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Our friends at Heart of Kentucky United Way recently honored the Danville Tai Chi Circle with their Volunteer of the Year award.

“One of my favorite sayings is never underestimate the power of a small group of people to change the world,” says Darlene Thomas, our Executive Director. “These words certainly ring true for the Tai Chi Circle. We are blessed to benefit from their strength, grace, and friendship.”

The group of friends has been dedicated to supporting survivors for many years.

Last summer, they hosted an Afternoon with GreenHouse17 on the farm of Chris Kubale. More than 60 people attended to learn more about our mission and services for survivors. Jerry Houck and his team at The Caterer made small bites using fresh produce grown by strong survivors living at our shelter, and Melton’s Great American Deli provided delicious cookies for dessert. Generous event sponsors also stepped in to help, including Campbellsville University, Bluegrass Chiro, Coldwell Banker VIP Realty, and Stith  Funeral Home.

“It was wonderful fun,” says Chris Kubale, a member of the Tai Chi Circle and host of the event. “It was delightful to see all of those wonderful people gathered together, and it is gratifying to see so many people who are interested in paying it forward.”

The practice of Tai Chi encourages balance of strength and grace, and we can’t think of a better way to describe the group’s wonderful members.

Our friend Josh Nadzam has qualified for the Boston Marathon. And he’s dedicating his race to survivors of intimate partner abuse. 

Josh’s goal is to raise $2,040 for survivors. That’s $2 a day for every survivor of intimate partner abuse who will find safety and healing at our shelter during the month of the marathon.

This isn’t the first time Josh has run for survivors.

He also qualified for the marathon a few years ago and dedicated his race to our mission. And back in 2014, he ran from Lexington to the capitol in Frankfort to raise awareness and support for legislation to protect victims of intimate partner abuse in dating relationships.

“This cause is so dear to my heart. As a human I feel a responsibility to get involved but as a man, I feel a special duty to step up and act.”

You can cheer Josh on and contribute to his goal by making a contribution at the Bluegrass to Boston for Survivors fundraising page.

If you prefer to make a contribution by check, please include Bluegrass to Boston in the memo and mail to GreenHouse17, PO Box 55190, Lexington, KY 40555.

Image by Mothwing Photography.

Social media is a major part of many peoples’ lives, and there’s no reason that it couldn’t be part of their philanthropic life, too. Most of us see people posting about Facebook fundraisers – hosted for their birthday or other special occasions – on an almost daily basis, and for a variety of causes.

GreenHouse17 has been fortunate to be the recipient of several of these fundraisers, which are a truly easy way to donate to a cause that you care about.

Holden’s Giving Story

Holden Dillman, GreenHouse17’s Marketing and Community Engagement VISTA, hosted a Facebook fundraiser for his birthday, and he says that he loved doing it. “I have a lot of respect for Facebook for making it such an intuitive and accessible process,” he says.

Holden says he’s always felt awkward about receiving gifts for his birthday. “It stresses me out to get things I don’t use,” he says. “So I really appreciate the opportunity to host fundraisers on Facebook for special occasions.”

Holden considers his birthday fundraiser a success – the goal was $250, and close to $400 was raised. “I’m an AmeriCorps VISTA and don’t have the expendable income to make charitable donations as often as I’d like,” he says. “So this empowered me to be able to support an organization through my community.”

“It’s something that I definitely recommend others trying out,” he adds, “because it’s a way for you as an individual to connect people to projects and organizations that inspire you to do the work that you do.”

Your Giving Story

So how do you host a Facebook fundraiser? First, you click on the “fundraisers” tab on the left side of your Facebook newsfeed. Then click “raise money for a nonprofit organization.” After that, choose the nonprofit that you are interested in raising money for, and decide on the goal of how much money you’d like to raise. Then you can decide on the timeframe during which you want the fundraiser to run. Finally, choose a cover photo, fill in the details, click “create” and you are ready to start raising money for the nonprofit of your choice!

The nonprofit that you choose will receive the payment following the end of the fundraiser. Facebook charges no fees for donations made to nonprofits.

If you are interested in hosting a Facebook fundraiser and have any questions, please contact Mary Trollinger by filling out the form below.

Federal designation officially naming our organization a nonprofit entity arrived on February 14, 2005. Each year we celebrate this anniversary with a series of Valentine’s Day cards that you can share with friends, family, and partners on social media to raise awareness about healthy relationships.

Visit our social media pages on February 14 to share these cards with someone special. Or just click or tap on an image below to send one today.

Following early planning meetings with the architect, funders, and construction management team, we began to prepare the shelter for the construction scheduled to begin on January 14.

Commitment to non-interruption of services.

We are committed to continuing operation of the emergency shelter and our 24-Hour Hotline, also housed at the facility, throughout construction. As with any project of this scale, some complications are expected.

Our leadership team has prepared information to notify community partners about changes to shelter accommodations and encourage standard shelter referral procedures during construction. And our community engagement team prepared information to advise supporters.

Readying the shelter for change.

Despite the likely challenges, we are motivated by the possibilities the shelter renovation will create for survivors in our community for many years to come.

Our Executive Director, Darlene Thomas, recently met with survivors living at shelter to gather input, answer questions, and provide assurance of our commitment to their safety and healing during construction.

The next day, shelter staff and residents began moving beds and dressers in the west wing of the facility to common spaces. Design decisions for these temporary bedroom areas considered confidentiality, privacy, comfort, and storage needs of survivors.

Continue reading about the shelter renovation project at this link.