Celebrating 50 Years of ICCAP

CELEBRATING

50Y RS S YEA EAR

July 29, 2015

A special supplement to The Indiana Gazette

2 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

ICCAP: A beacon of hope for those in need

By RANDY WELLS

rwells@indianagazette.net

I

n an address Jan. 8, 1964, to a joint session of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson urged lawmakers and all residents of the United States to join him in helping the Americans who he said “live on the outskirts of hope … that one-fifth of all American families with incomes too small to even meet their basic needs.”

Johnson proposed a concerted war on poverty.

He recognized poverty as a national problem, but said the war against it had to be waged also at the state and local levels.

“Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom,” Johnson said.

“The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children. … Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.”

One of the legislative initiatives in Johnson’s war on poverty was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which created the Community Action Program and its Community Action Agencies. CAAs are local private and public nonprofit organizations intended to combat the root causes of unemployment and poverty and to promote selfsufficiency.

THE INDIANA County Community Action Program was designated Indiana County’s Community Action Agency by the county commissioners in 1965, and today ICCAP remains one of more than 1,000 CAAs in America and one of 43 in Pennsylvania engaged in a broad range of activities to help those in need.

ICCAP is a private, nonprofit agency best known for its network of food pantries and its homeless shelters, but the agency does much more through more than 20 programs.

It also provides assistance in finding and maintaining employment, managing income, improving nutrition, securing adequate housing, paying utility bills, providing job training and coordinating many other community initiatives.

“We give opportunity to individuals who have more difficulty than

others, to move them toward selfsufficiency, to give them the tools and resources they need,” said Amanda Myers, president of ICCAP’s 21-member board of directors.

Nearly 18 percent of Indiana County residents are living at poverty level, according to Michelle Faught, ICCAP’s executive director, and her agency assists nearly 4,900 clients monthly.

Those clients have a wide range of needs.

“It’s really an innovative organization,” Myers said of ICCAP, adding that some of the agency’s programs were created because someone saw a need and passed that information on to the staff at ICCAP. “ICCAP then responded by creating a program specifically based on this need,” Myers said. “We respond to needs locally.”

Which needs are most common?

“Housing. Food. Transportation is a major issue,” Faught said.

Lack of transportation has been identified as a significant barrier to people trying to gain self-sufficiency, according to Myers.

“Poverty looks different depending on geography,” she said.

“Urban poverty looks different than rural poverty. And transportation in a rural setting is very difficult and that becomes more of a barrier than someone would face in an urban setting. Because you have people from Glen Campbell trying to find a job, coming to Homer City to work or to Indiana to work, and if they don’t have consistent transportation they’re not going to be able to have a consistent job, which is going to eliminate a lot of possibilities.”

Many people, Faught said, are only one paycheck away from a crisis that can have a domino effect. If their vehicle has a major breakdown and they can’t afford to get it repaired, they could lose their job, and because they don’t have a job they then could lose their home.

The high cost of housing and low-paying jobs pose another potential problem for others.

“A lot of people are just making it from paycheck to paycheck,” Faught said. “There’s not a lot of room, for some of them, to be saving for an emergency.”

CLIENTS COME to ICCAP by selfreferral and on referrals from other human service agencies. Referrals can also be made by utility companies and banks.

“IN THE late spring of 2013, I was off work due to an illness. When I was able to return, I was told I no longer had a job. … My finances were near nothing. ICCAP saved my home. Without their help who knows where and what I would be living in. In keeping my home, it gave me confidence I would find a job again. After 10 months I located a job just minutes from my home. … ICCAP gives 100 percent of themselves to help.”

About ICCAP JAMIE EMPFIELD/Gazette

ICCAP HAS been housed in the courthouse annex since 1988.

ICCAP’s annual budget is about $1.6 million. Funding comes from federal, state and local sources, and funding is a major factor determining how many people each ICCAP program can help.

For example, “We only have x amount of dollars to assist with utility bills,” Faught said.

“The need is not entirely being met,” Myers said. “We do the best that we can. The need for ICCAP services is consistently growing.”

One of ICCAP’s main fundraising events is an annual benefit golf outing in May, which this spring raised more than $21,000.

“We have to get beyond just events to raise money. We have to try to figure out other avenues,” Myers said. “(Funding) is going to be an ongoing problem. We’re going to have to address it in ways that are beyond the events” that raise dollars. “We have to try to be creative in how we can get money.”

Funding, Myers said, will continue to be a major challenge in another way for ICCAP in the years ahead.

“We do not pay the employees at ICCAP enough,” Myers said. The staff members’ salaries are set by the board, based on what’s available in the budget. The pay rates, according to Myers, contribute to “a higher turnover rate than we need to have.”

Some of ICCAP’s homeless case

managers are working on master’s degrees.

“In two or three years, these people who are very dedicated, very good at what they do and have learned the complexities of this organization … they will all be leaving” for better-paying jobs, Myers said. “That is a problem we face for the future of ICCAP. … We need to be able to have the staff that is trained, talented, dedicated stay there. … It is not an issue of whether these people want to stay.

It’s can they stay?”

Myers, who is one of the younger people on the ICCAP board, said another challenge for the agency will be to find a way to involve more young people in a meaningful way in the organization so they can take over leadership roles in ICCAP in the years ahead.

“We’re going to have a lack of volunteers interested in doing that type of community-oriented work,” Myers said.

It will be important, she added, for ICCAP to do its part in instilling a sense of civic responsibility in young people.

Yet another future challenge for ICCAP, Myers said, is “getting past the stigma” — the opinion of some in the public that the needy should be doing more to help themselves.

“The vast majority of ICCAP’s clients are working” — some are working at two jobs — but they are

• ICCAP has 27 paid staff members and more than 700 volunteers. In 2014 the volunteers gave 19,238 hours of service.

• ICCAP is governed by a 21-member board of directors. One-third of the directors represent lowincome community members, one-third are public officials and up to one-third are private sector leaders. Some ICCAP directors were once, or are now, ICCAP clients.

• While donations of food are important, what ICCAP can do with cash is impressive. The agency, through its connection with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, can buy produce and other food for just pennies per pound.

• A 50th year recognition dinner to celebrate ICCAP’s half-century of service is being planned for Nov. 19 at the Rustic Lodge. Former and present staff members are encouraged to “save the date,” watch for more details and plan on attending the dinner.

the working poor, Myers “They need the services we as a supplement because don’t make enough money their wages.”

said. offer they with

ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 3

Compassionate leadership guides agency

By SEAN YODER

syoder@indianagazette.net

A

ll of the recent ICCAP executive directors share an important common characteristic: They were deeply involved with the program and human services before taking over the top post.

Current Executive Director Michelle Faught has been in the position for just under three years, but she started volunteering in 1986 in the program’s food pantries.

She began volunteering for ICCAP as a way for her to be connected into human services to better serve people through her church, Kinport Assembly of God in Cherry Tree.

There, she had been working in their program to provide food for those in need but felt that “people needed so much more than a bag of food,” she said.

She kept on with ICCAP and became a case manager in 1988, working as a shelter coordinator. In 1994 she became shelter director, a position she retained for 17 years.

The shelter and housing programs are an important step on the road to self-sufficiency, Faught said, and she is an advocate for safe housing. She said she believes everyone should be able to live in a home in good repair with basic functions such as indoor bathrooms.

As time goes on though, she said, property and rent prices climb while government assistance checks stay stagnant, causing low-income families to use more resources to keep their housing.

She said she felt led to apply for the executive director position when it opened in 2012. It was a way for her to continue the work she has always done while taking it one step higher.

She doesn’t do it for power, she said. “More so I believe I am God’s hands and feet outstretched to the community. There are a lot of people hurting out there.

JAMES J. NESTOR/Gazette

PARTICIPANTS IN the annual IUP Community Nutrition Drive to benefit ICCAP collected food in this April 30, 2011, photo.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS ICCAP’s board of directors is made up of seven people in each of three sectors: low income, public and private, and representing various areas of the county or agencies. The current board members are: LOW INCOME SECTOR • Raymond Irwin, Marion Center (northwest area) • Linda Maryai, Homer City Vice president (southwest area) • Carrie Monticue, Homer City (Indiana County Head Start) • Tom Smith, Blairsville (southwest area) • Terry Stiffler, Penn Run (northeast area) • Peggy Tantlinger, Armagh (southeast area) • Robert Watta, White Township (Indiana/White Township)

PUBLIC SECTOR • Mike Baker County commissioner • Patricia Evanko County commissioner • Dave Flowers Treasurer Laurel Legal Services • John E. Frank IUP • Janine Maust Aging Services • Dave Reed State representative • Rodney Ruddock County commissioner

PRIVATE SECTOR • Heather Blake Indiana Printing and Publishing • Timothy Monroe Clergy • Tom Moreau Northwood Realty • Amanda Myers President Foremost Consumer Discount • Larry Sedlemeyer Indiana Regional Medical Center • Tom Teal Owner, McDonald’s • Tom Valeski (BiLo) Secretary

That’s always been my call, work to help get individuals back on their feet any way I can possibly help them.”

Faught said ICCAP is now turn-

ing some of its focus toward transportation, based on the consensus that transportation is a major factor when addressing poverty.

This is particularly important in rural areas where cheaper properties are scattered throughout the farms and woods in Indiana County and far from bus lines.

Before Faught was Lorna Vite.

She held the top position for three years after being a longtime ICCAP worker, but stepped down in July 2011 to spend more time with “IN TWO or three her husband, years, these who had been diagnosed with people who are cancer. very dedicated, Today she owns the Yellow very good at Creek Campwhat they do and ground across have learned the from the encomplexities of trance to the state park this organization along Route … they will all 422 in Cherryhill Township. be leaving. That Vite came is a problem we into ICCAP a little bit later in face for the her life than other recent di- future of ICCAP. rectors. She … We need to be spent 14 years able to have the as a stay-atstaff that is home mother but decided to trained, talented, go back to busidedicated stay ness school and re-enter there. … It is not the workforce.

She eventual- an issue of ly found emwhether these ployment with people want to ICCAP and worked there stay. It’s can for eight years they stay?” before applying to be executive director as Amanda Myers, Sandi Dill board president stepped down from the post in 2007.

Vite said it wasn’t really her intention to get into human services at first, but found that she loved what ICCAP did.

“I just felt like it was a commonsense approach to helping people.”

She said she was surprised at how many people in the community needed help, but also how many in the community were willing to help others through volunteering and private donations.

Regarding Indiana County as a whole, Vite said “it’s a common misconception that there isn’t much poverty and homelessness. Homelessness is probably more misunderstood.”

Continued on Page 4

4 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Compassionate leadership guides agency Continued from Page 3 Vite also has another vantage point on poverty and homelessness as owner of the campground. She said it’s obvious sometimes that campers are homeless people looking for a place to stay for a few nights.

Vite came to lead the community action program just as the economy tanked.

After President Obama was elected in 2008, stimulus money flowed into the economy and the human services sector. Vite said the stimulus money had very specific requirements such as weatherization of homes, so ICCAP beefed up the programs that could benefit from the stimulus money.

But at the same time, Vite said, ICCAP was facing a tough state budget that saw its base funding in jeopardy.

This base money can be used for anything from paying staff to shoring up holes in programs. “That was what had supported the agency for 40 years. So it was a struggle and a fight.�

When the stimulus money went away, many of the benefiting programs had to contract or be eliminated. There were some programs that survived, such as the rapid rehousing project, Vite said.

Under her leadership ICCAP also purchased the poverty simulation kit,

MICHELLE FAUGHT

LORNA VITE

SANDI DILL

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS 2012-present: Michelle Faught 2011-12: Sandi Dill, interim director 2007-11: Lorna Vite 1995-2007: Sandi Dill 1993-95: Lauren Coleman 1985-93: Darlene Bigler 1982-85: Dorothy Kovach 1978-82: Dick Snyder something Vite said has been a great educational tool.

Vite said she learned a lot from her predecessor, Dill, and described her as an excellent manager. “I admired her passion for the agency and this community. She was devoted to serving the low income in Indiana County.�

There is perhaps no name as synonymous with ICCAP as Sandra “Sandi� Dill. She ran the community action

1977-78: Shane Rood, acting director 1976-77: Jim Wolfgang 1974-76: Jim Froelicher 1973-74: Laurence Skerlong 1971-73: Barb Gershman 1969-71: Dorothy Merritt 1967-69: Ron Archer 1965-67: George Burtick

program for 12 years and remains active today as a consultant.

She started in human services by working for United Food Pantry in 1985. There, like Faught, Dill was exposed to the needs in the community through volunteering. “I saw the children standing there in line with their parents and it just made me want to do more,� she said.

Two years later, Dill was hired by ICCAP to teach life

skills to families in need. She helped with a big range of day-to-day living for these families by making assessments on their needs and providing education for things such as cooking and cleaning.

She also helped people map out long-term goals and give them some resources to meet those goals. But that program fizzled out just months after Dill began.

Dill then moved into the

food bank side of ICCAP and eventually became food bank director in 1988.

Then, when Executive Director Darlene Bigler stepped down from the post in 1993, Dill applied and would spend the next 12 years at the helm. During those years Dill worked on a lot of different aspects of human services but said she worked to pump up asset development programs.

These programs addressed more than just immediate needs and helped to move people toward self-sufficiency. For example, the workready program helped people populate a rĂŠsumĂŠ, do mock interviews and eventually even connected them with paying jobs.

ICCAP received funding for Project Light that adopted a track to self-sufficiency through goals, housing and transportation.

There were also programs to teach people how to save money, help with the cost of fuel oil in the winter, help people file their income taxes and work with pharmaceutical companies to provide affordable prescriptions.

These things, Dill said, helped people free up a little bit more of their personal budgets and give them some breathing room to buy basics such as groceries.

But none of these pro-

“THEY (government agencies) keep continually placing more requirements and more restrictions and more reporting on these grants and it takes a lot more staff time to accomplish that.�

Sandi Dill,

former executive director

grams alone is a silver bullet to alleviate poverty, Dill said. “Moving people to self-sufficiency is a process. One program, one individual or one organization cannot do it alone.�

She said another problem is that while funding has stayed relatively flat, the cost of almost everything has increased.

There is also much more red tape than there used to be. “They (government agencies) keep continually placing more requirements and more restrictions and more reporting on these grants and it takes a lot more staff time to accomplish that,� Dill said.

But she was adamant that the real heart of ICCAP’s ability to serve the community is through its volunteers.

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ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 5

Pathway offers shelter to county’s vulnerable • EDITOR’S NOTE: Names of former and current Pathway clients have been changed to protect their identities.

By HEATHER BLAKE

SHELTERING THE HOMELESS

hblake@indianagazette.net

H

“We had nowhere to go.”

That’s when Rebecca and her family were taken in at the Pathway shelter in Black Lick.

“We had nothing but what we could fit in our trunk,” she said.

omelessness can happen to anyone, at any time, for a number of reasons.

Rebecca was living and working in Houston when illness struck in 2002.

Wanting to be near her extended family and to receive treatment, she packed up her family that July with whatever belongings she could and drove cross-country to Pennsylvania, where she originally is from.

“Things didn’t work out as planned, and we ended up homeless,” she said.

Pathway, Indiana County Community Action Program’s emergency shelter, is a 13-bed facility — staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — that houses individuals for up to 30 days. It is the only shelter in Indiana County that can house single men, single women and families with children. The shelter consists of a large kitchen, a community room, five sleeping rooms, a living room, bathrooms and staff offices.

It also is handicap-accessible.

Pathway’s overall goal is to enable residents to secure housing and reach the highest level of self-suffi-

ciency, by providing intensive case management services; information and referral; basic life skills; emergency food, clothing and hygiene items; and access to on-site laundry facilities.

“One thing about Pathway was that not only did they shelter us and provide some clothing and feed us … they gave us life skills, which, when we got here, I didn’t know what to do,” Rebecca said.

Her case manager at the time, Marlene Meagher, who now runs the shelter, provided Rebecca with information on what she needed to do.

“She helped me make appointments, just things like giving me the bus schedule or lists of resources … coming from Houston, I didn’t know this county,” she said. She also recalled Meagher taking her to Continued on Page 6

TOM PEEL/Gazette

THE PATHWAY homeless shelter in Black Lick houses people for up to 30 days.

ICCAP services extend well beyond food bank, housing

By RANDY WELLS

rwells@indianagazette.net

Under the Economic Opportunity Act, a Community Action Program was defined as a program “which provides services, assistance and other activities of sufficient scope and size to give promise of progress toward elimination of poverty or a cause or causes of poverty through developing employment opportunities, improving human performance, motivation and productivity, or bettering the conditions under which people live, learn and work.”

Today, ICCAP fulfills those requirements through more than 20 programs and initiatives.

The figures in parentheses are the numbers of people the programs assisted during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

• Pathway Homeless Shelter Provides temporary emergency shelter and support services for families or individuals who have nowhere to sleep at night. (133) • Bridge Housing Program Provides low-cost interim housing, as well as counseling, case management, sup-

port and referral services for homeless, single-parent families that are moving toward self-sufficiency. (13) • Rental units ICCAP offers 17 affordable permanent housing units to eligible low-income families and individuals.

• Housing assistance Provides temporary financial help by paying rent and/or security deposits for those who are homeless or nearly homeless. (300) • Project LIGHT (Life Improvement through Goals, Housing and Transportation) Assists homeless individuals and family members achieve housing stability by leasing rental units, providing case management, budgeting and temporary transportation to participants. (24) • Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program HEMAP is an emergency loan program for homeowners who are 60 days behind on their mortgage payments and are facing foreclosure due to uncontrollable circumstances.

• Project PHD (Permanent Housing for the Disabled) Assists disabled individuals in obtaining permanent

housing. (11) • Indiana/Armstrong Behavioral Developmental Housing Liaison Assists those with mental health issues find and sustain housing. (51) • Emergency Shelter Grant Provides assistance to the homeless in finding and paying for housing. (38) • Homeless Case Management Provides homeless intensive case management services to homeless individuals based on a developed service plan. (166) • Work Ready Program Helps individuals get through employment barriers by providing job preparation classes and intensive case management.

(14) • Emergency Food and Shelter Program Low-income individuals can be assisted with metered utilities as well as fuel delivery. (675 nights of shelter to 49 individuals; 100 people received utility assistance) • Penelec Customer Assistance Program Provides a discount on a Penelec bill through a monthly credit based on income and energy burden.

(1,182)

• Dollar Energy Customers can receive grants to help defray the cost of metered utilities. (75) • Church Crisis ICCAP makes referrals to a group of local churches that can help county residents make emergency utility payments. (291) • Representative Payee Program Provides financial services to those receiving Social Security. (200)

• Diaper Program Provides diapers for 10 cents each to those who qualify. (109) • Emergency Food The ICCAP main office has emergency food boxes for individuals in crisis. (962) • Food pantries Monthly food distribution program held at 18 locations throughout the county.

(3,646) • Commodity Supplemental Food Program

Federal food program designed to improve the health and nutrition of senior citizens. (557) • Power Pack Program Created to meet the needs of elementary students who are not getting enough to eat over the weekends.

The program provides eight to 12 child-friendly, nonperishable food items per child twice a month. (705 children in eight school districts.)

Thanking Thanking ICCAP ICCAP for for 50 years y of service ser vice to to Indiana Indiana County.

County ICCAP provides programs aimed at helping low-income fam and individuals attain self sufficiency. Their programs provid new waays to solve household problems, manage emergencie learn new living skills, and foster community involvement.

ICCAP also examines and promo methods by which orgganizations and institutions can deal with the problems of rural and disadvantaged people.

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6 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Pathway offers shelter to county’s vulnerable Continued from Page 5 get clothing.

“While we were at the shelter, I felt really relaxed there — I had just come from a really big, horrible ending in Houston, and I remember I felt really secure there,” Rebecca said. “Everyone was really respectful and genuinely wanted to help.”

“Everything was structured to help you improve your life,” she said. “Everyone’s very compassionate.”

Pathway opened its doors in February 1991 after the agency saw a need for a facility for Indiana County’s homeless, an effort spearheaded by then-Executive Director Darlene Bigler and Connie Ferris, who was the shelter director for the Bridge House at the time.

In its first year, from February to December, Pathway provided shelter to 82 individuals, according to ICCAP Executive Director Michelle Faught, who herself ran Pathway from 1994 to 2012. Through June 30 of this year, Pathway has provided 73,665 nights of shelter to 2,761 individuals: 1,750 adults and 1,011 children.

The shelter received 439 referrals and provided shelter to 133 people — 115 adults and 18 children — from July 1, 2014, to June 30. The number of referrals has been staying steady the last several years, Faught said, with anywhere from 420 to 500 a year. And children stays have decreased, Meagher said.

Referrals come from other agencies; other shelters; 211, the county’s human services helpline; and word of mouth.

TOM PEEL/Gazette

THE LIVING area at the shelter has a TV, telephone and other amenities.

If someone is referred and is deemed eligible but the shelter is at capacity, they are placed on a waiting list and provided phone numbers for other shelters. If they are not eligible, Pathway refers that person to other shelters, even in other counties.

For those that can’t go out of county due to work, for example, Faught said they “stay where they can stay,” whether it be with friends, in their vehicles or at campgrounds.

PORT IN A STORM Clients can end up at Pathway for

a number of reasons, Meagher said.

It could be that an illness or disability prevents them from working, a lack of affordable places to live or leaving an abusive living arrangement. Oftentimes homelessness occurs through no fault of their own.

“It could be one thing that threw them financially off the rocker,” Meagher said.

Janet found herself homeless after being released from a nursing home following a medical condition. She lost her leg in October due to a vascular disease.

She was staying with friends for a

while, she said, but eventually had to leave.

“They put me up in a hotel,” she said.

Living in Armstrong County at the time, Janet said no programs were available there for her.

Through ICCAP’s Representative Payee program, she found herself at Pathway.

Janet has been at the shelter for a few weeks. All individuals who come to the shelter are expected to take an active role in accomplishing their life goals such as pursuing housing leads and job opportunities. Homeless case managers provide support while clients are in the shelter and up to one year following their stay at Pathway, assisting in removing barriers by establishing goals, providing transportation for appointments and interviews, helping with completion of applications and other necessary paperwork, budgeting, being advocates in acquiring necessary services and offering support and encouragement.

Janet works with her case manager, Jonathan, who helps her look for housing and who also got her into a program to help individuals get back on their feet.

What Pathway would do under the program, Meagher said, is help her find suitable, affordable housing. Because Janet is handicapped, she said, some of the issues are going to be finding something that is wheelchair-accessible and something that is under fair-market rent, “which is pretty low here in Indiana County.”

THANK YOU for feeding our community We are honored to be part of a community that includes organizations like the Indiana County Community Action Program.

Congratulations, ICCAP, for 50 years of incredible work in our community. Please take time to celebrate.

MEMBER FDIC

Because Janet does not have transportation, Pathway also is trying to find housing along a bus route.

“We’re looking at all the different elements that would make things easier for her to be successful once the program is finished,” Meagher said.

Janet’s caseworker found an affordable unit on a recent day in July, but it was in a location that would have been difficult for her to get anywhere, Meagher said. She probably would be able to get transportation for her medical appointments, but for errands such as grocery shopping, she would have trouble getting there.

Her caseworker was looking into an IndiGO program that offers a shared ride for people with disabilities; if Janet ends up living somewhere away from bus routes, it could be a possibility as long as it’s in her budget.

“It’s taking all the obstacles and barriers and trying to find the best situation to get them into something that’s going to make them more stable,” Meagher said.

It has been a group effort among all the staff at the shelter in assisting her with her goals.

“Jonathan’s my caseworker, but they’ve all really been helping me,” Janet said. “Any of them, if they’re available, they answer my questions.”

If clients are working on their goals, they can be eligible for an extension beyond the 30 days, one week at a time up to two weeks, Continued on Page 7

ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 7

Pathway offers shelter

Hamilton’s service spans three decades

By ELLEN MATIS

Continued from Page 6 Meagher said. One example would be if someone has a job and has found permanent housing but is unable to move in right away.

For Janet, because she is actively working on finding housing and progressing with her goals, Meagher said there might be a chance she would receive an extension.

FACING BARRIERS Transportation for Pathway clients is a “major issue,” Meagher said. Only one bus has a route through the area, and its schedule is limited.

The shelter has a van that is used during the day to transport clients to pick up job applications, go to job interviews and look for housing.

The transportation issue also makes it “more problematic” for clients who may hold an after-hours job, Meagher said. With no round-the-clock transportation, that leaves them to try and find other means to get where they need to go.

While Pathway would benefit from a bigger or a second facility closer to somewhere with more available transportation and employment opportunities, such as Indiana, to accommodate more homeless individuals at a time, Meagher said it’s not a viable option.

“The cost would be more than we could afford,” she said.

The biggest barrier, Faught said, is the day-to-day cost of operations and funding.

ICCAP rents the building from the Indiana County Housing Authority for $1 a month, but costs to operate the shelter — utilities, maintenance, year-round staffing, administration, case management, transportation, food purchases and hygiene items — comes to roughly $205,000 a year, she said.

Pathway receives 82 percent federal funding, 11 percent local and 7 percent from cash contributions and fundraising events. The shelter depends upon communi-

“county home,” now Rose Haven personal care home, and food was stored in the Ask Mae Hamilton why she barn that recently was the Infirst got involved with the In- diana County Humane Sociediana County Community ty before its relocation to AirAction Program and the an- port Road.

“It was just a little thing swer is simple: “It makes you happening at the county feel good.”

Hamilton, of Clymer, who home when it started and has been a volunteer with now they have that building ICCAP for 30 years and down there on Sixth Street,” served on the board for 16 she said. Now, ICCAP serves years, said that volunteering more than 5,000 people at with the organization “just various pantry sites in the makes you feel good that county on a monthly basis, you’re helping people that are according to a 2014 report.

“We had yard sales and all less fortunate.”

In her time on the board, kinds of (drives) when we started out to get she only missed two money to keep (the meetings — once program) going,” when she slipped on she said. ice and hurt herself, She said a yard sale the other when she was held every year was a patient in the at the former Indihospital. ana County home “I am a person and that two annual who, I think, when yard sales were held you commit and say at the Indiana Counyou’re going to do MAE ty Fairgrounds that something, then you raised money for the should be there,” she HAMILTON program. said. “If you say Hamilton said volunteer you’re going to do something, then you don’t be on it just to programs, especially ICCAP, are important. say you’re on that board.”

“It’s a good agency and Hamilton began her time with ICCAP in 1985, when she there’s always people that was approached about help- need help,” she said. “We ing to run the food bank that don’t think there are as many was going to open in Com- (people) as there are (that need assistance), but you find modore.

She recalls when the first out when you start doing it food bank was part of the that there’s many.” ematis@indianagazette.net

TOM PEEL/Gazette

THE SHELTER is a 13-bed facility. ty support and is always in need of food, paper towels, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, hygiene products and monetary donations for daily operations — anything someone is willing to give, within reason, Meagher said, citing limited storage space.

If items such as towels, blankets, washcloths and other hygiene items are available, Pathway staff will send them with clients when they move into more permanent housing — “whatever we can give,” Meagher said.

RECEIVING HELP To be eligible for the Pathway shelter, the head of the household must be 18 years or older and, due to a situational crisis, must not have any other appropriate place to live. Potential residents are required to provide proof of their homeless situation, because funding sources require that documentation.

Individuals also must not have a history of violent crimes or crimes against children, and must be clean from drugs and alcohol for 45 days prior to the date of request for admission.

During their time at Pathway, residents have their share of responsibilities as part of their life skills, Meagher said.

They all have chores and prepare their own meals, although Janet, who is known as the “resident cook,” likes to cook for the others occasionally. The shelter also is cleaned nightly.

For children staying at the

shelter, ARIN’s Project LIFE (Learning is for Everyone) provides tutoring and assists in setting up transportation for school.

A NEW BEGINNING For Rebecca, who made that cross-country trip to Pennsylvania all those years ago, ICCAP has given her another start. After her stay at Pathway, she moved into the Bridge House through October of 2002 before she and her children moved into their first permanent apartment.

Bridge House provides longterm transitional housing.

“ICCAP not only helped us obtain a place to live and met all our household needs, but treated our family with respect and gave us hope during a tough time,” she said.

Over the years, the agency has helped Rebecca and her family with utilities, paying rent deposits and providing food.

“I have been given a second chance through ICCAP,” Rebecca said. She now volunteers at the agency, helping type reports and “anything they need me to do,” while taking online classes to enhance her skills. A former Seton Hill student with a passion for photography, Rebecca also takes photographs of ICCAP events.

Having volunteered in the Indiana area over the years, Rebecca said she enjoys working for the nonprofit sector.

“My co-workers are dedicated and genuinely want to help others,” she said.

And the experience has given her confidence a boost.

“My faith has gotten me over a lot of obstacles, but ICCAP has definitely been a vehicle” to getting her back on her feet, she said.

But there’s one memory that will forever stay with her.

The day she and her children moved into their home, on Nov. 1, 2002, it snowed.

“It was a real heavy snow. I hadn’t seen snow in years, because I had been in Houston,” she said.

Rebecca, who left Texas 13 years ago in a car with few belongings — some pillows and blankets in the trunk, “a little bit of summer clothing” and a laundry basket full of activities for her children to enjoy on the long ride — recalled Faught giving her a coat the morning she moved into her apartment.

“I’m like, ‘My gosh, I have a coat. I don’t even have to go get it,’” she remembered thinking. “I wouldn’t have had money to buy a coat.”

She put the coat on, she said, and took a “long, peaceful walk” in the snow.

“The coat was important for a whole bunch of reasons,” she said.

And though she remembers thanking Faught that day for giving her a gift of warmth and comfort, she wanted to express her gratitude once more. “Thank you, Michelle. That’s what I would like to say,” said Rebecca, who, now 13 years later, still has that coat, now long worn — one of many acts of generosity from ICCAP.

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8 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Bridge program helped to rebuild woman’s life

By LISA SHADE

About Bridge House

news@indianagazette.net

Michelle Ferrington was running out of time.

The father of her children had left, taking “everything but the kids,” she said.

A friend moved Ferrington and her two children into a house she owned, but then her friend sold it without notice. The new owner said Ferrington and her daughters — ages 2 and 7 — had to be out in 12 days.

Ferrington was working three jobs, but she couldn’t make ends meet. She was saddled with credit card debt. She was making payments on a broken-down car she couldn’t afford to fix.

She couldn’t find a new place to live that fit her budget. Many local shelters were full.

She had nowhere to go. In 12 days, she would be homeless.

Days went by, and Ferrington’s options were narrowing. That’s when her daughter’s guidance counselor recommended the Bridge Housing Program, a service of the Indiana County Community Action Program.

The program provides lowcost interim housing for homeless, single-parent families who are trying to get back on their feet. Ferrington had a long way to go to selfsufficiency, but she could stop the countdown. The

The Bridge Housing Program offers transitional housing and individuals can stay up to 18 months.

The program has served approximately 230 families since it began in 1988.

The Bridge serves 13 to 28 people per year.

For more information, contact ICCAP at (724) 465-2657 or visit www.iccap.net.

PICTURED ARE Michelle and Jim Ferrington and their children, Becca, left, Caite and Mikey.

FINALLY HOME

Submitted photo

Bridge had room for them.

HELP AND HOPE Ferrington and her girls moved into a two-bedroom apartment, one of four in the Bridge house in Center Township. The apartment was fully furnished and the shelves were stocked with food. Ferrington said that moving into the Bridge was

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like “coming home to the perfect parent.”

The Bridge provided much more than a place to stay.

The program helped Ferrington connect with other ICCAP services. She received job training, credit counseling and learned how to create a household budget with her current income and expenses.

ON YOUR YOUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY ANNIVERSARY

“I paid rent and utilities, but they were incomebased,” she said. “They help you set goals.”

She received help in finding and purchasing a car. She paid off credit cards. Slowly but steadily she made strides toward independence.

While Ferrington was working hard to get back on her feet, she was thankful

that her family could remain together.

“I got to keep my kids with me, and that was the most important thing,” she said.

The ICCAP staff felt like family, too.

“The people who help you are genuine,” said Ferrington. “They really care about what happens to you. It’s an amazing program.”

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It’s been 12 years since Ferrington lived at the Bridge.

Since then, she married and had a third child.

She lives with her husband and three children in a fourbedroom house in the country.

“It’s a nice big, old house,” laughs Ferrington.

For her oldest daughter, now 19, life at the Bridge is a distant memory, but not an unpleasant one.

“That was our home,” Ferrington said. “My kids were happy there, but they are happier now that they have their own bedrooms.”

ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 9

Food bank tackles scourge of hunger — daily

By MARY ANN SLATER news@indianagazette.net

P

osted on the wall inside the front door of the Indiana County Community Action Program office is a simple picture of a grandma and a young boy and the words “Everyday People Need Food ‌ Every Day.â€?

It’s a reminder for visitors leaving the building that someone, somewhere in the county, is probably going to bed hungry that night unless others help.

ICCAP’s food bank has recognized that need and led efforts to make sure the county’s hungry are fed for more than 30 years. “It is a source of food for people with limited income who don’t know where their food is coming from,� said Jesse Miller, director of the food bank.

ICCAP’s food program had its official start in 1983.

A year later, the food bank began to receive cheese and butter through a federal program known as The Emergency Food Assistance Program, which was spun off from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “I believe it was a surplus from milk price supports (and) cheese was stockpiled,� said Sandra Dill in an email. Dill worked with the food bank in the late 1980s and went on to serve as ICCAP’s executive director from 1995 to 2007. “Through ICCAP’s involvement with the surplus cheese and butter program, as well as input from our outreach workers, community members, volunteers and township officials, ICCAP realized there was a need to expand food distributions in Indiana County by establishing a food pantry network,� she said.

The food bank funneled the excess dairy product to several sites around Indiana County, Dill said.

Some of these sites would eventually become a part of a network of pantries that distribute various food items to income-eligible residents. Today there are 18 locales that open once a

JAMIE EMPFIELD/Gazette

JESSE MILLER, food bank director, and Aimee Kemp, food program counselor, took stock recently at the ICCAP food bank warehouse along South Sixth Street Extension. month for food distribution. “The first warehouse was on (Indiana) County Home property,� Dill said. “We had a refrigerated trailer outside that was used to keep the cheese and butter cold. We would borrow a forklift from the maintenance department at the county home. “We used borrowed trucks, mostly from family� to transport the food items to distribution sites.

Besides federal support for the food bank, ICCAP also received monetary support from the state, which in 1982 initiated the State Food Purchase Program which provided funding for food purchases. The funding could be used at the food bank’s discretion, so long as the prices were at wholesale prices or less, Dill said.

Today, state and federal support compose about

two-thirds of the budget for ICCAP’s food program, estimated current agency director Michelle Faught.

The projected budget for

fiscal year 2015-16 is $210,583 and figures show that 47 percent of that funding comes from the state, 20 percent from the federal

Thank You ICCAP

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government and the remaining 33 percent from local efforts such as Make a Difference Day, Care & Share Day and Indiana’s

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Cookin’.

By the mid-1990s, ICCAP was looking for new space for its food bank warehouse. In 1996 new quarters were constructed on South Sixth Street Extension in White Township. In 1999 a cooler was added, and one year later, a new freezer installed in the 7,500-squarefoot building.

Miller began work in 1998 and took over as food bank director 10 years ago.

On a recent day, Miller talked about operations from the warehouse’s cavernous quarters.

In the midst of the floor sat a small Toyota lift truck that Miller uses to maneuver around the cartons and crates of foodstuffs in the warehouse — Del Monte canned fruits, Mountain Maid instant dry milk, small cans of spinach and larger containers of apple juice.

Nearby were pallets of canned carrots, tuna and tomato soup and boxes of dried cereal.

Despite the perceived abundance, despite the fact that the food bank distributed 790,374 pounds of food in the last fiscal year, Miller said the food bank can always use additional support. “There is a need for everything,� he said.

Current figures show the Continued on Page 10

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10 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Jim Cook helps distribute meals from HC church

By MARY ANN SLATER news@indianagazette.net

F

or the past four decades, Jim Cook, of Homer City, has spent many first Thursdays of the month at the Homer City United Methodist Church, boxing food items for the area’s lowincome residents.

His late wife, Jane, who died in June, had volunteered for the Indiana County Community Action Program’s Food Bank’s pantry in Homer City from the time it first opened its doors.

The Methodist church is one of 18 food pantries around Indiana County, serving income-eligible residents of Homer City and Center Township.

Jim Cook, 80, a retired history/social studies teacher from Homer-Center High School, followed his wife’s lead and helped out during summer months when he wasn’t teaching or coaching basketball or football.

When he retired in 1990, he volunteered throughout the year.

“That is our community service,” he said recently when asked why he and Jane

had made the longstanding commitment to the food bank. He said he is proud that students at his high school have also made contributing to the local pantry a priority.

“They are still collecting food,” Cook said.

In the early years of the pantry, Cook and other volunteers distributed dairy items such as butter and cheese to eligible recipients.

Over time, the list of distributed food items has grown due to different funding sources, growing donations and various partnerships ICCAP has formed.

Cook said he and the approximately 15 other volunteers at Homer City United Methodist Church count and sort all the donations that come in for their pantry’s monthly distribution.

Households with five or fewer members get one box of food, he said. Larger households receive two boxes. In past years, volunteers there gave out as many as 250 boxes of food, but Cook said that number has been cut by more than half as some folks have found employment, moved from the

Cook should know that the bountiful time for most gardens is coming up soon. He is an avid gardener who this summer has 104 tomato plants. Each year, he puts in a new variety.

“I want to see what they’re like,” he said.

Besides tomatoes, he has a lot of green peppers, zucchini and yellow and green beans. He also likes to camp, hunt and fish, and he often takes a lot of what he grows along on his trips.

“We eat pretty good while we camp.”

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area or passed away.

The volunteers try to make sure there is a good mix of food in each box, Cook said.

In recent years, ICCAP’s food bank has purchased produce from the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank and distributed to Indiana County residents at the pantries.

So far this summer, recipients have been able to take home potatoes, apples and some tomatoes, Cook said.

“Now that gardens are coming in, we are probably getting some more items,” he said.

ICCAP STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

Get Ready For at

JAMIE EMPFIELD/Gazette

JIM COOK, a longtime volunteer for ICCAP food pantry in Homer City, is growing more than 100 tomato plants in his yard this season.

THANK YOU

Cong Congrats ICCAP for 50 Years!

Fall!

Food bank tackles hunger

GARDEN CENTER

50 Airport A Rd Indiana Rd,

Indiana Blairsville

Continued from Page 9 program provides support for about 5,000 individuals — roughly 3,500 families — per month.

“I feel that need has gone up in the past couple years with businesses shutting down,” Miller said.

“The numbers have definitely gone up,” Faught agreed. “Minimum wage is still $7.25. Everything has risen but wages. There are a lot of people who are not making a living wage.”

Over the past decade, Susan Smith, 87, has received assistance at one of the food bank pantries.

Smith said she receives monthly a box with items such as canned goods, a few staples like boxed macaroni and cheese, some bread or rolls and perhaps some ground meat and produce like carrots or potatoes or apples, whatever is in season.

“I am on a very low income,” said Smith, who didn’t want her real name to be used for publication.

“Whatever I get, I use. It helps me in that I don’t have to go shopping for the things I get in the box.”

Food bank pantries are scattered throughout the county in various churches, fire halls and community centers. Municipal workers transport the food from the food bank warehouse to the distribution sites, where volunteers are in charge of sorting, boxing up and distributing the items to community residents.

The support of the volunteers is invaluable, Miller said.

“We have 330 volunteers who we count on a month for these pantries to keep running. If it wasn’t for the volunteers, we couldn’t do this.”

Smith agreed that the volunteers were key in why she kept returning for help.

“The volunteers are very nice and very friendly. They don’t make you feel bad that sometimes you have to do something you don’t re-

ally want to do because it is hell.”

In recent years, the food bank has augmented its distribution program with more meat, bakery goods and produce.

For example, four area stores — Giant Eagle, ALDI and the Walmarts in White Township and Burrell Township — donate frozen meats and bakery items that they can no longer sell.

“They had a push from Feeding America,” Miller said. Feeding America is a national nonprofit organization that encourages government officials and businessmen to help fight hunger through donations of unused/unwanted food items.

“The stores took it upon themselves not to throw away stuff,” Miller said. Instead they donate their unsalable food to ICCAP. He said on average the food bank annually receives 100,000 pounds of food from the four stores.

And Miller has begun working with the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank to get more produce to county recipients. Twice a month, the Pittsburgh organization delivers produce in season to the warehouse on South Sixth Street.

“We buy produce for 3 cents a pound,” Miller said.

“It has been a big addition to the food boxes every month.”

Carrots, potatoes, onions and apples are some examples of produce that has been distributed. “When the produce is not local, it is shipped in from other states.”

With hopes of eventually increasing the amount of produce it distributes, ICCAP is hoping for state funding to buy a new 420square-foot cooler with an estimated price tag of $52,000.

In addition to the 18 pantries, ICCAP supports other programs to help the hungry, Miller said.

Continued on Page 11

ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 11

“HE HAS a heart for the board. He has always been aware of what ICCAP does.”

Michelle Faught,

on the Rev. Tim Monroe

Pastor embraces role in mission

By MARY ANN SLATER news@indianagazette.net

L JAMIE EMPFIELD/Gazette

THE FOOD BANK was built in 1996.

Food bank tackles scourge of hunger Continued from Page 10 Through the federally funded Commodity Supplemental Food Program, ICCAP gives a box of food each month to income-eligible senior citizens 60 years or older. The CSFP provides items such as canned vegetables, grains and juices. Participants pick up their box, which may also contain produce and bakery items, at the warehouse. The program benefits 463 seniors every month.

And the relatively new program, Power Pack, aims to help students in all of Indiana County’s elementary schools.

Aimee Kemp, food program counselor, said Power Pack began after inquiries from Jill McKinney, a nurse in the Purchase Line School District.

“She said they (students) were coming to school on Monday and she noted the kids hadn’t eaten all weekend long,” Kemp said.

Hearing McKinney’s plea for help, ICCAP officials started the Power Pack program, which provides a sack of food twice a month for elementary-age students who qualify for the federally sponsored free or reduced-cost lunch program.

“It is enough food for an entire weekend,” Kemp

said. Offerings in the sack are typically food items that children can handle for themselves — small boxes of cereal, small cans of food with easy-to-manage pop tops, cartons of shelf-stable milk. Volunteers at the schools place the sack in the recipient’s backpack in ways that protect the child’s privacy.

“The number of kids in the program keeps growing,” Kemp said.

The initial pilot project was for 50 students at Purchase Line; it now serves 700 from around the county, and Faught said the agency is hoping to receive a new grant to help 50 more.

“It’s nice to get the families healthy food,” Kemp said. “We get a lot of good feedback.”

With programs like Power Pack and the produce-buying agreement with the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, ICCAP is striving to help families put healthy food on their tables.

“It costs more to eat healthy and we are always trying to help with more nutritious food,” Faught said And so, on the wall by the ICCAP door, there is always the reminder of that need for community help, because “Everyday People Need Food … Every Day.”

ike a good shepherd, the Rev. Timothy Monroe, pastor of United Presbyterian Church of Blairsville, stays with his fold.

That’s why for about 20 of the 30 years he has been in Indiana County, Monroe has served as a member of the board of the Indiana County Community Action Program.

“He has a heart for the board,” said ICCAP’s executive director, Michelle Faught. “He has always been aware of what ICCAP does.”

Monroe moved to Indiana County after graduating from the seminary at Princeton University. He served at six congregations in northern Indiana County before leading the Blairsville church.

At one of his early churches, he worked at an ICCAP food pantry and then was eventually appointed to the agency’s board.

Faught said members could serve up to three consecutive four-year terms before having to step down. In his case, Monroe put in 12 years as a board member, had time away but then was asked to return.

Monroe said he agreed because he feels a sense of call to ICCAP. He thinks he can contribute to the agency’s mission because of his “firsthand experience with people who find themselves in poverty as one who tries to address their spiritual needs.”

On the other hand, Monroe feels that he has gained from his time on the board.

“I have learned the vast variety of needs that there are.”

Beyond hunger, he said, area residents face problems with inadequate transportation and legal representation, barriers to education and emotional and mental issues.

He believes that ICCAP’s

JAMIE EMPFIELD/Gazette

VOLUNTEERS AT the Blairsville Presbyterian Church recently helped package and distribute food. In the foreground are Emma Riggi and Jim Piper, both of Blairsville.

Bob and Diane Hanna, are involved in the distributions.

“It has been a good group to work with,” Hanna said.

“Everyone knows what to do. It’s nice. Everyone pitches in.”

Faught first met Monroe, who at the time was in-

volved with the food pantry at Cherry Tree Presbyterian Church, at a workshop held in the late 1980s.

“He actually trained me as a volunteer,” she said. She remembers his kindness and helpful direction. “He has a way with people. He’s a wonderful person.”

THE REV. TIM MONROE various programs try to address these different problems.

“We (board members) have always made sure our decisions are made for the best for the people receiving our services.”

Besides serving on ICCAP’s board, Monroe offers his Blairsville church as a site for one of the agency’s food pantries. Monthly distributions take place there on the first Tuesday of the month.

About 15 to 20 volunteers, led by church members Gene and Chery Artman and

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12 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

“IN JULY 2013 I needed to have an operation on my back.

Doctors said that in four to six weeks I would be back to work.

But it did not happen that way. … ICCAP had a program that helped me keep my home. I had to pay $25 each month … and (ICCAP) added the rest of my mortgage payment. … They made the payments for 18 months.”

Thank You ICCAP Staff and Volunteers LOWE’S INDIANA 475 Ben Franklin Road South 724-463-6600

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“THROUGH YOUR programs I have been able to obtain gainful employment, suitable housing, reunification with my children, a new (used) vehicle, vehicle insurance, a driver’s license … all helping me to have a feeling of self-worth and importance.”

Gazette file photo

A MEETING of ICCAP volunteers at the Willard Home on Dec. 8, 1971.

❏❏❏

THANK YOU Staff and Volunteers of ICCAP

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“WE, IN our lifetime, never had any chance to even begin to see any light at the end of the tunnel. But here, they not only let us start seeing the light down there, they all made it possible to actually walk the whole way through and be in the light for the first time in our lives.”

Gazette file photo

PAINTING THE old ICCAP building on June 12, 1970.

ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 13

“A MONTH or so ago I began living in my own apartment, thanks to ICCAP. Before I was living somewhere without running water, heat or sanitary conditions. …

Now I live five minutes from work, saving a lot of money by being able to buy groceries and not having to travel so far. …

This is one example of where the community is actually stepping up to help.”

ICCAP ... THROUGH THE YEARS

❏❏❏

Gazette file photo

J.R. SHERBURNE, of Indiana, carved a pot for a soup sale to benefit ICCAP on Feb. 18, 2010.

TOM PEEL/Gazette

BARB GERSHMAN and Robert Kunkle attended an ICCAP meeting at the Indiana municipal building on Oct. 21, 1971.

“I WAS living in a homeless shelter for four months after being unable to live with my family anymore. My sister reached out to …

ICCAP. I was helped with case management and assisted with finding permanent housing.” ❏❏❏

“I AM not here because I want to be, but because my life has pretty much crumbled down around me.” ❏❏❏

Gazette file photo

SANDI DILL, ICCAP executive director, was “locked up” for charity by Indiana County Sheriff Robert Fyock on July 5, 2007.

TOM PEEL/Gazette

ICCAP OFFICERS in July 2001 were, from left, Brenda Teal, past president; Megan White, treasurer; Randy Degenkolb, president; and Mae Hamilton, vice president. Absent from the photo was Dave Flowers, secretary.

“I CAME to Pennsylvania (from Illinois) to live with my brother … but things started to fall apart.

I was trying to get myself stable and on my feet. …

Well, I ended up in the Black Lick homeless shelter. The people were very understanding and helpful. I was there 37 days. But ICCAP pooled the resources and got me into my own apartment.

Now I’m independent.”

14 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Schweitzer helped found first VISTA effort

By CAITLIN BIRCH

news@indianagazette.net

A

s the owner of The Woods Spa, Lee Schweitzer is associated most with foot soaks, massages and spa treatments, but what some may not know is that he was one of the first volunteers in the Volunteers in Service To America program in Indiana County.

In September 1969, fresh out of college, Schweitzer moved to Indiana County as a VISTA volunteer.

Sponsored by the Indiana

County Community Action Program, he was given “the freedom and encouragement to make a difference in the lives of residents of the county,� he said.

Schweitzer created a tutorial arts and crafts program for elementary children in Indiana County in January 1970.

Operation Up-Lift of Indiana County was a private, nonprofit organization securing funding from the state, county, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and townships.

He organized and direct-

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with much resistance from politicians, school administrators and community leaders starting the program, “but through it all, success occurred,� he said. “More than 500 county children per year were aided by volunteer young adults,� he said. “The Dalai Lama once said, ‘Never give up. No matter how difficult things seem to be, never give up,’� he said.

One-on-one tutoring took place after school during the week while arts and crafts would occur on Sat-

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ed the program for three years. “Operation Up-Lift provided volunteer IUP students to tutor and play with children who were identified by their schoolteachers to need a little support to attain their potential in and out of school,� he said.

College students, mostly education majors, received experience and some professors gave credit for their effort. “Of course there always was satisfaction,� he said.

Schweitzer said he met

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urdays and field trips to parks and similar places were on Sundays, he said.

According to Schweitzer, they would meet at churches, community centers, and fire halls around the 12 towns in the county that participated. “I feel everyone should help,� he said. “We all need to volunteer. It’s our obligation as a citizen.�

Schweitzer, who had an office in the former Co-Op building, received a lot of support from IUP. An IUP student organization formed so Schweitzer and his program could use Co-Op vans.

Also, the IUP art and physical education departments furnished materials and equipment for the program.

Using donations and a lot of student help, Operation Up-Lift took around 20 children to the Jersey Shore for a week in the summer of 1970.

When asked what Schweitzer got out of the program he responded, “Fun, lots of fun!� “I started with nothing more than an idea in July of 1969,� he said. “The idea was to connect IUP to the community while utilizing mainly education majors to help children in need. ICCAP direc-

“OPERATION UP-LIFT provided volunteer IUP students to tutor and play with children who were identified by their schoolteachers to need a little support to attain their potential in and out of school.�

Lee Schweitzer tor Dorothy Merritt gave me freedom to put the idea into action.�

After VISTA, Schweitzer moved on to direct Head Start programs in Armstrong, Jefferson and Clarion counties. “There are no limits when you have determination and support from lots of people and establishments,� he said.

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ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 15

Booth recalls lean times that led to Head Start

By KAYLA CIOFFO

kcioffo@indianagazette.net

F

or a time in 1972, it seemed as if the Indiana County Community Action Program might close, according to Reed Booth, former director of Indiana County Head Start, a program that was, at the time, part of ICCAP. “The Head Start director at that time felt it was good we get away so Head Start wouldn’t be affected if what we heard was true,” she said.

Head Start is a federally funded program that started in 1965 as part of the Social Security Act of 1964. It was originally aimed at providing educational assistance for incoming preschool children who would be entering school the next fall.

It is determined to give children the opportunity to succeed in school and life, no matter the circumstances, according to the Pennsylvania Head Start Association’s website.

Head Start came to Indiana County in 1971 after ICCAP wrote a grant the year before for a ninemonth program, but the organization only remained a part of ICCAP for one year, spinning off on its own in March 1972 amid the uncertainty of ICCAP’s future.

For the last four decades, the program has increased not only in size, but also in services. It now provides for children with disabilities and pregnant women with school-age children, as well as incoming preschool children.

“That’s the one thing that’s always constant with Head Start,” Booth said.

“It’s always changing.”

Booth was hired as a teacher at Head Start in October 1971, working her way to education coordinator and eventually director.

When the director passed away in December 1974, Booth filled in as acting

REED BOOTH ... former Head Start director director, officially taking on the top leadership role in January 1976.

During her time as director, Booth oversaw the purchase and renovation of several Head Start offices and centers, including the Indiana center along Clymer Avenue and the Homer City center. Ultimately, the investments helped secure the organization’s financial future.

“Sooner or later you won’t be paying a mortgage anymore,” she said.

Booth said she is thankful for her co-workers and to have “some of the finest

board members” while at Head Start.

She said the organization has been lucky to get “high-caliber” employees who worked for modest salaries.

“Lord knows it certainly wasn’t always perfect. But I was fortunate to work with the people who could work with the resources that we had,” she said.

“I had an extremely qualified workforce that provided very good services for the children and were dedicated to what they were doing.”

The biggest feat Booth is proud of is the number people Head Start assisted, more than quadrupling by the time she left.

“When I took over the program, it had 75 (people getting assistance),” she said. “When I left, we had 362.”

Booth retired in 2012 and has since devoted her time by volunteering with animals.

She said she considers her time at Head Start wellspent, and is hopeful she made an impact on the organization.

“I feel very good,” she said. “I think I helped people along the way.”

Congratulations ICCAP on 50 Years of serving Indiana!

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16 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Lankard marks half century of giving back

By KAYLA IHRIG

news@indianagazette.net

A

s the Indiana County Community Action Program celebrates its 50th anniversary, one volunteer is also marking his 50th year of service.

Bob L. Lankard, 73, got involved in ICCAP in 1964. The Equal Opportunity Act was passed into law, and required community action agencies in every county.

Lankard was working for an employment office. The office was considered a stakeholder, and he became an ICCAP board member.

“I had some input on its establishment,” Lankard said.

“Around the mid-’60s, it was not the touchy-feely thing it is now.”

Lankard noted that some of the issues the agency faces now are much different than when it started. The first popular topic he remembers ICCAP taking on was the availability of water.

“A handful of people were mobilizing a whole town to bring water to outlying communities,” Lankard said. “It was somewhat confrontational — people got very emotional about trying to get these people water.”

Lankard said that life was very different during ICCAP’s inaugural years.

“It was not just a feel-good kind of thing,” he said.

“Sometimes we were going against the grain.”

ICCAP directors took on some topics that were not well received by the public, such as homelessness and domestic abuse.

“Now there’s a common support for shelters, but in the ’60s it was hard to find a location,” Lankard said. “The Alice Paul House was seen as breaking up families and having a negative effect on the community. They had to

Indiana Mall is proud to supp ICC

BOB LANKARD be somewhere, but ‘not in our backyard.’”

Support for the agency has grown over the years. Programs are more accepted, and municipalities and elected officials are more receptive, he said.

“Sometimes municipalities felt like we were sticking our nose in their business,” Lankard said. “We were doing things that hadn’t been done before, and some of the elected officials weren’t always thrilled. Now there’s a lot more cooperation.”

Some things Lankard said haven’t changed over the years are ICCAP’s recipients, and the good nature of those trying to help.

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“People would sign up those who were needy, when they themselves were working full time and it wasn’t enough,” Lankard said. He said he thinks that helping those who are struggling is “a universal thing.”

Over the years, Lankard noted that society has become more accepting of assistance.

“Sometimes someone would sit in their car for hours trying to get up the nerve to come in and apply for help,” Lankard said.

“We’re offering a hand up, not a hand out.”

As the organization has changed, so has Lankard’s role. He has worked with ICCAP for five decades, and humbly deflects much of the credit for the organization’s success. He currently volunteers at a senior citizen food bank with his wife of 47 years, Nancy L. Lankard.

“Bob got me to come and help,” she said. “It’s a neat thing to do.”

When asked about his favorite memory, Lankard didn’t have to think long to answer: “The look on a senior citizen’s face when they get their food, knowing that it means something to them,” he said, smiling.

He described a good ICCAP worker as having “dedication and a good heart.”

Lankard’s 50 years of service with ICCAP embodies those traits.

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ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — 17

Care & Share Day boosts pantry

By MARGARET WEAVER

mweaver@indianagazette.net

T

he people of Indiana County are very generous, and that is what makes Care & Share Day a success, according to organizers.

The annual food drive is the biggest push each year for Indiana County Community Action Program’s food bank.

A partnership with The Indiana Gazette, the program started in 1988 and since its inception has brought in more than 220 tons of food and $155,066 in donations.

For the food drive, paper grocery bags and fliers with information are distributed with an edition of the Gazette a week prior to Care & Share Day each fall.

Those who wish to donate can place food in the bags to be returned at various county sites, or donors may choose to make a monetary contribution.

Jesse Miller, food program director at ICCAP, has been involved with Care & Share Day for 18 years.

During that time, he has seen a shift of people donating more money than food.

But that works well for ICCAP, he said. The organization can purchase more food at cheaper prices for the funds through a program with the Greater Pittsburgh Area Food Bank, such as

By the numbers Since 1988, ICCAP’s Care & Share Day has brought in more than 220 tons of food and $155,066 in donations.

Year

Tons

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

6.1 7.5 7 9.5 7.1 8.6 9.7 2 6 5.5 5.5 3.5 25 6 4.5

Monetary $4,000 $5,722 $4,393 $5,700 $7,276 $6,000 $4,691 $2,746 $9,500 $7,650 $8,821 $6,379 $25,000 $6,100 $12,212

fresh produce for just 3 cents a pound.

Donations from events such as Care & Share Day are of the utmost importance to ICCAP. Funding for food to stock the food bank shelves comes from federal and state sources.

Each month, the food pantries feed 3,500 individuals from 1,700 to 1,800 families, Miller said.

“That doesn’t stretch near as far as it used to,” Miller said.

And when Pennsylvania’s budget doesn’t pass on time,

just as it has not this year, payment is delayed. In addition, food prices have risen, along with need.

The food and money from Care & Share Day help make up that gap, said Michelle Faught, ICCAP’s executive director.

“Due to limited state and federal funds, we would not be able to provide the amount of food we do if it wasn’t for events such as Care & Share Day,” Faught said.

Care & Share Day is the biggest food drive of the year, Miller said.

“People are more aware

that there is a need for food,” Miller said. “People are kind and they are willing to give.”

On the Monday before the event, volunteers insert the donated paper grocery bags and an explanatory flier into the Gazette. This gets people thinking about the event, Miller said.

The newspaper has been part of the initiative since the first one in 1988 to help combat hunger in the community.

“We knew there were people in our community that were going hungry,” said Michael Donnelly, president Continued on Page 18

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18 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Annual Care & Share Day helps fill food pantries Continued from Page 17 of Indiana Printing & Publishing, which owns The Indiana Gazette. “ICCAP wasn’t funded well enough from government agencies to cover all the needs. The Gazette wanted to help and

had the vehicle, the newspaper, to reach a very broad audience. Over the last 27 years, Care & Share Day has made a positive impact on those who otherwise would go hungry.”

Because the need is still

there, the Gazette continues to support ICCAP’s efforts.

There are 4,140 families receiving cash or food assistance of the county’s 34,310 households, Faught said.

“Our fellow Indiana Countians still need a helping

hand,” Donnelly said. “The Gazette is glad to do its part.”

An average of 100 volunteers also help make Care & Share Day possible. Volunteers man collection sites and sort and transport food.

“Without the volunteers,

we couldn’t do it,” Miller said.

For those who wish to donate food, ICCAP encourages donors to provide nutritional and nonperishable items.

This year’s Care & Share Day is set for Sept. 26.

“The support of the com-

munity is what keeps this program going,” Faught said.

In Indiana County, 26,309 of the 83,228 people are “food insecure,” meaning they cannot feed themselves or their families without assistance, Faught said.

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20 — ICCAP: Celebrating 50 Years, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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