Center addresses deteriorating conditions in area

These are people who come from families that are generationally poor. Over the past year or so, however, that dynamic has been changing.

"Now it's people who have never been in that position before, and you can know it the minute they walk in the door, because it's so hard for them to have to ask for food or ask for clothes," Bentley said Friday afternoon. "That has increased dramatically."

Bentley started the Nelsonville Community Center nonprofit after Athens County Children Services' funding ran out for prevention programs in Nelsonville that had been operated by the original community center last summer.

The center is dedicated to "giving families the tools and knowledge necessary for healthy family lives in a caring and nurturing environment." It offers a "free store," computers with Internet access, a play area for children, and a variety of programs and food assistance.

Bentley explained that many of the jobs in the area are low-paying, service-industry jobs with over 50 applicants competing for the same position. She pointed to a lack of reliable transportation as a hindrance to those seeking more gainful employment outside of this area.

"It's not that they don't want to (drive to Columbus to get a job)," she said. "It's that they don't have transportation. It's not that nobody wants to work. It's just that there are no jobs to work at."

She cited several stories of somebody obtaining employment out of the county, only to lose the position because his or her vehicle broke down and no money was available to get it fixed.

"You may or may not get a job you can walk to, and if you don't, what are you supposed to do?" she asked. "I truly don't know what people are supposed to do."

She said if there were just one large manufacturing base in the area, with reliable transportation for its employees, it would be shocking how many people in the area would show they want to work.

The Nelsonville Community Center has anywhere from 50 to 200 people visiting each day, Bentley said. The center provides a number of programs, including support groups and even a life-skills program.

The life-skills program is made possible through grant money from the Athens Foundation and helps youngsters learn basic life skills and how to get along.

Another grant, this one from Children Services for $7,500, funds a program called "Celebrating Families." In this 20-week program, families are served dinner together and attend a two-hour meeting, separated by age groups, to receive session information that they then discuss as one group at the end.

"Life skills is hands-on, how to deal with things on a physical level," Bentley explained. "Celebrating Families is more dealing with emotions and self-esteem, and overcoming hard times how to deal with things when they happen."

She said the results she's seen from this program have been amazing.

Until it ended on Friday, the center's summer feeding program, funded through Community Action, the Ohio Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, had been sending out 100 breakfasts and 300 lunches every day, Monday through Friday, all summer long.

The program, meant for children aged 18 and younger, had kids coming to the park for lunch and to the center for breakfast. She said the center tried to provide for parents as well, because she can't hand kids food and let the hungry parents just watch.

"So we try to get donations for whatever we can to have food available for the parents to eat also," she said. "We've been feeding about 500 to 550 people per day."

Over the past two years, numbers have been increasing dramatically, she said. The program started with about 50 people, she said, and then it got to be 100, then 200, and then 300.

"They're newly poor, instead of chronically poor," she said. "And they're coming in for help with foreclosures, too. In the past six months we've had a lot of the homeless."

The center's free store takes in donations of all kinds, Bentley said. The only thing that is sold is used furniture so the center can pay its electric bill, she added. Nothing is priced over $50.

Ultimately, Bentley said that basic needs like food and shelter aren't being met, but these residents also need help with fundamentals such as education, job interview skills, and how to handle working. It's a mistake to think that people in this area don't care enough to help, she added.

"Sometimes they just don't know what to do," she said.

Donations to the Nelsonville Community Center of furniture, clothing and household items are accepted, and pick-up and delivery is available upon request.

To get involved at the Nelsonville Community Center, call 740-753-4100 or just stop by Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.