Great Day for a Garden Workshop!

On Saturday, September 6, José German, volunteer educator for City Green and owner of Sustainable Eco-Friendly Landscaping and Gardening Consulting Services, came to the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women to teach a workshop and help us in our fall planting.  We are grateful to him and we are looking forward to harvesting our autumn crops in a few months.  Here are some photos of the workshop.  (Email subscribers:  If you do not see a video embedded in your email, please click here to view the video on YouTube. or here to access it on Google Drive.)

Becoming our "Best Tomato Selves"

Today, we celebrate the diversity of our crops!  Note that we are not celebrating the differences of our crops, but their diversity.  Semantics?  Not really.  Look at this photo representing some of our plum tomatoes in various stages of ripeness.  They are all the same "type" of tomato from the same vine, so they are very much alike. However, they are also decidedly different from each other in shape, size and color.  I am told that these tomatoes make delicious sauces.  That is, although they can be eaten individually, they are their best "tomato selves" when their similarities and differences are blended together into one tasty sauce.  The end product is a robust, savory celebration of diversity.

The Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women is like the pot in which the sauce is prepared. Various interconnected "ingredients" comprise the sauce.  The visioning of the religious communities and the bishop provided the recipe.  Diocesan personnel, Partners in Faith, religious communities and other benefactors gave the vision its base.  The staff of the Center and women of the neighborhood -- all of various ethnicities, age groups, socioeconomic backgrounds, shapes and sizes -- continue to flavor and transform the base into a ministry.  The end product is a robust, savory celebration of diversity.

In both instances mentioned above, the whole is much greater than its individual parts and the individual parts are strengthened and empowered by being a part of the whole.  In his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul wrote, "We, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another" (12:5).  It is safe to say that St. Paul did not have tomatoes in mind when he wrote to the Romans, but that does not prevent us from making that connection centuries later!  Today, as we strive to become our "best tomato selves," we are grateful for the diversity that provides this mission and ministry with its robust, savory flavor.  We pray for the grace of openness toward different people, customs and viewpoints that will continue to transform and strengthen this ministry into the future and build up the body of Christ.

What's in a Number?

The Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women exists to provide a safe, peaceful, welcoming place where women can become empowered by sharing their needs and being connected to the relationships and resources to fulfill their needs. This is the mission we keep in our sight every single minute of every single day.

While our mission is not about numbers, statistics or accounting, it is very nice to be able to tell you this:  On Tuesday, August 5, we reached the 1,000-visit  mark since opening our doors.  Our team of women, staff and volunteers made this possible!  Our diocese, religious communities, parishes and other benefactors made this possible!  We are grateful to be able to continue to do God's work in the city of Passaic.  We are happy to share this news with you.

City Green's Blog "Spotlight"

Please click here to read a wonderful blog post by Claudia Urdanivia, one of our "garden angels" and Program Operations Manager at City Green.  We are so fortunate to be working with Claudia and everyone at City Green in our first small attempt at urban farming!  This is one of many collaborative efforts that blesses the ministry of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.

"Green Thumbs in the City"

Thanks to Cecile San Agustin and everyone at The Beacon for the front-page coverage of our gardeners -- "Green Thumbs in the City."  Click here to read the article.

Week in Review

Although summertime bids us to slow down a bit, the programs at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women continue throughout the summer months.  On Tuesday, a few more quilters completed their summer project, "Fun in the Sun."

As the quilters wind down their summer projects, they will be gearing up to begin their outreach projects in the fall, which will consist of devoting one class per month to making pillow cases for children in pediatric oncology wards, small pillows for postoperative care of breast cancer survivors and small quilts for newborns in neonatal intensive care units.  (Please contact us if you'd like to donate toward this cause.) Of course, they'll also begin their holiday quilting projects!

On Wednesday, our gardeners harvested together, with the help of Claudia from City Green and Sister Mary Irene, who has assisted the women to coordinate the project.  We also welcomed Cecile San Agustin, a reporter for The Beacon, the newspaper of the Diocese of Paterson, NJ, who took photos of the garden and gardeners and will write an article for an upcoming issue of the newspaper.  In this photo, you see a collection of the herbs and vegetables before the women divided them among themselves.

We look forward to reaping the benefits of the tomato plants and to planting a few more crops in August.  We also hope that the success of this year's garden will spark more interest for next year.  Click here to go to City Green's new blog, which will provide more information about the great work done by that organization (and where you'll also see a photo of the garden at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women).

On Thursday, we continued preparations for our first anniversary celebration.  Here you see some of the women who cut out the letters that will decorate our front fence to announce "Happy Anniversary."

We look forward to so much:  Beginning a new English class on August 4, welcoming the 1,000th visit by our women (which will occur sometime in August) and beginning our art class in October.  These are just a few of many "happenings" that will occur between now and the end of the year.  Stay tuned for more.  Thank you for being a part of this collaborative journey!

Thank you, Council of Catholic Women!

On June 28, the Passaic-Clifton District Council of Catholic Women held its final Mass and luncheon.  The members invited Sister Ann Marie to attend to accept the Council's donation to the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  We are grateful to the Council for this donation and for its 70 years of service to the Church of Clifton and Passaic.  Click here to read Cecile San Agustin's article about the ceremonies in the Beacon.  Thanks to the Beacon for its great coverage of this event.