jhummel@njadvancemedia.com Web: nj.com/ben Cellphone: 856-237-6645 U.S. Army: RA13815980 The column that says Cumberland County needs a permanent shelter for the homeless, not just for the warmth, but for the help it can offer the hopeless and the helpless. — Good evening! — D. Bailey Miles, founder of Taking Back Millville, and her return message to Rev. Dave Ennis on...
jhummel@njadvancemedia.com
Web: nj.com/ben
Cellphone: 856-237-6645
U.S. Army: RA13815980
The column that says Cumberland County needs a permanent shelter for the homeless, not just for the warmth, but for the help it can offer the hopeless and the helpless.
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Good evening!
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D. Bailey Miles, founder of Taking Back Millville, and her return message to Rev. Dave Ennis on what can be accomplished:
"So, of course you're right, and I absolutely agree with you.
"I have taken a lot of heat over TBM's policies, but I stand by them because I feel like our city and our people should always be talked about in a way that reflects the potential of what they can be.
"I've had more debates over 'junkies,' 'hookers,' 'everyone on Section 8,' and 'these people' than I care to even count.
"I believe that everyone deserves the chance to change, to do better, and to have help and support along the way. We will get there collectively.
"Remember how crazy your idea of Millville being a world class city seemed just a year ago? But now we are seeing mobilization in so many sectors, the people as a whole are starting to believe it could happen.
"It's the same with all change -- it takes a few, who are eventually joined by some others, and then some others still, until -- eventually -- it becomes the collective.
"We can do this with racism, with social injustice, with at-risk youth, with all of our disenfranchised populations. We simply have to work together to do it.
"Thank you for your invitation, and I will do everything I can, work scheduling-wise, to make sure I can be there. Please remember to advertise on TBM as the date gets closer.''
-- D. Bailey Miles
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Pastor Ennis replies.
"Thank you, Donna, and you are to be commended for maintaining your taste of integrity.
"I know you have taken a lot of heat. But, thanks be to God, you are committed and I am committed. And I have reason to believe there's a great number of us who are committed.
"I know Millville can become a world class city. It's one of the reasons why I have become distracted at times. We are expected to be a premier city and some things keep trying to hinder us.
"But we will get there, Donna Miles. We have to continue to help each other and encourage one another. I will keep you posted as we draw closer to the Jan. 21, 2016, Peace in the City meeting ... .''
-- Pastor Dave Ennis
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And how is your community shaping up?
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Michael Mickey Williams, founder of Minor Adjustments, has finished his latest book, called "I'm A Believer.''
Release date is Jan. 1.
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Developed through countless community paint sessions starting in June, the mural "The Sacred Now: Faith and Family in the 21st Century" was dedicated Monday morning at St. Malachy School at 1419 North 11th St, in Philadelphia.
Its creator, Mexican muralist Cesar Viveros, described it as the the "mother of all the murals," an opportunity to create diversity, integration and representation through the project.
Viveros is the artist responsible for the two large murals in Bridgeton, one in the pocket park and the other on the side of RiverWalk.
The Philly mural is on track to earn a Guinness World Record for "Most Contributions to a Painting by Numbers."
-- aldianews.com
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MY KIND OF TOWN: Where, given the rest of the country, we're not doing bad.