.R.C. response in the fight against racism. Awareness, Relationships, and Commitment (A.R.C) framed the latter part of his lecture and is a response to racism in our nation. Tisby defined racism as a “narrative of racial difference” – meaning the ongoing story and narrative in our culture and communities in which people are seen or treated differently as a result of the color of their skin. And in order to be anti-racist, Tisby called for intentionality amongst peoples to go against racist thought, responses, behaviors, and/or complacency.
Seeking to be anti-racist means having Awareness of the issues – learning about what racism is, how it impacts individuals and systems around us, and the impacts racial trauma has on people. Reading books can help you to learn more about racism and increase your perspective on the history of racial issues in America. Some books I often recommend include: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah, and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Documentaries like 13th on Netflix can also be informative.
Building Relationships with people requires us to step outside of our own spheres and to get to know people from backgrounds different than our own.
As you think of the friendships and relationships in your life, how diverse are they? Do you know and spend time with people from different racial/ethnic and/or cultural backgrounds?
Seeking to build bridges takes time and requires us to get out of our comfort zones. This can be a challenge for us as individuals and for organizations and businesses. At Waco Cha, we have strived to intentionally network and build relationships amongst individuals, businesses, and organizations with cultural backgrounds different than our own. Our lives are enriched when we have friends and community that value each other for who we are, the culture we are a part of, and the gifts and talents that we each bring to our Wacotown.
When it comes to engagement with people different from your culture, our local Community Race Relations Coalition hosts events and community gatherings throughout the year for members of the Greater Waco community. Visiting restaurants, stores, or churches different from your own racial or ethnic background can also help introduce you to new cultures. For business owners – consider joining the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce and Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to build bridges and community amongst people of color whom you may not otherwise have connected with.
And lastly C for Commitment. This is often where we get stuck. We may be informed about racism and have friends of different cultures; however, in the end, if we do not seek to fight again social injustice in our own midst, the effects go only so far.
We need to have a commitment to fighting against injustices in our community. Engagement can include giving of our time or resources to supporting local non-profit and advocacy organizations. Advocacy organizations such as Waco Immigrants Alliance strive to advocate on behalf of immigrants, families, and those impacted by detention and mass incarceration in our community. Non-profits such as Greater Waco Legal Services and American Gateways strive to provide affordable legal services for individuals and families in our midst. And organizations such as Grassroots Community Development, formerly Waco Community Development, strive to cultivate healthy and diverse neighborhoods in Waco.
These are just a few of the many non-profit and advocacy organizations doing the work of justice daily in our town.
As I have challenged you all before – what is your response in being part of the change in our city? Is it to increase your awareness of racial issues? To begin or continue to build relationships with those whom are different from yourself? Or to commit to further or increased engagement against social injustices in our town?
May we each strive to be anti-racist Wacoans and to recognize that the fight against racism did not just begin or end with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the many courageous civil rights advocates that came before us. We each have a responsibility in building a better Waco.
Jaja Chen, LCSW, CDWF is a private practice therapist through Enrichment Training & Counseling Solutions specializing in PTSD, trauma, maternal mental health, and compassion fatigue. As an EMDR Trained Therapist, Jaja loves providing holistic trauma recovery to the Greater Waco community. Alongside her trauma therapy work, Jaja and her husband also run Waco Cha, an organic bubble milk tea stand, at the Waco Downtown Farmer’s Market. Jaja can be contacted via email at [email protected] or via webpage at http://enrichmenttcs.com/meet-jaja-chen/.
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.