Results

2011 Annual Report to the Community

                    Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center (CRC) celebrated its 40^th year anniversary of serving the community in 2011. As a Settlement House, CRC provides services and programs that reflect the needs and opportunities of the neighborhood. Since 1971, CRC has greatly increased our service capacity and has grown from a staff of 1 to a staff of 25.

In the best tradition of Settlement Houses, we respond to the needs of our diverse community to foster safer, healthier, and empowered lives.

Those serving on our Board of Trustees in 2011 were:

President: Mark Wayda               Vice President: Joni Schlagenhauf        Secretary: Judy Skinner

Treasurer: Andy Hall (January-November 2011) Douglas Argue (November- December 2011)

Jeff Cross   *    Ron Wehner    *   Nick Cipiti   *   Jennifer Nelson Carney

Michael Madry *  Kate Gaylord *  Bruce Harkey *  Diane Hoenig *  Sue Frost

______________________________________________________________________________

Bill Owens:Executive Director  *  Angela Kypriotis: Associate Director 

*Patty Cooper:Bookkeeper

Our Programs

Family Services  Beth Stewart-Magee, Basic Needs Supervisor  The CRC Family Services Program, also known as the CRC Choice Food Pantry, provides solutions to problems meeting basic needs such as food, healthcare, housing, clothing and financial issues. Family Services responds to individuals and families living in the service area and on a one-time basis for those living outside of the area.  During 2011 we served 3,602 participants, of these, 1,294 were children (newborns to age 19).  Fresh fruits and vegetables, baked bread and pantry staples are offered five days a week at our Choice Food Pantry. The Choice Food Pantry is open to individuals and households 26 hours a week. The hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12-4 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday 12-7 p.m. Each family receives enough meals for 7-10 days or 21-30 meals a month per person. Free cooking classes are also offered to teach families how to develop nutritious, low cost meals.  As a Choice Food Pantry, we allow families and individuals to choose the items they know their families like and will use.  We also consider their cultural and religious preferences. During 2011 we served 1,460 households.  As a member of the Ohio Benefit Bank, we are able to link people with additional services including Food Stamps, Medicaid, Home Energy Assistance and 18 social services. Our Family Services extends further with our Community Garden Program, where we work with local businesses and churches such as St. James Episcopal Church and the Cornerstone Deli with the land they offer to organize our five community gardens which provide additional fresh produce to the Choice Food Pantry. The CRC Green Bike Project provides a means of transportation and recreation by offering bikes for individuals and families to borrow.  With the generous support of the Clintonville community, we are able to make the holidays brighter for many through our Sponsor a Family or Individual (gifts are donated to families or individuals, including homeless) Children’s Gift Shop (allowing children to select a gift for a parent or caregiver) and through the distribution of holiday food baskets, boxes and bags.

Youth Services   Stephanie Baker, Youth Services Coordinator We know that many families in many neighborhoods struggle with childcare while parents and caregivers are at work. CRC’s Kids Club provided 96 Clintonville area students ages 5-12 from Clinton Elementary, Indianola Informal, Calumet Christian and Indian Springs with a fun and safe place to go after school during 2011.  CRC’s Kids Club operates out of Clinton Heights Lutheran Church and offers children in the community a place to learn, create and interact during the critical after-school hours.  We are proud to offer services for kids to improve their academic performance by emphasizing reading, providing structured homework time, and offering a range of creative indoor and outdoor activities.  When the school year ends, CRC’s Kids Club extends to an all-day summer experience for 10 weeks (8 a.m. – 6 p.m.) with arts and crafts, visits the pool, outdoor play, academic enrichment opportunities, field trips, exposure to the arts through Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Art in the House and weekly health and wellness classes by OSU Extension Services. Kids Club provides quality supervision for elementary school aged youth year round. During the school year, examples of program activities include snack, homework time, reading time, structured outdoor and recreation time, crafts, weekly art classes, games, and weekly lesson plans implemented on Fridays.  During the Summer Kids Club has daily reading time, weekly art classes through Greater Columbus Arts Council, swimming, visits from the library and Bookmobile, health and wellness classes through OSU’s Extension Office, games, trips to local parks and playgrounds, breakfast, lunch, snacks, and a great deal of structured outdoor recreational activities. Year round Kids Club youth work in small groups and individually with our licensed Reading Specialist.   Kids Club has monthly family potlucks and families commit to volunteering at least one hour per month at Kids Club or another CRC program. Kids Club has monthly guest speakers from the community to talk about their hobbies, interests, community projects, or professions.

Senior Services   Brandy Jemczura, Senior Services Supervisor  The Clintonville 43214 zip code has the largest percentage of people 65 years of age or older  in Franklin County!  CRC’s Senior Services Program has grown and developed over the years from a “friendly visiting” service, staffed part-time, to a highly professionalized program with licensed social workers.  We value all that seniors offer as members of our community and so we provide a myriad of services to help seniors remain independent and safe in their homes.  These services include individual case work (e.g. assistance accessing community resources and benefit programs, assistance with bill pay and budgeting, or removal of barriers to healthcare), transportation to the grocery and medical appointments, recreational outings, a monthly luncheon, educational opportunities, a bi-weekly senior support group, and much more!  We also pride ourselves on being responsive to seniors’ changing needs.  For example, when more and more seniors were coming to us with questions about Medicare, our social workers became certified through the Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program to assist seniors with Medicare concerns.   When our outreach workers noticed a need for financial organization and bill pay assistance, we developed a Personal Finance Management program that now assists more than 50 seniors each year with budgeting, bill pay, debt reduction, financial organization, and more.  Our goal is to provide the resources and supports necessary to help all seniors in our community thrive. We served more than 400 seniors in 2011 – we plan to grow with the needs for this population.  The primary goal of Senior Supportive Services is to help seniors “age in place,” remaining safe and independent in their own homes. The Senior Supportive Services Program provides individual assessment and ongoing case management services particularly as it relates to accessing healthcare and wellness services and keeping seniors in their homes. In 2011 we helped 259 area seniors overcome healthcare barriers. Additional program components include small group grocery and medical transportation services, a bi-weekly support group, educational outreach, and socialization opportunities. CRC is especially attuned to our most vulnerable seniors who live in poverty and live with disabilities due to physical or mental health impairment. However, CRC works with older adults in all income brackets as seniors universally face barriers that impede their ability to function at home without support. Key partners include Franklin County Senior Options, COAAA, The Columbus Federation of Settlements, area churches, area physicians, Riverside Community Medicine, The Breathing Association, local Veteran’s Associations, The Ohio Department of Insurance, and Columbus Public Health.

Kinship Care Program   CRC’s Kinship Care Program first received funding in 2007 from the United Way of Central Ohio in response to a need for this type of service in Franklin County.  The program provides supportive services to relative caregivers who have taken custody of children that cannot be cared for by their parents.   In the majority of cases, the caregiver, is a Grandparent.  The primary focus of the program is to keep children in a stable educational environment by helping them to maintain their placement with relatives and avoiding foster care with an unrelated caregiver.  We want to increase the involvement of the caregivers in the child’s education.  We emphasize reading and preparation for kindergarten for those under age 5 and school attendance, academic success, and caregiver involvement towards the goal of high school graduation for those in grades K-12. The program addresses a multitude of basic family needs such as education, utilities, housing, transportation, and tutoring, obtaining birth certificates or other legal documentation, counseling, and child care.  An important aspect to address with families is what type of assistance they might need with their child’s education (enrollment to a new school, keeping child in current school, learning and behavioral problems, etc.)   The most recent initiative for the program includes a monthly support group that will begin in 2012.  Recent funding from the Siemer Family Foundation and Paul Duke Foundation allows our staff to provide groups more frequently than in the past at the request of Grandparents and other caregivers who would like to meet with others who are in their shoes.  In 2011 we began listing needs of specific families in our weekly newsletter.  We were donated $9,910.49 for Kinship families.  The donations were directed by the donors for specific needs, like rent, utilities, graduation fees, and other needs.

The donors for these restricted funds were:

Columbus Foundation Concern for Others Grants * John & Therese Brennen * Terry M Brown

John and Courtney Camillus * Marc A. Defourny * Cynthia and Mark Dixon

Steven and Susan Esh * Katherine Flanagan * Karen Graham * Judith and William Leahey

Deborah C. Leanza * Dr. John Okuley and Regina Langen * Michael & Brenda Palermo

Tom Pollack * Kathleen Snapp * Amy and Peter Yersavich

 In addition, in kind donations were received from the newsletter requests, for families who, from one day to the next, were created from need, headed by caregivers who yesterday needed only their own bed, but today found they needed more beds (sometimes many more).  Beds and dressers were always being requested and our neighbors and friends were quick to provide.  Some gave furniture, some their time and truck, delivering the furniture.  Julie Owens started a project called A Room Of My Own to provide needed items for each child’s room. A Sponge Bob Squarepants theme for one youngster’s room, complete with a Patrick pillow and an all pink and purple theme for another little girl’s dream room. In 2011 288 children (newborns to age 19) were helped from 125 different households.  Kinship Care served a total of 497 individuals.

2011 Annual Program Report

CRC

 Financial Information

 Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center Income Statement

 January through December 2011

IRS Form 990:  http://clintonvillecrc.org/Files/Clintonville Beechwold CRC 990 2010.pdf