By Nancy Bowman
The second floor of a downtown Tipp City building is like a second home to at least one girl and a place to be safe and be themselves for any interested local youth. Connections is housed on the second floor of 135 E. Main St. The nonprofit youth outreach was started by the Rev. Barbara Cooper in 2018, first in one downtown location and then at 135 E. Main St. It continues to offer an afterschool place for students primarily in grades six through 10.
“I want Connections to be a place where the kids feel loved and accepted and are nurtured so that they grow to be all that God designed them to be. That is my goal,” Cooper said. “They know they can come here and be safe, that I am going to stand up for them.”
Connections is open weekdays after school until 6 p.m. with Friday being the busiest day. The center is for students in middle school and high school with most attending being middle school age and early high school.
The center is funded “by grants and nice people and lots of hopes and prayers,” Cooper said.
Among supporters has been the Tipp City Foundation, which supported Connections with grants including one in 2018 to help launch the program and others in 2022 and 2024 for general expenses.
Cooper teaches music lessons, leasing part of the upstairs space for that purpose. She is a pastor through the United Methodist Church and appointed to the program through the church as well as playing music on Sundays and filling in as pastor at area churches, as needed.
Students come in to buy snacks, play board games, do homework, undertake art projects, talk, hang out, play darts and pool and once a month participate in an open mic evening with presentations on poetry, music and other interests. They also have access to a vinyl records collection for music.
“This gives them a place to belong, and to get connected,” Cooper said. The rules are simple with emphasis on respecting self and others.
“I want them to build each other up, not tear each other down. We don’t need ugly language. I tell them to be more creative than that. They hold each other accountable. They call each other out all the time (for language, etc.),” she said.
Asked by Cooper what they like about Connections, one young girl attending the program last week said it is a second home to her while a boy said it is a place where he can hang out with friends.
Among newer projects at Connections is a Miami Valley Youth Choir open to those age six through 18. Participants come from Tipp City, Bethel Township, Vandalia, Piqua and several other area communities. Cooper is assisted with the choir by co-director Julie Collins of Troy and Caitlyn Hood, an intern studying composition at the University of Dayton.
More information on Connections events can be found at Miami Valley Youth Choir. The Connections website contains other information on the program. Donations are accepted with PayPal, at Connections of Tipp City, the most used format for donations.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The Tipp City Foundation is a member fund of The Troy Foundation. You can make a difference with your dollars in our community by:
- Donating online here.
- Making your check payable to the Tipp City Foundation and mail to P.O. Box 626, Tipp City, OH 45371.
- Setting up a fund or legacy plan by contacting Heather Bailey at (937) 528-2482.
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
All marketing activities of the Foundation is 100% underwritten by generous sponsors. Please contact us at info@tippfoundation.org for information on how your business or organization can become our partner in philanthropy.
- Silver Sponsor — Thrivent Financial (Matt Buehrer)
- Bronze Sponsors —Evans Title, J & L Wood Products, Monroe Federal, New Carlisle Federal Savings Bank,
Park National Bank, Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling, Sibcy Cline – Jackie Halderman, John J. Skolnicki, CPA,
Tipp Eye Center - Friend Sponsors — Captor Corporation, Edward Jones – Neil Nehring, Frings & Bayliff Funeral Home, Greenville Federal, Minster Bank, Turnstone Financial, US Bank
- Media Sponsor — Tippecanoe Gazette
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