St. Francis Neighborhood Center The Reservoir Reader July 2013

Summer of Service is Heating Up! We are currently in our fourth week of Summer of Service which means we are half way through our summer program! Our kids, interns and volunteers have had an amazing summer so far. They have been to Genesee Valley, Gun Powder River and next week, they will be visiting the Humane Society to learn how to care for pets. On Monday, the kids were filmed by Wide Angle Lens for the Annie E. Casey Foundation who is creating a documentary about three programs they funded and we were chosen to participate! We'll be sure to post the film once we have it. Last week the kids attended the Corpus Christi Soup Kitchen in Reservoir Hill to learn about healthy lunches and create sandwiches for needy neighbors. The kids have also been creating some wonderful art this summer thanks to Ms. Ana Zavaljevski, a Baltimore City art teacher and Ms. Randi ReissMcCormack, our resident artist. Please check out our Facebook page to see all the pics from our terrific young artists. Our summer volunteers have been awesome! Mr. Ryan, Ms. Allison, Ms. Kindle, Ms. Lisa, Ms. Neha, Mr. Steve, Ms. Shayna, Ms. Samantha, Ms. Ronlet and Ms. Ana have been helping the kids with learning projects, playing with them outside, listening to them when they need to talk, making sure they are safe when they are here at St. Francis as well as supporting our interns and working with the Youth Services team. We truly could not conduct this program without their help and support! NOTE: Due to Code Red days this week, the program is closed until Monday, July 22, but we are adding three make up days on August 19, 20 and 21.

Upcoming Events Don't miss these fun events coming up in July and August:      

Free yoga classes are still going every Wednesday starting at 6:30 pm through August 14! Community Clean Up Day will be Saturday August 3. Please join us to clean up the Center. Food Resource Pickup on August 6 at 4 pm. Read more below. Casa of Baltimore is holding a volunteer information session at the Center on Thursday, August 15 from 6 to 8 pm. This event is free and open to the public. Summer of Service program ends Wednesday, August 21. Reservoir Hill Music Festival and Resource Fair registration for craft and merchandise vendors is now open. Click here for more details. The festival takes place Saturday, September 21 with a rain date of Sunday, September 22.

St. Francis Gets a Special Visit from Councilman Nick Mosby Our St. Francis kids were really excited about a special visitor we had on July 2. Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby dropped by the St. Francis Neighborhood Center to talk to our kids about bullying and how important it is to dream big and overcome obstacles. Mr. Mosby, a resident and current representative of the Reservoir Hill neighborhood, discussed the different types of bullying and even talked about how he was once the victim of bullying. He also talked to kids about his college experiences at Tuskegee University in Alabama, what his degree was and how he came to be involved in Baltimore City government. We are happy to announce that Councilman Mosby will be coming back on July 23 to talk about ending violence in Baltimore City.

New Food Resource Program Our volunteer Samantha Hawkins is distributing free bags of groceries as part of our new food resource program. Pick up days are the following: August 6, September 3, and October 1. Pick up times are between 4 and 5 pm. Groceries are limited, so residents are encouraged to sign up for this program by emailing Samantha at [email protected].

We Are Seeking Children's Books in Good Condition We are planning to expand our selection of children's books in our library and would like donations. Please drop off children's books at every reading level and in good condition to our Center at 2405 Linden Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21217.

Welcome Our Newest Staff Member, Leticia Fitts, Associate Program Manager Leticia A. Fitts was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from Morgan State University in May 1998 with a B.S. in Psychology. She worked for the Baltimore City Public School System as a teacher and Reading Specialist. She has taught at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In 2003, she received her M.A. Degree in Education with a Reading concentration from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. She has written literacy curriculums. She is M.S.D.E. dually certified to teach grades 1-6 (all subject areas) and K-12 reading. Additionally, she has published two educational workbooks, African American Sheroes and Heroes and Telling Our Tale.

Fall Recruitment! We are beginning to recruit interns and volunteers for the fall! If you are interested in returning to volunteer this fall, or would like to be considered for an internship position, please contact Stephanie Neal at [email protected].

St. Francis Neighborhood Center 2405 Linden Ave. Baltimore, MD 21217 410-669-2612 www.stfranciscenter.org Staff Christi Dodson, Executive Director Leticia Fitts, Associate Program Manager Torbin Green, Program Manager Stephanie Neal, Communication Outreach Manager

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