Women Living and Working in Fear — What’s It Going to Take to Fix This?

Tonight I saw two scary-clear examples of women whose worlds were turned entirely upside down to the point of fear, in despair, shaking the very foundations their lives had been on, moments before. My reactions surprised me and it's taken three hours to process before sitting down to write.

It was a little after 8:15 pm. On my way home from dinner, I'm driving my usual route, slowly, because animals dart out. Coming down Copperfield Drive from University, on the left-hand sidewalk, an outlined shape appeared, either a light-colored dog bent over where arms met the ground with legs, but crouched, or it was a person bent over almost hugging the ground.

That sidewalk is often traversed by walkers in pairs for exercise, even after dark, and it will be until Daylight Savings returns. It’s never a good idea for a woman to be alone on any neighborhood blocks; none of them is safe in the dark. Was it a person or a dog? If it was a person, had they tripped and were they trying to get up?

I slowed to 20 mph and still I couldn’t discern clearly. I proceeded east about 0.25 miles, made a gentle U-turn and was shocked to see a woman bent over. As my lights approached her, she staggered to get up slowly. I cautiously pulled closer to the curb and asked, “Are you alright?” She looked into my eyes to see I was not a threat and shook her head gently ‘no’ while saying, “I was thrown out of my house and I’ve got to ….” And her voiced trailed off.

She wore a thick grey sweater, a handbag over her arm, just like any suburban wife or mom would have if you were heading to Target or someplace for a quick errand. Her steps were uncertain but nothing was broken. Unsure whether or not she had tripped or just bent over in tears, I saw no bruises or blood. “Can I call someone for you?” She shook her head ‘no.’ “What happened?” I asked. She was not intelligible, yet she showed no signs of disorientation or drunkenness. Something had happened, but what?

In the old days, I would have invited her into my car and offered to drive her someplace, but these are no longer those days. Seeing no mask, I could not in poor judgment or good choices invite her to ride with me. We’re all extra cautious right now; the last thing I can afford is to go down with COVID-19.

I asked, “Can I call Bryan Police nonemergency on my phone and have them come give you a ride somewhere?” She immediately shook her head ‘no’ and said, “I have a home. I just can’t get there. My husband threw me out.” I was devastated to hear that. I’m not here to cast judgment and I only know what she told me. “I’m okay.” She half-smiled and started making further progress walking on her journey, to where I wasn’t sure. So I did another gentle U-turn and no traffic was anywhere around. Where was everyone tonight? I had Bryan PD’s nonemergency number in my phone contacts and dialed to explain the situation to the Dispatch officer and he was great, as they always are.

It was not even 60°F and the wind wasn’t chilling, but her warm sweater was not going to help her with no head covering or scarf if she were going very far. He assured me he’d reach out to a nearby officer to have him or her check on her. He patiently waited with me on the phone as I stayed parked to see her cross the street headed towards Stripes because it might be three or four minutes before a patrol car could reach her. Wanted to make sure she didn't duck down a side street.

Thanking the officer, I threw up a quick prayer and asked the Lord and his angels to watch over her. As I drove to the safety of my home, I realized that every day around us are examples of women in fear. I don’t know a thing about this woman, her life, or her history. I only know I saw the look on her face and there was true pain, mental pain, emotional pain, and the words “verbal abuse” came into my mind…she was a woman, maybe she was a victim, but she was scared and I was helpless to help her. Damn.

I also knew my own protective instincts were taking care of me while the voices of my own guardian angels assured me that I could not bring her into my car. What if she had COVID? What if she had a gun? What if this was a time-tested ruse to get people to stop and help?

These days, my friends, we don’t have the luxury of picking up a stranger on the side of the road, lest we face injury, robbery, or fear ourselves. What a state of play our lives are in. Luxury everywhere around us, working electricity, running water, indoor plumbing that even our grandparents didn’t have, and we’re poor in spirit when it comes to trust. We’ve all got to work on that.

Then, I arrived home, made a cup of coffee, and turned on the news.

There was a United States Congresswoman being interviewed on TV, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), or AOC, as the kids call her. Now instantly some of you have formed an opinion of her based on prior media reports. That’s your choice. But, for a moment, I ask that you forget her "politics" and just think of her as a woman who was duly elected as a representative from the Bronx in New York. The interviewer had Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on together with fellow “freshman,” U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA).

The question to both representatives: During the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, where did Rep. Ocasio-Cortez go as the mob approached and what did she hear and what was she feeling? The discomfort and verge of tears that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was showing was painful to watch as she explained that she had knocked on Rep. Porter’s office asking if she could come in, along with an aide from another representative’s office.

“Of course,” Rep. Porter replied, and without saying a word, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez started opening cabinets, closet doors, anything with a crawl space, until Rep. Porter said, “What can I help you find?” AOC said, “I’m looking for where I can hide.” AOC had been in the Cannon House Office Building. She had made her way over to the Longworth House Office Building because when she had been evacuated, no one told her where would be a safe place to go and find safety. Seriously?!

Outside the office, the quickly approaching crowd was banging on walls, yelling, “Where is she? Where is AOC? Where is she?” and by that time, Rep. Porter had turned out all the lights in the office. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez had found a space behind the bathroom door in Rep. Porter’s office, and the other aide was also hiding. The three women had to stay in an office, with drapes drawn and lights out, in fear for six hours. Unfathomable. No one was communicating with our elected officials as to where they could find safety. No one reached out to them to check and see if they were “okay.”

Rep. Porter noted that AOC had said, “Of all days to wear heels,” and Rep. Porter had found a spare pair of her own aide’s tennis shoes to fit Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and she wore them, “in case she had to make a quick run for it.” Our elected officials. Duly elected, officially sworn in. WOMEN. Fearing for their safety while they are in our buildings as public servants trying to do their best for this country.

So, too, are female Republican Senators and Congresswomen, being intimidated by fear of not having supporters, of “being primaried,” or of other loss if they stand up and speak up in behalf of their fellow women in public service, being threatened with punitive action should they speak out loud rather than taking orders to remain silent. It’s not about a political party that women are working and living in fear. There are bullies across the aisle and it doesn’t take long to learn all their names.

Women walking alone the streets of Bryan, fearful for the next hour, the next day, the next night. Nightmares and trauma are realities of present-day life that are exacerbated when people act rashly, motives designed to provoke fear, to intimidate, to strip away the power of decision to act of one’s own accord.

I don’t have any answers. There are so many good people in this world, so many great people around us here in town. No person is any different in the basic needs we all have: shelter, food, clothing, safety. Yet, it seems that women are becoming prey…some are victims of fear, having been pushed, shoved, and panicked into a heightened state of physical and emotional paralysis, where they can’t get out of a bad situation.

Locked into a bad place, they often despair alone, no one to turn to, to confide in, or to ask for help. Help is not necessarily the federal government. Here at home it’s more likely that our local municipal government has programs and resources and nonprofit agencies to help people through those times of fear. I’m familiar with some, but not all of them.

I’m angry that we live in a day and time where violence is often the answer, no matter the question. It’s beyond insane to work in a state of fear at home or traumatized in our own Capitol. But we do. Unless and until people in power deal with the fringe-of-sanity cultists, expect more of the same.

Never did I expect such a broad swath of people who accept as truth things that are not true. Science and mathematics do not accept things that are not proven. Some things we take on faith like what’s beyond this planet, this universe. Too far away, numbers fail, statistics are useless, and only time will tell.

Yet, I saw no difference in the fear that was in the eyes of tonight’s sidewalk stranger and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez as she described how she feared for her safety, and her life. Her one thought was how Rep. Porter said, “I’m a Mom. I’ve got this, I’ll help you. We can stay here for six weeks if we have to, I have enough supplies” to calm her. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, replied, “I may never get the chance to be a Mom.” She truly expected to die. She'd been traumatized before in her lifetime; this just reignited every PTSD trigger the first time she suffered.

In retrospect of 2021, in the past six decades, my lifetime so far, I’ve seen Texas as a state that was one of only five states left in the U.S. that had a poll tax until 1964, when the 24th amendment to the Constitution prohibited poll taxes for federal elections. All but Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Virginia, and of course Texas, had abolished poll taxes. We were one of five states that didn’t voluntarily get rid of them. No pride there.

The Dallas Morning News reported, “The Texas Senate attempted to repeal the poll tax in 1949 and 1963 but failed both times. The state ended poll taxes for local and state elections with a 1966 resolution, but it didn’t formally approve the amendment until 2009, when Rep. Alma Allen, a Black Democrat from Houston, sponsored a resolution to ratify it.” In 2009; again, not proud.

It’s time things started changing for the better here in Texas, and in the United States. We deserve better, but we have to vote to get it.

Is it coincidental or on target that a recent rating of the least educated states in the United States include #1 Mississippi, #2 West Virginia, #3 Louisiana, #4 Arkansas, and #5 Alabama. Meanwhile people walk the streets here in town without a mask, still…really?

The more you read, the smarter you get, and the more you are aware of education, learning, and the power that comes from being informed, no matter how far you go in school. High school graduates I know are brilliant students of international politics because they read and stay informed of the facts.

Suddenly, an inspiration at 3 am…I cannot remove the fear or fix the world of that woman I saw tonight, but God can. I prayed for the Sidewalk Stranger. I cannot fix (alone), by anything other than my single vote, the atrocities that face our elected leadership as they try to put the pieces of our lives back together, for us, as they decide whether a Democratic $1400 check or a Republican $600 check or a compromise $1000 check “might” work to “solve” our problems caused by the virus that would get to “maybe 15 cases and then ‘by magic’ it would suddenly all go away.” I have disgust at those who stood by in silence, or helped perpetuate the lies, doing nothing while people died needlessly. It was a life-and-death matter, for hundreds of thousands, not 15.

Decision: I’m about to take part of whatever check they decide to mail all of us proudly working for a living, if anything, and buy a bunch of books to encourage reading for young children. I’ll be doing my small part of helping to train children to read, to learn, and to make the rules, not to be trapped by or victims of them. Mostly, I hope to be giving to them to help. If I had a foundation and could do what I wanted with it, anonymously, I’d make sure that every child in Texas could read beyond grade level and had the resources to do so. From there, they grow up with a rich love of learning that never ends.

Soltuions, in my personal experience: phonics will help a child dive into the world of reading and to express creatively in writing and art, eventually in music. Once we are equals in reading, and in mathematics, we can be equals at the decision table as we run the country one day with a better educated group of people who learned that most of all--truth matters, courage matters, and as Col. Alexander Vindman said, “Here (in the USA), Right Matters.”

May God bless the courage of Rep. Porter, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Speaker Pelosi, and the woman on the sidewalks of Bryan tonight for having the courage to walk where she did not know, where she could not see well, for the promise of “something better” in her life. Please Lord, deliver it now. Amen.

[Note: Those unfamiliar with Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA)—she was the one who questioned Jamie Dimon, the CEO of Chase Bank who didn’t know how much his tellers made every month, why he didn’t pay his tellers a living wage while taking a personal salary of $31,500,000/yr and getting federal funds for bailouts. She also stumped Louis DeJoy, the U.S. Postmaster General, about how much it cost to mail a postcard. He makes $303,460/yr but didn’t know how much it cost to mail a postcard. Congresswoman Porter informed him; it’s $.35. He should have known. She questioned Steven Mnuchin and he condescendingly snapped back at her, "Are you a lawyer?" as though she could not possibly be. She replied (paraphrasing), "As a matter of fact I am, now answer my question."]

Project Unity and aloft Hotel Score Hat Trick in College Station’s Social Hot Spot

About a month ago, the Brazos Valley hosted one of the most amazing social events of the year, July 20th to be exact. So, why does it take this long to write a ‘little something’ about it? One reason. I wanted to actually monitor and measure the real impact of the ‘Live at Aloft Benefiting Project Unity’ event on the organization that it was designed to benefit—Project Unity.

This community is very philanthropic, and for every great cause that has an extravaganza come its way, many times you see the initial focus and attention and coverage on the organization is magnificent, and the event appears to be a magical night. But then… the minute the cameras are off, the organization is completely forgotten.

“Would this be the case with Project Unity?” was my initial hypothesis. Fast answer: Just the opposite. Today, Project Unity is on the minds and in the hearts of more people than the organization could have even hoped to attract. And it all started at Aloft, in College Station.

Thanks to generous-minded people, the Brazos Valley community is enriched daily, even when it overflows with good causes and multiple nonprofits. And, most of them have some special event in the course of a year’s time that is designed to help support the organization for the rest of the year, actually making the operational budget so the group can write grants and seek funding for the course of the year, ultimately growing and thriving and becoming self-sustaining. Well, that’s the goal at least. But, the cost of things keeps going up and sometimes funding sources that you could count on like clockwork….disappear.

Were you part of the swelling crowd of Brazos Valley residents who flowed in and out of the lobby of College Station’s Aloft Hotel Wednesday night, staying to meet and greet the community’s most ardent, active forces in behalf of children and parents, better known as Project Unity? If you were, you had a major league great time at the inaugural “Live @ Aloft” benefiting Project Unity. And, if you missed notice of the event, then you missed KBTX's Rusty Surette's on camera interview with Judy and Wienkie LeUnes. With respect to both of the adults there, it was Wienkie who had his own name on his own chiron graphic "Wienkie LeUnes." Rusty is a great community-minded add to the station, and he's fully Wienkie-approved.

Now if you weren’t among the hundreds of people there, you missed out on the hat trick––the excitement and buzz as the come-and-go flow saw Jeannie McGuire, Founder and President of Project Unity, teamed up with Judy LeUnes, Bryan-College Station’s most gifted volunteer and promotions expert and a little brown dog named Wienkie LeUnes, Project Unity’s Life Enrichment Coordinator—the triumvirate team that scored three goals in the game in one night. That’s one. More on the hat trick later.

The goal was to establish a signature “Friendraiser,” for the (formerly) low-key nonprofit, so people could learn what it was that Project Unity does, and why they should consider joining Club 365, to pledge and give $1 every day to accomplish tasks that everyone talks about doing, but only a few are willing to do. More on the organizational mission later. First, let’s talk about the party that founder Jeannie McGuire had always dreamed of in her heart but had no idea would happen!

Who Was There?

Better question: Who wasn’t there? Starting at 5:30 p.m., hundreds of people came in the first wave of the folks entering Aloft’s parking lot, where they were treated to a fabulous Sno-Cone, perfect for the Texas heat. Smiling as they came in, then Katie Watson, Project Unity’s newest development intern took your photo and welcomed you on behalf of the nonprofit.

Next, from Aloft, Dezi Nguyen greeted you and put her hospitality manage know-how to work immediately, making every single person in the room at home within an instant. Never before has any hotel representative made it her personal mission to introduce complete strangers to each other and get them in conversation. All new, fresh ideas in hosting events. Others should take notes.

Now before things got started, Judy LeUnes and her team arrived at Aloft to get everything all set and Aloft’s Joseph Kennedy had a private room set aside for…Wienkie!! Wienkie’s key card was handed to his mom, and when they entered, there was a place for his crate, a lovely water bowl and a little sack of treats saying “Welcome Wienkie!” a-l-o-f-t knows the V-I-Ps, just saying.

Project Unity Board Members and Staff were everywhere, and this is really the first time they have been together not in a giant staff meeting, and the joy in seeing Bobby Williamson (Spirit of Texas) and wife Gina, Mike Bowers (Property Offers Today), Danielle Fifer (BB&T), and more being recognized by the community members…the reason the large group was assembled

Better Business Bureau head honcho, Bill McGuire, was there (and even managed to snag his wife Jeannie for a dance to the classic and cool sounds of the Christopher Crow Band).

Linda Harvell took a turn in a photo with Wienkie. Brandy Burkhalter Norris, Sheree Boegner, Kathy Niemeyer Savell, Katy Pruitt, Hugh Stearns, then Ricky Gonzales took time out to come by, as did Jason Cornelius (Prosperity Bank), Brian Blake (TAMU) and more.

If You Don't Know About Texas A&M and Hockey...Here's Why You Should

In fact, one of the community’s more recent stellar personalities to be on the volunteer scene is Jason King, a former advertising and marketing executive who relocated to Texas A&M as the Assistant Coach of Texas A&M Ice Hockey Team. No, you read it right. Yes, those of us who love Texas A&M athletics don’t know everything going on around Aggieland! The town’s best-kept secret might just have to relinquish that title, as we are now blessed with another exciting and dynamic sport to cheer on our student athletes.

To get you started, learn important hockey phrases like “changing on the fly,” “a breakaway,” understand what a “shoulder check” is and what a “drop pass” is. Think you’re good on ice skates? Well, maybe you are and maybe you aren’t but if you can’t do a “power stop,” then stay on the porch with the little dogs until you can skate out with the big ones. When children in our community learn from the finest instructors and can be inspired by the special guests Coach King can bring in to talk with them, the sky is simply the limit. Project Unity and Aloft started that dialog, and that’s just one example of networking among friends here can be about.

Now, imagine the potential for inspiring young children from underserved families with new, exciting goals of athletic prowess, and we caught up with Danielle Fifer, who is a founding member of the Bubba Moore Memorial Group, who continues each and every year to make possible tremendous philanthropy in Bubba’s honor and memory. Nothing could have made him happier, I daresay than to see his family and his community flourishing so beautifully. He gave full-page ads in, and front-page covers on, TV Facts to local nonprofits in need, as though they were water flowing freely from a faucet, rather than $1,000 gifts in kind that they were, simply because of his heart the size of Texas.

Here’s How This Magnificent Night Came To Be:

LeUnes is Project Unity’s Director of Development & Communications, and is on a first-name basis with virtually everyone in town, plus their dogs and cats—not kidding, especially dogs. Think: Jefferson Award winner founds Wienerfest—Bra Art—et al., same Judy LeUnes. The dynamic do-gooder assembled all of her friends, a dynamic, diverse community of movers and shakers together—in support of Jeannie McGuire’s simple wish—that the nonprofit she founded 20 years ago might not be the community’s best-kept secret any longer. So, what is Project Unity? Just wait. A few introductions are in order first.

McGuire is a beautiful, gifted woman (inside and out) with a heart of gold, a soul full of love for children and parents, and an indefatigable spirit. Together, Jeannie and Ella McGruder have (quietly) been blazing a path across the Brazos Valley, building a team of gifted social workers and volunteers who help keep children safe. Importantly, they educate parents on how to keep families together, safe from abuse. And, they care for and about local HIV/Aids patients.

Through educational programs they offer, parents do not berate their children, they embrace step-children into blended families, and they transform families through building communications skills. Ella is a local “You’re the Tops” honoree, devoted wife, mother, church member and social worker. Her title has been Director of Programs at Project Unity, but she’s actually Jeannie’s spiritual twin, co-captain visionary, and has been from the get-go.

More on projects, but there’s a new team member to fall in love with.

There is this little brown dog, who’s become a social media and TV favorite: Wienkie LeUnes. Before you consider devaluing Wienkie’s role in this effort, and smiling, saying “Oh, isn’t that cute…” here’s a fact. Judy LeUnes’ advocacy for fur babies in the Brazos Valley is a given. But just as she took her beloved dog, “Hey, Dude! LeUnes” to school with her every day when she was a teacher, and he had his job there, Wienkie is following the path blazed by Hey, Dude! (Note: to the right is Sheree Boegner and Wienkie)

Naturally, Judy took her Chihuahua to work immediately at Project Unity s but know that this was not a for-pretend cutesy little gimmick. Far from it. Wienkie has earned his title “Life Enrichment Coordinator.” Wienkie sends out important updates and messages on Facebook, and he’s been on KBTX with his Mom and Aloft’s Joseph Kennedy. What was the amazing hat trick this triumvirate pulled off? Keep reading.

The Projects of Project Unity

In going back to the very beginning of Project Unity, Jeannie and Ella have had a phenomenal team to work with, including Michelle Bouldin and San Juanita Quintero who have been there in the 20-year time frame, and you would never know they were there unless you were the clients being served. They literally go around the Brazos Valley every day, looking for parents who need parenting skills among neighborhoods where the children need to come first in their parents’ lives.

Because grants that Project Unity receives are generous in nature but almost ridiculous in statistics reporting the division of work falls to the team on the ground and the folks on the computers in data entry try hard to keep up with the whirlwind of Michelle and San Juanita.

It’s not only amazing that they have been there as long as they have, Michelle commutes to and from Houston because she believes so much in Jeannie, Ella, and their impact they have on children. It’s really a family. In fact, when Michelle went into labor with one of her children, Jeannie and Ella were on each side of her holding her hand. #Family. We the public don’t know this, don’t see this, should know this, should see this. It’s simply phenomenal.

Diana Gaytan, Family Support Facilitator, is very excited about her work out of the Beck Street Location for Project Unity, Here’s the basic rundown on what it is that Project Unity Does.

Slowdown for the Low-down (with thanks to the late Maxine Messenger of the Houston Chronicle, for allowing me to borrow one of her signature phrases, at least this once)

It takes a tremendously committed Board of Directors to know all the employees, all of the initiatives, see the results of every grant that Jeannie is writing at her office or late, late into the evening at home. The grant requests never end and there’s a stark reality that this observer sees that may not be immediately clear to others.

But, Joseph Kennedy had thrown open the doors wide to welcome at Aloft because when Judy LeUnes says “There’s a need,” then Joseph joins in with “We’re in,” and that is how Judy rolls in the Brazos Valley, continuing to spread love, understanding, education and a little brown dog, who’s the hit of every event he attends.

With a focus on families, on parenting, on prevention of child abuse through educating parents, great programs that provide safe harbor and supervised visitation for parents to have safe access to their children for a few hours each week while they try and put their lives back together.

In the exciting and ever-expanding world of Project Unity—Jeannie McGuire’s dream that attained an all-new visibility, one she’d never dreamed of before, some 20 years later , that hat trick was accomplished by one woman, Judy LeUnes, who invited everyone she knew and loved in town over to Aloft Hotel for the party of the summer. And they all came.

Every single one of Judy’s volunteer groups that the Jefferson Award winner has ever championed, has ever garnered support for, in all of her community do-gooding over the years—showed up, stayed, shared, and stayed some more. It was the party that simply no one wanted to leave. And Aloft’s penultimate host with the most—Joseph Kennedy—smiled and said, “Stay as long as you want. It’s why we are here.”

How Can You Support Project Unity?

Two ways are possible to support this magnificent organization: a) with an initial gift in any denomination, whether a first-time gift, as many were given that night at the Aloft celebration, by joining Club 365, where you commit $1.00/day to the organization (and they’ll even set it up where you can bill your credit card, monthly or yearly, earning miles and points for your philanthropy). Check out www.club365.org and see what tremendous things they do with your dollars, and note where Project Unity was awarded the Daily Point of Light Award by President George H. W. Bush in 2001. Quietest nonprofit in town never had the chance to be bragged on for all it does before. Judy LeUnes is changing the “best kept secret in town” image….par excellence.

Or, you can donate items on their wish list (call them to find out what they need. Currently, Judy LeUnes would love a real conference table and chairs for their conference room as they are “making do” with something that someone’s brother’s cousin’s neighbor didn’t need. Just sayin’.

There’s a Community Partnership Board with over 65 people “from across housing, employment, faith-based entities, and basic needs” who come together to help people in our community.

Volunteers for the Safe Harbour Program are cherished and needed, as they are the nonrelative adults who supervise children whose noncustodial parents still want to see them and there needs to be a ‘safe harbour’ for the two to meet. Imagine you have a loved one with a parent who dearly loves their child or children, but it’s not good for them to be at the home of the other parent.

Did you know that there are 500 children and parents every year right here in our community who can see their parent under the very safest conditions and still give and receive love and affirmation to one another. Conditions are very specific and the volunteers are very safe as are all parties concerned. As a Project Unity representative to explain the specifics. One very neat thing is that BB&T adopted Safe Harbour as their “Lighthouse Project,” and not only was there financial support—BB&T employees gave up Saturday mornings for two-hour shifts to the tune of 220 hours of service.

Again, these community partners don’t do it for the acclaim or the brownie points with the corporate bosses. They do it because eyeball-to-eyeball, they care about children first in this community. That’s first-class philanthropy.

Another project is called TFTS—of course it is, but what is it? It is Texas Families Together and Safe. Parents of children 3-9 are in one group and those of children 9-17 are in another group. Project Unity teaches parents how to raise their children, how to deal with children’s acting out behavior, tantrums, refusal to adhere to house rules, and one of the biggest success stories is for parents with children by previous marriages to come together in a home and be shared-parent step-parents with everyone included ‘in.’

Rather than my family or your family it is ‘our family.’ Helping children do homework does not mean doing their algebra for them, as if that is even possible in this day and time, right? It does mean being aware of free tutoring, of public library resources and offerings, and other ways of helping your children to succeed, even changing their attitudes about school entirely. It’s just lives they change at Project Unity, every day of the week.

Now What Happened at the Party?

A brand new world opened up for Project Unity. The loving but somewhat shy leader/founder of the group met, like, a million people, and remembered all their names because she has that kind of mind. Plus when you walk in the door, there’s a little Xeroxed thank-you for coming message from Wienkie, signed with his paw print. If you wanted to make an initial donation coming in, there was an easy-to-find, no pressure place to do it. Or, some folks came at the invitation of board members and then were shuttled over to meet with Judy, Director of Development and Communications for it. Wienkie LeUnes, as cohost, was given VIP treatment upon his arrival earlier that day at Aloft. There was nothing cutesy about it.

Aloft’s Joseph Kennedy gave Wienkie his own guest room, with a special place for his little carrier/crate and he had a bowl of water waiting, as well as special little puppy treats in a bag, embossed with “Welcome, Wienkie!” He was there to do a job, but like every man who works a room with gusto, he needed a place to rest, refresh and prepare for reappearances.

He donned his formal attire, a little tuxedo, for the evening and frankly, once Judy brought him out into the crowd, the fight was on to be next in line to have pictures taken in front of an ingenious step-and-repeat banner with (you guessed it!) “Project Unity’s” name and logo on it. Have any idea how many hundreds of photos went viral across Facebook? Judy didn’t win the community’s Jefferson Award without skills, folks! Brilliant marketing.

Wienkie took rests between throngs of people fussing over him, and yet, he seemed entirely at bliss, unperturbed by the rock band playing upbeat, happy tunes with folks dancing close by. Then again he’s not an only dog. He comes from a current family of rescue pups that Arnold LeUnes and Judy LeUnes and roll call goes something like this: Lilly, B, Remy, Charlie, Wienkie, and Darth…..”Darthhhh….Darth Vader where are you?” You see, Darth Vader LeUnes is still learning a few rules of the road, but he’s so darned cute that his learning period for forgiveness continues to be extended. He may have to sweep up Project Unity headquarters one day but for now, he’s just well…Darth.

Money came in for Project Unity with gusto that night, but more importantly, each person there became and ambassador for spreading the word about the organization that does so much, with so little, and never has had the kind of advocate before that the whirlwind that is Judy does for the group. With Katie Watson and David Rogers (pictured here with friends) spent a few weeks interning with Judy, well that was like releasing even more inspiration into the universe. Inspiration is all it takes, combined with training, to create exciting transformations in lives every day.

Now, since that time, what has happened for Project Unity? Let’s take a look. Wienkie did a prompt video thank-you to all his friends, then a massive photo album was published online on Facebook. Follow them here and please click “Like” on the page as that will help them get grants as they continue to increase public awareness for @ProjectUnityBCS.

New members of Club 365 were signed up that night, with checks and credit card gifts completed online, boom! Wienkie encouraged folks to become Unity Partners and the next week, Project Unity went to Carver Elementary School in Bryan to recruit more families for parenting classes (Sanjuanita and Michelle, the dynamic duo on the move again). Then there was talk of a Downtown Bryan event to potentially benefit Project Unity. As that continues to develop, that’s one tremendous result of what great things people can do for you, once they know about you.

Deborah Cowman of The Brazos Valley Museum was kind enough to donate tickets to the “Wish Upon a Butterfly” release event for Project Unity families they serve “who would not ordinarily be able to afford to go to the museum” to attend. Imagine the looks of wonder on children’s faces when they see a museum, history, exciting exhibits, displays, and butterflies. It just causes them to dream and want to become researchers, explorers, adventurers, archeologists, or just to see beauty wherever it abounds. #Lifechanging through simple, thoughtful gifts, once people know who and where you are.

Days later, the College Station Men’s Wearhouse conducted a National Suit Drive for Project Unity and donated some prime men’s clothing to the group—when you don’t have a job, you don’t have a wardrobe for the job, and forget all those speeches about “Dress for the job you want.” With the blink of an eye, Men’s Wearhouse filled an important need. Hmm, wonder where they heard about it? Well, it’s “word of mouth” and sharing good news.

Then, speaking of a heart of gold and a spirit to match, Steve Ellis, currently a Los Angeles-based actor, but always a popular DJ and social scene king whenever he's back in town to visit, arrived to lend Project Unity his support. (Left: Steve Ellis and Dawn Lee Wakefield)

It was truly a night where friends saw friends they have not seen in ages, who all came together because of a dream a gifted and talented visionary had to serve children and families in Bryan-College Station. Jeannie is being honored by the Girl Scouts of Central Texas, on Thursday, Sept. 1 as a Woman of Distinction in the Brazos Valley, at the beautiful Miramont Country Club in Bryan. A most fitting tribute indeed as Jeannie is definitely a wonderful role model for young girls to grow up and do something really big! If they dream it, they can do it.

So, you see how children, ice hockey and Bubba’s dreams might intersect? That would be your second hat trick. Well, yes, technically, it’s actually “when one player scores three consecutive goals in a single game and then everyone in the crowd celebrates by throwing their hats onto the ice,” but in our example it’s where Project Unity brought all these dynamic community leaders together in the single arena of Joseph Kennedy’s domain, Aloft in College Station. Let’s walk things back a moment and reflect.

A Personal Story

Two months ago I was over in Project Unity’s headquarters offices, visiting with Judy LeUnes, Katie Watson, and David Rogers about a particular topic, and this wonderful woman enters the offices in nondescript fashion and she asks if it’s the right place to donate ‘some clothing’ in good condition for people to use who need to have professional attire. Jeannie and Ella were out of the office at meetings at the COG and Beck Street, respectively, but Judy immediately jumped up from her chair, motioned for Katie and David to follow and in five minutes’ time, they had one of the most extensive and fabulous group of women’s clothes that would make them feel “as good as” work colleagues who could afford to shop for nice things.

No one has money for clothes when you don’t have money to feed your children. So when people are quick to say, “Well, get a job and work,” they don’t understand that to get that job where a uniform is not issued, it takes this to make that happen. It was amazing to see philanthropy in action and motion. Wienkie supervised the process quietly from his perch as Life Enrichment Specialist, and I’d swear that little dog was smiling.

What Happened After The Event? Amazing Things

The team over at KAGS-TV, where Shannon Madlock keeps her eyes and ears open for all good things happening in town, did a story on the donation from Men’s Wearhouse, and now, people know one more thing to do with clothing where it can really help.

Then four days later, Judy and Wienkie had the Project Unity team over with the Brazos Valley Bombers, competing with other nonprofits for a share of the proceeds from the game that night. You could get in by “paying what you wanted” and put it in the organization’s jar as a gift. Wienkie was back on the job, in a maroon baseball jersey no less.

People, this is serious business, and Wienkie has a real job and he works harder than a lot of folks I’ve seen in much harder conditions. You try working a crowd in 100°F heat and not wimping out. Not this guy. He’s “all in,” and so is his mom. Check out their Facebook page to see that Wienkie had a sweet love letter drawn for him by a young fan.

But wait, there’s more! Judy, the pied piper of relevance, had the team downtown, becoming the newest member of the Downtown Bryan Association. Their Beck Street operations are, hello, downtown, and what wonderful ambassadors they are for the community. Then he sat in front of a banner advertising Club365.org, which in full disclosure, I’m a member of, because everyone who knows me knows that I have no power in me to say ‘no’ to the dog, mine or anyone else’s.

Seriously, Jeannie hand-delivered my packet of information from Judy and even though I thought I knew what Project Unity was all about, clearly I had not a clue of the depth and breadth this organization makes its impact on. It’s all about goodness, love, sharing, caring, and taking care of children.

Finally, two weeks ago, the A&M student newspaper, The Battalion, caught wind of what Wienkie was up to and reporter Ana Sevilla conducted an interview with him. Result was clear as a bell today as Wienkie wound up in the back-to-school fall edition of The Battalion.

But that’s not all, last week, a dear person, Anna Perkinson, won two tickets to the A&M vs. UCLA home football opener at the BCS Chamber Business After Hours (yes, Judy is an Ambassador of the BCS Chamber, as if you had to ask!) and she donated the tickets to Project Unity! Bidding is on until August 31st, so it’s a tax deduction to ‘win’ this prize.

Late last Friday, the Bryan College Station Optimist Club made a major donation to Project Unity (presented at a Bombers game) for “school supplies for the students in the Snook ISD.” Is that not phenomenal?

But wait, there's more. Judy, wearing her Project Unity name tag and taking seriously the organization's new membership in the Downtown Bryan Association, got angry when she read The Eagle and learned of a downtown restaurant, Ms. Helen's Cafe, that had been burglarized five times and was facing closure, simply because the food had been stolen, too. Judy made about five phone calls, one of which was to Jason Cornelius at Prosperity Bank, and got things rolling. Understand that when Judy LeUnes is on a mission, you'd best get high and behind her or get run over because either way, you're going to be seeing great things happen.

Just this past Saturday, the badge-wearing Judy was downtown at Blackwater Draw Brewing Company, who supported donors for Ms. Helen's Cafe's owner in gift cards to local grocers including Readfield Meats, cash, checks for the cause. The owner of a local security company donated a system and installed it himself, in between his paying clients, to help assure safety and videography for all would-be perps to know better. No, it was not a direct Project Unity event, but LeUnes carries her name with her and identity for the group, everywhere she goes, 24/7. And she brings Wienkie right along with her. If you're not enthused, invigorated, and ready to join in Project Unity's great endeavors in this community, then just watch one of Wienkie's speeches and your cold, cold heart will melt and the ink will flow onto your checkbook. It's just the right thing to do.

Now, if corporations and local business owners see this excitement and buzz and understand the reality of what it costs to keep this tremendous organization going each year, then Judy and Wienkie can make time available in their schedules to receive your gifts. Check them out on the web and on Facebook. Call them and ask questions.

Or, do what I did, and the next time they offer you a chance to bring your pet to work at their offices, show up with your pup and learn what goes on there. There’s water and dog treats, and playmates for your pups. Mine even did the unthinkable and he was loved, not scolded. Unconditional love for children and fur babies alike.

Once you walk in their doors, you will be a willing and joyful ambassador of what happens in our community, thanks to Project Unity. Frankly, it’s one of the most exciting nonprofit organizations in town, and they’re just getting started in sharing the good news. If you’ve lost count of how many hat tricks happened as a result of July 20th’s “Live at Aloft” event for Project Unity, you really can’t count because the goodness that will continue to flow from building friends first, before asking for funds, goes a long, long way to cultivating long-term support.

All gifts are welcome, from $10 to $1,000, to whatever you can pledge and give. Statewide funding agencies see both kinds of numbers as valuable in reviewing the grant proposals that Jeannie has the patience and foresight to complete. Yes, one month after the inaugural event, Project Unity is alive and thriving here, and Wienkie will thank you personally, once he’s awakened from his well-deserved nap, working hard as he has during the (pardon me) dog days of summer. Special thanks to Katie Watson for all the photos shared here so generously.