Butler SUCCEED celebrates first anniversary
You never know who you will run into at the Butler Slippery Rock University Center for Community Engagement, Empowerment and Development.
Alice Del Vecchio, director of the Institute of Nonprofit Leadership at SRU, said SUCCEED, the acronym for the downtown office, hosts events aimed at bringing community organizations together with the people who need them. She said the center has been successful at connecting people to help, including people going through addiction, people struggling to maintain housing and those experiencing food insecurity.
“This space is right in town for us to ask people, ‘What do you think you need?’” Del Vecchio said. “Most people have an idea of what they need, so we give them that chance to say it — that’s how great things happen.”
Butler SUCCEED opened Sept. 10, 2021, at 150 North Main Street, and has played host to more than 40 other community organizations that have partnered with the university branch to address local needs.
On Friday, SUCCEED celebrated its first anniversary by inviting many of those partner agencies to the facility to debrief on the first year of operation and plan for the future.
Josette Skobieranda-Dau, associate director of Butler SUCCEED, said seeing many community leaders together in the room Friday was a sign the organization was succeeding in its mission.
“Bringing people here is the biggest part of our mission,” Skobieranda-Dau said. “The fact that ... we are collaborating with more than 40 organizations and businesses is huge.”
Some of the organizations in attendance Friday included the Butler Collaborative for Families, Butler Area School District, the Center for Community Resources, the Lighthouse Foundation, Butler County Community College, the Butler Rotary clubs and more. Many representatives of those organizations shared their thoughts on SUCCEED’s first year, and formulated plans to further develop collaboration.
Sharlie Dixon is a sophomore social work major at SRU who has worked on SUCCEED initiatives. She said she has found through working with SUCCEED that many organizations also need some guidance to reach the people who need their resources.
“I think everything else is just bridging those gaps,” Dixon said. “Community partners, they don’t have certain resources but the right ideas. SUCCEED can bridge those gaps for them.”
Alyssa Hilliard is a senior math major at SRU, who also works in the office of community engagement. She said she grew up in Butler, and only found out through SUCCEED how many service organizations operate in the city. It took having a downtown meeting center like SUCCEED for her to take notice of the offerings.
“I think we’re seeing that already, just more people in the community working together,” Hilliard said. “The more I worked here, the more I talked to organizations here, the more I realized there is a lot here for people that may need it.”
Del Vecchio said Butler SUCCEED is meant to be an open hub for community interaction, so she hopes more people will attend its workshops and events, which are typically posted online or even on posters on the building’s windows.
She also said the next year of Butler SUCCEED is already shaping up to be full of community collaboration.
“I think more and more this provides a space for ideas that will enhance quality of life,” Del Vecchio said. “The whole goal of this was to take cues from the community, so it’s wonderful that the community trusts us to give us their ideas.”
