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A Place to Celebrate
Children's Outdoor Play Areas
Clothing Closet
Garden Plots
Growing Flowers
Special Monthly Saturday Programs
Useful Resource Equipment

Community Centers and Progams

The Community Program Office, located in Wysocki House and under the direction of the Assistant Manager, promotes social, cultural, and educational activities. Programs are announced through the monthly calendar of events, group-distribution voice-mail messages and flyers, and posted on the Community Centers and laundry bulletin boards. Family Housing collaborates with University agencies and Amherst organizations to provide workshops, programs, and activities for children and adults at the two Community Centers, one in 411 Lincoln and the other at H2 North Village.

A Place to Celebrate

Need a special place to celebrate? Community Centers can be rented by residents for a small fee ($10) for birthday parties, graduation celebrations, and social/cultural holiday celebrations and gatherings on a first-call reservation basis. To reserve a Community Center, please contact the Assistant Manager at 545-3115 at least 2 days in advance. Residents must sign for the key and agree to the terms of responsibility prior to using the Community Center.

Children's Outdoor Play Areas

Each Family Housing complex offers limited outdoor play areas for children living in the apartments. These include a variety of play equipment for your child's enjoyment, but please remember that leaving your child unsupervised may result in injury. This equipment is unsupervised, and the university assumes no responsibility for use of the facilities and equipment. Family Housing strongly recommends parents of young children be present while the children are in the play areas. Please do not assume that the complexes provide a completely safe environment or that other residents will be able to watch out for your child's safety. If you notice potentially hazardous conditions, damages, or needed repairs in the playgrounds, please contact the Family Housing Office at 545-3115. For more information on how to keep children safe outdoors, see "Children's Outdoor Play Rules" in the Family Housing Manual.

Clothing Closet

The Clothing Closet program is a program initiated in 1992 by Family Housing to help create a cooperative and sensitive community of neighbors helping neighbors. For years, Family Housing families have donated clean clothes so that others might benefit from them. Lincoln and North Village residents can stop by the North Village Laundry and have a look for second-hand clothes in good condition. There is no limit on the number of items anyone can take home, and it's free of charge. Each week we receive new clothes sorted out for infants, toddlers, girls, boys, women and men.

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Garden Plots

For a small fee, Family Housing makes garden plots (20' x 20') available to residents of North Village and Lincoln Apartments. The garden plots are located across the street from Wysocki House. Vegetable gardens and/or vegetables in containers are not permitted adjacent to apartments, but flowerbeds are allowed up to 36" from the building.

Growing Flowers

In May, the Community Program Office provides flowers (annuals) for a reduced cost for residents to plant and care for during the summer. Everyone can enjoy these flowers and the colorful environment they provide all summer long. Please call the Family Housing Office at 545-3115 for information about what will be available in the coming season.

Special Monthly Saturday Programs

The Family Housing Community Program and the Office of Family Resources co-sponsor two free monthly Saturday cultural programs including an arts and crafts program and a live performance for young children and their families at the Student Union/Campus Center. Also, the Office of Family Resources offers a wide variety of programs for student families on and off campus. Call the Office of Family Resources at 545-0865, or see its web site at http://www.cshrc.org/

Useful Resource Equipment

If you need to use a computer, laser printer, sewing machine, vacuum cleaner, equipment to engrave and register a bicycle to help prevent theft, or view a videotape/DVD, or watch TV, feel free to drop in at a Community Center and see the Resident Manager when she/he is on duty (see the monthly calendar for his/her hours). The Resident Manager can also give you information about additional services.