State Farm Helps MHA

Thanks to a group of volunteers from State Farm, new baskets of flowers hang from the porch to welcome the YES members as they arrive at the Clubhouse each day. The volunteer group has adopted the YES Clubhouse as its special project and has taken the organization under its wing.

Starting in 1992, the YES program began as a service-learning project funded by a grant from the Ohio Department of Education in partnership with Mental Health America of Licking County. Due to the overwhelming number of participants and need for a safe haven for after-school hours, YES moved to its current location in downtown Newark in 1999. The clubhouse currently serves 35-40 youth, ages 11-18 years of age, on a daily basis.

Staff and adult volunteers provide mentoring, tutoring, life-skills and anger management classes, along with a daily meal. Membership is free, thus allowing youth from economically disadvantaged families to take advantage of all the services and opportunities that YES affords. Children who attend daily are required to participate in service projects in order to maintain membership. Students at Newark High School may earn credit towards graduation for service.

Construction on a new YES Clubhouse, directly across the street from the Post Office, began on May 15, 2008 and is proceeding at break-neck speed. The opening of the NEW YES Clubhouse will be in August, but until that time, the old YES Clubhouse will receive special attention from its State Farm Guardian Angels.
A second group of volunteers had a far less glamorous, but important morale-boosting, job of washing windows at the Mental Health America of Licking County offices. The volunteers were actually tasked to help the Moundbuilders Guidance Center, but they inadvertently helped MHALC, as well. State Farm volunteers Darinda Byers, Ellen Page, Alayna Morris, Lori Long, Carrie Wallis, Lynne Rotruck, Susie Hannahs, Connie McDaniel, Lyn Zangmeister, Kathy Cooper were happy to here that they could help MHALC with their cleaning.
The parking lot outside the windows is gravel and the traffic kicks up quite a bit of dirt. Being able to see out their windows, for a change, on a sunny day adds a boost to the mental well-being of the employees. It also takes a load off the shoulders of the hard working MGC maintenance staff.

State Farm has a program called the Good Neighbor Service Project, in which employees volunteer four hours of their time together in groups on projects for a charitable organization during the month of June. These projects are then eligible to apply for small grants from State Farm for additional monies to fulfill a need. It has been a very popular project for employees, according to Tonya Romine of the State Farm Public Affairs Office.

“We’ve been so fortunate to have the support of community leaders like State Farm,” said Paddy Kutz, Executive Director of Mental Health America of Licking County. “Together, we’ve been able to achieve remarkable things. State Farm volunteers do outstanding work and should be applauded for their commitment.”

The State Farm-YES Clubhouse Volunteers trimmed grass from the sidewalk, trimmed hedges and served as professional gardeners, giving the old house, new charm. “We love our group, we love working at Yes House,” said Jessy Clark, pictured here with State Farm staff Tammy Gentry, Cindy Burkhart, Annette Reber and Tom Ash. Lorenzo Spivey and Amy Grove, not pictured, were hard at work on the front lawn.

The group also proudly presented a gift of a new giant TV to YES House courtesy of State Farm.

Tom Ash, who also serves on the Board of Mental Health America of Licking County, was enthusiastic about the future of State Farm’s relationship with the YES Club House, “We can’t wait for the new building, it’s going to be beautiful. We’ll be back.”