Annual Report

ocs building If there is one theme that best summarizes our work this past year it is “cooperation”. With a mission to be a responsive agency, Oberlin Community Services was established to meet the needs of the community. Thanks to our many collaborations this year with individuals, educational institutions, churches and other organizations, I feel confident in saying that we have met many of the needs of Oberlin and southern Lorain County.

This year our Emergency Assistance Program witnessed an increase in need throughout the various services that we offer. You will read about some of our clients in Kathy’s section, describing her year. Looking at the larger picture, it is clear that many factors have contributed to this increase in need. The unemployment rate in Lorain County remained high at 8.2%, compared to a national average of 5.7%. Major employers in the region continue to leave, including Johnson Controls and Missler’s, our local grocery store. And, looming large, is the housing foreclosure crisis that has hit our community hard. As noted by Kathy, we are seeing an average of five new clients per week. Many of these are people going through foreclosure who need immediate help keeping other aspects of their lives in order. While we look at ways to help with the larger problems, we talk with clients to make sure that they have food to feed their children, can keep paying their utility bills, can get their prescriptions filled, and know what other resources are available to them.

Through our collaborations with Second Harvest Food Bank of Lorain County we have managed to keep our food pantry well stocked throughout the year. We continue to host monthly mass food distributions and also have our Choice Pantry available Monday through Friday. Last winter when other food pantries were out of food, we opened our doors to our neighbors in Lorain and Elyria whenever it was necessary.

In another cooperative effort, I have been enjoying my second year as part of the Homeless Task Force of Lorain County and recently joined the Board of Directors. This is a fantastic group of agencies spread throughout the county. Last year, as part of the Outreach Committee, I helped to set up the first Homeless Awareness event that took place at Veteran’s Park in Lorain. This event allowed agencies from all over the county to meet directly with homeless and low-income people and share the variety of resources available. Stay tuned for the like-minded event coming up in 2008 which will be part of a three day Poverty Symposium sponsored by Oberlin College, The City of Oberlin, the Homeless Task Force of Lorain County, and Oberlin Community Services. Other collaborations, such as our monthly networking lunches and grades 3-8 math tutoring program, help to ensure that Oberlin Community Services maintains an integral role in the greater Oberlin Community.

This spring, our many years of working together with Oberlin College was highlighted through an award to our Board President Jaqui Willis. The Community Service Award was granted to Jaqui for her many years of dedication to the Oberlin community. We are fortunate that Jaqui’s inspiring commitment to our community includes serving on our Board of Directors for almost ten years.

We close our fiscal year 2007/08 having seen a 21% increase in clients we were able to assist with some type of emergency service overall and a 27% increase in the amount of food distributed. Although our ability to continue to serve increasingly more clients is limited by our staff size and funding, we are confident that we will continue to make a positive impact in Oberlin and southern Lorain County. We are no longer supported by the United Way of Lorain County and now rely heavily on private contributions and family foundations to keep up our level of service. I would like to thank our many donors, volunteers and other collaborators for helping us remain a safety net and a good friend to all who need us.

Linda Arbogast, Executive Director

2008-2009 Annual Report (File size 1.45 MB)

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