Bcmaria's Blog

NOF Week Feb. 8-13 2010 February 25, 2010

The Network Organizing Forum Internship (NOF) is a stipend volunteer leadership opportunity for a year for Lawrence Community Works members. NOF started in April 2009 with its director, Alma Couverthie, and the participants, (or “Las chicas de Alma”) Maria, Erica, Altagracia, Eva, and Delmy. We are now getting close to our first year and that’s why NOF decided to create “NOF Week” that occurred from February 8-13, 2010, and on that week, we set up a table at the lobby at Our House. We had a basket containing lots of different country flags, and asked anyone entering the building to take their country’s flag and snapped a photo, and since Valentine’s Day wasn’t too far, we also had stickers and candy. Each day of this week we had a different Question of the Day and asked those questions to those entering.

I really enjoyed NOF Week because it was nice seeing seeing all the different faces from different countries that come to the Our House building. We had good feedback from people and LCW staff.

We finished off NOF Week on February 13 with a Facilitator Workshop with Alfredo Fernandez who works at Latin-American Health Institute (LHI) in Boston. Alfredo was an excellent Presenter and we had a good group of participants. The training was from 9am-1pm. Videos of the workshop can be seen here, here, and here.

Thank you to all who participated in NOF Week! Enjoy the videos at the top of this post.

Free Tax Service January 13, 2010

Lawrence Community Works offers many programs for different needs. We started last year with the Tax Refund program where many low-income families benefited from the program. On January 9, 2010 employees from the IRS came to LCW to train volunteers in the 1st Tax Refund training of 2010. It is a free two-day training and the instructors provided the materials needed. You can use this training for your own benefit and to help others.

If you want a free tax preparation service, visit LCW at 168 Newbury St.

For information and to schedule an appointment to fill out your taxes, call Tony at 978-722-2623 or LCW at 978-685-3115.

Take Advantage!

Yes We Will Retreat January 13, 2010

The beginning of Yes We Will was represented by the 2008 Presidential Campaign and these three action words: Respect, Empower, and Include. 2009 was a great year for YWW because Lawrence had a very important election. YWW is a non-partisan sponsored by Lawrence Community Works. YWW opened the campaign with more than 50 people, going out and talking to Lawrencians about YWW, and many of them signed the pledge card in support of YWW. We did many house meetings, with many goals, including connecting neighbors, sharing our stories, and registering voters. YWW set up many events, including Filling Day, Candidates Forum, and several retreats.

On January 9, 2010, YWW had its 1st retreat of the year. We came together to evaluate YWW back in 2009. The videos above shows the comments regarding YWW’s success in 2009, plans for 2010, and the World Cafe.

If you want to be part of YWW, contact LCW at 978-685-3115. You’re going to have lots of fun!

Veronica Casado Parranda December 18, 2009

The audience at the Parranda.

A Parranda in memory of beloved LCW member Veronica Casado. For many years, Veronica helped LCW with translation in many events, especially the Annual Meeting. Veronica was well-loved by the community of Lawrence.

Dec. 11, 2009 was the fourth Parranda in memory of Veronica, four years after her death from losing a battle with breast cancer. A young, professional woman who was full of life, who leaves behind three kids, and whose family stays in contact with LCW and attends and enjoys all of Veronica’s Parrandas with emotion and excitement.

During the Parranda there is always a contest. This year’s contest was who could cook the best Pernil Navideño, where four contestants, Hugo Monroy, Mary Mejia, Maria Natera, and Juana Alvelo,  entered to win Market Basket certificate of differing values as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes.

We also had karaoke, raffles, and we all had alot of fun. The karaoke was pay-per-person, and the money collected from that, the raffle, and the sale of LCW items such as hats, t-shirts, and backpacks, all went towards scholarships for low-income people to be able to continue their education.

It’s also worth noting that Veronica’s death increased awareness of breast cancer within Lawrence. This was what Veronica wanted, as before she died, she urged citizens to schedule a breast cancer scan often.

If you would like to help with the scholarship, call Lawrence Community Works at 978-685-3115 or visit us at 168 Newbury St. Lawrence, MA.

Wine Tasting Event December 9, 2009

The Wine, the glass, the good food, the music, and lot of people were the scenarios of  the Wine Tasting Event. It was a wonderful evening, the day of December 4, when the Host Commitee and Board of Director got together and create this event to benefit Lawrence Community Works and the Movement City Youth Network. The event was excellent, and the place was beautiful. I loved the sound of wine glasses tapping each other in cheers everywhere. I really enjoyed being a part of this event, and I also had fun seeing the Movement City performance.

1st Volunteers Celebration Dinner November 23, 2009

Lawrence Community Works celebrated our First Volunteers Dinner where a large groups of volunteers attended and were recognized for their commitment and dedication with helping LCW grow. Every department gave thanks to these volunteers for their excellent work.  The LCW staff cooked lots of delicious foods including Spencer’s amazing turkey, Reyna’s addictive ham, and Nelson’s awesome Eggplant Lasagna among other amazing foods which I can’t remember who made them! While the dinner went on, there was a slideshow, prepared by Bill, which showed photos of many past fun events, and the excitement from all of those who attended was easily noticeable! In the end, me, Delmy, and Nelson Silvestre had the honor to present the plaque to Bill Traynor, for being a LCW volunteer for 25 years, giving him the title of the Longest-Running LCW Volunteer. Thanks to Altagracia Portorreal for having this great idea of an event. I hope we will be able to keep having this event in the continuing years.

The above videos are proof of the excitement of this celebration.

At Home in Utopia in Lowell November 23, 2009

The NOF group went to Lowell to work with the organization CASA. We met with this organization on November 19, 2009. CASA showed the documentary At Home in Utopia, and there was a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of great comments from the audience, and there was a great number of attendees. At Home in Utopia focuses on whether it takes a social movement to get housing we can afford in safe and supportive communities. It is about a cooperative apartment house started by 2,000 immigrant working people in the last century.

See the videos at the top of this post to watch the comments and reactions from some of the attendees.

The Last Open House November 15, 2009

Lawrence Community Works celebrates the Open House every month to connect the new members to the network. In the event, the new members got together to share what they have in common. They had a good conversation as they enjoyed the dinner. They get to meet new people and receive information about the goings-on in LCW. All of this happened on November 13, 2009. During the event, there were three nice baskets being raffled off and one of the winners was Delia, shown in the second picture! Congratulations!

This was the last Open House of the year 2009. Don’t miss next year’s series of Open Houses!

Trip to Providence November 9, 2009

For me it’s an honor to be a Lawrence Community Works member because not only do we want to have a better Lawrence, LCW also visits other states to help train leaders who wants to work focusing on NeighborCircle. On October 24, 2009, it was a rainy and windy day all day, but that didn’t stop Alma Couverthie and me from going to Rhode Island and build a network with an organization called John Hope in Providence. 19 community members showed up to the NeighborCircle training. We met new people who share the same concerns we have about the community. They have seen the impact that NeighborCircle made to Lawrence and that’s why they are interested in doing it in Providence.

As part of the training, we divided the participants into four groups, and the group shown in the picture to the left were one of the four groups, and as you can see, most of the participants were women. Each group worked independently, talking about their neighborhood. The training was from 10am to 4pm and it was a very intensive training because NeighborCircle deals with alot of information but we had good feedback from the participants.

After the training, at 6pm, we went to one of the participant’s house and she was the host of their 1st NeighborCircle, and another participant was the facilitator, with me and Alma being the lead facilitators. The host and the facilitator did a good job. As part of Lawrence Community Works, I know we did fantastic work with the new leader of Providence, Rhode Island.

Goodluck with your future NeighborCircle!

Past, Present, and Future of Lawrence Community Works November 2, 2009

Lawrence Community Works received a visit from Cynthia one of the officials from NeighborWorks. The participation of the members that were present was really great. It was really exciting witnessing the enthusiasm as each member described their past, present, and future with Lawrence Community Works, remembering many moments of hard work and many achievements. All of the ideas of all the members for the future of LCW were excellent.

There was also a dinner with many tasty foods. YUM!

We hope that each idea was heard and Lawrence Community Works keeps moving forward!