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February 22, 2019, Flint, Michigan – The St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center received the Partner in Progress Award from the Genesee District Library in Flint on February 2 in recognition of the organization’s many contributions to the Flint community. Sister Carol Weber, OP, Co-founder and Co-director of N.E.W. Life with Sister Judy Blake, CSJ, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

The award ceremony took place during the Annual Black History Month Brunch at the Genesys Banquet and Conference Center in Flint. The event also included a presentation of the Award of Excellence to three individuals: Bryant Nolden, First District County Commissioner; Clifton Turner, 2005 Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame inductee; and Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President of Mott Community College.

St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center was chosen for the Partners in Progress Award from among 12 nominations “because of its wide range of services and far-reaching effect on the community,” said Kelly Flynn, Community Relations Manager for the Genesee District Library. 

The Black History Month Brunch, begun in 2002, is “one of Genesee County’s premier events,” Kelly said. “It provides an opportunity for the community to come together to celebrate the contributions of African Americans to world history. The brunch also inspires residents to reach their full potential and to make a difference in our community, state, and nation.” A portion of the proceeds from the brunch help support the Genesee District Library’s Summer Reading Challenge, which reaches more than 6,400 children in Genesee County.

Sister Carol Weber, OP, center, with Linda Ryals-Massey, left, Vice Chair of the Genesee District Library Board of Trustees, and David Conklin, Director of the Genesee District Library. Photo Courtesy of Pop Mod Photo

The Partners in Progress Award is one of many awards that the St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center has received in recognition of its contributions to the Genesee County community. 

During its annual dinner on October 27, 2018, the Arab American Heritage Council bestowed the Community Contributor of the Year Award on Sisters Carol and Judy.  Luke N.E.W. Life center also received the Four Pillars Award from the Genesee Community Health Center during its November 16, 2018,Gala. The award goes to an individual or organization that exemplifies the four pillars of hope, help, health, and healing.

Sister Carol said she was moved to receive the award during Black History Month. “It’s an honor to get any award, but an award like this is a real recognition from the community,” she said. The Partners in Progress Award “is for the center and everybody who’s involved in the center.”

When she accepted the award Sister Carol recalled seeing 500 people in the audience “and how engrossed they were in what we were doing as a center, and so highly supportive.” Among those in attendance were N.E.W. Life staff members and volunteers. “I spoke about how grateful we were to be honored in this way as a center,” Sister Carol said. “I thanked the board and the clients who trusted us enough to help them change their lives.”

Sisters Carol and Judy founded St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center in 2002 as a place to help women on Flint’s North Side to improve their lives. “The center has grown into a safe place where men and women come for food, job training, and education,” she said. This includes the work of the St. Luke N.E.W. Life Literacy Center. In addition, the Center offers a food pantry, which serves more than 3,000 people each month, and community services such as crisis prevention and child care.

In 2008, the Center opened a social enterprise program, a commercial sewing business, to help the women involved to learn a new trade and become self-sufficient. The Center opened its Employment Preparation Program in 2012. The 16-week program includes GED preparation; computer training; and skill building focused on 12 components, including positive approach to life and work, employer expectations, and financial literacy.

“The whole concept is to make sure [participants] have a work ethic so that when they get a job they’ll keep it,” Sister Carol explained. “We make sure that we take away all the barriers [to full-time employment] like lack of transportation and child care.”

Currently, graduates of the program have the opportunity to work for 60 to 90 days for the Center in social enterprise businesses such as commercial sewing; lawn care; and hoop houses, a form of greenhouse.  

In early spring, the new graduates of the Employment Preparation Program will also have the opportunity to work in the Center’s new bakery, which is scheduled to open then. “We’ll bake bread and cakes” and visit local parishes on the weekends to sell them, Sister Carol said. Some local restaurants are also are considering buying bread and cakes from the Center’s bakery. “We have a lot of support from people in the area,” she noted. “They want to buy into the work of St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center.”

Sister Carol also sees the potential for employment for women who gain experience through the Center’s bakery. “There are 53 institutions in a 25-mile radius that are looking for bakery workers,” she said. Women who are employed in the bakery will also be able to develop skills in cake decorating, another vital skill for those who work in individual or grocery store bakeries.

Feature photo: Sister Carol Weber, OP, accepts the Partners in Progress Award on behalf of St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center. Photo Courtesy of Pop Mod Photo