Sharing the Summer with You, Part II

As our faithful blog readers know, we have entered into our fourth season of gardening.  We continue to be grateful for our DigIn! Grant from the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, administered by City Green.

On Friday, August 4, our women attended a workshop on vegetable gardening presented by José German, President of Northeast Earth Coalition.  We are grateful to José, whose constant support of our garden has been so very helpful to us.

Here are a few photos of the workshop and the garden:

Sharing the Summer With You, Part I

What have we been doing all summer?  We're glad you asked!

On Thursday, July 20, Sister Elaine (our Associate Director) and our crocheters delivered their latest community outreach project to the residents of Hamilton Plaza Nursing and Rehabilitation Center -- a facility that is right up the block from the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  Our women crocheted beautiful short capes to wear around the shoulders of those residents in wheelchairs. The staff and residents were grateful for these gifts, as you can tell from the photos. 

Passing It On

What do you do when your daughter needs help with Math, but does not qualify for summer school because she has not failed Math?  If you are a mother at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, you ask for help here and your daughter gets individual tutoring from a seasoned Math/Physics teacher!

Sister Gerardine Tantsits, SCC, former volunteer and current Administrative Assistant at the Center, always responds enthusiastically to such requests, as she has spent most of her life teaching Math and Science (especially Physics).  Here is Sister Gerardine helping this soon-to-be-sixth-grader (as she does twice a week) with fractions and decimals:

What makes this more exciting for us is that this youngster is also getting help from another volunteer, Andrea.  Here is Andrea showing the younger girl how to access additional Math assistance online.  Why is this exciting for us?  Because Sister Gerardine previously tutored Andrea -- now a student at a local community college --  in English and Math!

We are so happy to be able to fulfill our mission by providing this space for women to express their needs and connecting them with resources to fulfill their needs.  We are happier when one of our women who has been helped here can "pass it on" by using what she has learned to help others.  

Because of our supporters, donors and staff, we can continue to respond to the needs of the families of Passaic.  Thank you!

At the Craft Fair

We enjoyed meeting everyone at St. Philip's carnival in Clifton last evening.  If you are in the area, please come over to the gym to see the beautiful crocheted and quilted items handmade by the women of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  The carnival starts at 6:00 on Friday and 6:30 on Saturday.  Enjoy the photos!

Beautiful quilts ready to greet the guests of the St. Philip's carnival craft fair.

Just a few of the crocheted items available

Beth Crocker (from St. Philip's) welcomes Nancy DiRocco (our faithful volunteer
 and St. Philip's parishioner) and Sister Ann  Marie to the carnival's craft fair.

Women's Crafts on Sale at St. Philip's Carnival

We are grateful to St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton, NJ for allowing us to sell our women's quilting and crocheting at the carnival this week.  If you are in the area, please stop by on Thursday, Friday, and/or Saturday (June 15, 16, 17) between 6:30 and 10 pm.  We'll be at the craft fair in the gymnasium.  Click here for more information about the carnival.

Thanks, again, to The Beacon!

Once again, we are grateful to everyone at The Beacon, the award-winning newspaper of the Diocese of Paterson, NJ, for its coverage of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  This article by Cecile Pagliarulo in the April 20 edition is a reminder of the debt of gratitude we owe to the Partners in Faith donors.  Without your generosity, our ministry could not exist.  Thank you!

Happy Easter

We hope that your Easter season has been a blessed one thus far.  In the spirit of the season, we are sharing with you an article by Sister Ann Marie from Global Sisters Report, "Turning Toward Jesus with Mary of Magdala."  Click here to access the article.