Three local agencies work to improve the lives of local residents and the community as a whole. Here are the finalists for the Lima Allen County Chamber of Commerce's Non-Profit of the Year award.
The West Ohio Food Bank last year gave out 10.8 million pounds of food in the 11 counties that they serve. That equals to around 9 million meals to 49 thousand people. As the need remains about the same, they are seeing donations start to drop. So, the West Ohio Food Bank is trying to find creative ways to get food from different donors and manufacturers to make sure that people in need don’t go hungry.
“We are looking at different partnerships throughout the communities we serve and really trying to focus on the nutritional quality of the foods we're receiving,” says Tommie Harner, CEO of the West Ohio Food Bank. “So, we may have to purchase a little bit more now that the supply chains are still low, and our donations are down, and look at what kind of foods are we really needing to meet the need.”
Crossroads Crisis Center not only is there for the women and children who are survivors of Domestic Violence, but they also are raising awareness of the issue in our area. Crossroads has been serving Allen County since 1980, by empowering, educating, and being a voice for the survivors. They do that by providing a shelter for them, having a 24/7 crisis hotline, and a court advocacies program.
“Our agency last year served just over 1200 survivors and their children,” says Christel Keller, Executive Director of Crossroads Crisis Center. “In the future, we are hopeful for an increase in federal funding, so that we can increase staff and provide additional services that survivors need in our community.”
Cornerstone of Hope in Lima and Bluffton is helping equip children, teens, and adults with the tools to manage the life difficulty they may be facing. They serve over 130 clients a week in individual, couple, and family counseling sessions. They also offer workshops for groups, including ones for Hope and Resilience during the pandemic. Plus, Cornerstone of Hope is finding ways to get out of their office and into other settings, like schools, to help all ages deal with stress and emotions.
“We do have our Resilient Kids and Teen program that is in the schools. We have served 10 school districts,” says Kari Taylor, Executive Director Cornerstone of Hope Lima. “Whether that is through teacher in services, going to the schools, providing assemblies or classroom lessons for students or groups or parent groups to really equip them with all similar language so they are managing stress, anxiety, depression in really healthy ways.”
Those are the three finalists for the Nonprofit of the Year Award.
