Over the Hills and Far Away

The OBB Mobile Express found its way deep into the hills of Southeast Ohio as Erin and I traveled to Burr Oak State Park. Our goal, talk to agencies and organizations in a part of Ohio that remains underserved by the Benefit Bank.

But that wasn't the story of this trip. The story of the trip was, well, the trip. After going Southeast on Route 33, our GPS spat us out on a slew of county and state highways. Which is fine. They were main drags. Speed limit was 55 and all. No problem, right?

Well, there was a problem. Although the signs were clear as day:


If you go 55 on these roads....You. Will. DIE.

I want to make clear how little I am exaggerating. I am exaggerating zero. That's how little exaggeration. Whether it's the sharp turns on mountains with no guard rails or the blind corners or the teeny tiny lanes, these roads shouldn't be driven much faster than neutral.

At one point - on a 55mph highway mind you! - we were going 25mph into a turn and I had to slam on the brakes. If I stayed thirty miles under the speed limit, DEATH. We went 5mph and that may have been pushing it.

Erin wants me to point out that the drive was ridiculously beautiful and I concede that. We love the mountains. All very nice and lovely. (The tallest mountain Erin summited: Mount Marcy. Mine: Old Rag. If you look at the elevations, you'll see that Erin is way more hardcore about mountains.)

But if you, reader, ever find yourself on OH-78, OH-216, or Hocking County Road 25, please ignore the posted speed limits. Unless you can do this:

Juneteenth!

I am a firm believer that Juneteenth, the celebration of the announcement of The Emancipation Proclamation, should be a real holiday. And when I mean "real," I mean government offices should be closed and we shouldn't have to go to work. Presidents' Day? Columbus Day? What did Columbus do that hadn't already been done by a bunch of Vikings? Heck, some people* even think the Basques beat Columbus to the New World.

The problem is that the very nature of Juneteenth means you can't just stick it on the third Monday of the month. The "teenth" is right in the name. Celebrating it on the 21st would be madness. (This is what happens when a clever portmanteau gets out of hand.**) And with July 4th right around the corner***, weekday holidays are at a premium.

Still, Juneteenth is the best. When you think of some of the ridiculous things we celebrate, praising the end of slavery maybe should get more attention. It's kind of a big deal!

And it was big deal to the Marion chapter of the NAACP. They invited us out to a community event filled with local singers and rappers, grilled meats, and celebrating the freedom that they didn't have only 145 years ago. A common theme was that as far as the African-American community had come, there was still plenty left to fight for. People spoke about the need for prison reform, the need to help the mentally ill, the need for health care. Erin and I felt right at home.

And an event with door prizes wouldn't be complete without Erin winning some goodies. She left with a fancy shmancy water bottle and an Ohio State t-shirt. I left full of ribs and brats. It was a lot of fun and a great reminder to appreciate our freedom and liberty.

*That is one of the best books I have ever read. Highly recommended. Not just to people from a spit of land named after fish like I am. Recommended to all. A great read.

**I think the trick here is to change the name to Emancipation Day. Freedom Day is too vague. It needs to remain slavery specific. Write your legislators! Make the holiday happen!

***YAY!

Prison!

So every month we go to North Central Correctional, a medium security facility in Marion. I've found that some of our most successful trips are reentry events. "Successful" meaning that there are a ton of people eligible for benefits who aren't getting them. Then we sign them up.

This is not really a good kind of successful. I'm glad we can fill the gap when someone isn't receiving something they may be entitled to. That's kind of our reason for being. But wouldn't it be better if these people had benefits as soon as they got out of lockup? Sure, we wouldn't get credit, but these people would have food security and that's more important.

So we meet with inmates getting out in the next 60 days and let them know that they could be eligible as soon as they get out. They can go to Jobs and Family Services, they can go to an OBB site. It's all good. Just get food security.

Erin and I used to be in the yard, now we're in the block. Prison slang! I prefer the block since it gives you an idea of what an inmate's life is really like. Doesn't look fun. A good reminder for me to not misappropriate van funding.

But my personal highlight came when we were leaving. An inmate walking to the common area asked what we were doing there.

"Oh, you know, we're just talking to people who are getting out soon and letting them know about food assistance, other benefits, stuff like that."

The priceless response:

"Oh! The Ohio Benefit Bank! On High and Gay, right? You did my taxes last year. You guys are great!"

Thanks! I think we're great too!

I hope he signs up for benefits with us when he gets out.

Agape

That's ah-GAH-pay. But why deal with pronunciations when we can just call them "awesome."

Agape Distribution is a food pantry in Sidney, the county seat of Shelby County. They have a mobile food pantry that goes out to the smaller communities in the county and where there's a mobile food pantry there's a chance that we are with them to help spread the word about the Ohio Benefit Bank.

So off we went on a rainy Saturday morning to the small towns of Botkins and Anna. And we had a surprise guest! Our boss, Nora Nees, was in town and she came buy to help us talk to Agape's clients.

Twenty-two families went through the mobile pantry and we spoke to every last one of 'em.

What really separated Agape from the pack in my mind were their volunteers. I have never had an easier time talking to a group of people. They truly cared about what they were doing and their dedication was obvious and praiseworthy. With volunteers like that, Agape is in some great hands.