Outreach settles in at the SAC

Kelly Schmidt receives Outreach’s first shipment at the SAC.

“What a relief not to have to worry about leaky faucets, broken ceiling tiles or furnaces,” exclaimed  Karen Smith, social worker and part-time Program Director for Stockbridge Community Outreach in her bright new office at the Stockbridge Activity Center.

According to Smith, Outreach is now able to put its energies toward helping its clients instead of worrying about what is going to break next. “We are much more visible and accessible here than we were in our old trailer where our ramped entrance was difficult to traverse,” she said. “It’s funny that the trailer was adjacent to this building, sharing a parking lot, but it was worlds away in terms of visibility to the community.”

Since moving to the Stockbridge Activity Center, Smith said Outreach has met many new clients and donors.

The former middle school was purchased by L & M Family Investments a year ago.

“We feel more a part of the community here, and it is so easy to collaborate with the other tenants—like the Chamber of Commerce and the Wellness Coalition,” Smith added. “Our monthly costs are about the same as they were in the trailer, which we owned, and we don’t have to clean the bathrooms or shovel snow or mow the lawn or do any landscaping.”

“We are expecting a second shipment of donated, brand new Bombas socks—1000 pair!—this summer,” Smith said. L-R: Jo Mayer, Kathy Walz, and Karen Smith.

The Outreach board recently voted against leasing space in the Stockbridge Township Hall, newly available due to SAESA’s relocation to the south side of town. Though the rent would have been negligible to free, potential maintenance costs and inefficiencies led to the board’s decision.

Outreach has also been awarded more grants, she said, “Now that there is time to focus on researching and applying for them.” Smith pointed to Outreach’s recent award of a $15,000 grant from Enbridge to help Outreach clients with utilities. “We are expecting a second shipment of donated, brand new Bombas socks—1000 pair!—this summer,” Smith said.

Outreach coordinates the Tide Me Over backpack program, sending a weekly bag of food home to needy preschoolers through sixth-graders during the school year.

Cheryl Holloway, who oversees that TMO program, voiced Smith’s enthusiasm. The program had outgrown the old trailer a couple years ago, she said, and rented a room from the school district as soon as rooms became available.

“It’s nice to now be in the same building with the rest of the Outreach programs and not to have to tromp through the snow to give Karen receipts,” she said. “And we no longer have to have our food orders dropped in the parking lot. They can deliver the heavy pallets right inside the double doors, directly into our main food pantry.”

Outreach is open Mondays and Fridays from 9 – 3 p.m. and Wednesdays from 1-6 p.m. and can be accessed through door #20. Park in the back parking lot off of Elm and Cherry Streets.

“And we no longer have to have our food orders dropped in the parking lot,” Tide Me Over administrator Cheryl Holloway said. “They can deliver the heavy pallets right inside the double doors, directly into our main food pantry.”