15th Anniversary
Luncheon This Friday
The 2011 Attorneys
Serving the Community luncheon benefiting Avance-Dallas will take place this Friday, June 3, 2011, at
noon at the Hilton Anatole's Chantilly Ballroom in Dallas, Texas. It’s a
tremendous honor to have Former First Lady Laura W. Bush and her daughter,
Jenna Bush Hager, as the keynote speakers for the luncheon.
Although tickets are
no longer available, we’re thrilled that more than 1,000 friends of Avance-Dallas will be joining with us
for this special event to forward the Avance-Dallas
mission. Thank you for this strong show of support for our agency!
AHOrA Increases Support for
Avance-Dallas
In their second annual
Mother’s Day Luncheon sponsoring Avance-Dallas,
AHOrA
raised $13,192 in support of our program — an increase from their 2010
luncheon. We are very proud of these energetic, talented Hispanic women, with a
firm commitment to supporting their Hispanic community, to working hard, and to
championing a more educated Hispanic community that excels in the U.S.
The name “AHOrA” is an
acronym for Amigas Hispañas Organizadaspara Ayudar, which means “Hispanic
Friends Organized to Help.” This group of women shares many common interests,
and they also love to join together to serve the broader community and are
raising awareness and support of our program in the North Texas Latin American
community.
Special thanks to AHOrA for
their spirited support of Avance-Dallas
and our children!
Mexican Consul Visits Avance-Dallas
During the Consul’s
visit, first-year Avance-Dallas moms
proudly shared about their life-changing experience at Avance-Dallas and how it has transformed their families. In
addition, Avance-Dallas
participants and graduates discussed their leadership projects in the
community, including the ambitious Promotoras initiative, where trained Avance-Dallas graduates go door-to-door
sharing the educational Avance
message with low-income mothers of young children in the community.
We were privileged to host
Ambassador Cué Vega, Consul Hernandez, and Mr. Bedoy at our site in May. Not only
did their visit give them a firsthand view of our program; their presence also
inspired our parents in their own journeys of advancement.
Miguel Bedoy holding an Avance-Dallas baby
Maria
Discovers a Surprising Raul
Since
coming to Avance-Dallas, Maria has
learned amazing new things about her son, Raul—and her role in his life. Maria
and Raul attend the Avance-Dallas
program together at the L. L. Hotchkiss Elementary School site.
Maria
and her family have been surprised by Raul’s
improvements and social skills, ever since they started attending the program
together. During a home visit in the spring, Raul delighted the home visitor
and his mother with many songs and a structured game routine he had been
learning at Avance. “I’m very
proud of him,” declared his mother, who has noticed a favorable change not only
in his learning skills, but also in his behavior and the way he interacts with
others.
Maria is a young mother,
and our program has made an impact on her understanding of her role. In a
recent meeting, she expressed that “being a mother is a big responsibility, and
it is important to take advantage of this kind of program that helps us to be
good mothers.” As Maria looks ahead after she graduates from Avance, she plans to work very hard to give her son the best opportunities she
can.
Partner Profile: Women of
St. Michael
The Women of St. Michael represents a group of selfless women dedicated to
serving the less fortunate in Dallas, and they are longtime partners with Avance-Dallas. This year they have
joined with us again through a $2,500 grant to provide educational toy-making
supplies for our parents.
The Toys for Learning
effort teaches our parents to use their talents to create stimulating toys for
their children. Special thanks to the Women of St. Michael for furthering
low-income children and parents through our program.