As part of its 50th Anniversary Celebration this year, Brighton center has introduced a “50 Years, 50 Stories” series to highlight some of the customers, volunteers, donors, community partners or supporters who are part of its history.
The Northern Kentucky Tribune has partnered with Brighton Center to share some of those firsthand accounts with our readers.
In the coming weeks, the Trib will publish individual stories that demonstrate the breadth of services Brighton Center provides in Northern Kentucky.
Occasionally some slight edits may be made in the text and, to protect confidentiality, we might only provide the first name of the storyteller.
These testimonials, however, describe some of the programs and services Brighton Center has provided in its first 50 years, in the words of the people who have benefited from them.
“They will be tired of me before I am tired of them,” Barb Manyet
How can you explain something that you love so much that helps people like Brighton Center does? I started when Bob Brewster sent out a letter to all the churches in the community asking for help and volunteers to help.
We got groups together and Bob came and talked to us about his dream for an agency that would help people become self-sufficient and get out of poverty. From there, Brighton Center’s guild was formed in 1971.
The guild put on the Taster’s luncheon, the Lamplighter ball, and we eventually bought the old Joker Bar on Columbia Street. We renovated it and opened the first Clothes Closet downstairs. There are wonderful ladies in the guild that have continued to help people all this time.
One of my favorite memories is receiving the Liz Herald award. I was honored to receive the award for community service and I didn’t know what to say when talking about an agency I love so much. It touched my heart so deeply to be awarded this award because Liz was a wonderful volunteer who volunteered for the center for ages and ages.
Through being involved with all of this, my grandchildren and children have also became involved by working in the Clothing Closet and cleaning toys for the annual Used Toy Sale. And now, my son in law volunteers on the Brighton Property’s Board of Directors.
I love the center so much that I will never give it up. I will always work with them and they will be tired of me before I am tired of them. Brighton Center shows you how to give to people, how to change their life, and how to do good wherever you are as long as you can.
I am inspired to keep supporting Brighton Center because of their model of self-sufficiency.
I’m most proud of Brighton Center’s impact on family, the love they have shared and shown, and the impact they have had on the community with all the services provided and in helping people become self-sufficient. This area never had that type of support before Brighton Center came along.
From its beginning in 1966 as a modest Newport storefront, Brighton Center has grown to provide a range of programs and services which include meeting basic needs, adult and early childhood education, workforce development, substance abuse recovery for women, affordable housing, financial education and counseling, and neighborhood based programs.
Last year Brighton Center impacted the lives of 60,892 individuals from infants to senior citizens through 37 programs in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati
For more information about Brighton Center and its programs and services, or to become a volunteer, click here http://www.brightoncenter.com/