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TWTC's "Amazing" Holiday
For the women, children and staff of The Women's Treatment Center, the 2003 Holiday Season was a time for looking back with graditude, looking forward with hope, and celebrating the present with friends. The entire TWTC coomunity--from the newly born (aged 2 weeks) and the newly sober (first day in Detox) to those now ready to start new lives in recovery--participated in a range of activities that helped usher out the old year and bring in the new.
For Center residents, there were the annual Thanksgiving and Christmas banquets and talent shows. Lula Smith and the staff of the Dietary Department turned the cafeteria and conference room into warm, festive, holiday themed retreats, and provided a feast of traditional holiday cuisine, followed by a long-standing TWTC tradition: The Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Talent Show.
The women of TWTC hard for these talent shows, creating musical offerings, fashion shows and skits. The performance all bore witness to the faith, strength and hope that pervade the Center.
Deputy Director Pat Shaw, in her closing remarks, said it best for everyone when she looked around the room at the assembled staff and clients and said "What an amazing group of women we are!"
"Hey don't forget Halloween!
That was fun to!
say Malik, Ameera, and Eric (From left to right)
demonstrating that you're never
to cute to have your face painted.
Holiday Gifts Make Huge Im"PACT"
During this season of giving, another amazing group of women came together in a unique collaboration that created a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration for Parents and Children Together (PACT) participants. Cheryl Ray, from Office Depoy's Corporate Giving program provided the turkeys, and Patricia Williams, caregiver to a PACT child, along with Brenda Lowery and memberrs of the faith-based organization Women of Wisdom, provided the rest of the food, Mary
Callaway, mother of Chanel Hill, beautifully prepared the food.
The Result:
A gorgeous Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings for over 100 PACT children and caregivers. At the same time, Rev Plair and Rev. Bailey, and members of the Chicago Baptist Institute Alumni Association reached out to the PACT program, whose mothers are in prison, by providing much-needed and very welcomed gifts. The PACT program allows for incarcerated mothers to visit and read stories with their children via teleconferencing at our Madison Place Facility. Many of these
children are in need and through their generous efforts, the Chicago Baptist Institute Alumni Association made sure they had a Merry Christmas.
Thanks to our friends, TWTC continues to receive and share blessings.
Two-year-old Terry
shows off her new
Christmas doll.
And One Amazing Teenage Volunteer
Our youngest amazing volunteer shows that the holiday spirit burns bright in people of all faiths and all ages. Thirteen-year old Amanda Letchinger is a month away from her Bat Mitzvah. An important aspect of this coming-of-age is the performance of an actual "mitzvah" that is, a good deed. For many of Amanda's friends,this has meant doing things like baking cookies. Amanda wanted to do more. She loves children, and wanted to work with them.
Hearing of TWTC through the mother of a friend, she decided to volunteer to work at the Center. Amanda puts in two hours every week with the children of Residential Rehad III. She and the little ones make pictures for the walls, color, paint, play with toys and their favorite, dance. Amanda loves working at TWTC so much, she would like to come twice a week after the time-consumming study and prepartions for her Bat Mitzvah are over. " I wouldn't think about stopping," she says.
And she's taken her commitment to TWTC one step further: On her Bat Mitzvah invitations, she told her potential guests that she will donate $1 to the Center for every person who RSVPs with an acceptance, and further asked that each guest consider contributing a dollar as well. The response has been overwhelming-some 400 people have accepted her invitation and her challenge, many contributing more than a dollar. Amanda is truly a "daughter of the good deed" (the literal meaning of bat mitzvah).
Amanda received an
award for volunteer
work at TWTC
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