WRITE THIS DOWN AND MEMORIZE

THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS ON VOTING FOR EX-FELONS IN THE STATE OF OHIO!!!

Are you in jail? No? Then register. I had two clients at the previously mentioned coat giveaway telling me they weren't allowed to vote because of previous felonies. I don't know where this is coming from, but it is the worst kind of disenfranchising malarkey. The fact that I found these people a week after a major election was like an extra heaping of compost on a garbage sandwich.

Once you leave prison, you can vote in Ohio. End of story. Please take advantage of that, not every state is as progressive as Ohio on this subject.

Busy Busy Busy (Part 2)

After a successful trip to Franklin Furnace, it was time to get ready for our next event. The good news: It was in Columbus. After driving to Kentucky and back, Columbus sounded nice. The bad news: The event was 12 hours long. It ended at 7pm. Which means it started at...

...

...

&*#*(&^@)(*@_

Despite the early morning, Erin and I were looking forward to this event. Dr. Brian Kvitko, DDS was hosting a massive free dental clinic. Free cleanings, free, extractions, free fillings. And when I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. Over three hundred people were there waiting for dental help.

So Erin and I (this time with a cameo from National Service Member Extraordinaire, Emily Forsee) worked the crowd to see how many people wanted to apply for benefits.

We were honestly shocked by the response. Erin and I finished 21 applications. That made this trip -in terms of raw numbers - one of our five most successful ever. A plurality of the applications were for food assistance, but we ran the gamut from Medicaid to Medicare Premium Assistance to the ever-in-demand Golden Buckeye cards.

Twenty-one applications over 12 hours. And a majority of them were before noon when people were waiting hours just to get a cavity filled. I applaud Dr. Kvitko for helping fill a need and I am glad we were there to make sure people's dinner tables were taken care of as well as their teeth.

But even though this event was on a Friday, our work for the week was far from done. A Saturday trip to Cleveland loomed over the horizon.

Part 3 coming soon.

Busting SNAP Myths

Erin and I tagged along with the Mt. Carmel Hospital Mobile Team and made a trip to the West Side of Columbus to help people get their health checked out and, of course, apply for benefits. A caseworker at Mt. Carmel introduced me to Andrea Stewart. Andrea was on Social Security and was getting ready to receive health insurance for the first time. But even with SSI money, she was forced to live in a tent.

Ugh.

To Ms. Stewart's credit, she was one of the happiest clients I had ever encountered. Her living circumstances were depressing and unacceptable, but she had a smile plastered across her face at all times.

So: Homeless. Only a few hundred dollars in Social Security. Obviously eligible for SNAP Benefits. Obviously!

The Benefit Bank estimated that she should be receiving $17 a month in SNAP Benefits. That's one dollar above the minimum. And she lives in a tent.

Just something to keep in mind if someone talks about food stamps being easy money.

Andrea was also looking at having over one hundred dollars a month taken out of her Social Security to cover her Medicare premiums. Well that would not stand. We filled out a Medicare Premium Assistance application to help maintain her modest income.

Working with Andrea Stewart to get a little bit of help in food and a lot of help in health care was an absolute pleasure. I mean look at that smile:

i am taller than her

The rest of the event went incredibly well. Thirteen applications and a renewed feeling of partnership with the West Side's premier hospital. Good times all around.

Visit Mid Ohio Food Bank

A couple of weeks ago we visited Mid-Ohio Food Bank to learn more about their operation and see their new facility. Below are a few pictures from our trip. But before we take a look, I wanted to share a study that was conducted recently that puts into perspective the amazing need that this food bank and the 11 others in Ohio are addressing.

Landmark Study Reveals Large Increase in People Seeking Emergency Food

Grove City, OH – February 2, 2010 – A landmark study released by Mid-Ohio Foodbank and Feeding America – the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization – reports that more than 248,000 individuals – including 86,975 children and 17,395 seniors – receive emergency food each year through Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

These findings represent a 28 percent increase from the results reported in Hunger in America 2006. In Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s 20 county service territory, in any given week, more than 40,000 people receive emergency food assistance from a food pantry, soup kitchen, or other agency served by the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

If you are interested, see this Columbus Dispatch article that shows that the demand for food pantries is climbing. They are seeing new faces and many pantries are showing that in some cases their numbers have doubled since 2006.

We at the Ohio Benefit Bank have noticed that with pantries as well as benefit applications , there have been many more people asking for assistance who have held jobs all their lives. When asked, "Do you know someone who..........(has lost a job or pay, needs medical insurance etc.)" there is a resounding yes. Many people take literature for a loved one, a neighbor or a coworker. All this points to the great need for supports like food assistance and we are glad that Mid-Ohio is there, as well as the other food banks, to help organize an effort for those who are in need.

Mountains of potatoes--both sweet and regular, getting ready to be distributed.

New Community Garden with cistern system for watering.

Packing Area

Chili Giveaway Leads to Dozens of Enrollments

For the past week, our Mobile Express has been out of commission. A generator malfunction was putting our equipment at risk, so we needed to get some maintenance done. The work on the generator wasn't invasive, it just took some time. Erin and I needed to find other ways to keep ourselves busy.

Our office really stepped up with ways to fill the time.

Emily Forsee, an Americorps member, organized a huge outreach event at our Direct Service Office in downtown Columbus. Last Wednesday, the DSO hosted a huge chili giveaway. Emily worked to get ingredients and bread donated to our office. She got all the important permits. She made the coffee and printed out the advertisements which were put up around the city. People came from all over the city to get some free chili (which was delicious).

The free food attracted a lot of people having trouble making ends meet. Many of these people were homeless. Unfortunately, the homeless have trouble getting food stamps since Job and Family Services requires a mailing address to send the Food Assistance Benefit Transfer Card as well as other correspondence.

Well, for the first time in our office's history, clients without mailing addresses will be able to use our office as their primary address. This will allow food stamps to go to those who had previously been unable to obtain them.

These efforts led to 58 new applications for Food Assistance and other programs. Fifty-eight! I was honored to be a part of those 58 applications. I hate to speak for Erin, but I'm going to assume that she's proud too.*

What a great event. Here's hoping that we have another day like this in the near future.

*Pride has since been confirmed

Busy, Busy, Busy

The last few weeks have been about as busy as we've ever been here on the Mobile Express. Highlights in the past few weeks have included the Great Pumpkin Show in Circleville and the start of the Home Energy Assistance Program right here in Columbus.

See that first link? Click it. Scroll down a few paragraphs and check out the picture of the 2009 prize winning pumpkins. The biggest was 1600 pounds. Have you ever seen a 1600 pumpkin before? Have you even considered a 1600 pound pumpkin before? I had two different people (Enrollment Specialist Jerry Lee and VISTA/Senior Employment Specialist Danielle Gray) with me over the course of the event, and I tried out the same joke: "Whoever planted those gigantic pumpkins must have been out of their gourd." Neither Jerry or Danielle laughed, but their contributions were appreciated regardless.

After speaking to hundreds of people in Circleville, the Mobile Express spent a week in The Breathing Association's parking lot to help people who were applying for emergency utility assistance. Those funds became available on November 1, so the Association expected quite the turnout.

While in that parking lot, we spoke to dozens of people and helped a few people apply for food stamps. I even did one person's back taxes, leading to an expected $1500 refund. It's always surprising to see how many hungry people are eligible for food assistance but still haven't applied. No matter how many times we run into these situations, it still shocks me. I'm proud that we are and will continue to work to close that gap.

Our First 13 Hour Day

It should go without saying that the Mobile Express schedule is almost always booked solid. Our Google Calendar is a veritable sea of crimson blocks telling us where we need to be. Sometimes we go as far as to book two events in one day.

Or, sometimes, three.

You see, we have our Google Calendar set up so that we need to scroll down to get past 5pm. And sometimes I forget to scroll down to make sure that I'm not booking three events in one day.

Which brings us to last Thursday. The early hours were spent at Marion Franklin High School with the Wellness on Wheels Mobile Unit. We're always appreciative of the work they do (and for letting us use the lavatory on their giant truck). They've been steering moms-to-be to us for weeks now and we are truly grateful for their support.

After a quick stop at Chipotle, Erin and I then made the trip to Goodwill Columbus. We parked in front of their building for three hours and helped Goodwill employees and clients find out what programs they were eligible for.

From there, we made our second trip to The King Arts Complex for their Heritage Concert series. After spending the past nine hours doing quick checks and enrollments, simply helping with outreach was a nice change of pace.

Even with the more relaxing atmosphere, by the end of the night, Erin and I were pooped. We had spend thirteen hours in the Mobile Express and it was time for some much needed rest. After all, we had to be on the road to Cincinnati at 8am the next morning.

Jazz and Ribs? Sign Us Up!

The King Arts Complex and Smooth Jazz 103.5 are sponsoring a Heritage Concert Series featuring local jazz bands. BBQ was readily available.

Also readily available: the Mobile Express. Although, I must say, it can be very difficult to help clients in a musical setting. It turns out concerts are quite loud.

Erin and I persisted and were able to speak to dozens of people who were interested in what the Ohio Benefit Bank had to offer. The turnout at the concert was fantastic and we're always glad to talk to people in happier settings. Being surrounded by music and community definitely leads to good moods. That goes for clients and for counselors.

Project L.O.V.E.

Formed in 1993, Project L.O.V.E. (Love Our Kids...Vaccinate Early) has been working towards immunizing Columbus's children.

From their website:

When Project L.O.V.E. began, local immunization rates were estimated to be at 40 percent and have since improved to 86.4 percent. Franklin County was recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March 2006 for having the highest urban immunization rate in the country.

That's pretty impressive.

Erin and I were honored to take the Mobile Express to a Project L.O.V.E. event in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus. We figured our target audience would be young mothers and lower income families. And we saw plenty of that demographic. But because the event was centrally located in a public square, we got a little bit of everyone.

I helped one person fill out an application for a Golden Buckeye card. Unfortunately, I've been seeing this a lot. There appear to be lots of Ohioans who are over 60 or are disabled who don't have this valuable discount card (which also includes a prescription discount plan).

If anyone you know is over 60 or disabled and isn't getting $0.39 sodas at McDonald's, please apply for your Golden Buckeye card immediately! There are no income requirements. Just age and/or disability. The list of businesses who offer Golden Buckeye discounts is truly massive and we want to make sure people are taking advantage of it.

Applying for Food Stamps in our Back Yard

The OBB Mobile Express currently calls North Linden, Columbus, Ohio home. From its parking spot, the van can travel to all parts of Ohio. Youngstown, Cleveland, Ironton, Toledo, you name it. But sometimes travel can make us roadworn and weary. So it's always nice to drive to an event in North Linden, Columbus, Ohio.

The Mobile Express made the half mile journey to Grace Apostolic Church. They were hosting a street fair where parents could sign their children up for summer lunch programs. In between free sno-cones and basketball games, parents could mosey up to the Mobile Express and check their eligibility for other programs.

The event, in no small part due to the efforts of the many Benefit Bank employees who came to help, was a total success. We had three Ohioans go through the entire application process and apply for food assistance. These clients appear to be eligible for hundreds of dollars per month. Now, this is only an estimate. But if that estimate turns out to be accurate, the lives of these Ohioans are about to be changed in an extreme way. And for the better.

So, yeah, it was a great event.

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.

Working With Lutheran Social Services in Ironton

On Thursday, April 9, Erin and I drove the Express down to Ironton, the county seat of Lawrence County. Lutheran Social Services (LSS) hosted an event with their own charitable transportation: The Mobile Food Pantry. With the help of this truck, Lutheran Social Services was able to deliver a massive amount of food to this economically depressed area. One hundred were waiting in line for an opportunity to receive cereal, pasta, and fresh sweet potatoes. The OBB Mobile Express was there to help people estimate folks' eligibility for benefits such as food stamps and utility assistance.

It can't be overstated how happy and thankful we were to work with an organization like LSS in helping people receive the food they need to survive and the benefits they need to live. Many people at the mobile pantry were fortunate enough to be receiving benefits yet still needed the extra assistance that the Mobile Food Pantry provided.