Thank you to Pine Island
To the editor:
As our Fifth Anniversary approaches, the Board of Directors of the Beacon of H.O.P.E. would like to thank the Greater Pine Island community for their support of our mission to address the special needs of our neighbors, as well as our continuing efforts to identify additional needs and provide increased services.
Through your generous help, volunteerism, and contributions we have been able to expand our facility to the larger and centrally located facility at Pine Island Center. The new location houses the Thrift Store, a Community Services Center, and a meeting room that currently supports our Students Achieving Success mentoring program for Pine Island Elementary students. The SAS program should expand from 5 to almost 50 students this coming school year.
The Thrift Store now provides a much greater selection of economically priced clothing and living essentials for all residents, including furniture and kitchen ware, and is beginning to provide much of the Beacon’s operating capital.
The new Community Service Center now allows for private, long-range assistance counseling by Staff, plus individual/group counseling by Mickey Lewin, CSW. The Beacon works in concert with other local assistance groups to respond to residents who have an immediate need for food, housing and other daily living assistance.
Job training, job placement, and other longer-term help programs are offered through the Center, including County, State and Federal programs. The staff identifies what programs best meet the individual or family needs, and then assists in the application process and follow-up. Computer access and Internet assistance is readily available.
Partnering with the United Way gives us the ability to use their networks and expand the assistance opportunities we can offer, such as: Lee County Self-Sufficiency (emergency utilities funds); AARP (employment); Healthy Bodies/Healthy Souls (cancer screening); Goodwill’s Job Link; Healthy Start (health care and parenting for pregnant moms and parents of children up to 3 years in age); and Lee County Health Department (H1N1 and child immunizations). United Way is also working with us in developing additional Job and Health Care programs, and we are pleased to welcome St. John’s Episcopal Church for their continuing help with our Health Care initiatives.
What have we done lately? 126 weekly meals in the summer and up to 176 in season through our Meals On Wheels program; assistance to an average of 250 clients per month (more than 150 are 55 years or older); our PI Cares for Kids recently had 125 attendees; partnering with the Hookers, the Hooked on Seniors events raised over $2,000 this year; and with support from CCMI, the Salvation Army and United Way we were able to provide a meal and bag of groceries to more than 500 people during a recent Free Food Friday event.
What are we doing next? We have received a grant to purchase a van to be used as a part of our SAS student mentoring program, and to assist in providing transportation to/from the Beacon for our clients participating in group programs. We plan to add a Mom and Tots program (English for mothers and children); Matter of Balance program (a weekly program to keep seniors safe and independent); computer classes (basic computer use, Excel, Word and other work related programs); and expansion of our counseling services, parent and grand parenting classes, and money/budgeting classes.
Many thanks again for the interest you have shown in the Beacon’s mission. Your continued support is certainly appreciated as we move forward in helping our neighbors in need. Stop in, visit and look around. Ask about our current programs and future plans. We think you’ll be impressed.
The Board,
Elsie Stearns
Rev Edward Kellum
Ron Lueth
Mary Kaye Stevens
David Grueser
Mickey Lewin
Caryle Regan
Carlyn Herring
Brad Krieg