What a great day yesterday at “Share the Love Fest IV” with musicians (old friends and new) who have the biggest hearts and are always willing to jump in to support Our Community Cup Coffeehouse and New Avenue Foundation. Very special local artists they all are. Jim Wurster you are doing such important work for disabled adults, kids and their families. Thank you so much for what you do. Having grown up with a severely disabled older brother, who didn’t even have the legal right to an education because the law wasn’t in existence when he was a kid, it’s truly an honor for me to help out and support New Avenue Foundation.
So many thanks to the volunteers who cooked the delicious meal we shared – – – and most of all to Jim Wuster, the man who makes these gatherings happen! He is a truly inspiring soul who creates opportunities for people of all levels of ability to participate in society.
One young man in particular sang along with nearly every cover I played. He and I danced to @shakeylyman‘s toe-tapping set. Another fella helped me sing along to “Can’t help Falling in Love with You”. Some individuals needed the help of a familiar caregiver in order to engage in conversation. It seemed so appropriate that one such caregiver kept winning raffle prizes. (You are a kind soul, Judy!)
By the end of the day, I realized I was having a conversation with a gentleman who I couldn’t tell— whether he had a disability or not. I could have just cried then and there! That’s exactly what these #safespaces are about! Inclusion! Forgetting who is supposedly different or disabled. Finding common ground to share moments of pure appreciation and being together.
For anyone new to my story, I was trained as a #speechtherapist but I had to transition into a new career due to my mental health. I grew disillusioned about the impact I wanted to make and the limitations of the health care system. Music was the force that kept my life going, and through music I have been continuing my journey of helping others communicate.
And let me add my appreciation as well. It is an amazing thing that happens … it is such a gift to be asked to be a part of it. Thanks ..
Very grateful for Jim Wurster & New Avenue Foundation‘s efforts to support, create and advocate for the differently-abled community in and around Philadelphia. Yesterday, Jim curated an amazing line up of singer-songwriters for New Avenue Foundation’s Share the Love Fest IV. Here’s part of my set! Check out the rest of Jim’s feed for performances from Every Heard, Matt Santry, Jessica Graae, Shakey Lyman, Julia Levitina, Danielle and Jennifer, and David Falcone!
Celebrating our differences by building community through music
Our festival will be held in the Summer/Fall 2022 at
Tree of Life Church
933 Baltimore Pike
Springfield, PA 19064
The music festival benefits projects of New Avenue Foundation
Share the Love Fest X
To be scheduled Spring/Summer 2025
Our performers will include:
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Some video from past festivals.
The music festival benefits projects of New Avenue Foundation
New Avenue Foundation is a registered Pennsylvania nonprofit organization and a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. All donations to the Foundation are tax deductible.
Donations may be made by check to:
New Avenue Foundation
953 Rocklynn Road
Springfield, PA 19064
Or by credit card:
We stand in solidarity with everyone and are a welcoming place for all
Our Community Cup is a welcoming place for all people. We are here first and foremost for those with disabilities and their families, but all are welcome. We believe that each person has value. We embrace differences of mental and physical ability, race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, age and religion. Whoever you are, you are welcome here!
We #Resist and will always stand with those who are different. We are proud of their differences and the value that each one has.
The Share the Love Fest is a celebration of the 6 and 3/4 anniversary of Our Community Cup Coffeehouse. Our coffeehouse has been a joint project of Tree of Life Presbyterian Church (formerly Princeton Presbyterian Church), Chambers Memorial Presbyterian Church and New Avenue Foundation. We started this project as a way to help make the lives of people with disabilities more meaningful. However, it is open to everyone especially families. By bringing us all together, we will build a better community. And we will learn to respect each other’s differences.
There are many people with disabilities in PA who lack waiver funding to provide services for them. 85% of people with disabilities do not have a job. This can mean that these people with disabilities sit at home most of the time. Our idea is to provide a venue for people with disabilities to attend that they would otherwise not have. We are building community and a ministry through music.
Our coffeehouse had been located at Chambers Memorial Presbyterian Church in Rutledge, PA 19070, for a year and a half. It started back in February 2015 and has been open every Friday since, except for the month of August. We appreciate the support of the local music community in helping us with our mission. In 2017, our coffeehouse moved to Princeton Presbyterian Church, 933 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, PA 19064. Princeton Presbyterian changed its mission and name last fall as it aligned more closely with the mission of New Avenue Foundation – to become more open and accepting of people with differences. Their new name – Tree of Life Church – really embodies their mission. We are very happy to be a part of the community.
Our Community Cup’s inclusive atmosphere is good news for people with disabilities in the Delaware County community.
The Share the Love Fest is a celebration of music and fun for the whole family and a fundraiser to benefit community-related programs run by New Avenue Foundation. As we have done since we started our coffeehouse, a donation is requested at entry. We have run our venue in the gifting economy, knowing that not everyone can afford what most of us take for granted.
Jim Wurster, organizer of the Share the Love Fest said, “The success of Our Community Cup Coffeehouse has truly been amazing. We have been blessed with the support of many local, and not so local, musicians who come to play at our coffeehouse for free. We will continue to be a venue in which young musicians and old can come to share their gifts to those who wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to hear them play.”
