AGAPE

As part of the 2017 Central Area Conference of The Links, Incorporated, members donated educational materials and presented a donation to support the continued transformational impact of the Agape Child Development Center in the Minneapolis and St. Paul communities. Agape Child Development Center created Minnesota’s first 24-hour childcare facility that addresses the needs of families. “They are nurtured to move beyond crisis to restoration, and then on to empowerment,” said Glenda Masingale Manson, Central Area Director.

 

Holding check, 2017, (l-r): Links member Jori Thibodeaux, President and CEO of Agape Oasis, Glenda Masingale Manson, The Links, Incorporated Central Area Director (2015-2019), Links member Mercedes Henderson Clark, Minneapolis/St. Paul (MN) Chapter President (2017-2019), and Dr. Diane Thibodeaux, founder and President of Agape Child Development Center.

Other Projects

Parent Education

The Parents’ Education Awareness Exchanges began in 1982. Up to 250 parents attended a series of four dinner meetings lead by Links members. Participants increased their knowledge and awareness of programs in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Public Schools and were encouraged to advocate on behalf of their children.

Food Shelf Projects

This partnership with St. Philip’s Episcopal Church aimed to help low-income residents facing hunger in the St. Paul neighborhood near the church. Chapter members donated food items or monetary donations to help stock the food shelf. In addition to the work with the food shelf, Links members prepared and delivered Christmas and Thanksgiving baskets directly to Saint Paul Public School families in need.

Project LEAD

Project LEAD: High Expectations is a national Links, Incorporated program that began in the 1990s in response to the growing opioid epidemic. Links chapters partnered locally with community service organizations to deliver programming and lead educational forums designed to increase awareness and provide proactive steps to help decrease rates of drug and alcohol abuse.

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