A Piece of the Pie
We serve lunch in a room that was originally a lab in a medical facility built in 1955 for Dr. Irby Fox and used by a number of medical professionals. When FaithWorks was offered use of the building in 2007, Community Development Block Grant paid for new flooring and paint. We removed the 50-year-old carpet from the room that now serves as our dining room and laid new tile over original flooring in other rooms. We also bought two cook stoves from the AISD auction that year for $50 each. A FaithWorks family friend handed down the dishwasher from their home that is still in our kitchen as well as the first of three hand-me-down refrigerators we have used in the 8 years since.
This spring FaithWorks was again invited to apply for the current round of CDBG funds from the City of Abilene (and ultimately, HUD). The Community Development Block Grant provides money for things that are “permanent and attached” in buildings in developing neighborhoods such as ours on North Mockingbird Lane. The numeric displays on our built in cookstoves no longer “display” and the dishwasher that leaves as much water on the floor as it uses to disinfect dishes certainly qualify. We were thrilled to learn that we were approved, contingent on City Council approval, for these improvements that will bring our busy kitchen up to efficiency and safety.
As a part of the approval process I had the opportunity to briefly speak to Abilene’s City Council members this past Thursday. FaithWork’s potential award was a mere 2% slice on the $400,000 pie chart that represented the whole funding package presented that morning. A shining, yellow 2% slice of the pie.
And though our percent of the pie was small, the City Council members, Mayor Archibald and City Manager Robert Hanna were so very engaged and encouraging of the hard work and success of the hundreds of students who have been a part of the 40 FaithWorks classes so far.
FaithWorks is blessed by the ongoing support and collaboration of so many in our Abilene community and throughout the state. Watch for new things happening in the coming years as we collaborate, as a pilot group with the Texas Homeless Network and Region XIV and Abilene Hope Haven and develop ways to Keep Texas Kids Housed and their parents employed. Keep an eye on the way that FaithWorks and Abilene Hope Haven will work closely together to provide career development and case management for those being housed in their new permanent housing environment.
And come have lunch at FaithWorks at noon. We serve lunch each weekday that class is in session. We have guests almost every day of the semester.
Graduation is set for Thursday, August 25th at 7 PM at 910 Cypress
The Fall FaithWorks class begins on Monday, September 12th. Who do you know who might benefit from 13 weeks of personal, career, academic and spiritual development along the path to THE JOB?