Wesley Community Center offers thanks

Thank You to all the churches and individuals of The United Methodist Church for your gifts of love that support efforts to exhibit God’s love for his children. Your gifts pave the way to hope for the future of those we serve in our community needing a lift in life. You reflect God’s blessings of faith, hope and charity. Keep the children and families we serve as well as our staff in your prayers.
Thanks again,
Christy Hoffman, board president
Wesley Community Center
OUR HISTORY
Our agency’s history has shown us the results of loving care for the children in our community. Wesley Community Center began in 1942 in rural Nueces County. Volunteers and staff reached out to the children of the neighborhood, the children of migrant families, children with a language barrier. The need to help the children and their families emerged as the focus of most of the programs that followed.
It all began with kindergarten, so the little Hispanic children would learn English and be ready for formal education as they entered public school. Their mothers were taught to sew clothes while the children were in classes.
Wesley Community Center brought children of all races together in those early years through scouting and social activities for girls and boys. It was not a popular idea, but the resulting acceptance in the community helped create a tolerant society.
Wesley pioneered a project in 1967 to train handicapped children outside their homes when the idea was not a popular one. The center continued to serve the handicapped children until the public school system moved the children into the mainstream school program in 1981.
General Educational Development for adults, an emergency food pantry and summer recreation for school-aged children have all been programs first offered by Wesley Community Center. In 1968, the center introduced childcare to enable parents (many single moms) to work to meet their household needs. The center’s staff, board and volunteers have made a difference in the lives of many young families over the years.
One of the stated goals of the first director, Ollie Willings, was to ensure that the Hispanic children and their families gained an understanding of the global society. She passed on the message of unlimited possibilities for the future through the power of education and community participation. Today we are witnesses to the results of the seeds planted more than 60 years ago. Those early years produced leaders who now serve our community in national, state, county and city government. Willings and her staff and volunteers delivered the message!
Wesley Community Center has continued to deliver a message over the years of loving concern for people, especially the children with endless possibilities for the future. Our quality children’s development programs prepare the young minds of children. Year after year we realize the effects on many of the children we have served as they graduate from high school, most with honors. That is remarkable in a county where fewer than 75 percent of the children graduate from high school at all.
As our dreams come true for those we serve in our rural area, Wesley Community Center has expanded its services to children into the city. We began programs to serve the children of Corpus Christi in 2001 at Oak Park UMC. A childcare program that places special emphasis on the needs of children living in homeless circumstances and an adult education project for homeless individuals and parents were our first programs in Corpus Christi. In 2003 we found a permanent home in Corpus Christi at 4015 MacArthur. The facility is a building well suited for the services we provide. We are blessed to have space to grow and develop new programs and services to a needy community.