April 1, 2011
It's been a busy second week since the project, Tyler's House, was introduced to the community. First we would like to thank Craig Alan Brown, the Business Advisor from the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio. Mr. Brown met with us at the Findlay Inn & Conference Center Thursday morning to talk more about our project and how we can move forward as an organization. To our surprise Mr. Brown had already done a little work of his own and had sent the link to our website off to one of the directors at Job Solutions, Carolyn Rodenhauser. Job Solutions is an employment resource agency that works with partner agencies in Hancock County to enhance our county's workforce. Mr. Brown has been working on another project with the Mrs. Rodenhauser that is similar to our project. Next week we are meeting again with Mr. Brown and Mrs. Rodenhauser to learn more about each others projects and to discuss how we can incorporate the two projects. We are going to hold off on filing the 501c3 non-profit organization until we meet with Mrs. Rodenhauser to see which direction our project will take.
We also met with Mrs. Judy Rower this week, a long time resident of Findlay who supports our project. Mrs. Rower has been involved in many projects and organizations in our community over the years. Mrs. Rower developed the gifted programs in Hancock County schools, such as P.A.C.E (Program for Advanced and Challenging Environment, Arlington Local Schools) and T.A.G (Talented and Gifted, Liberty Benton Schools). Mrs. Rower was also a board member of the Findlay Hancock Community Foundation from 1996 to 2008, and is a present board member for Associated Charities, a non-profit organization that specializes in providing financial assistance to residents in need in Hancock County. Mrs. Rower provided us with a lot of useful information on how to operate, organize, fund, and run a non-profit organization. We're very thankful to have Mrs. Rower on board with this project and respect her feedback. Mrs. Rower quoted “The stronger we are as a community where everyone matters and has a voice, the better we are able to lift our heads up with pride that the Findlay and Hancock County community truly cares that all individuals and families succeed. Tyler's House would offer another homeless shelter that our community so desperately needs”.
Another point we would also like to make before we move forward as an organization. We would first like to let the community know that this project is not intended to compete with the City Mission of Findlay. We have a strong need in this community to provide the homeless a central location in which social services can be provided. So far as a community we have many services to help the homeless through Hope House. Hope House does provide housing assistance to homeless individuals given that they are employed. Consider though that the majority of homeless individuals are not employed. Our organization will help provide temporary housing and incorporate programs such as housing assistance that Hope House provides. Our organization can even go a step further than what these organizations have been set up to provide the homeless with. For example, if a homeless person is seeking housing assistance but they are an alcoholic or drug addict, our organization can help them with their addictions through a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program before providing them with any type of housing assistance. Our organization is intended to eliminate homelessness in the Findlay / Hancock County area. One way to eliminate homelessness is to help prevent it and by helping an alcoholic or drug addict with their addiction before providing housing assistance will give that homeless person a higher rate of success.
Before we close with this week's blog update we would like to ask everyone to answer a few questions to collect data that will help us in the filing of our organization. The questionnaire is provided by the Ohio Small Business Development Center and will help us determine what our specific needs are and will help us in the development and building of Tyler's House. The questionnaire will be worked on this weekend and posted on our website and sent out via Facebook through the Findlay, Ohio Facebook page. We recommend everyone whether you support the organization or not fill out the questionnaire so we can provide Mr. Brown from the Ohio Small Business Development Center feedback as a community. Again, we would like to thank everyone for their support and participation. As we keep moving forward with this project the foundation of this organization will be laid and as a community we will soon be able to provide all of Findlay / Hancock County homeless residents with an organization that has a goal of ending homelessness by temporarily providing basic and social needs that will help lead a homeless individual to their own independence.
Sincerely,
Rob McClelland, Founder
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