Home » Spring 2024

Spring 2024

Newsletter

Chesley’s story

As the result of her divorce, Chesley S. has found herself struggling to make ends meet. She lives on disability payments that just barely cover her monthly expenses, sometimes forgoing food and medications to pay the rent.  “I try my extreme hardest to move and sway with life’s ebbs and flows,” she told us, but sometimes life comes down to “figuring which medications are getting far too low and I can’t get by without skipping a refill again.” 

The Ada Jenkins Center and its Food Pantry are “a blessing within reach,” Chesley adds. “I’m very grateful to them and the kind staff. Even during the holidays I was surprised when I was contacted to get a meal unexpectedly!”

Thank you for helping us help Chesley and people like her, when they need it most.

Service Updates

Our current program year started July 1. Since then:

  • We have responded to 554 e-mails, calls, or texts seeking information about financial assistance or other family needs\
  • 1728 people have obtained groceries through our Loaves and Fishes food pantry (a 150% increase from the same timeframe last year)
  • 331 households have participated in our Economic Mobility program, receiving tenancy education, connections with area housing, budget assistance, employment and training opportunities, and more
  • 75 people experiencing homelessness have been connected with emergency supplies and services
  • 57 students have been enrolled in our LEARN Works after-school academic program
  • 354 volunteers have contributed 3,973 hours to help tutor our students, restock and organize the food pantry, manage our Open Gym hours, prepare our campus for our 25th anniversary weekend, and so much more

Thanks to you, we are able to live our mission every day: We exist to help people create lasting solutions for economic stability.