As our school expansion project moves forward at full speed in preparation for the fall, the school isn’t the only thing that’s been improved lately at Seeds of Hope.
The Cultural Center is a hub of daily activity and the focus of much of our community outreach throughout the year. It’s home to our thriving after-school program, the Shine women’s program, English education classes, and so much more. But for years, we’ve known that the four floors that make up the building could be better utilized in serving our community. As our leadership and board set Seeds of Hope’s strategic plan for 2022, they knew that renovating the Cultural Center needed to be high on the list.
“As the Cultural Center has grown, our capacity was limited,” said Simon Shaheen, who leads the Center alongside his wife, Regina. “We had new ideas and programs we hoped to develop, but we weren’t able to make them a reality.” Not only was our growth limited, but the lack of space impacted even our existing programs. We often had to cancel meetings or events if they overlapped with special projects like our medical clinic or spa week because there wasn’t enough usable space.
With our strategic plan in place, and through the generous support of several donors, we completely reconfigured several floors of our existing building and revolutionized what’s possible in the space.
In the past, we could host a maximum of 90 people per week in our programs at the Cultural Center. Now, we can grow to host over 200 people per week in new and existing programs. It’s just another incredible example of how Seeds of Hope is growing our impact and opportunity in Jericho!
We hope to continue to expand our Shine women’s program, including offering childcare onsite to allow more women to participate. We have more activities for children planned, including a new youth choir, art, theater, and music programs, and more to engage students after school. And best of all, we won’t have to cancel them when other events happen.
Check out a few photos of the Cultural Center renovation along with more of the incredible programs that these updates are making possible!
We also fully revamped our computer lab as part of the renovation. We refreshed the space and outfitted it with 20 brand-new desktop computers. This will significantly improve our English language courses for children and adults, computer skills courses for kids, teens, and women, and new programs we hope to add centered around web design and computer programming in our after-school program. These kinds of classes are a huge part of how new families get introduced to Seeds of Hope and start to grow in their trust and understanding of our organization.
“Even with the previously outdated computers, our students have done a great job learning and researching for their presentation projects,” said Regina Shaheen, who leads our after-school program. “Now, with the new computers, the students will be able to do more and take their work to another level… We tell our students that they’re here to give their best. With our updated facilities, it feels like we are giving them our best as well.”
This is just the beginning of what’s possible with an updated Cultural Center. We know there are things we haven’t even dreamed of yet that will impact people inside its walls. We’re so grateful to all our donors and supporters who make projects like this possible. “It’s a dream come true,” said Simon. “These programs are how we change the culture. Now we can think bigger, upgrade what we offer, and develop even more ways to impact the community.”
