LIMA — Lima City School District and Family Promise of Lima-Allen County are partnering to raise awareness and donations for homeless families.
Houses for Change is a national Family Promise homelessness awareness campaign designed to teach students about homelessness and provide them with an easy way to help struggling families.
Some 500 pupils throughout Lima schools will decorate their own house-shaped collection boxes to fill with change. They will collect during the month of December and then donate the money to Family Promise.
“I’m all about helping people out, so I felt like this was an opportunity for me to give back to the community,” said Jarius Ward, a junior at Lima Senior High School.
Superintendent Jill Ackerman said collecting money for homeless families is especially important because some pupils in the district are in the same situation.
“In many cases, we’re also serving our own schoolchildren here in the Lima City schools,” Ackerman said, “so we wanted to take this opportunity as a district to give back to our community and our students.”
In addition to individual collection boxes, Lima Senior construction trade students built a larger house to be displayed in various locations around the community. Art students at Lima Senior then painted the house based on their interpretations of poverty and homelessness.
“At first I didn’t know what we were building, but now that I know what it’s for it makes me feel good because I’m actually doing something to help other people,” said Ruth Curtis, a junior at Lima Senior.
Family Promise is the only family homeless shelter in Allen County. Families have access to a day center and are able to stay overnight at area churches. Volunteers from the participating churches provide meals and serve as hosts. The organization will soon serve its 100th family.
Chuck Wolfe, executive director of Family Promise, said he hopes Houses for Change will bring broader awareness of homelessness in the community.
“We want the community to understand families’ conditions, the causes of homelessness, and solutions for homelessness,” Wolfe said. “Houses for Change is part of our overall community education plan.”
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