Stories from Woodhill
Your support of the Woodhill Community Center makes a difference!
Lexus 5K Stories from Urban Impact: How the Woodhill Community Center is Making a Difference during the COVID-19 Pandemic
We decided for this year to have a focus on telling how the Woodhill Community Center has been able to offer meals and support to the community because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jonathan Age 16, Urban Impact Participant and Volunteer:
Jonathan has been a part of Urban Impact since he was in elementary school and is now a high schooler at Henry Clay. He wanted to spend his time helping out at the center during the pandemic because he didn’t have much else going on, other than getting school work done, and wanted to be able to help people. He also thinks it is fun to be able to serve and spend time with our staff. Jonathan’s mother is a house cleaner and since the pandemic is has been very difficult for her to be able to work. She is a single mom who struggles, and has a hard time asking for help. Their family is very grateful for the support that the Woodhill Community Center has been able to provide through meals and checking in on them.
Jonathan said that some of the ways he has seen God show up during this tough time in the community is from the generosity of people donating food for meals and that the center has been able to stay in operation safely distributing food. He said that the community knows they can lean on the center to help them get through this hard time. He commented that “people could be unemployed and this could be their only meal… and they sort of rely on us.”
What Jonathan wants people to know about Urban Impact and the Woodhill Community Center is that “it is a great learning environment. Healthy. And they (the staff) are like our family.”
Tyra Age 16, Urban Impact Participant and Volunteer:
“We don’t know the situation of each family, so we are able to help them even with the little things and everyone has been really thankful. And maybe they don’t have a car to go to the store and we are able to deliver in that way. FOR FREE.”
Bekah Stivers Volunteer story..
Bekah Stivers, one of our Urban Impact volunteers, recently organized a fundraiser. The goal is to not only provide lunches for the kids and families Urban Impact and Amachi are serving during COVID-19, but to also enable caterers who are currently without work, earn income. Money raised through this project will pay caterers to prepare meals. The meals will be given to those Urban Impact and Amachi are currently feeding. The majority of those currently served are residents of the Woodhill Community.
This was a project Bekah took on, without prodding from the Urban Impact or Amachi staff. An important aspect of this fundraiser is the fact that many of our current volunteers and donors decided to give towards this. Most of them already were aware our staff is preparing and delivering lunches each day, but because of Bekah’s efforts, they decided to be a part of this. Some had actually given towards our feeding efforts, but chose to give again after seeing Bekah’s social media posts. Others outside our network are giving to this as well, and people who previously were not familiar with our work are “sharing” the fundraiser via Facebook, as well as promoting it with videos and other means. Bekah shared, “We can’t help everyone during this crisis. So, to me, it’s important to make what help we can give matter as we merge communities and continue to grow relationships within Woodhill.”
As a volunteer, Bekah has had the opportunity to get to know many of the young ladies who live in the Woodhill Community through the Aerial 422 silks program she initiated, as well as through our Urban Impact Girls Group. The relationships she has formed with these young people and their families enable her to assess vital needs and set goals to help meet those needs.
Bekah is personifying our Village concept in a tangible way. She is connecting with the youth and families we serve, our current volunteers and donors, and the Lexington community. We are appreciative of her and the model she has set before us which not only fills a need, but builds the economy of our city during this unstable time.
Charlene Creager Volunteer story..
Charlene Creager has been an Amachi and Urban Impact volunteer for quite some time. She is dependable and always willing to serve as needed. She often takes on a new challenge, and as typical, she did not let COVID-19 derail her volunteering with us.
Charlene and her husband Mitch have donated supplies as well as significant funding to our relief efforts. Charlene has made herself available in countless ways, including calling our families to identify needs we, as an organization, can meet.
Charlene undertook mask making, providing masks for our staff and volunteers at the Woodhill Community Center. Through her efforts, we have safely been able to continue serving our kids and families. We are also able to greet those who donate food and supplies in a safe manner. Charlene has definitely enabled us, through her sewing skills, to do the work set out for us. We appreciate her and Mitch, especially during this difficult season. The Creagers are perfect examples of Village members.
Rafaela Rivera, Mother in the Woodhill Community:
Rafaela is a mother who was receiving meals for her family and neighbors. She was extremely grateful to have access to meals for her family, and wanted to be able to thank our staff and also give back! Rafaela has gifted our staff and volunteers with homemade bread and empanadas and we have been able to deepen our relationship with her. Rafaela looks out for her community and made sure to let her neighbors know about the meals being distributed from the Woodhill Community Center. Since the center has been able to serve meals during this hard time, there has been an increase interaction with community members. We are thankful that we are able to reach and touch more lives amidst this challenging time for so many.
