Habitat for Humanity will be holding its 4th Annual Project Playhouse event on Friday, May 10th at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum. As you know, this event brings the community together to build playhouses for children from low-income or disadvantaged families throughout Washington County. Project Playhouse also raises funds so that we continue to provide much-needed affordable housing.
We hope that your team will join us this year and sponsor a playhouse! Like last year, Habitat will match you with a local family and provide a list of family interests that will help you design a one-of-a-kind playhouse that will be given to the family at no cost.
We appreciate your support to Habitat and to our community. See attached sponsorship forms with more information. You can also check out our website: Project Playhouse — Habitat for Humanity of Washington County (habitat-wc.org)
Thank you for your consideration. I’d be glad to discuss this in more detail and answer any questions you may have.
Melanie Watts
Community Impact Coordinator
Habitat for Humanity of Washington County100 Charles Street
Hagerstown, MD 21740
(301)791-9009 X 105
melaniewatts@habitat-wc.org
www.habitat-wc.org
Free Choir Robes and Vests Available, Seeking Hand Bells
San Mar Family and Community Services featured at HARC meeting
Recording of HARC Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
Bank of Charles Town raises $16,250 for Micah’s Backpack
250 Turkey Giveaway
Interfaith Roundtable: The Conflict in Israel
Rabbi Mark is joined by award winning composer and flutist Mattan Klein, who shares his account of how life in Israel has changed in the past weeks. He also shares his music and his hope that it could lead to harmony and love. In the second half, Thomas Riford, former President of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, shares the history of Thomas Kennedy, a man from Hagerstown who championed Religious Freedom for all. Listen to the podcast.
Listen to the show live every other Saturday morning on 98.9 FM/ AM 1490 WARK at 9 am.
Wanted: Sponsors for ENVY teams
ENVY, a youth violence prevention program here within the City of Hagerstown that works to facilitate collaboration of resources and efforts of various community partners who provide services to or engage with youth in the community, has started a very unique youth basketball league and is looking for our assistance. You may recall Chief Kifer and Danielle Staley speaking about this program at our recent HARC meeting. ENVY stands for Ending Needless Violence with our Youth, and this basketball league is really ENVY’s way to initially engage at risk youth. This league is called Crossroads Basketball League, because many of these youth are at a crossroads in their life and ENVY strives to guide them down a better, safe, and healthier path along their journey.
What makes this league different? It is an invitation-only league, with names of youth provided to ENVY through the school system. The focus is on those youth who, due to financial, academic, or other social barriers, cannot play in other leagues or for the school. This league will have a one hour mandatory team homework time prior to their regular practice to help with academics, transportation assistance provided through Community Action Council, it is completely free for the youth to play in this league, uniforms will be provided at no cost, we will have some assistant coaches and coaches with lived experience to act as violence interrupters and engage with the youth on a more one on one level should circumstances necessitate such. We will be having community resource providers involved with the program as well, with staff embedded in the stands cheering on youth and having organic conversations with families to establish trust that will allow families to feel more comfortable asking for assistance when they need it. It is expected that this league will serve as a launch pad for other programming that can be offered to youth in the community.
ENVY is requesting that the HARC/faith community “adopt” teams so that when your congregation’s team is playing a game then your congregation is there to do activities with younger siblings, provide hall monitoring services so kids are not running through the halls, and potentially assist with cooking and/or serving food to the youth that evening.
There are currently 5 teams established, with high likelihood of a 6th forming. So, we are looking for 5-6 congregations to volunteer to adopt teams. There would be typically one game per week for each team with a 2 week break during the holidays in December, with the season continuing then through March.
For more info or to help, contact Danielle Staley, Hagerstown Police Department, at 301-791-2638 or dstaley@hagerstownpd.org.
Cold Weather Shelter Volunteers Needed!
Reach has 4 unfilled weeks for the upcoming shelter season. Please contact Liz at Reach (Liz@reachofwc.org or 301-733-2371 X-114) if you are interested in hosting a week, a partial week, one evening and/or preparing a meal with your house of worship, work, friends, and family. Please visit their website www.reachofwc.org/volunteer for more information about the various volunteer positions that help run the shelter every night.
These are the vacant weeks:
26 November-3 December
17-26 December
31 December- 7 January
31 March-7 April
Thank you