WIMBERLEY — A musical collaboration of Texas artists and benefitting the Barnabas Connection’s dedication to helping the community are at the forefront of Wimberley Music Fest, which is slated for mid-October.
Created in 2004, the Barnabas Connection developed as a result of a Wimberley United Methodist Church (WUMC) Sunday school class helping a family with basic needs connect with critical resources that improved their lives in a significant way. This inspired a vision to create a volunteer-based outreach and phone helpline program that provides individuals and families the information and access to health and human resources that they need.
Over the first year or two, volunteers responded to 20-30 calls per month and provided referrals for various health and human service options from a printed resource guide. Today, Barnabas volunteers can respond to an average of six to eight calls per day, with up to 12 calls daily and an average of 100 calls per month. Volunteers now provide referrals via an online software database created specifically for the program; it provides an array of referrals based on the caller’s issues and compiles and tracks caller information, data and activity.
The Barnabas Connection provides health and human services, client advocacy and community education. The nonprofit — which received 501(c)3 status in 2013 — has grown to include advocacy with local utility providers and county and government services, annual events that provide for specific community needs and direct financial assistance to clients.
In its 20th year of serving the local community, the Barnabas Connection is celebrating its anniversary with Wimberley Fest, scheduled for 2-9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, at the VFW Rodeo Grounds, located at 401 Jacobs Well Road.
Wimberley Fest is all about one thing: community.
According to executive director Kate Sowell, the hope of Wimberley Fest is to bring a good time, but also to raise awareness in the community about what the organization does and celebrate the different groups in Wimberley who have come together to support the Barnabas Connection’s mission throughout the years.
“[We] just really [want] to celebrate the last 20 years of all the community has done to help us, to do so many good things for the community. We started with just the helpline and then so many community members have been instrumental in helping us through the years with our emergency preparedness and our emergency relief. I mean, it took so many people during the flood. We did over $1 million in flood relief and really took on that lead nonprofit role in administering the flood relief here in the community and we could not have done that without the effort of the local churches and local community organizations,” Sowell said. “What we want to do is just celebrate different groups that came together during the 2015 floods, COVID, winter storms and all of the things that our community has gone through, all the times that they've come together to support each other [and] all of the different events that we have. It's so important to us to recognize and to celebrate how often our community comes together for us and for each other.”
The lineup Saturday features Sara Jarosz, Soma Jerome, Bri Bagwell, HalleyAnna Finlay, Susan Gibson, Dylan James Riley and Reintarnation: “[We are] having all these bands represented who are diverse sounds and unique in their own ways. It's a really good lineup and a really good mix of people,” Sowell said.
Then, from 1-6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13, the Wimberley Music Fest continues with Gospel Fest, featuring Cypress Creek Worship Team, Wimberley Feng Shui, Dylan James Riley, Benji Uzo, Hill Country Honeys, Icy Simpson with WUMC and WPC Choirs, Marley Michael Lawrence and Katy Starr.
“We're really excited for people to come out and listen these two days. They're very different days, but they're both gonna be really, really good,” Sowell said.
All of the proceeds from Wimberley Music Fest go back to the programs that the Barnabas Connection has offered the community for 20 years.
For Sowell, serving Wimberley in the capacity that she does has been an honor.
“I have two kiddos.
They are 11 and 12. I really think that, together, we are building and growing something that can leave a legacy for the community and for our kids. It's an honor to be able to just continue to grow something that the original board and director started 20 years ago,' she said. “I'm very thankful every day … Personally, I feel like this is a gift from God for me to be able to get to do this for a living. The fact that we get to do this and give back to our community in this way is such a gift.”
Sowell thanks the following sponsors for supporting Wimberley Fest: Sonora Bank, Texas Medical Plans, Tempfer Family, Myers Concrete Construction, Wimberley Roofing, Fulkerson Family, StateFarm, Spoon Mountain, Austintatious Design, Sleepy Hollow Mini Storage, Lewis Sign, Buddy L Roofing Co., Ally Medical, The Med Spa, Wimberley Ace Hardware and NGL. She also shared her gratitude to the VFW for hosting the event.
For more information on the lineup, and where to buy tickets, at Wimberley Fest, visit www. wimberleymusicfest. com. Learn more about the Barnabas Connection at www. barnabasconnects.org.
