Read All About It!
Our brand new Annual Report is hot off the (digital) presses. YOU have helped us make a tremendous difference this past year in the lives of thousands of people. In these pages, you can read the reflections of staff, hear from some of the neighbors who rely on OCS, peruse our analytics, and recognize the donors and volunteers who make helping others a priority.
Thank you for supporting Oberlin Community Services! Click here or on the cover image to see the Annual Report.
Here’s to Another 20
We’re celebrating the truly amazing Kathy Burns' 20th year with OCS! "It feels really good to be in a place that I love coming to work every day," she said.
An Oberlin resident of 35 years, Kathy holds bachelor and master's degrees from Youngstown State University. She worked as a rape crisis advocate and client rights officer at The Nord Center until 2006, when she saw a job post for an opening at OCS. It described exactly what she wanted to do — serve people in her own community.
In the past two decades, Kathy has helped nearly 9,000 neighbors in Oberlin, Wellington, LaGrange, Kipton, and other rural southern Lorain County communities. She guides people through some of their worst days, when they fear they'll be evicted, lose their house to foreclosure, or have power, heat, and water disconnected. This past fiscal year alone, she took on 989 cases, providing $101,258 in utility bill relief and $122,917 in housing cost relief.
"It gets very hard some days. I've heard a lot of horrible stories from people who were struggling," Kathy said. "But people trusted me to help, and that's what I've tried to do over and over. I just keep carrying on and trying to be the best Kathy I can be."
Looking for Holiday Helpers
We’re searching for sponsors for this year's Holiday Helping Hands campaign, which ensures all children in the Oberlin 44074 ZIP code have an opportunity to receive presents for the December holidays. We register local families and line up sponsors to buy presents for the kids!
That's where YOU can help! We're in need of some more sponsors to "adopt" kids and buy presents. Being part of the fun is easy — just email kathy@oberlincommunityservices.org to get started.
OCS Client Services Coordinator Kathy Burns will provide sponsors with a sheet — no names, it's all anonymous! — letting you know the child’s ages, clothing sizes, favorite colors, whether they like Spider-Man or the Browns or Taylor Swift, etc. Have fun shopping and wrapping the gifts, then drop them off at the Cooper Center, 500 E. Lorain St., Oberlin!
This is a very meaningful program for Oberlin families struggling to get by. Thank you for making the holidays brighter by joining us for Holiday Helping Hands!
Sign-ups to Oberlin children to receive gifts will start Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Registration for OCS’ annual Thanksgiving holiday food distribution will open Tuesday, Oct. 13 on our website, www.oberlincommunityservices.org! OBERLIN RESIDENTS are eligible to sign up to receive a turkey and other ingredients for a traditional meal. This will be a choice pantry distribution, which means pre-registered families can come to OCS the day of the giveaway and browse our shelves for the items they want to take. Proxy boxes will be available for pick-up for people who have signed proxy forms. Curbside pick-up of prepacked boxes will also be available (a good option for people with limited mobility, time constraints, and other considerations). More information will be available at www.oberlincommunityservices.org when registration goes live!
OCS Is Preparing for Impact of SNAP Changes
Massive changes to America's largest hunger relief program start Oct. 1 and are expected to push many more at-risk Lorain County families to OCS and other local food pantries.
The federal government is offloading about $394 million in costs for SNAP (also known as food stamps) onto Ohio. Lorain County is set to lose an estimated $1 million in funding that helps ensure benefits go to about 33,000 local residents. Earlier this year, Ohio rolled out a whole list of new restrictions on who is eligible to get SNAP benefits, including sweeping work requirements. In 2027, even more changes are coming for people on Medicaid.
"We've already seen a lot more people coming to the OCS pantry, which is likely a harbinger of things to come," said Executive Director Margie Flood.
The average number of families getting food from OCS each week has been climbing closer to 400 throughout the year. For the last two full weeks of September, the number of families getting food was 430 and 405.
In a recent interview with News 5 Cleveland, Second Harvest Food Bank President & CEO Julie Chase-Morefield said her biggest concern is making sure people who are eligible for SNAP can continue to access the assistance they need. Second Harvest saw a 9% increase in demand from July to August alone. Second Harvest is OCS' largest and most important partner in getting food to local families. The vast majority of the food we distribute comes from Second Harvest Food Bank — about 531,000 pounds this past fiscal year.
OCS is in good position to meet rising demand, said OCS Communications and Development Coordinator Jason Hawk: "Because the community fully supports helping neighbors through hard times, we have the resources to get food, emergency relief, and a lot of opportunities to folks who are struggling. The many people who give to OCS are making a world of difference when it's needed most."
Guest Lecture at the College
What is "good" food? That was the topic Tuesday when OCS Assistant Food Programs Coordinator Eli Butler presented a guest lecture for students at Oberlin College's Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. The central idea was that people often believe eating healthier food makes you a better person, and that's just not the case. Food doesn't just fuel our bodies but nourishes our souls. That's why at the OCS food pantry we're happy to have fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, dairy and meat, but also excited to have doughnuts, cookies, chips, and other treats that bring joy to people experiencing hardship. Making sure a family in need has a cake to celebrate a child's birthday can mean far more than a can of beans or head of lettuce. At OCS, we want to provide neighbors with more than the bare minimum needed to survive; we want to give with a spirit of abundance that helps people thrive.
Upcoming Workshops
We Appreciate Our Volunteers!
How can I donate to OCS?
There are lots of ways to donate to OCS — mail a check, give online, use PayPal, make a gift of stock, even include OCS in your estate planning. Learn more by clicking the button below.
You can donate right from our Walmart wishlist
Did you know we have a wish list? You can buy items for the OCS food pantry via our Walmart online registry. It highlights dozens of low-cost nonperishable staples that are especially useful for the thousands of families we serve. To buy food to donate to the OCS pantry, visit www.tinyurl.com/OCSwishlist and browse the list! Donations can be shipped or brought to the Cooper Center, 500 E. Lorain St., Oberlin, OH 44074.
