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GIRARD -- The Emmanuel Community Care Center has seen an increase in families needing assistance and is offering various services and programs to help meet that need.
Ruthann Mathews, director of the center for the past three years, said to make the community aware of what the center does, there will be pop-up breakfasts and lunches to bring people inside the center.
"The need for assistance has increased. People come here from all over. We provide service to people in Girard, McDonald, Mineral Ridge and Liberty, but also will help those from other communities," Mathews said.
She said the cost of living for families is continuing to rise, which is why the center has seen an increase in requests for assistance. The center helps families at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and for back to school by providing school supplies.
Mathews said a clothes closet also is a big program.
"We want people to gain knowledge of all we do here. We have four apartments above us to help people with housing. The school supply is big right now as many families have children returning to school," Mathews said.
Anita Cole, a case manager at Emmanuel Community Care Center, said she focuses on helping people secure stable housing, acquire better life skills and provide them with supportive services so they can eventually stand on their own two feet.
She agreed that the need for helping families has grown.
"The problem is well known that affordable housing is not out there,'' Cole said.
People can make monetary donations by stopping at the center at 2 N. State St.
Terry Volsko, a board member, said it is an honor to work with a dedicated team that comes together to assist people in need.
"The team here is very first rate. Everyone is so dedicated to the mission of the Emmanuel Community Care Center," she said.
Volsko said as a board member, she hears what the needs of the center are in meeting its mission of serving the public.
Charlene Pastore, a more than 10-year board member and chairwoman of the board, said, "It is wonderful that we can help people locally. It is always good to do things on a large scale, but it is also good to know what we are doing here helps the people in our local community."
Emmanuel Community Care Center opened in 1992 as an outreach/advocacy center to serve the poor in the Girard area.
Today, in collaboration with Coleman Professional Service, it provides four units of permanent supportive housing for homeless, single persons and single persons with children who are disabled. In collaboration with Catholic Charities, the center also assists people who are homeless or who are at imminent risk of homelessness through the Homeless Crisis Response Program.
ECCC provides food, clothing and limited assistance with utilities in response to the needs of community residents. ECCC also provides Christmas gifts, Easter baskets and school supplies to children and Thanksgiving baskets to individuals and families who are registered at the center.
For information on the Emmanuel Community Care Center, call 330-545-4301.