April 2023 Special Needs Living Akron/Canton

COMMUNITY IMPACT Q&A

Question and answer session with Sara Handy

Question: Where do you work currently?

Answer: Hammer & Nails, Inc. located on 7th Street in downtown Canton serving all Stark County

Question: What is your job title here?

Answer: Community Relations Specialist

Question: How long have you been employed with your current job?

Answer: 2 Years

Question: How long have you been employed in this industry?

Answer: Over 10 years in the nonprofit sector

Question: What were your previous jobs in the industry?

Answer: I’ve worked in the Advancement and Admissions departments at Archbishop Hoban High School as well as the Advancement Department for CommQuest Services, Inc.

Question: Educational background

Answer: 2011 Graduate of Walsh University with Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications and Marketing

Question: What do your day-to-day job responsibilities include?

Answer: A large majority of my time is spent researching funding and partnership opportunities. I write several grants throughout the year as well as look for speaking engagements to spread the word about how to get involved with Hammer & Nails. I use our social platforms to share pictures and videos of the people and projects we are helping and work with a student intern who helps us be creative with our website.

Question: What is the inspiration behind why you work in this field?

Answer: Every position I have held professionally has been for the greater good of humanity. At Hoban I served in a role that allowed families the opportunity to give their sons and daughters a faith-filled education. At CommQuest I was a part of a team that fought the demons of addiction trying to steal our loved ones as well as served the underserved in our community who were facing mental health and homelessness issues. Currently at Hammer & Nails I get to find funding that allows lowincome homeowners the ability to live independently and thrive by providing preservation, upkeep, safety and health-related home repairs and maintenance while also making them feel loved. Our motto is that we are neighbors serving neighbors fixing homes and changing lives!

Question: What part of your job are your most passionate about?

Answer: The ability to give an individual and/or family a new lease on life. As one homeowner put it, We are a Godsend that changed a person’s life overnight. To know that we are making a BIG difference by the smallest acts of kindness doing what anyone can or should do because it’s the right thing to do makes it easy to work here and ask for help with funding. I’m doing what I was taught by my parents to do that I hope I pass down to my children which is to go out and do good in the world and just do what you know is right and just and holy. If you’re doing it for those reasons, it won’t be work it will be life changing.

Question: What advice would you give to someone who is new to your field?

Answer: Don’t be discouraged by all the obstacles you will face. Don’t be afraid because you may feel like you lack knowledge or skill in a certain aspect of your position. Don’t assume everyone knows who you are or what you do. Stay true to yourself and give respect to those that have come before you and who will come after you. The most important part of any position you have is to communicate and collaborate.

Question: What is your favorite success story you have seen?

Answer: We recently helped an elderly woman who purchased an old city home that without having purchased would have made her homeless. Unfortunately, the home needs so much work to make it safe for her to move around in. During the same time we were assisting her with projects to make it safer, her water heater quit working and she was again in a situation where she desperately needed help and we were able to find that for her through our partnership with Shanklin Heating and Cooling’s non-profit ministry called Heat From His Heart who supplied her with a new one. It’s examples like this that show how we can all work together to help someone who can’t help themselves due to circumstances that are often out of their control. And you would not believe how thankful she was and what it meant to not only receive our services but to just feel like she mattered and was being listened to and loved. It’s the intangibles that truly change the lives we touch.

Question: Where do you see your industry going moving forward?

Answer: The need is only going to grow as the age of both homes and the population becomes greater. Our cities and county need agencies like our who are investing not only in the people but the community and specifically the neighborhoods and homes that make them up.

Question: What has been the biggest factor in your career success?

Answer: Prayers, lots and lots of prayers to try and figure out where God is calling me to be during different seasons of life. And also people, starting with connections made at Walsh and then Hoban believing in me and then CommQuest understanding how passionate about there causes I was and being a part of Leadership Stark County and now our Executive Director allowing me to have the best of both worlds where I am able to work part-time giving back to my community and the rest of my time to my two small children as a mom. I’m so thankful.