BUY YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
TO BENEFIT THE RESOURCE CENTER!

January 2004 will mark the one-year anniversary of the Neighborhood Resource Center located at 274 4th Street in Troy’s Little Italy. We have a lot to celebrate! As we give thanks during the coming week, we at the Neighborhood Resource Center express our gratitude to all the volunteers who have made this center possible, as well as our community partner TRIP, Inc. and our many supporters who help us to keep our doors open to serve our neighbors. We look forward to continued growth in 2004, and welcome your ideas and participation!

We hope that you will join us in the neighborhood for some special holiday events. On Saturday, December 6th and Sunday, December 7th from noon to 5 p.m., the Friends of Little Italy (Gli Amici di Piccola Italia) will sell Christmas trees from the newly renovated Public Marketplace on Hill Street between Liberty and Washington Streets, located directly behind the Vanilla Bean. The Christmas tree sale will take place on both Saturday and Sunday, during Troy’s Victorian Stroll weekend. A portion of the proceeds from the sales will benefit the Neighborhood Resource Center. All neighbors are welcome to launch a new holiday tradition of buying your tree, right here in the neighborhood! Thanks to Steve Jabour for providing the trees and supporting the neighborhood, and thanks to Rocco DeFazio for another great idea come to life for Little Italy.

We hope that you will also join us on Saturday, December 13th from noon to 2 p.m. as we welcome neighborhood families and children into the Neighborhood Resource Center for a holiday party! There will be free refreshments and activities for the kids.

You are welcome to drop in any Saturday morning for Coffee Chat with your neighbors from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., or to join us at the monthly South Central Troy neighborhood meetings on the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. (please note that there is no neighborhood meeting in December, due to the holidays).

The story of the Neighborhood Resource Center is a heart-warming story of neighbors working together for a common cause. With some imagination, some grassroots fundraising, and a lot of heart, neighbors living in the southern central region of Troy were able to transform a spacious storefront space, on a corner that links several neighborhood groups, into a Neighborhood Resource Center that opened its door in January 2003.

The steering committee for the resource center features neighbors from the Pottery District, South Central, Osgood Neighbors, Washington Park and the new Gli Amici di Piccola Italia (Friends of Little Italy) group, all of whom live in a walkable distance from the center. The Neighborhood Resource Center is staffed entirely by neighborhood volunteers and is open on a part-time basis. The budget of the center is bare-bones: the cost of rent and utilities in the space. All other furniture and supplies have been donated by generous community members. Thank you to all of our donors!

Current programming includes Storytime for Kids with the Troy Public Library; “Come Share Your Story” history-time with Michael Esposito; the Fourth Street Recovery Group; and Coffee Chat for neighbors on Saturday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Neighborhood and community groups meet in the meeting room space, which also features work by local artists. Annually, we sponsor an Arts Stroll on Washington Park, and have special events for kids and families throughout the year. We plan to continue to expand our programming in 2004, and we welcome your suggestions.

Hope to see you at the Neighborhood Resource Center sometime soon! For more information, to schedule an event, or to volunteer at the Resource Center, please call 272-2408 or email troychica@hotmail.com All donations to the Neighborhood Resource Center are tax-deductible and can be made payable to TRIP, Inc. with “Neighborhood Resource Center” in the memo line, and mailed to the attention of Hilary Lamishaw at TRIP, 415 River Street, Troy, NY 12180. TRIP serves as an umbrella 501(c)3 organization for the center. Supporting the Neighborhood Resource Center during the holiday season is a great way to give back to the Troy community.