Galas, Giving, and Good Works

The deadline to purchase tickets for the Bridges to Housing Stability Heroes for Housing event is today!

Tickets are $100 and the event will be held at 18th & 21st in Columbia on Monday February 17th. There will be food, cocktails, a silent auction, and music to benefit Bridges to Housing Stability. Their mission is “to provide a path to self-sufficiency to prevent and end homelessness through affordable housing solutions and advocacy in Howard County, Maryland.”

Check out this video to learn more about what they do.

Bridges to Housing Stability

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There’s an impressive line up of performing artists on the bill for this year’s Luminus fundraising event. Coming up on February 23rd at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, “More Than Hope” will raise funds and awareness in a multicultural celebration.

"More than Hope" is billed as a Benefit Dance/ Music Concert in Support of Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers. Tickets are $25 and are available for purchase here.

From their website:

Luminus empowers immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and asylees by offering legal services to help them achieve their goals.

Did you know? Over the past forty years Luminus has worked with community members from over ninety countries of origin. They assist over 3,000 people each year.

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Got sneakers?

This year’s Evening in the Stacks to benefit the Howard County Library System will be on February 22nd at the East Columbia Branch. This year’s gala fundraiser, which celebrates the Library’s 85th birthday, will benefit the vital work HCLS does to help prepare young children for kindergarten.

Tickets are $150 (or two for $285) and can be purchased at this link. If the ticket cost is beyond your reach you can support the library by purchasing a raffle ticket our two. Check out the prizes available here.

The birthday theme includes an invitation to wear your sneakers - - this year’s promotional video will get you in the mood.

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If you’re not a gala fundraiser sort of person, I am absolutely sure that all three of these valuable local nonprofits would be happy to receive a donation in any amount and/or have opportunities for volunteers to support their missions.

Village Green/Town² Comments

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Teacher Gifts

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They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

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