One of Vox’s Local Missions partners is Posada Esperanza, a transitional shelter for women and children in Austin. As a way to share not only our financial resources but also our love, time and energy, we have decided to throw monthly birthday parties at Posada this year and the first two have been a blast!

Thanks to the involvement of the Vox community, the parties have so far included gifts for all those at Posada who have had birthdays that month, a meal and desert, and plenty of fun games and activities – even caricatures for the kids! Needless to say, with pizza, piñatas, presents, and pink cupcakes in the lineup, the kids have been incredibly excited.

In addition, at the September party, the Vox community collected much needed diapers for the mothers at Posada Esperanza. In the weeks and days leading up to the party, several people who were unable to attend the fiesta brought diapers to liturgy or dropped them off at Space 12 to be delivered to Posada. These gifts were greatly appreciated and as you can imagine, hastily put to
use.

One of my favorite aspects of the party I attended was the opportunity to connect with the moms at Posada. As the children played, many of the ladies took the chance to sit and enjoy one another’s company. This provided a unique space to sit and share and listen and laugh together with these incredible women. At the same time, other friends from Vox seized the opportunity to love on the children who were eager to play and engage with the new adults.

Overall, birthday parties at Posada have provided a wonderful opportunity for members of the Vox community to play, talk, laugh and celebrate with members of the Posada Esperanza community. For me they have been a joy to take part in, both as a planner and as a participant, and I hope over the course of the year Vox folks continue to share in this joy.

The next Posada Esperanza birthday party will be October 28.

Email Local Missions for more details

— Kelly Cutbirth (Local Missions Team)

Pictures from the last party:

[Photo by Jason Cabreros @ Flickr]