CommunityWorks Organization Hires Local Coordinator

Community Works, a local organization working to bring together volunteers from across the political spectrum to work on non-partisan issues of concern in Stephens County, has hired Reverend Cassandra Ellington to serve as the organization’s Local Coordinator. 

Ellington, who spent many years working with Michigan Metro Girl Scouts and The Society of St. Vincent DePaul, working to bring urban underprivileged children into rural camping environments to expand their horizons, said “Community Works partners with other civic, church, and nonprofit organizations to solve local problems and strengthen our community.”

Envisioned by the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative, the group’s primary goal is to bring together Stephens County residents from all walks of life, including political persuasions, to address concrete local needs.

Ellington,who also he also worked with the Michigan Foster and Adoptive Parent Association (MFAPA) alongside the Department of Child and Family Services (DFACS) and local county and state officials as an advocate and foster/adoptive parent trainer, added, “Many of our initial volunteers are Stephens County Democrats committed to working alongside neighbors across political differences. They hope to find common ground while working together on mutual, nonpolitical, service projects.”

As a former foster mom and current adoptive parent, Ellington said she believes in education for children, not just in the school but in society and the outside world, and in training for those who influence their development.

Ellington, “I believe in safe places for our children to play, grow, and learn, equal opportunities for people from all walks of life, and the responsibility we all have to our community and its citizens so it not just survives but flourishes and thrives.”

The Community Works Team, which includes Ellington, Betty Daniels, Marcia Gathercoal, Willis Crump, Michelle Curry, Justin Richie, Shirley Curry, Margaret Payne, Randy Chappelear, and Billie DuBose, will begin working in the community by helping to beautify the Senior Center. In the upcoming months, the Community Works Team will be looking for volunteers to help clean up Emory Johnson Park and Orr Park. They also plan to volunteer with local food banks, organize a diaper drive, adopt a highway, and work with local organization People’s First at its annual Fire Safety event.

Ellington, “Volunteers reflect America’s deep compassion, unselfish caring, loving-kindness, unwavering patience, and it’s true commitment to humanity. Volunteers work for free because their work is priceless.”

For more information, contact Ellington at [email protected] or search for ‘Community Works 4 Stephens’  on Facebook.