Leadership Through Service

What better way to wind down the Fall 2023 semester than to put some elbow grease into improving the quality of life for one local East Temple resident. For their Fall project, the Leadership Temple Class of 23-24 recently teamed up with the City of Temple’s Department of Housing and Community Development to assist in completing the first of four home improvement projects funded by the city’s HARP Grant Program.
 
The HARP (Homeowner Assistance & Reconstruction Program) Grant was put in place to reconstruct homes for low-income clients whose dwellings are beyond repair. The other three grant recipients’ homes are on track to be completed later this year.

Nancy Glover, Director of the City of Temple Housing and Development Department, invited the Leadership Temple class to help with the final touches for the first home in East Temple completed on December 6, 2023. The students arrived in jeans and boots, ready and excited to help in any way possible.

After a brief tour and description of the program by Nancy, the group got to work. While some stayed indoors to dust, hang pictures, and set up a Christmas tree, others worked outside – weed eating, planting shrubs, cleaning windows, laying sod, and hanging Christmas lights. Yet another group made trips over to Temple Christian Outreach (St. Vincent de Paul) to load up furniture and bring it back to unload, furnishing the newly reconstructed home.

Other city employees also worked alongside the LT class, including Kirby Fiebig, Neighborhood Revitalization Manager, and Brittany Chopane, Grant Manager. The project took several hours, and when the group got back on the bus, they were a little tired, a little dirty…and a lot fulfilled.
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Leadership Temple is a 9-month program designed to provide current and future leaders of our community with education and insight into the way Temple and Central Texas work. Students receive an in-depth guide into what goes on behind-the-scenes in our City, County, and State departments, as well as learning about industries such as healthcare, social services, education, public safety, and economic development. The 23-24 Class will complete another group service project in Spring 2024.