The heart of a caring community gets a facelift

The Voluntary Action Center has a new look. Business leaders with the Gordon County Chamber of Commerce got a sneak peek during April’s Business After Hours. Chamber Board Chair David Repp confessed, “This is the first time I have actually seen the inside of the Voluntary Action Center.” And he was not alone. Many who attended the After Hours were getting their first look at The Voluntary Action Center. The Center’s Board Chairman, Jim Reddoch compared what is happening to a sunrise, “This was a dilapidated building. Now it has so many uses that hopefully it represents a bright new future.”

The Voluntary Action Center might also be described as a phoenix rising from the ashes. The newly renovated center bears little resemblance to the old building. While many of the same services are still provided, there are many new offerings thanks to the Community Development Block Grant that helped fund the renovations. The Voluntary Action Center is still committed to providing emergency services for those who find themselves unable to meet the demands of living, like paying bills, putting food on the table and access to affordable clothing. There are also the holiday food and toy programs that help children and families who might not otherwise experience Christmas.

Those programs are still going strong, but now the Center is able to offer much more. There is a community kitchen providing hot meals Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is a dream of expanding that program to five days a week. The training room was once several small desks and the occasional working computer. Now the training room can seat dozens and is equipped with some of the latest technology. When I first met Center Director Stacy Long almost four years ago, she spoke longingly of one day providing a place for the homeless to get a hot shower and wash their clothes. That dream is now a reality. The facilities have been built, and the Center is gearing up to make those services available in early June.

When I first met Stacy, and those volunteering at the Center, I described the Voluntary Action Center as “The Heart of a Caring Community.” The slogan is no less true today. Community leaders attending the Business After Hours April 24 had their eyes opened to the possibility of making a real difference in the lives of people struggling to meet their basic needs. People like Monica Keith. She serves as the Community Relations Representative for the local Waffle House Franchise. Monica says, “I wanted to come to this event because I really want to make a difference when it comes to helping the homeless and hungry.”

Monica knows better than most about homelessness. A member of her family ended up living on the streets, “I really want people to understand that it can happen to anyone, even someone you love.” The experience helped her realize how important it is for businesses to join hands with local community service organizations like the Voluntary Action Center, “One person can only do so much, but when people join forces, it is possible to make a difference.” Monica has offered to donate Waffle House coupon books to the thrift store, with 100 percent of the sales going toward the Center’s mission to help the homeless and hungry.

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diately. By the end of that day, we had an appointment for the next week. We were panicking by this point, wondering what was wrong yet knowing something was very wrong. We did test after test, with everything coming out okay. We heaved a sigh of relief that the genetic tests were okay… but we were still concerned because we knew something was wrong. Cooper’s head circumference had not grown since his six month checkup.

During all this time, we had been referred to Babies Can’t Wait, an early intervention program for children three and under. We were assigned a caseworker and her role was to coordinate services that would keep Cooper developing as normally as possible. She assessed him and scheduled physical and occupational therapy as well as speech therapy. The services were great because they came to our home and did the services there. Our caseworker, Tiffany, became much more to us than just a caseworker. She was a shoulder to cry on, and believe me, I did cry, a support person, and a friend. I think we would have been lost without her. I could call her anytime. She was a lifeline to us.

At one of the Babies Can’t Wait PT appointments, our therapist asked if Cooper had ever been tested for Mitochondrial Disease. I told her I didn’t know as he had had so many different tests. She told me to ask our genetics doctor about it and see what she thought. At our next appointment we discussed it, but the doctor said that his blood work had come out normal and the other way to test was to take a muscle biopsy on his upper leg. Because it was so invasive she was hesitant to do it. That same day, I literally walked across the hall from her to our gastro appointment and our doctor informed me that Cooper’s weight gain was still too low, and we would need to put a tube in his stomach to help feed him. I cried and cried and wondered how in the world we had gotten here.

I told him about the muscle biopsy and asked him since he would be sedated could we do it