"I'd rather be a hammer than a nail"

Volunteer Blog

2010-07-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

June 30, 2010
By: Christopher Hallett

Today at Davids' Place, the 5th grade class I was helping with cooked Pizza. The kids were eager to help and over the course of 45 minutes they learned how to cut vegetables to put on a VERY good pizza, and they had a lot of fun. The Kids were very cooperative and listened to Matthew's instructions, and when he was in the kitchen they listened to me. At the end of the class, everyone got to eat the pizza they created and overall, I think it was a very good experience. I enjoy helping at Davids' Place, and I hope that more opportunities for the kids to learn cooking in the future.

Jubilee Garage Sale!

2010-06-08T07:52:00.001-07:00

Please join us on Friday, June 11 at 8:30am for the Jubilee Park Summer Garage Sale!

We're going to have book shelves, refrigerators, desks, clothes, and much much more!

Come out and help support the Jubilee Center!

For more information, call Rachel Gonzalez 214-887-1389.

New Staff Member!

2010-06-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

On May 24th, the staff welcomed Carrie Clark as the new Development Associate and Volunteer Coordinator to Jubilee Park. Carrie is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. She graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana with a BS in Sociology, and she graduated with her Masters in Church Ministry (emphasis in Urban Ministry) this past May from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. Carrie has worked for the past four years in another urban non-profit setting and is extremely passionate and dedicated to a holistic approach to community renewal. Carrie is exciting about her new endeavor at Jubilee and getting involved with a new community!

Feel free to send Carrie an email to welcome her aboard the Jubilee staff: cclark@jubileecenter.org. She is always looking for volunteers and would be happy to accommodate you!

Yeah, we think we've got some pretty good ones too...

2010-03-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

O.M. Roberts Student of the Month--January 2010 Michael Valdez

O.M. Roberts Student of the Month--February 2010 Juan Benitez

The Jubilee Farm Stand

2010-03-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

Submitted by LaSheryl Walker, Jubilee Community Outreach Director, and Matt Smith, Assistant Project Manager-PepsiCo Hope

The Jubilee Farm Stand was a big success. It was run almost 100% by the Jubilee community; 6 women volunteered to run the Operations, Finances, Marketing, and HR. After a 1 1/2 hour training, they recruited additional volunteers and smoothly ran everything from packaging to sales to bookkeeping. They manned the stand from 9:00-3:30 in what some of them said was the first day they had worked in a long time.

It was an amazing display of creativity and team work. They created an incredible atmosphere that cannot be recounted with word. They turned on music and a spontaneous dance party even broke out. Hundreds of neighbors came by to enjoy the fun and good food. One woman said her favorite part of the day was the conversations with neighbors she had never met. This was truly an example of the power of food.
They sold $454 worth of fruits and vegetables, which equaled about 630 pounds of produce or 2,500 servings

This was the first test where we turned a profit. Jubilee earned a 15% margin (about $70). The money from this test will be used to buy the produce for the next test (Thursday March 11th). They ran out of produce mid-day and were turning people away so they increased the order for the next test by about 50%.

It was amazing to see how food brought different cultures together in ways that would otherwise be difficult. The ladies worked very well together supporting and encouraging one another.

The following day during the debrief the women discuss how things worked and each of the them talked about sharing different job positions to allow each of them to experience other job responsibilities. They also came up with ideas like doing taste tests during the sales to show how different cultures prepare foods and how they taste.

We still have some work to do to prove that this model can be sustainable but last Thursday was a huge step in the right direction. This group of 6 women is now calling all of the shots, including when the next farm stands will be and what will be sold. The ladies are gaining skills that will be marketable and have the opportunity to use Jubilee as a reference for future employment. This community ownership made last week's test far more successful than any of us could have imagined and has inspired us to push even farther to tap their full potential.

Come check it out this Thursday, March 11!

Oh...the building

2010-03-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

Looks pretty different after my 6 month hiatus!

News from THE Jubilee

2010-03-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

So...what once began as a construction blog is now being transitioned into a "Jubilee News" blog. We(well I, the complete slacker writer of the construction blog) found the building wasn't so interesting on a day to day basis. With our record 45 rain days, things progressed, well slowly, to put it mildly. BUT, we are back on track and ready for a move-in date sometime in June-the building is amazing and we are so excited for the space!

But, how can I ignore all the other exciting events that take place daily at Jubilee (or THE Jubilee, as the kids call it) So that's what this is.

I will catch you up to speed: an "Exemplary" ranking, The Audobaun, Summer 2009 Program, Friday water days, The Community Garden, composting, okra, squash and zuchinni, Mavericks games, National Night Out, Saturday Tutoring, La Posada, Jubilee Ministry, The Passport Program visits Africa and Southeast Asia, Bookshelf Project, Mickey Mouse and Disney visit Jubilee, Jubilee Sunday, The Crow Collection Museum, 101 Dalmations, Thanksgiving and Christmas Senior Citizen Lunch, The Angel Project, The Texas State Fair, A CRAZY snow day with a Jubilee snowman, Black History month, birthday celebrations, Friedman's Cemetary, Mardi Gras, Music Appreciation Mondays, National Engineers Week, The Automobile Show.....and, we're up to speed.

2009-08-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

Jubilee Park Resource Center

Jubilee Park Community Center

Caution: Do not be alarmed if they are watering the concrete

2009-07-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

It was such a treat this morning to arrive at work and see them pouring the concrete on the Resource Center site. Two weeks until the 9,000 square foot frame of our new community center...the kids can't wait to get their little handprints into that wet concete-good thing there's a fence up!

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July 10-a little more activity

2009-07-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

The outline of our new Community Center...

POURING CONCRETE AT THE RESOURCE CENTER NEXT WEEK!

Construction, what construction?

2009-06-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Our kids count everyday in this life-whether they are barely walking or in the sixth grade, whether they speak English or any other language, whether they are reading on grade level or need an extra bit of help, whether their skin is brown, black or any other color...every kid counts at Jubilee.

Our Summer Program "Every Kid Counts" centers on the belief that every child who enters our Jubilee doors matters-their well-being: emotional, physical, and spiritual.

We have 80-100 children who enter our doors at Jubilee daily and are met with enthusiasm, a hug, a smile and a welcoming "How are you doing this morning?" Parents are greeted at the door and understand that their children are cared for here at Jubilee, that they are given a nutritious meals and reading, writing, playing, exploring, running, cooking, creating and surfing the world wide web. Parents know that every child in our care will be read to, will be self-expressed in writing and in art, will learn to care for our planet, and will understand the educational benefits of the computer(besides those games!)

This bright and early morning, Jacolby Napolean, with a big smile on his face, walked to the Jubilee Center. I asked him if he would like to come with me to check out the community garden. He quickly showed me what his group did yesterday. Every grade will visit and work in the community garden as part of our "Going Green" summer activities. He pointed to the squash and the okra they had picked and tasted, and to the beautiful ear of corn on the stalk. We proceeded to the church where everyone has breakfast in the morning and he shared with me that he had made an omelet for dinner the previous night. I was stunned-that same day his class has prepared omletes with chopped onions, diced bell peppers, and shredded American cheese. He prodly said that his omelet was made with bacon and ham and it was as yummy as the omelet they had made in class!

I loved developing the ideas for the "Calling All Cooks" class. The children have been making popsicles, fruit salads, personal pizzas and apple frogs...those apple frogs were hopping into the mouths of our kinder and 2nd grade students as they learn to spread peanut butter on slices of golden delicious apples. Our 4th graders made pepperoni and ham pizzas. Chef Michael and Chef Abraham made one just for me and it was tasty! Our 3rd grade made fruit salads with fruit they had never tasted-honeydew melons, blueberries and nectaries. The 1st graders made refreshing popsicles and had enough to share with the kinder class. It's great to be the youngest grade group-everyone-everyone takes care of you. Many thanks to Zaxby's for lending us the chef aprons and to our AmeriCorp. teachers Rebekah, Bianca, Christopher, Corrigan, Jasmine and Helen, for demonstrating the art of hospitality with our young chefs in training.

It has been a fantastic first week with the AmeriCorp members, Jubilee staff, the wonderful volunteers and the kids and their families...and it was my honor to help develop an enriching summer program that gives our kids a chance to be kids-have fun, make friends, laugh, run, create a wonderful world where anything is possible and where "Every Kid Counts".

Losing half the park and a Jubilee house hasn't kept us from making this the best summer yet at Jubilee; if you were to look at pictures, you might never know that the kids are playing next to bulldozers and piles of dirt(except for this one...)-how great is that!

"As the dirt turns"

2009-05-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Mary and I just got back from a celebration for the completion of the 3rd bcWorkshop home, 4523 Congo, the Garrett's new, and might I add, beautiful home. During the celebration, most every speaker mentioned the importance of revitalization and building community, on small-scale Congo Street and large-scale City of Dallas. To bcWorkshop, those 3 homes(and 3 to come) represent, and quite noticeably, the amazing revitalization of historic Congo Street: a street where "People come and don't want to leave," remarked Vernessia Garrett. And so bcWorkshop has made staying on Congo an appealing option. As the dirt turns across from our Jubilee Community Center, I cross my fingers that the building that will stand there will represent that very same revitalization and pride to the Jubilee community that bcWorkshop's art represents on Congo.

P.S. Schmoldt has made a ski mountain across the street, has it ever snowed in May in Dallas? I might just throw on my snowboard anyway...

When are they going to demolish 917 Bank?

2009-05-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. "
James Baldwin

As we meandered back and forth between the one remaining Jubilee house and our new home in the church(our calorie burner on a daily basis), the Jubilee staff and community kept asking each other, "When are they going to bring in the bulldozer and demolish the 917 House?" It took us until Thursday to realize what we were seeing was the 917 House being demolished. No bulldozer, no big show, just piece by piece and nail by nail, the House came down; that's recycling and LEED certification for you. It came down like it went up, quietly, thoughtfully, steadily, with love.

Now it sits barely a shell of house; a passerby would be unaware if it was going up or coming down, but we know, because we've been waiting patiently. Construction has begun and this time next year holds promise of a new chapter for Jubilee.

Martha keeps walking around saying "Ay, los recuerdos, oh the memories". She's right; that house wasn't Jubilee because it was named so, we all made it Jubilee.