Foundation to open new ‘house’
By Gail Parsons [email protected], December 21, 2016
The Cedar House Foundation will start the New Year with a new initiative. On Jan. 1 they will get the keys to 805 Cedar Street, where they will open Neighbor to Neighbor on Cedar Street.
Neighbor to Neighbor on Cedar Street will be a place for women of all demographics to meet, share, learn and give and receive help from one another.
“The intent is to offer options to plant new roots, or nourish one’s roots in order to spread one’s wings in new and fresh ways,” said Loretta Jasper, The Cedar House Foundation board president and director of Neighbor to Neighbor.
There are a slew of activities and events she anticipates will start happening soon after they open, including peer-mentored activities and classes.
A free lunch will be provided daily for any woman in the community regardless of ability or non-ability to pay. Eventually she would also like to see them offer a to-go dinner for women and their families.
“We will just be providing a place of hospitality,” she said. “Some will come just to be there, some will come to help, some will come to be attentive to those who are there and be listeners — like that old-timey quilting bee mentality.”
She expects some women will start coming by to help out but end up being helped in more ways than they may have expected.
As this project is a new vision — with nothing besides Neighbor 2 Neighbor in Concordia to use as an example — Jasper sees them “not reinventing the wheel, but inventing a whole new wheel.”
In order for it to succeed, she said local residents will need to become vested. She knows people are talking about the many needs in the community and this will provide a way to start meeting some of those needs.
While she fully expects some people will not understand the benefits, she believes many in Abilene will see what Neighbor to Neighbor will offer them and the community.
“Just like the old-timey quilting bees, the women gathered and were talking about things that mattered,” she said.
Grants and donations have made Neighbor to Neighbor possible and will be required as the project moves forward. Eventually, Jasper said they will likely do some fundraising, and she hopes to find underwriters.
As soon as they gain access to the house, they will start working on the details of their plans, which “are morphing” into a comprehensive schedule, Jasper said.
“We will gradually prepare the house for our guests: one service at a time, until we are full tilt,” she said.
The first definitive event planned for the house will be a free seven-week workshop beginning on Feb. 7 tackling the topic of Chronic Disease Self-Management.
P.E.O. Chapter CZ gives donation
Photo Dec 19, 2016
Marsha Weaver, president, on behalf of P.E.O. Chapter CZ, presents a donation to Sister Loretta Jasper, president of the Cedar House Foundation. On Dec. 12, Sister Loretta presented a program on the Cedar House Foundation and its newest outreach, “Neighbor to Neighbor on Cedar Street.” The donation exemplifies the work of P.E.O. and its philanthropic support of women. For more information on P.E.O., contact Weaver at [email protected] or visit www.peointernational.org. For more information on Neighbor to Neighbor, call (785) 342.1692.
QofL to hear about new Abilene project
Dec 1, 2016
The Quality of Life Coalition (QLC) invites the public to attend its monthly Community Forum at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14.
December’s Special Program features Sister Loretta Jasper, board president of the Cedar House Foundation
Sister Loretta Jasper will speak about a new project they are looking to start in Abilene called Neighbor to Neighbor alongside other services and programs The Cedar House Foundation has to offer the community.
The QLC Forum is open to the public. Individuals will have the opportunity to share information regarding community resources, events, and issues. Coffee is provided.
Quality of Life Coalition serves as a catalyst to promote social, physical and mental well-being for the residents of Dickinson County by fostering a thriving environment in which to live, work, play and learn.
If you go
When: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 8:30 AM
Where: Quality of Life Coalition (Conference Room)
300 N. Cedar Suite 210 (located on the second floor)
Phone: 785-263-1550
Cedar House Foundation asks city for startup $$$
By Mike Heronemus [email protected] November 2, 2016
The Cedar House Foundation, which already supports a residential addiction rehabilitation program for women in Dickinson County, wants to expand its services to all women in need of help.
It has set up Cardinal House in Enterprise as an extension of its addiction rehab program so women who have completed the Cedar House program can live there and serve as mentors to other women dealing with addictions.
The foundation now wants to start a Neighbor to Neighbor center for women in downtown Abilene. It would be modeled after a successful center established six years ago by three Sisters of St. Joseph in Concordia.
Representatives of the foundation went before the Abilene City Commission during its regular study session Oct. 18 to ask for $20,000 in start-up funding.
Because Neighbor to Neighbor: Abilene (N2N: Abilene) would address key areas of substance abuse prevention, education, intervention and recovery, city Finance Director Marcus Rothchild told commissioners it would qualify for money from the city’s Special Alcohol and Drug Fund, which comes from local liquor sales taxes.
That fund will have an estimated balance of $75,500 at the end of 2016. Rothchild said the city usually receives $12,000 to $14,000 for that fund. Expenditures in 2016 totaled $12,500, he reported, so receipts and expenses are “about a wash.”
For the $2017 budget, the city has plans to spend up to $18,500 from the fund, he added.
City staff’s recommendation to the commissioners was to partially fund the foundation’s request and to have staff review community needs and discuss options for use of the Special Alcohol and Drug Fund.
Rothchild told commissioners that staff had begun discussions on how the fund’s money could be used for the community before it received the foundation’s request.
Why is a center needed?
Cedar House Foundation representatives attending the Oct. 18 study session explained that the proposed Neighbor to Neighbor Abilene facility would be a non-profit drop-in center which could provide all women with a atmosphere of safety, mutual encouragement, support and caring.
Supporting statistics
Current statistics taken from the 2015 Dickinson County census for Abilene show:
• Females comprise 49.9 percent of the population
• 18.7 percent of the population is 65 or older
• 95.3 percent of the population is Caucasian
• 90.1 percent of the population are high school graduates over the age of 25
• 19.8 percent age 25 or older hold a bachelor’s degree (10 percent lower than the national average)
• 10.3 percent under the age of 65 have a disability
• 9.9 percent have no health insurance (3 percent below national average)
• The median household income is $51,000; the average per capita income is $25,000 ($3,000 below national average)
• 12.5 percent live at or below the poverty level (national average 14 percent)
2015 population was 6,558, a decrease of 4 percent since 2010.
According to the representatives, those demographics combined with the needs identified by the Cedar House Foundation since its inception in 2013 illustrate a clear case for a women’s outreach facility such as N2N: Abilene.
They also told commissioners that the foundation has identified a potential site and is in conversation with the owners about establishing a rent-to-buy arrangement. It also is in conversation with the Brown Memorial Foundation to obtain a grant that would cover the first full year of rent and utilities.