Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Looking for a Home


 
Friends Helping Friends

Unless you live in Charlottesville, Virginia area, have small children, or had small children who are now adults, then the name Molly Michie Preschool will not ring a bell.  However, for the last four years, the children at this Unitarian Cooperative Preschool, which was founded in 1967, have been a significant part of shopping with their parents and assembling full-day meal packets for the IHS Food Program. The school's present location at 717 Rugby Road will soon be needed for expansion; therefore, by next June 2014, Molly Michie Preschool must find a new home.

What a History!

The Preschool was designed as an outreach for Unitarian-Universalist social and educational values to the community and to meet community need for a semi-structured, multi-racial preschool. It was the first integrated preschool and the first parent cooperative preschool in Charlottesville.  In keeping with the Unitarian practice, no effort to proselytize Unitarian  theological concepts was intended. Children from all religious orientations have been and are welcome, and their various religious and cultural backgrounds have been and are respected. In 1994 the preschool was incorporated and the legal name became Molly Michie Preschool to meet Commonwealth of Virginia requirements.

What is needed to Meet VA Department of Social Services Guidelines/requirements for space

Sheila Currier Chroback provided the following for IHS to relate to potential "space holders." Sheila would be delighted to explore all possibilities, but the following are some absolutes for consideration. 

She said,
"The Preschool requires at least 35 square feet of indoor space per child and when we are at capacity that means 28 total children plus at least 4 adults. So, the bottom line is that we need a minimum of 1120 square feet to even consider a space. Ideally, we would have two classrooms with one classroom having at least 525 square feet and the other having at least 595 square feet to meet our classroom breakdowns. We also require at least 2 toilets and sinks within close proximity to the classrooms, outdoor space or access to a local playground/park, parking spaces for at least 4 individuals for the duration of the school day, and use of the space for meetings outside of school hours."
 The Sooner that New Space can be located ... THE BETTER

IHS friends are invited to contact Sheila and explore. Her email is Sheila.chrobak@gmail.com or phone (434) 327-7121.  IHS is pleased to assist in some small way.

Sincerely ... T. Wade Clegg III 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

New Friends Reached Out to IHS in July

New Participant in Meal-Making for UVA Hospital

The Enrichment Alliance of Virginia, a non-profit serving Charlottesville,  Albemarle, and adjacent counties held a meeting of its "Hub" on Saturday, June 30, to do their first service project ever. The Hub is a monthly program serving children resettled in Charlottesville from the world's troubled spots.  Five mentors and six students shopped for meal packet supplies at a local grocery store, then used their meeting space to assemble meal packets for IHS to donate to the University of Virginia Medical Center. The young people worked quickly and wrote lovely notes for the packet recipients.

In all, with supplement items from IHS Meal Packet Coordinator, Margaret Gorman, the Hub created full-day meal packets for 24 people. Congratulations, and thanks very much! Thank you to Program Director Mary Anna Dunn, Ed.D, for thinking of the IHS and showing the Hub participants one way we can help other people.

The Board and volunteers of the Enrichment Alliance of Virginia work together to expand enrichment opportunities for all children, regardless of income, geography or cognitive/physical disabilities. To learn more, see Facebook page: 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enrichment-Alliance-of-Virginia/295269790273

                                                                         Margaret Gorman,  IHS Meal Packet Coordinator


A Note from Jessica Kirby ... a friend of IHS in Scottsville, VA

I was so touched by the work that you do with IHS that I was thrilled to be able to help in some sort of way. IHS was the first thing to pop in my mind when we were choosing where we would donate our Vacation Bible School (VBS) funds.  Antioch Baptist Church,located at 4422 Antioch Road in Scottsville,  holds a VBS yearly in July and picks a family or charity to help support.   The boys and girls divided each night to see who could raise the most for IHS. We were able to raise $ 273.00 and a box of food for the IHS Food Program. Thank you so much for showing us that just a single person can help make such a big difference in our community.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR  for an Important Fund-raising Event September 5, 2013!

More announcements to come, but IHS has been invited as the charity to benefit from the wine-tasting event to be hosted at the fountain area in Barracks Road Shopping Center in Charlottesville  from 6-9  PM on Thursday, September 5th. The fountain is located next to Five Guys and Panera's restaurants in the shopping center.  Live music will add to this lovely outdoor gathering for a few hours of relaxing after a busy work day. There is marvelous parking  space so near.  Tickets sold for the wine-tasting purchased at the site.  Mark your  calendar ...PLEASE!