Wooster Interfaith Housing Corporation -- News & Updates

Central Christian School Chocolate Fest Recap News

Jean Hollenbaugh: Staff Member of the Quarter

Orrville Youth Care About Homelessness MHRB Holds Panel on Housing in Wayne County

Central Christian School Lends a Helping Hand

High school students from Central Christian School of Kidron, Ohio used their day of service April 30 to help clean house at WIHC headquarters. The service day, explained history and social studies teacher Don Nussbaum, is part of the curriculum, "a one-day blitz type of thing." Nussbaum and his students cleared out WIHC's basement and performed yardwork in the backyard so that clients can enjoy it.

From left to right: Jia Steiner, Danny Krier, Ben Troyer, Josh Pember, Don Nussbaum, Penny Osborne.

Chocolate Fest Recap

“If you are a chocolate lover, this is where you needed to be,” Penny Osborne recounted. “The sheer aroma of chocolate coming from that room was amazing—as strong as the Hershey factory.”

Approximately 100 people attended WIHC’s Chocolate Fest (CF) fund-raiser April 19 at Greenbriar Conference & Party Center (Riffel Rd.), according to John Schaeffer, WIHC board member, who organized the event. No one was disappointed.

Bakers from area restaurants, such as El Rancho Grande, which won best overall professional baking, as well as amateur bakers attended. Bakers prepared about 100 pieces of all-you-can-eat chocolate samples to attendees. Wooster High School, which has participated in many past CFs, had 12 students from Relda Smith’s Global Gourmet cooking class at the event, all of whom devised original recipes. Hailey Dalpra concocted a chocolate peanut butter banana cookie that was a hit, and Kendra Thorn offered a raspberry swirl chocolate cheesecake, which won best student submission. “I was very impressed with Wooster High School,” Osborne stated.

Among the other treats were Katie Blair’s chocolate truffles, Panera Bread’s very chocolate brownies, and Ted Brown’s chocolate covered pecan caramels.
Wayne Center for the Arts’ publicity coordinator Leslie Baus, attending her first CF, said that all the chocolate looked fabulous. “It’s all for a good cause, so it’s worth adding a few inches to the waistline.”
“This year was one of the best years we had as far as how the evening went,” Schaeffer stated. The evening included guitarist and singer Scott Canfield. Schaeffer himself helped with the music by playing “Tequila Sunrise” with Canfield.

CF also featured a silent auction with five items up for bid: a gift basket from Tastefully Simple, a pottery piece by Jim Spires, a wine basket from Montavino Wine Market, an iPod nano, and a quilted wall hanging by Lola Franks.
CF, Schaeffer stated, “gets the word out to the public about WIHC and drums up support.”

News From Wooster Interfaith Housing Corporation

Happy Spring! We have good news to share with you: WIHC is happy to announce receipt of funding from the Episcopal Community Services Foundation for homeless prevention in the amount of $8,000 and continued funding for FAITH House and HELP House from the United Way of Wayne/Holmes Counties in the amount of $61,000. This funding provides direct services to clients and helps us fulfill our mission. Our thanks to Evelyn Manzella of St. James Episcopal Church and Brenda Linnick, director of Wayne/Holmes United Way, for their assistance and to all the United Way volunteers and contributors for making these services possible.

I would like to take this opportunity also to thank all of you who donated and participated in our Chocolate Fest event on April 19. The night proved to be a truly memorable experience and the chocolatiers really outdid themselves this year. Thanks to Greenbriar Party & Conference Center for the use of its facility and to all of you who attended to make our night special.

In other news, the renovation project at 576 E. North Street is completed. Our open house will be May 8 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. If you would like to see the results of our hard labor and join us for a celebratory moment, please stop in! Special thanks to all our contractors and to Tom Milligan, project manager, and Brian Porter, who together did a fantastic job completing the work. Our thanks again to The Donald and Alice Noble Foundation, National City Bank, and the Frick Foundation for their financial contributions.

We also would like you to help us welcome new staff members: Sherree Morris, office manager, and our new trio of Family Development Specialists: Carole Berry, Stacey Rehm, and Bill Schweinsberg.

Jean Hollenbaugh is Staff Member of the Quarter

After a year and four months of service, Jean Hollenbaugh has been selected WIHC’s staff member of the quarter. Hollenbaugh, a Family Development Specialist, works with clients from all of WIHC’s programs and guides them through their long-term self-sufficiency and financial goals.
“I find it gratifying to help people make positive transitions in their lives,” she stated. “This is significant to me—just being recognized.”
“Jean is extremely helpful to her clients,” WIHC executive director Penny Osborne said.

After over a year on the job, Hollenbaugh had the scare of her life. On April 16 a car hit her office, located on the corner of South and Market streets. The impact pushed her five feet back from her desk, and her coworkers came running.
“I work with really good people around me,” Hollenbagh stated.
Luckily, the only damage was to the outside of the building, where some of the brick is now missing.
This is surely a moment Hollenbaugh and her coworkers won’t soon forget!

Orrville Youth Care About Homelessness

The youth group Footprints of the Orrville Mennonite Church (OMC) donated $1,700 in proceeds to WIHC from its rally April 5–6. The group of students, elementary through high school age, spent the night outside in boxes in front of Bennet’s Appliance Center in Orrville to illustrate the plight of homelessness in the area. The group gathered financial pledges and went door to door asking community members how they feel about homelessness close to their own front doors.

Many of the community members were surprised to learn that Wayne County has over 200 homeless individuals, according to Tara Steiner, director of Footprints.
Steiner called the rally a success, “especially from the standpoint that one of our biggest goals was for our youth to realize that they can make a difference and understand our community.”

After inquiring into like organizations throughout the area, OMC donated the funds to WIHC because, Steiner stated, “we really liked that it was a long-term solution.”
WIHC’s executive director Penny Osborne attended the event both days and hosted an exercise for the group.

“I asked them to write down on index cards three things they would want to take with them if they were moving. Then, one by one, they had to give up the item on the card. None of the youths had ever been homeless and only a couple had moved or had had to change schools. The exercise gave them some perspective,” Osborne stated.

Though WIHC is not a faith-based organization, its mission is closely aligned with that of the Orrville Mennonite Church: “to be a safe place for people to serve according to their gifts and their faith and to be a safe place for people to enter, welcomed as they are.”

MHRB Holds Panel on Housing in Wayne County

What’s happening with housing options in Wayne County?

That was the question posed at the Salvation Army Family Life Center in Wooster on April 17. WIHC, Wayne Metropolitan Housing Authority (WMHA) and Habitat for Humanity, three of the county’s most active housing assistance organizations, presented their services and need for volunteers to a group of social work activists.
These three organizations often work in concert to place community members in safe and affordable housing and to stabilize clients’ financial hardships.
The panel was organized by the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Wayne and Holmes Counties (MHRB).

Speaking about WIHC’S future, executive director Penny Osborne hinted at a new service WIHC hopes to offer this May: immediate mortgage, rent, and utility bill assistance. With Ohio now holding second place in the nation for most home foreclosures, this service, Osborne noted, will prove invaluable to many in the community who otherwise may be forced out of their homes.
Kim Tapie, associate director of the MHRB, referred to WIHC as the “unsung heroes” of housing assistance, noting the organization’s small size and relative anonymity among much more well-known entities as WMHA and Habitat for Humanity with national presence.

Jane DalPra, director of Habitat for Humanity Wayne County, which builds and renovates homes they then sell to low-income families for approximately $55,0000 each, noted that calls for aid increased from 112 in 2006 to 147 in 2007. Habitat for Humanity announced its April 20 dedication of the 58th home it has resuscitated. The new property is located on Beall Avenue.

Stan Popp, WMHA executive director, discussed his organization’s newest venture—Shelter Plus Care, which will offer housing assistance and services for up to 10 persons who are mentally disabled. WMHA will also offer an Assisted Living Medicaid Waiver program that will operate at Townview Terrace Apartments. “The program will be for Medicaid-eligible residents who need assistance in order to stay in independent living instead of going into a nursing home,” Popp stated. The program start-up date has not yet been announced, but WMHA is now taking names of individuals interested in the Assisted Living service.

WIHC and Habitat for Humanity depend on the Wayne County community for volunteerism and financial support. WIHC asks that you continue to be generous with your time and funding as we look toward the future.