Sunday, March 30, 2008

ESL Classes off to a great start!





We had our first ESL class today at the Hope Community Church in Amherst. 16 students, 10 volunteer teachers, tutors and child care providers and a whole mess of kids came together for a lovely afternoon of eating, socializing and studying English together.

I love this project and I love this group of people I have to say--everyone is there for really great reasons, and the sense of community is very strong. By all accounts the afternoon was very successful, with all participants excited to continue, and many students vowing to bring more friends next week!

We are using a very conversational basis for our instruction, using different themes like health and work to help students gain confidence in their daily lives. Asking open ended questions and listening carefully are key to the success of this model, because it helps root instruction in the experience and needs of the students. This also is important for building trust between volunteers and students, and creates a stronger sense of common purpose and the feeling that we're all learning together. I could really feel this in the room, even in our first class--the sense that we're in this together as a group.

Plus eating together really helps....And speaking of which, thanks to Bueno y Sano for providing scrumptious burritos. Thanks also to the Hope Community Church for providing space for our little band.

And can I say how cool it was that the child care team was all men?

So we're off to a great start. Classes are free, and take place every Sunday from 2pm to 4pm for 8 week sessions at the Hope Community Church in Amherst. If you are interested in participating as a student, teacher, tutor or child care provider, please contact Juan Carlos at jcaguilar@comcast.net or come to our next volunteer meeting this Wednesday April 2nd at 7pm at the La Fiorentina Bakery/Cafe in Northampton.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

C3 News

Website Relaunch!

C3 has relaunched its website--check it out at www.commonwealthcenter.org and be sure to check the 'Breaking News' link regularly to keep informed of upcoming C3 events and programs! A huge thanks goes to Yvonne Mendez for designing the site!

ESL Class Series Set to Begin

The ESL class series that C3 is helping to organize is set to start next Sunday, March 30th from 2-4pm at the Hope Community Church in Amherst. The classes will run every Sunday in 8-10 week sessions. They are free and open to all members of the community who would like to improve their English and connect with their community.

Hope Church is a wonderful facility with a big room upstairs for classes and a room downstairs for childcare, complete with toys! The church is on 20 Gaylord St. between South pleasant and Lincoln. Thanks to Reverend Carlos Anderson and the Hope Community Church for their generosity and hospitality!

If you have any questions, or would like to participate either as a student or a volunteer teacher, tutor or child care provider, please contact Juan Carlos at jcaguilar@comcast.net.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

ESL note

Hi everyone,

Just to be clear, the ESL classes are not just for the latino community, of course. Anyone is welcome!! Remember, they start Sunday March 30th, so if you want to participate in any way, just let me know!

Thanks

Exciting News!!

Exciting News! Commonwealth Center for Change (C3) has received an anonymous 2 to 1 challenge grant of $10,000! This means one generous donor has made a pledge to give one dollar for every two we raise up to $10,000--translating into the opportunity to raise $30,000! This is wonderful news for C3 and will go a long way towards meeting our start up costs, finding our first home and making the C3 vision a reality!

C3 is gaining momentum and generating a great deal of enthusiasm. People throughout our community--nonprofit directors, city officials, educators, artists, activists and community leaders--are extremely excited by the prospect of a shared-space community center that provides stable, affordable event, program and office space for social change nonprofits, individual artists and arts organizations in the Northampton area.

As Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins puts it:

"The Commonwealth Center for Change is a project whose time has come.
It has captured the imagination and support of many people in our
community, and I am convinced that it will make a significant contribution
to our quality of life and economic vibrancy."

If you are excited by the idea of a vibrant local community center committed to helping individuals and communities become stronger, smarter, more creative and more deeply connected, I hope you will join the growing community of C3 Founding Supporters. Make a tax-deductible gift and help us meet the challenge set by our anonymous donor. Your generosity at this early stage will be a crucial part of helping make the C3 vision a reality.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your support and I hope to see you soon at a C3 event!

Sincerely,


David Simpson
Founder and Executive Director
Commonwealth Center for Change
12 Crafts Ave. #4
Northampton, MA 01060

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Nonprofit Centers Network Workshop

I spent the day in Boston on Wednesday at a Nonprofit Centers Network workshop at the Nonprofit Center. It was a super informative day of panel discussions mostly around issues of financing buying or building a center as well as real estate issues, governance, tenant selection and tax questions. Man, there's a lot to learn! But it's great to be in a room full of people who run shared space centers or who are starting one--really energizing! I have to thank Jackie Cefola and Jonathan Spack of the Nonprofit Center and Third Sector New England for hosting the meeting in their wonderful nonprofit center (check out their website at http://www.tsne.org) and also Roxanne Hanson and China Brotsky of the Nonprofit Centers Network for making the trip from San Francisco and putting on a great day of learning and networking! (Check out the Nonprofit Centers Network site--it's a treasure chest of information about the broad network of shared space centers across the country. It's http://www.nonprofitcenters.org/)

Storefront Art Update

I presented the Storefront Art project to the Northampton Arts Council on Monday night, and received a very positive response. In fact, several members of the council asked to be added to our artist data base! The council encouraged C3 to apply for funding in the spring round. Thanks to Diane Porcella for inviting me to the meeting and to Dave Dersham and Lisa Thompson for moral support!

The word about Storefront Art is spreading kinda like crazy--I put a sign up sheet for artists interested in participating in Storefront Art over at the Haymarket at the end of last week, and already over one hundred people have signed up. I've also received several requests online to add people to our growing artist data base. There's clearly a big need and desire for ways for local artists to be able to make and show their art in Northampton. I'm confident C3's Storefront Art program will help meet that need and I'm also confident building owners will see participating in this project as being in their interests as well.

If you'd like to be added, please send an email with your contact info and the medium you work in to artistdatabase@commonwealthcenter.org, or sign up on the clipboard on the counter by the cash register at the Haymarket. If you're a building owner and would like to find out about participating in Storefront Art just drop me a line at dsimpson@commonwealthcenter.org.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Hi everyone,

We had a wonderful 'encuentro' today at the Newman Center at UMASS of people interested in participating in the series of ESL classes C3 is helping to organize. Around 20 people attended--about half the people interested in taking the classes and half interested in teaching, tutoring, providing child care, etc. We had a great lunch of burritos and taquitos, courtesy of Bueno y Sano and La Veracruzana, then conducted an informal assessment, to see where people's English level is at. More than anything though, it was just a way for us all to get together, get to know each other a bit. I gotta tell ya', it was great! Such an awesome group of people--I'm really proud to be a part of it.

If you're interested in learning more, in volunteering in any way, or if you know someone who might want to take the classes, just drop me a line. The classes are due to start March 30th, for eight week sessions, every Sunday, location TBA.

Peace!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

What C3 is about

It occurred to me that I should write a brief description of the project, for those of you who are new to C3.

Here's what we're about: C3 is a shared space community center committed to providing affordable, quality event, program and office space to artists and social change nonprofits in a sustainable, collaborative environment. If you have any questions or thoughts, please drop me a line!

Thanks!

The World of Bogging

I never ever thought the day would come when I started blogging, but it seems that day has arrived! It does make sense though, as a way to keep people informed in a very up-to-the-minute way of all the C3 news.

And there's a lot of C3 news these days. Where should I begin? Hmm. I guess I'll just start...

We've started putting together some wicked exciting programming.

1. First is our participation in a group of community members putting together an ongoing series of ESL classes for our neighbors in the Latino community. I've been to meetings with volunteers and with prospective students, and I love the energy of everyone involved. It is super grass roots, and the sentiment of everyone involved is that we all have something to give and something to learn in this process and that it is in all of our interests to be a part of creating strong, diverse communities. These classes will take place in Amherst, and are scheduled to begin Sunday March 30th. If you're interested in participating, as a student, teacher, tutor, child care provider or volunteer coordinator (because Lord knows we need coordinating...) please email Juan Carlos at jcaguilar@comcast.net.

2. We're also working on our Storefront Art project (nods and props to the Pittsfield Storefront Artist Project, who've been super helpful, not to mention inspirational. Check out their website at http://www.storefrontartist.org/) The idea is to work together with building owners and artists to creatively use empty storefronts downtown to support and showcase the work of local artists. Empty storefronts will be used to create space for art happenings, which will be cabaret style events held seasonally, as well as studio and window gallery space. We're working toward a spring debut. If you're an artist interested in participating in Storefront Art, join our artist data base by sending an email giving us your contact information and the media you work in to artistdatabase@commonwealthcenter.org. If you own a building and would like to find out more about the Storefront Art Program email us at info@commonwealthcenter.org.

We're working on finding a first home that would allow us to put the C3 vision into practice in a 1.0 kind of way, build a track record, figure out what works, what doesn't. It's an exciting prospect, and one that really makes C3 seem real! Yikes!

Okay, that's it for now. If you want more information, or would like to be added to our mailing list, email us at info@commonwealthcenter.org.

So long for now!