Community Action Helps Our Most Vulnerable Citizens

A hearing-impaired and mentally challenged woman went to Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission needing assistance with her electric and fuel oil. Her electric was due to be shut off the following day and she had no fuel oil left. While the client could receive assistance through the emergency Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), specific paperwork is needed to participate in the program. After reviewing her paperwork, it was clear that additional information was needed and she’d need to come back the following day. When the Ohio Heartland intake worker brought her back into her cubical to explain this she realized the client’s challenges and went the extra mile to help her.

Local program helps fathers be fathers

Article and photo reprinted with permission from the Marion Star 
Published June 16, 2013 by John Jarvis

When Richard G. Byrd Jr. heard about a program that would help him find work after months of being told by employers they wouldn’t hire him because he had a felony conviction, he had his doubts. “I wasn’t sure, but I was open-minded,” the 31-year-old Marion resident said.

Breast Cancer Survivor Able to Continue Treatment

A breast cancer patient was taking the prescription Femara for her ongoing therapy. But when her husband's company stopped offering employees insurance coverage she did not know how she could afford the expensive drug for the next two years needed to complete her therapy.