Helping hand

It started with a pair of shoes.
Reda Theurer-Miller, executive director of the Youth Service Bureau, noticed a young boy walking strangely. He had on a pair of shoes, but they were several sizes too large.
They were the only shoes he had.
Surely, she thought, someone has a pair of shoes they can pass on to this kid that actually fit. And someone did.
“We’ve had donations as long as I’ve been here,” says Nikki Lawhead of the YSB’s Community Partners program. Usually they came in the form of clothes or books or old videos for the YSB’s residential programs.
But over the years, that’s begun to change.
YSB workers in several different programs that provide in-home services to local families started seeing needs that went far beyond a pair of shoes. One family would need a stove. Another would need bedding or towels. Still another would need beds for the kids.
And when staff members saw a need, they would put out a call or an email to see if the need could be met. Friends, church groups, and staff members themselves pitched in.
“Our main goal is finding the family that resource,” says Lawhead.
Because Community Partners also focuses on helping families make wiser decisions about budgeting and spending, staff members are in a unique position to make sure that the help goes where it’s needed.
Now, what has been an informal putting together of needs with resources is going to the next level.
Dubbed the Community Assistance Network (CAN, as in, “I can”), the YSB’s staff is now using a two-car garage to house lightly-used or new household items for families served by its 30 different programs.
“Now the donations are getting a little bigger,” says Scott Bissell.
Among the items being accepted:
•Stoves.
•Mattresses.
•Kitchen appliances and kitchenware.
•Clothes, including winter coats.
•Books and toys.
•Car seats.
•Towels and washcloths, as well as sheets and blankets.
•Bicycles so that families without a vehicle will have a way to and from work.
•Fans or air conditioners.
•Sports equipment.
•Furniture, including beds, dressers, and kitchen chairs.
The key is for those interested in donating to call the YSB first. There is no drop-off site for items.
Those interested can contact the YSB at (260) 726-8520 during normal business hours Monday through Friday. Ask for Scott Bissell or Tina Bechtol.
YSB staff members stress that they’re not interested in junk or heavily used items. And they emphasize that they’ll use their best professional judgment when assessing families’ need.
“We look and see how badly they really need it,” says Lawhead.
Some of the items that have been donated have come from the families being served, notes Jessica Morgan of Community Partners.
“Whatever they can, they donate back,” she says.
“They try to help the others out,” adds Lawhead.
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