SECOND HARVEST Agency profiles
Some of the nearly 200 local agencies supplied by Second Harvest Foodbank of the Mahoning Valley:
Beatitude House: This transition home serves female victims of domestic violence, those with financial problems or in rehabilitation programs. It also provides economically disadvantaged women with job training through its Potter's Wheel program. The facility can house 16 families at a time; about 40 families currently receive assistance through other programs. The 10-year-old program has served more than 150 families since opening.
Faith Community Church: This Struthers church hands out three bags of food each to 120 area families each month. Last year, the church pantry, founded in 1982, distributed 3,388 bags of food to 1,189 low-income families, senior citizens and others.
Greater Youngstown Point: A drop-in center for the homeless, it tries to prevent homelessness by providing low-income families with food, job counseling, housing placements, GED, literacy, parenting and computer classes and sometimes clothing. The organization also provides medical services through a registered nurse. It was founded in 1991 and serves about 500 cases a year.
Guardian Angel Cafe: One Saturday a month, Ursuline Center Hall becomes the Guardian Angel Cafe, a social atmosphere with dinner and entertainment for people with HIV/AIDS and their friends or family. It has been supported by the Ursuline Sisters HIV/AIDS Ministry since 1995. Through Second Harvest, the cafe offers food, clothing and household items.
Jubilee Christian Fellowship: This Columbiana County food pantry provides people with food and seasonal supplies the second Tuesday of each month, or on an as-need basis, to anyone within the county. The fellowship started in August and served 282 people last month.
Northeastern Service Food and Clothing Exchange: This Kinsman organization offers food and supplies to low-income families and senior citizens faced with hunger and financial problems. It also works closely with the Salvation Army to provide furniture, clothes and household goods to people. The organization was founded in the 1980s, when it served 17 families. It now services 60 to 65 families a month.
Poland Pantry: Poland area senior citizens and low-income families can find everything from perishable and nonperishable food to toiletries in this Poland Methodist Church pantry set up like a grocery store.
Sojourner House Battered Persons Crisis Program: More than 900 women and 1,300 children have stayed in the home, a place of refuge for victims of domestic violence, since it opened in 1991. The 30-person-capacity home uses Second Harvest to provide meals for its guests. The home also provides boarders with counseling, legal advocacy, case management and clothing.
The Way Station: With the help of 15 to 20 volunteers, the Way Station in Columbiana provides up to 250 people with a banquet and bags of food during special occasions, every three months. It also offers direct assistance on a day-to-day basis. The Station works closely with the Salvation Army to get clothes and household items to the unemployed, single mothers and senior citizens.