Charitable ministry aids five southeast Ohio counties

By Tim Puet
For The Catholic Times

The We Are Friends ministry of Logan St. John Church has expanded beyond the boundaries of Hocking County and is providing people in five southeast Ohio counties with furniture, bedding and other housing items, enabling them to live on their own or to improve conditions for their families.

Deacon Don Robers, coordinator for the ministry, said that in the three years since it was founded, it has served more than 200 individuals and families in Logan, Nelsonville, Athens and Lancaster and in Hocking, Athens, Perry, Morgan and Fairfield counties.

“Our growth hasn’t come that much from the COVID-19 pandemic but more from people learning about us and asking for our help,” Deacon Robers said. “People are still homeless and still need things, and that’s true regardless of something unexpected like COVID.”

He said donations have declined only slightly in the 1 ½ years since the pandemic began. A fundraising letter he sent in late September brought in about $1,000, “and we’ve spent about $350 already,” he said in mid-October.

“We serve everyone who asks us for help in some way. We may not have what people need when they make a request, but we’ll find it for them and let them know when it arrives,” Deacon Robers said.

He said the greatest need among the people served by We Are Friends is for mattresses and bedding. “Some of the saddest stories we hear are from families with two or three children who have to sleep on the floor because they have no beds. We’ve probably heard three or four of those stories over the years. It’s the most satisfying thing to be able to have those kids sleeping in the kind of bed they need,” he said.

We Are Friends obtains mattresses, box springs and bed frames through online auctions and through an Athens furniture store that makes the items available at a discount. “Like so many other things, mattresses have gone up in price because of the supply chain problems related to COVID,” Deacon Robers said. “It’s costing $50 to $75 more per mattress now.”

We Are Friends is based in the former St. John Church carport, which the ministry transformed into a garage. The parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society operates from the former parish convent. The two groups work together to supply furniture, food and clothing to people and at Christmastime have provided toys for families who otherwise could not afford them.

The ministry resulted from a meeting Deacon Robers conducted with professional organizations, law enforcement and the courts to discuss ways of helping people trying to recover from drug addiction. He said it has a core membership of about 15 people, including Hocking County Municipal Judge Fred Moses and Common Pleas Judge John Wallace. 

Both judges have drug courts and have sent several people to the organization for help with immediate needs and for referrals to agencies, including the Hocking Hills Inspire Shelter, Hopewell Health Centers, Integrated Services for Behavioral Health and Goodwill Industries.

Those agencies also refer people to We Are Friends. “We get families, people from the area’s homeless shelter and a lot from the local senior citizens high-rise,” Deacon Robers said. “Many times, we’ve helped people, and they’ve come back in tears, saying, ‘You are awesome.’

“We’ve had some great success stories with people getting out of the hold drugs have on them and into their own homes. My son Doug has homes he rents to them at a reasonable rate, and the drug courts have apartments they provide which are furnished by We Are Friends. It’s really rewarding to see what a difference this makes to people.”

Besides providing furniture and other items, the ministry gives several books to people suffering from addiction and to their families. These include pocket-size prayer books donated by Judge Wallace and larger books related to overcoming addiction.

Volunteers will pick up furniture and household items people wish to donate to We Are Friends. Clothing and large items are given to the Logan Community Thrift Store, which will sell them and give 70 percent of the sale price back to We Are Friends.

Last year, the ministry had expenses of a little more than $10,000, with $7,600 of that amount going toward beds and mattresses. We Are Friends received a $4,000 grant, to be used only for bedding items, from South Central Power Company and $2,800 from The Catholic Foundation. It has applied for grants for 2022 from the same sources. The rest came from individual donors. 

We Are Friends has set up a donor advised fund with the foundation that began with $5,000 and has grown to more than $18,000. “This fund goes on forever,” Deacon Robers said. “It will provide for long-term financing to help the poor and those in need. By donating to this fund, your gift will keep on giving.” Because the grants cover only part of the ministry’s expenses, it also is in need of funds for its everyday work.

To donate to the ministry for short-term needs, write a check payable to We Are Friends and send it to St. John Church, 351 N. Market St., Logan OH 43138.

To donate through the foundation, write a check to The Catholic Foundation, We Are Friends, put Fund ID# 325KJ in the memo section and mail it to The Catholic Foundation, 257 E. Broad St., Columbus OH 43215. Online gifts may be made by going to https://catholic-foundation.org/give-now/?fund_name=The+We+Are+Friends+Donor+Advised+Fund, then clicking on “Give to this Fund.”