The HELP House exists to serve children, families and individuals in poverty by providing food, clothing, emergency assistance and God's love. They focus on recognizing their struggles within a loving environment along with dignity and respect. The HELP House has no paid staff; volunteers coordinate and implement every service at their London, OH location.
The HELP House runs a the Food Pantry, Loving Kindness Soup Kitchen, Clothing Pantry, Household Item, Emergency Funding (when budget allows), Loving Support, and Special Projects Outreach (back-to-school backpacks and clothing, coat drives, holiday special projects, etc). The United Way funds the Food Pantry and the Loving Kindness Soup Kitchen.
Hunger is a basic need. All of the clients of HELP House are food-insecure. They have individuals and households with insufficient incomes, social security and disability low-incomes, those working one or more jobs still not meeting their household's needs, homeless, and in a sudden financial crisis. Based on their monthly household statistics, 75-78% of their clients are either children ages 0-18 or adults raising those children. Typically the HELP House regularly sees grandparents raising their grandchildren, usually due to the personal situations of the parents (often drug abuse related issues or fractured households).
Feeding someone will reduce their hunger, but food pantries and soup kitchens usually have a goal of providing more than food. It gives hope, motivation and caring services which might enable a person to make progress on other aspects of their lives. Hunger is a basic, fundamental need, and other aspects of a person's life need to be addressed in order to reduce the need for supplemental food.
United Way is proud to fund an agency that is making such an impact in the community of Madison County. If you are interested in learning more about, or getting involved with HELP House call (740) 852-1980.
