GO Neighborhoods Brings Holiday Cheer

Holiday Party Helps Over 150 Kids

Just in time for the holidays, a group of elves landed in Northside Village.

More than 40 volunteers from around the neighborhood gathered on December 19th and 20th to organize and host a holiday party for 66 low-income families in the neighborhood. Volunteers transformed the Lindale Park Civic Club into a holiday wonderland, complete with a Santa Claus, festive music, holiday posters, and of course, wrapped gifts for each child to take home.

A family poses with Santa at the holiday party.

The party was hosted by Avenue CDC and GO Neighborhoods and generously funded by Dr. Essa Kawaja of Summit Dental Center.   More than 200 children, plus their families, were invited to have dinner, receive presents and information about neighborhood resources, get new toothbrushes, and take their pictures with Santa Claus. The families were chosen through De Madres a Madres, a neighborhood non-profit that hosted the party last year, but was unable to this year.

To ensure that the party would continue this year, GO Neighborhoods brought together many partners. The Lindale Park Civic Club donated the space for the party, and the YMCA, LISC AmeriCorps, GO Neighborhoods helped gather community volunteers.

At the party, Dr. Kawaja chatted with families and served meals. "Every year Summit Dental Center likes to help out and celebrate Christmas.   We are here to enjoy watching the kids with Santa, getting the presents, and just watch the smiles on their faces," said Dr. Kawaja, "At Summit Dental Center, we're very community oriented and we love to help the neighborhoods that our office is around."

Check out the video here:      

GO Neighborhoods Children's Party

Skate Park Transforms Neighborhood Nights 

Hold on to your skateboard, there's a new skate park in the Near Northside.

Volunteers build the half-pipe.

In the last year, Transformation Youth

Center, 113 Coronado St., has become an after-school hot spot for youth. Transformation, founded by Pastor Mike Snow as a part of the Lighthouse International Outreach Ministries, offers free after-school programs twice a

week for neighborhood youth. Activities include breakdancing, a game room, and the now-famous skate park.

"We know that children and teenagers both need a safe and positive environment to learn and to have the opportunity to enjoy hobbies," said Teresa Bichon, Community Outreach Coordinator at Transformation.

In addition to regular programs twice a week, Transformation has also been an active member of "40 Fridays 4 Teens", a GO Neighborhoods program created by the GO Youth and Education team, which hosts teen programs at different sites in the neighborhood each week. The Transformation "40 Fridays" events have been a huge success, bringing as many as 75 middle and high schoolers together for an evening of fun.

To build on the early successes of the center, Transformation applied for and received a $600 community grant from GO Neighborhoods to expand and repair the skate park. After receiving the grant, Transformation rallied volunteer construction workers and began building almost immediately. Within a month, the star of the skate park, the half-pipe, was complete.

Youth eagerly await the skate demo team.

To celebrate the

half pipe's completion, Transformation

brought a skate demo team to the

re-opening of the park on November 4. More than 150 youth came to see the team show off their moves. "They were excited when we finally built the half-pipe, so they told all their friends to come to the youth center," said Teresa.  

Transformation plans to use the energy generated by the skate park to expand their programming to include classes in weight lifting, art, music, and web design.   Be on the lookout for more fun activities at the center!

Ketelsen Students Rally to Raise Funds for Spark Park 

Everyone's talking about the Spark Park at Ketelsen Elementary. 

In November, Ketelsen launched a coin drive to help finance a new playground.  Students at Ketelsen gathered coins from wherever they could find them.  And in just one month, they collected almost $1100, much more than anyone expected. 

Three students who raised the largest sums for the park, with School Counselor Ms. Hamilton, Teacher Ms. Lanza and PTA leader Mr. Martinez.

Mario Martinez, an officer in the Ketelsen PTA and a GO Neighborhoods leader, commented on how impressive a project it was from the start. "The biggest moment for me was talking to the kids about the park and the coin drive and how excited these young kids got about it," he said.

The seeds for the Ketelsen Spark Park were planted in October 2010, when the GO Safety Team conducted an audit of Ketelsen's old Spark Park, which predated the new school building.  As a result, the old park was detached from the school and underutilized. The safety audit documented some public safety concerns and made recommendations to improve the park.  By bringing attention to the area, community leaders and stakeholders were able to gain momentum for the creation of the new Spark Park, set to be built in 2012.  

To date, the Ketelsen PTA, with initial support from the Spark Park Program and ongoing support from GO Neighborhoods, has led the fundraising effort to raise more than $90,000 for the new park. Ketelsen students, parents, teachers, and staff alone have raised more than $5,000. 

The PTA has set a fundraising goal of $150,000, and to meet this they are launching their capital campaign this semester.  The campaign will provide businesses and other benefactors with opportunities to help sponsor the park and be recognized as it is built (Check out this brochure [PDF]).

Mr. Martinez is thrilled about the project thus far. "One of the best things about what we are doing is the way we are doing it," he said. "Getting the whole community involved in raising these funds will mean this this really will be a community park"

GO History and Art - January 9, 6pm

Avenue CDC Homeownership Center, 707 Quitman   

GO Mobility- January 9, 6pm

Metro Solutions North Corridor Office, 2613 Fulton  

GO Youth and Education  - January 10, 6pm

GO Safety- January 11, 6pm

Avenue CDC Homeownership Center, 707 Quitman

Northside Village Super Neighborhood Council #51- January 12, 6pm

Avenue CDC Homeownership Center, 707 Quitman

40 Fridays 4 Teens Teen Meeting- January 13, 6pm

Transformation Youth Center, 113 Coronado    

Ribbon Cutting, Kurtz Family Education and Wellness Center- January 14, 10am

Wesley Community Center, 1410 Lee St. 

Near Northside Healthy Community Partnership - January 17, 2pm

La Nueva Casa De Amigos, 1809 N. Main

GO Family Income and Wealth- January 27, 10am

Washington Courtyards Community Room, 2505 Washington Ave.  

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