Mural Celebration We kicked off the summer at the end of May with our mural celebration. For almost two years residents have been working on a community-based mural, and they’ve been involved in all phases of the planning and implementation. Gabriela Micchia from Enchanted Circle was the teaching artist. At the end of May we celebrated the full mural completion, and the Liberty Hill Townhouse community really came together. That was a wonderful start to our summer.
Resident Volunteers Recognized At our summer kickoff party in early July at Liberty Hill Townhouses, we took the time to celebrate our resident volunteers. These residents have been dedicated to organizing the mobile food pantry, the Food Bank of Western Mass truck that comes to the property twice a month and serves anyone in need. Whether it’s 100 degrees, or sleeting or snowing, these residents show up to volunteer twice every month throughout the year. At the party in June, they received recognition with awards and volunteer pins.
Teen Youth Leaders A group of 17 teen residents worked hard all summer as part of the youth leader employment and leadership development program. They were involved in many aspects of the summer programs, part of the planning, and the implementation. They were even involved in grant writing for a successful proposal from the NE Grassroots Fund. The Youth Employment Program is funded by a grant MassHousing.
Tapley Garden The youth leaders prepared the Tapley Garden in the springtime, and they did everything to get the garden up and running. They worked hard in that garden through the summer ensuring that the residents received fresh produce through the harvest season. They also attended workshops in the garden on sustainability, food justice, and urban gardening best practices, funded by NE Grassroots Fund.
Reading and Comprehension The youth leaders were also heavily involved in our literacy programs for local children and their families. They attended workshops to learn best practice skills for building reading and comprehension. They read with the children regularly and helped them to develop a reading practice. Not only did the children get to practice reading, they also had these teenage role models that they look up to, showing them that reading is fun and accessible.
Leaders in Training For the first time this summer we held a “Leaders in Training” program for 11-13-year-old residents. In addition to helping with various aspects of the summer programs, the youth went on a few enrichment trips as part of this program, and some of the parents stepped up to make lunches and chaperone the field trips. They also participated in a week long Aeronautics program led by UMass 4H and UMass Engineering students.
Block Parties We partnered with Enchanted Circle for the second time this summer to put on “Reading Alive” parties, where books were enacted in a lively theatrical manner, with extensive audience participation. Many families attended all four sessions and had a blast. The events, funded by the Funder Collaborative for Reading Success grant, were combined with cookouts and other activities as well.
Overall a wonderful Summer, thank you for being part of it!
