With the above sign taped to our table, Trenton Meeting attended a Resource Fair put on by Habitat for Humanity at the Edgewood Avenue Playground. We were there with other Trenton organizations like KinderSmile, Interfaith Caregivers of Mercer County, and Salvation and Social Justice. Being a playground, it turned out to be mostly a party for children with balloon animals, free food and ice cream, bouncy houses and candy. But it actually served us well. We talked to adults who came by the table about our Community Investment Fund, providing a list of our guidelines and encouraging folks with ideas or budding projects to contact us to set up an opportunity for us to meet them and start our discernment about their projects and requests. Some folks were interested in what Quakers are about and some were excited about the upcoming Community BBQ Meal in November.
We also had the chance to interact with folks from Habitat, Salvation and Social Justice (SandSJ), Meals on Wheels and KinderSmile. The young lady from SandSJ was very excited when we met, insisting on giving us hugs and reporting that their CIC grant for the transitional housing project had the impact of allowing them to be able to afford to house two additional individuals. Habitat for Humanity has returned to doing projects in Trenton. They are breaking ground on a new home in the West Ward and working on other projects in the city.
The children and their families were delightful. Habitat provided candy to have on the tables for the children which meant we were able to meet and talk to a number of parents about CIC. The city is full of people with ideas and ambitions but are stuck getting off the ground and it may be that one or two of the contacts that were made will wind up being our grantees!
Our outreach about CIC like this, Facebook and word of mouth has given us at least eight requests to be considered. Now the Committee gets to work!