Reflections on 2003
December 20, 2003
Dear Community Member,
As I look back on 2003, I realize what a banner year it has been for the city of Azusa and its neighborhood college, Azusa Pacific University. This time last year, we began formulating a campus development plan and invited the entire Azusa community to participate in the process. The response was encouraging and led to a deeper relationship between city officials, APU personnel, and Azusa residents. The collaboration added yet another level of partnership to the already-strong foundation established by the many joint efforts between APU and the city.
I think of the Neighborhood Wellness Center, now in its fifth year of service, which provides health and prevention services to the people of Azusa. Since it opened, the center has received more than 3,000 visits to its drop-in nursing center, and has provided more than 960 people with health services through local fairs, churches, supermarkets, and retirement homes. The center also partners with the Azusa Unified School District to provide parenting classes for high school students.
I think also of the Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) which offers counseling and therapy services at a low cost to the Azusa community, and school-based counseling to students academically at-risk due to mental health issues. The CFDC serves more than 300 families and 250 adults each month from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
In addition to making quality health care accessible, APU and the people of Azusa have also partnered to make education positive and desirable to the city’s youth in programs such as C.H.A.M.P. (College Headed and Mighty Proud), which teams APU students with local fourth graders encouraging them to pursue higher education. This December, more than 300 fourth grade students from Azusa Unified School District’s Murray, Magnolia, and Dalton elementary schools graduated from the program.
For those already planning on college, APU offers a practical incentive. Together with Azusa City Council member and mayor pro-tem Joe Rocha, Azusa Pacific University established a scholarship program aimed at attracting the best graduating seniors from Azusa and Gladstone high schools interested in attending Azusa Pacific University. The Nancy Moore Celebrate Azusa Citizens Scholarship Program awards $5,000 scholarships to those with a passion for community service and impressive academic records. We currently have 11 Azusa scholars enjoying the benefits of this program.
Other programs such as Taste of the Town, which highlighted the wonderful restaurants in our surrounding community, as well as showcased the arts of Azusa through music, drama, painting, and photography by APU and AUSD students; City Links 2003: Growing Our Neighborhood, which joins APU with the Azusa Unified School District and the city of Azusa to bring all who work, live, and learn in Azusa to meet their neighbors and build relationships during a day of citywide community service; and T.E.A.M., a conference which brings together more than 100 junior and senior high school student interested in youth ministry, are just a few of the ways the city of Azusa and APU have worked together this past year to make Azusa a great place to live and work. We look forward to another year of life-changing teamwork.
Thank you for your support this past year, and may God richly bless you and those you love this Christmas season.
Sincerely,
Jon R. Wallace, DBA
President, Azusa Pacific University
