Driving to Wilmington

Wilmington Hit with Lay Offs

Jerry Lee and I went to Wilmington, Ohio to go to a Town Meeting regarding the DHL Corporation closing. Many in attendance seemed interested to find out how Wilmington was going to help those who were affected. I had the chance to talk with an elderly gentleman about the Ohio Benefit Bank and he was very supportive of the idea. I asked him how we could find those who needed the service the most and he replied, "Wilmington folks are proud people, they may not seek out resources like these." It made me wonder how we can take away the stigma of benefits-- especially in these times of transition.

Reuters.com had to say this about the situation in Wilmington:

According to the Economic Task Force for the DHL Hub created by Mayor David Raizk, one in three families in Wilmington had someone employed at DHL. The projected impact of the job losses is expected to exceed $400 million dollars annually. (February 21, 2009)

These circumstances call for a coordinated response and the Mobile Express is designed to do just that. The Benefit Bank is a consistent reminder that help does exist in these difficult times. Now we need to be in the right place, in the right time to provide that support.

Locally, Wilmington has a Benefit Bank location staffed by Alexander Ives (pictured below). People can visit him to check their eligibility and apply for benefits. He has a very warm spirit and will do well in his newly appointed role. On a side note, he shared that his dad was an entertainer and when I inquired further came to find out that his dad is the great folk singer Burl Ives. If you are interested to find out more about his famous dad you can click here.

Partnering with Ohio Health's Wellness on Wheels

Wellness on Wheels is a massive mobile unit (also funded by the generous Columbus Foundation) that is dedicated to providing prenatal care to pregnant women who may not have adequate health insurance. The goal is to drastically reduce infant mortality and improve the health of the moms-to-be.

Because Wellness on Wheels targets low income Ohio women, a partnership seemed natural. Last Tuesday, we took our mobile unit and followed Wellness on Wheels to Brookhaven High School (go Bearcats!).

Over the course of three hours, we helped enroll one young woman into the WIC program. The WIC program offers food assistance to mothers, mothers-to-be, and young children. WIC can subsidize healthy foods like milk, baby formula, peanut butter, and even tuna.

Working with Wellness on Wheels was truly a pleasure. We hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Asian Festival

Last weekend, Erin and I were able to stay in Columbus for the Asian Festival in Franklin Park. The Asian Festival is one of Columbus's largest events as it regularly attracts over 100,000 people annually.

After doing some math, we realized it was very lucky that some of those 100,000+ may need some assistance so it was imperative that we have a presence at the event.

We were joined by our "star volunteer" Theresa Lee for the event as we hunkered down to let people know that help was available. Here we are on Sunday morning:



The event was as gigantic as advertised. The weather cooperated and gave us two unseasonably warm days (which is why I'm wearing a t-shirt). This was great for us since we had our awning out and our air conditioning on full blast. It was a little tougher in the food court where the temperature combined with the hundreds of hot stoves in a small area to create a wall of heat. I did not envy the food vendors.

I did, however, get to sample some new cuisines. I was non-plussed by the Laotian food. I found it a little too bland and they were using BBQ sauce that tasted like the American stuff I could buy at the store. The Indonesian food on the other hand...yum! Counter-intuitively, I love spicy food on a hot day and the Indonesian beef delivered.

When I wasn't stuffing my piehole (beefhole?) with food, Erin and I were hard at work performing quick checks on almost two dozen attendees who needed help with food and utilities. We spoke to dozens of people about our services and made sure people would keep us in mind if they knew of anyone in need.

Hancock County

Good morning, readers! As you've, hopefully, previously read, the Mobile Express Unit has been spending a lot of time in Hancock County in Northwest Ohio. Our event on the 14th was marred by storms, but three days later we traveled to nearby Findlay to offer our services at a food pantry.

For obvious reasons, food pantry events tend to be successful in terms of meeting people who could use our services. Many already have food stamps, but others are surprised to learn about things like Ohio's Home Energy Assistance Program and Ohio's Best Rx Prescription Program. The event last Saturday was no exception. With the help of some great volunteers, we performed over a dozen eligibility checks and even went through the application process with a handful of clients.

Only two days later, it was back to Hancock County for events in Rawson and McComb. I was accompanied on this trip by Jerry Lee (he's the handsome fellow in this picture). Jerry has been a great help in traveling with the OBB Express whenever Erin or I can't make an event. He was as helpful as usual over the past two days.

Admittedly, the event in Rawson was disappointing. Worse yet, we didn't have the weather to blame. Rawson and Arcadia are both very small towns with populations under 600. Despite advertising on radio and the local newspaper as well as fliers being distributed by the Hancock County United Way, we couldn't get anyone to bite on our services.

McComb is a little bit bigger than Rawson, so we had high hopes for our next event. The turnout was still more modest than our experience in Findlay, but we were happy to perform a handful of eligibility checks and Jerry managed to help someone apply for food stamps. Applications take time (a little over an hour), so they can be tough on the road. Anytime an application is completed in the OBB Express, it's a sign of a successful event.

So, there you have it. Four towns in Hancock County in six days. But we're not done yet! We'll be back in Hancock County next Friday in presumably lovely Arlington. Arlington's population is over 600, so our prospects are looking good!

Premium Parking

There are advantages to looking official. In Cleveland at the "Biggest Job Fair Ever", we approached the event at the Convention Center and realized that parking was very limited. Our vehicle is very tall and most parking garages cannot accommodate us. We looked around at street parking and everything was taken. They expected up to 10,000 people at this event so this was not surprising.

We decided to ask a parking official for advice and he suggested to turn into a driveway just up ahead. We looked at him suspiciously and asked if the parking could fit something our size and he said "They take semi trucks in there".

We approached the building gingerly (anticipating that we would be turned away any minute) and stopped at the guard booth. The guy asked, "Here for the job fair?". We said, "Yes" and he waved us in. To our amazement, we were ushered into the Convention Center directly. We parked next to city vehicles and had most of the place to ourselves. The picture above shows you our premium spot.

Walking down the hallway a bit we found ourselves right where we were going to set up.

The event was great for us. We spoke to over 450 people- sharing info about benefits and the VISTA Program. People were hungry for the information-- most expressing a willingness to be creative and bringing an attitude of, "anything that can help in this economy.......".

Russell and I were dog tired at the end of the day. Russell mentioned tired/sore feet and I experienced laryngitis. Can you believe I had no desire to talk that evening?--now that is something!

Hancock County Visit

The Mobile Express visited Hancock County in Arcadia. We met Beverly Phillips, Community Services Director from United Way, Emily Ruckel representing 211 Services, Tonya and Whitney from the VISTA program. This was the first of 5 events touring in Hancock County.

As you can see, many people, albeit snugly, fit in the van as it teemed with rain. We are hopeful that our next event will be sunny and teeming with people.

Eating Funnel Cake in South Lebanon

Last Saturday I took the OBB Mobile Express to South Lebanon with Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks Southeast Regional Coordinator Jessica May. (Man, that was a mouthful.) A big thank you to Jessica for taking time out of her Saturday to work with me. It was much appreciated.

The OBB Mobile Express made the trip down I-71 to South Lebanon to take part in a fair meant to raise money for an early learning center in the area. And they really went all out! Rides, games, and a blues cover band that was really, really good. But like with any fair, the star of the show was the funnel cake booth. I love funnel cake.

(Regional curiosity: Where I'm from, we don't have funnel cake. We only have "elephant ears." But we call the elephant ears "fried dough." More descriptive, less poetic. Equally delicious.)

With all that hubbub, I was nervous that our services would be drowned out by all the noise and commotion. We were able to speak to a few of the attendees, including one woman who was staying in a homeless shelter.

It was an absolute pleasure to be surrounded by a festive atmosphere and to see hundreds of people gathering together for a good cause. We definitely need to get more fairs on our schedule!

Rumor: Van Out of Commision

It is true that we had a little blip with the van. We left the lights on overnight one day and came back to the van's battery out of juice. We arranged for a tow to a dealership and got it fixed lickety-split and were on the road again two days later.

We learned many things along the way:

The battery is not in the traditional location under the hood. We figured this out by reading our vehicle manual. You need to lift the flooring under the driver's feet to gain access to the battery case, use a funky screwdriver and remove the case cover to get to the terminals on the battery. Cables can be strung through the cabin on the passenger's side to provide the jump. We attempted this but we were unable to start the vehicle due to the key not being willing to turn--even though the battery should have had enough of a charge.

A guy named Kevin from Shamrock Towing came to our rescue. It was a challenge to tow the vehicle due to it's size and position in the lot but Kevin (having been on the job for 19 years) knew what to do. He did so with much finesse-- I was impressed.

At the dealership they found that a module was burned out contributing to the key not turning. With the battery charged and module part replaced we were able to take to the road again. Luckily the part and labor was covered under our vehicle warranty-- charge to us $0.

Yesterday, we took the van in for service to Farber Specialty Vehicles. We are getting a step to help those who have difficulty walking/stepping into the van, fixed a dome light, learned how the generator and battery powers the van along with several other little things. While there, I inquired about a warning signal for the lights being turned on. Farber called today to say a fuse was blown and that fuse controls both the dome light and the lights on signal. We are happy to say that we have a fully functional van now.

We were just appreciative that the van was in Central Ohio when all this happened. Watch out world--Erin and Russell have jumper cables and we are not afraid to use them!

Stephanie on the Road with Me

Stephanie Blessing(enrollment specialist) conducting a Quick Check with a

mother and her 19 year old daughter

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Stephanie Blessing (Ohio Benefit Bank counselor from Columbus) and I rode through the rolling hills of South East Ohio yesterday. Our destination was Gallipolis, OH at the New Life Lutheran Church where the LSS Mobile Food Bank was setting up.

We were warmly greeted by Barb Packer, Director of Food Pantry Services at Lutheran Social Services. She has written an article for Capital University that mentions the Ohio Benefit Bank-- check it out here. The Ohio Benefit Bank is an integral component to the services LSS provides and we were glad to be with them on site and on the road.

Their mobile food pantry staff and volunteers provided a week's worth of food to over 80 families on this day in Gallipolis.

Three of these families came to the OBB Express to learn if they were eligible for services; two signed up for the Senior Community Service Employment Program. Many of the folks we spoke to while in line were receiving other services like food stamps and cash assistance.

The people of Gallipolis and surrounding areas are very friendly. While driving, I found myself waving at smiling pedestrians as we passed by. They waved heartily back. So, it was a good day, the weather held out, met interesting and friendly people and had a fun trip up and back with my temporary travel partner.

On TV in Zanesville

We traveled to Zanesville, OH on Thursday April 30th visiting the Muskingum Valley Health Center where they hosted a round table discussion for Medicare Part D. While there, the local TV station(whiz-tv) interviewed me to find out more information about the Ohio Benefit Bank.

We arrived a few hours before the round table discussion to open up shop and greet those entering the center. HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) applications seemed to be the main focus for the day. Given the economy and changes experienced lately, more folks are eligible for HEAP and weatherization services.

People seem to be coming to the van with the attitude of, "Every little bit helps...". We are glad to get the word out and happy when we can offer some relief through our services.