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Natick Cultural Council grants: Projects range from school murals to senior hip hop to Johnny Cash

January 27, 2023 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

The Natick Cultural Council has announced more than 30 grants ranging in amounts from $200 to $2,132 to fund a variety of projects that support the arts, humanities and interpretative sciences.

The projects, intended to benefit the Natick community, run the gamut from films to dance to history.

One project that we’ve previewed is called “What’s in your heart? NATICK,” and will be a public art display on the MBTA pedestrian bridge.

Among other grant recipients are the Brown Elementary School PTO, which is receiving $1,000, and Lilja Elementary School, which is receiving $1,500. Both will use the funds to paint murals at the schools.

Brown Elementary will be having artist-in-residence Joe Pimentel working with students and staff in March to create a welcoming new mural in the lobby, says Michelle Parven, visual arts educator at Brown.
A generous grant from Natick Education Foundation got the school 75% of the way to funding the cost of the mural, and the Natick Cultural Council grant will cover the rest, Parven says.
What will make this mural unique is that Pimentel “incorporates students into the entire process – from ideation (kids generating drawings based on a theme) to execution (all hands on deck to help with the actual painting).  He feels that this gives students voice in the design and ownership of the finished product,” says Parven who discovered the Ulster County, N.Y., artist on Instagram.
In October, students met with Pimentel over Zoom and made drawings aligned with the theme “Our School Community.”  Pimentel sent Parven drafts of the design, and it has since been finalized in preparation for the artist’s visit to the school during the last week in March.  “While I have renderings, I cannot share them with you at this time—we want to keep things a surprise!” Parven says.
The Council, which awarded grants totaling $16,582 in this latest round, will seek applications again in the fall.

Fiscal year ’23 funding list

Recipient Project Title Amount
Argyrople, Catherine Growing Pains (Feature Film) $300
Brown School Parent-Teacher Organization of Natick, Massachusetts, Inc. Brown School Lobby Mural $1,000
Brown School Parent-Teacher Organization of Natick, Massachusetts, Inc. Ball in the House $2,132
Costarelli, Eve Jerusalema Flash Mob: The Dance of Joy $200
Edgecomb, Diane Fantastical Folktales of Flowers $400
Girardin, Denise What’s In Your Heart Natick? $800
Hiller, David Natick Family Science Nights $400
Historical Natural History and Library Society of Natick, Inc. Know Natick History: Natick Reimagined (working title) $300
Lilja Elementary School School Mural $1,500
Lilja School PTO, Inc. Three Billy Goats Gruff by Pumpernickel Puppets $400
Lilja School PTO, Inc. Peoples of the Dawn Land $400
MUSIC Dance.edu I am Autistic I am Fantastic $300
MUSIC Dance.edu Hip Hop Chair Dance for Seniors! $300
MacInnes, Rebecca “Crankie” Muscial Story-Telling $400
Moock, Alastair Johnson Elementary PTO presents Alastair Moock’s musical social justice assembly “Playing With Tradition” $400
Natick High School RoboNatick Team 6032 “Lightning Hawks” $300
Natick Parents Music Association, Inc. Natick Jazz Night $500
Newman, Howard Knock on Wood, acoustic folk-rock duo $400
Polatin, David “The Fifties – The Golden Age of Music” $400
Quazi, Shahreen Tribute to Natick Praying Indians $350
Radhakrishnan, Smitha Radical Love: A Community Movement $600
SPARK Kindness, Inc. SPARK Kindness Week 2022 $400
Sound & Spirit, Inc. “Get Happy!” $500
Taunton City Band, Inc. Taunton City Band free community concert $200
The A Cappella Singers, Inc. Concert Season 2022-2023 $500
The Morse Institute in Natick Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band $400
Voices of MetroWest, Inc. Trial Educational Tool – ChoralTracks $400
Waterman, Jon Live Music Making History Live $300
Wilson Middle School Masterclasses for Music! $600
Women of Note, Inc. Women of Note Holiday Concert $400
York, Matt Johnny Cash – Songs & Stories $400
Zaino, Nick 100 Years of Boston Comedy $200
Zinshtein, Ronen Dance competition $250
Zinshtein, Ronen National Training camp and Dance competition $250

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Filed Under: Art, Community, Education, Entertainment, Music



Natick Family Promise welcomed the community to tour its new family shelter: We took them up on it

January 24, 2023 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Maybe you’ve noticed the red house with the funky windows in the downtown Natick area and wondered what its signage—Family Promise Metrowest (FPM)— means, exactly.

Hope and safety are what FPM means to families who are experiencing homelessness, yet do not qualify for emergency state shelter. Maybe they’re “over income” by state standards but still fell behind on rent, and were evicted. Maybe they’ve been doubling up with family or friends, and thus aren’t technically considered homeless, so do not qualify for state aid. Whatever the reason, when families are experiencing a housing crisis an FPM program might be the right fit for them.

The signature red building, which made the seismic change last summer from a day center to a shelter that can now house up to three families at a time, could be these families’ temporary place to land.

Family Promise, Natick

Between the completion of the building’s major renovations and the hiring of a new executive director, Danielle Conti, the staff of FMP decided a celebration was in order. So the charitable organization hosted an Open House last week, a rare opportunity for community members to tour the facility and meet staff and volunteers. The resident families had recently achieved their goals of transitioning to permanent housing, so neither their privacy nor peace were compromised by the event.

Here are some pics of the renovated space:

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

Families have access to a large, shared kitchen. At dinner, all gather in a spacious multi-purpose room where volunteers provide the main meal as well as companionship. Family Promise Metrowest has been a presence in Natick since 2008. The non-profit partners with religious and spiritual congregations and for over 10 years used a rotation model to house families among 19 area organizations. Families would live for one week at one congregation, typically in large basement rooms, one per family, plus one room for overnight volunteers. At the end of the week, families would move on to the next host.

The Shelter Program’s congregation rotation model no longer worked once COVID hit, and FPM had to place families into hotels. It was a short-term solution at odds with the community-driven mission of FPM, and one that forced a reckoning about how core operations should run going forward. During the pandemic, “We weighed all the options, talked to the families, talked to the congregations,” Amanda Elkin said. Those conversations led to a decision to make big changes. The red house would transition from a day center model and become a shelter.

Back when Family Promise started in Natick in 2009, “we needed the congregations and the space they could give us to get Family Promise off the ground. Without tons of very committed volunteers, making food and all of that, we wouldn’t have been able to get the organization started. But COVID shut that down,” Elkin said.

In a 2021 video address, then executive director Sue Crossley said, “We came to the realization that having a shelter site where families live rather than rotating to the different congregations really made the most sense for everyone.”

Congregations are still involved and volunteering. But now instead of volunteers helping out at congregations, they go to the shelter to play with the kids, help with meal prep, and provide dinnertime companionship.

In addition to the Shelter program, FPM offers a SAIL Program that supports families as they transition from the shelter back into permanent housing; and a LIFE Program, which helps  families facing eviction remain in safe housing. Between the three programs, FPM last year served 64 families, including 101 children.

 

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

 

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

There are a couple hundred Family Promises throughout the country. Many of them run as “static sites,” which is the model FPM decided that they were now in a financial position to become. In 2009, the organization worked with a budget of $250k. After almost 15 years of courting donor partners from big local corporations to kids who donate their lemonade stand money, they’re now operating on a $1.2 million annual budget, money that has bought them the freedom to evolve how they provide services.

 

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

 

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

 

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

 

Family Promise Metrowest, Natick

Families often describe the Shelter program as a lifeline. They do not describe the program as easy. Expectations are high. Families must be open to and accept long-term, intensive coaching that helps identify the root causes of their housing crisis as they set goals and work hard with a vision for their future. Coaches help with everything from applications for rental assistance, to bringing in specialists to help families improve life skills, to accessing employment opportunities.

The average number of days in the Shelter program is 146. During that time families focus on personal savings goals, repairing credit scores, and securing safe and affordable daycare of after-school care for their kids.

The ultimate goal of all three programs (Shelter, SAIL, and LIFE) is for families to move on to permanent, independent housing. 89% of families in 2021 achieved that goal, while 7% moved into a shared housing arrangement and 4% moved into transitional housing.

Staff members and volunteers agree that much is given, much is received, and there is much to be thankful for. Families concur, but it’s the small things that can bring them to tears. A Thanksgiving dinner basket. A gift card for a child who needs winter boots. A few words of encouragement on a downer of a day. The basket means their kids get a festive holiday, just like their classmates. The boots mean feet stay dry. Kindness gets paid forward, and a later squabble quickly de-escalates from intense to resolved.

Such is the power of community care.

Save the date—April 30: Walk to End Homelessness

Join FPM on Sunday, April 30, at 1pm for its first in-person Walk to End Homelessness since 2019. Food, friends, and fun for all ages. The walk will take place at Natick High School, and registration opens February 15. Check back here for more details soon.

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Filed Under: Charity/Fundraising, Community, Volunteering



Natick Sons & Daughters of Italy hosting Feb. 27 blood drive

January 24, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Natick Sons & Daughters of Italy is hosting an American Red Cross blood drive at its 37 Washington Ave. location on Monday, Feb. 27, 11am-4pm.

Sign up while slots are available.

pasta night sons and daughters of italy


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Filed Under: Community, Health

Natick Community Organic Farm looks to break ground on barn in spring, shares annual update

January 19, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Natick Community Organic Farm this week held its annual meeting online and shared a summary of the past year and a look ahead, which if all goes well will include a barn raising. The farm had planned to break ground in the fall, but you know how construction projects go these days…now plans are to prep the site this month and raise the timber this spring.

Other goals for this year include boosting organic produce production to satisfy Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) demand. More fresh meat (chicken) offerings is also in the works.

Education programs account for the farm’s biggest chunk of income, so look for more adult education workshops in 2023, plus a pilot of weekend family programs.

Farm employees and volunteers are especially enthusiastic about bringing back a full slate of in-person events this year. Maple Magic, which includes a pancake breakfast and maple sugaring tours, is slated for March 4.

 

 

Filed Under: Animals, Community, Food, Gardens

Natick celebrates spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 16, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Natick’s children, town and spiritual leaders, community groups, and others from Natick and beyond joined for the 18th Annual MLK Day Celebration on Monday at Kennedy Middle School.

Many of these participants took part in a community reading of excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “The Drum Major Instinct.” Students from the Natick High School Black & Hispanic Student Alliance joined to read a poem titled “Community” in which they said “We are a community that gathers together to spread love within each other.”

We heard more than once during the program—and were convinced—that the community’s youth are the ones who will will truly help the world further the progress inspired by Dr. King.  The students sang, played music, read poetry, and displayed their art during the event. You can view MLK Day Creative Contest Submissions online.

Keynote speaker Kevin J. McCarthy, whose talk was titled “Creating the Beloved Community in Natick,” built on Dr. King’s words in leaving the audience with this: “What are you doing to make a change in your soul? And then what are you doing to make a change in your life that will make a change in the life of the next generation?”

 

Giana Macchiano's "What's Your Life's Blueprint"

 

 

Keynote speaker Kevin J. McCarthy

 

Lori Zalt, chair of the Natick Commission on Disability, was among those reading from Dr. King's "The Drum Major Instinct"

 

natick kms mlkday

 

Johnson Elementary School Peacemakers

 

MLK Day program 23


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