Our Stories
Connecting youth with adults…..
Nettie continues to reach out and touch our community youth!
From left to right: Joani Essenburg, Angie (Nettie’s sister),
and Nettie McHie
“To many more years…” is how Nettie signed my t-shirt the other day at Kids Club! Not to say that Nettie has not put in her time! Nettie is a community resident that has volunteered at the Banyan for eleven years…weaving the youth and adults together by touching and impacting over 300 youth. “I love what I do at the Banyan…working with MY kids is important!” It was a great honor to celebrate with her the award from the Minneapolis Police Department, “The Teresa S. Ruhland Youth Award.” This award is given annually to a Minneapolis resident volunteer who does an outstanding job of getting youths involved in the community.
Providing opportunities for success….
Abiola makes the right connections for a fully operational mouse!
The Tronix program brings in the challenges for our middle schoolers to team up and take on. This spring it was assembling a line tracking mouse. The students had to accomplish state of the art sodering and precise wiring of their circuit board along with detailed assembly to make this mouse go. Abiola was so proud when he completed the project with a fully operational mouse. He said, “My cousin Ayo will have to vouch for me that I really did make this…my mom won’t believe me!” “I just can’t believe what these kids are making” James said (an adult community member)
Creating a new path….
Crystal comes back and visits with the ASPIRE! students
Crystal, who graduated from DeLaSalle in 2006 and has been a part of the Banyan Community for 11 years and now attends the University of Minnesota came and visited with the ASPIRE! students. She shared with students her thoughts about ASPIRE!…“My favorite pare of ASPIRE! was getting my work done in a calm environment…and of course the snacks. I liked how we could get together and study at a table….whereas studying at home would bring more distractions. My study skills are great at the U of M! Banyan gave me hope, the tutoring program gave me skills, and helped guide me through the critical years of high school to prepare me for college. Now that I am in college at the University of Minnesota I am prepared and able to make it, and I am thankful!” The evening continued with students asking Crystal many questions about college life.
Building a strong sense of community….
Paula enjoys dinner with her children and fellow community members…
Celebrating each other is important! At the Banyan Family Celebration we do just that each spring. Paula is celebrating her family’s participation in Banyan events this year. At Banyan we like to get to know each other. It helps us to be a stronger, more vibrant community. It also helps with creating strong community ties that provide support when things are hard. Community members are involved in gathering events at least four times a year. Each event is designed to strengthen the asset base of our community.