Our goal is to enable
our community to
become viable citizens.
Our story starts with one persons
heart for her community...
Mercy Arredondo, a life-long resident of Cashion, in partnership with Cornerstone Christian Center of Avondale, recognized the needs of the community and sought to alleviate these problems by establishing the Mercy House. Their desire was to reduce the high rates of truancy and delinquency that lead to the failure of so many youth to complete their basic education. Mercy knew that the community’s future rested on the shoulders of these youth, who were throwing away their opportunity for success by dropping out of school and putting themselves on a path that ultimately would lead to incarceration or worse.
ABOUT US
Founded in 1994, the Mercy House Community Center positively impacts the lives of youth and families in the disadvantaged Cashion area of Avondale, Arizona. The purpose of the Mercy House Community Center is to assist and enable the residents of Cashion to break through generational habits and addictions, to become viable citizens and to aid them in fostering education and job skills to provide for themselves and their families.
The Mercy House has served as a safe environment “Oasis” for thousands of children who needed after school, help with homework, and mentorship/guidance for life issues. For the last 29 years, the Mercy House has offered a number of programs to help change the life trajectory of at-risk youth in Avondale.
These programs include:
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Weekly tutoring for youth in Grades K-12.
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Open computer lab - open to residents for use of tutoring, online access for job search and online classes.
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Home visits with parents to inquire of student’s needs and issues plus determine if there are any additional family needs.
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Adult classes: various topics such as Celebrate Recovery and Marriage Classes
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Annual back-to-school drive to provide low-income youth with needed school supplies and uniforms.
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Annual Christmas party during which community youth socialize, play games, have a meal, and receive Christmas gifts.
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Annual Easter event at which families in the community receive a free meal, meet the Mercy House staff, and learn about all its available programs and services that can benefit them.
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Community Meeting Hub for City of Avondale Neighbored meetings, Neighborhood Watch and more.
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Cornerstone Christian Center offers weekly student and adult bible studies.
Our continued commitment...
With the help of partners, we continue to expand the vision for the Mercy House Community Center. Mercy House Community Center is now a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. In 2022, the facility added Tia Mica’s Closet & Pantry. This service was established to alleviate crucial challenges during economic hardship coming out of the COVID pandemic.
We continue to work towards providing additional services such as
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Expanding resources and opportunities for tutoring in topics designed to educate and empower the Cashion area residents.
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Conducting new classes for teens and adults in anger management, parenting skills, and other topics.
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Workplace preparation classes for youth and adults.
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An annual Job Fair to help connect youth and adults to local employment.
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Providing resources for grandparents, such as, education on grandparent’s rights, parenting classes specifically designed for grandparents by Parenting AZ.