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"In
the heart of the community with the community in our heart" is more than
a slogan. We seek to be a centerpiece in our community for spiritual, educational,
recreational, and cultural resources. Located in the heart of Bluefield, near
the intersection of routes 52 and 19, the Wade Center provides the perfect strategic
location to meet the needs of the greater Bluefield community.
In 2005, we formed a nonprofit group that raised funds to purchase and renovate
the former Wade School building, which was closed in 2000 as part of a school
consolidation effort. This large facility, which is comprised of two separate
buildings, is located between Bluefield Avenue and Highland Avenue. It contains
a gym, a large cafeteria, an auditorium. Its 20 classrooms are once again being used as computer labs, art rooms, tutoring facilities, music lesson rooms,
offices and more. The amount of progress we have made in the
short amount of time we have owned the building is amazing.
Wade exists to promote and nurture the growth of the children, teens
and young adults of the Greater Bluefield Community through practical programs
and mentoring relationships. Our programs will address their spiritual, physical,
emotional and intellectual needs, with the goal of encouraging positive personal
growth that results in the development of productive members of the community.
You can read about the latest ways we are going about accomplishing this mission
in the NEWS and PROGRAMS
sections of this Web site.
One of the questions we are asked most frequently is how we fund our work. In 2007, our funding came from the following sources:
- 10% from fundraisers
- 11% from grants from private foundations (we receive NO state or federal funding)
- 16% from staff members who raise their own salary
- 29% from the worship@wade congregation
- 34% from individual and corporate donors
Hundreds
of volunteers have helped us get where we are today, and we have a team of leaders on staff who help organize and oversee all of Wade's programs and activities:
We've
found that everyone benefits when the community comes together to care for the
next generation. For example, three senior nursing students at Bluefield State
College are fulfilling their need for a senior project by designing health curriculum
for Wade and staffing a health room. Obviously, Wade also benefits from this and
other similar partnerships. But most importantly, the community benefits. It's
people caring for people, the way community is supposed to work, and we
are honored to help make that possible.
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