By Jordan Studer
news@wbcowqel.com
In an effort to aid community members getting back on their feet, OhioMeansJobs Crawford County and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitations and Corrections hosted its first Road to ReEntry Resource Fair on Wednesday.
The event, held at the OhioMeansJobs Center, was filled with 25 businesses all able to provide services for people to increase their education attainment, acquire employment, or develop a stable lifestyle. Community resources present were for jobs, education, legal, medical, mental health, finances, transportation, food, clothing, and substance abuse.
When asking Angela Neef, supervisor at the OhioMeansJobs Center at Jobs and Family Services, what stemmed the idea to host the resource fair she explained the great need within the community.
“What we’re seeing lately a lot in our job centers are people coming in trying to find their way back to stability. A lot of that has to do with a job, but it also has to do with educational training, it has to do with community supports that they need to be successful. So a lot of times they come into the Jobs center and seem really lost,” Neef replied.
The goal for the event was to provide, in a sense, a one-stop shop for struggling individuals to receive help in getting back on their feet and out into the community. In the past the Ohio Rehabilitation Corrections Office has hosted reentry fairs, but Neef decided it was time to hold one in the OhioMeansJobs center.
“Today is all about pulling all of the different community resources together for people who are struggling due to background issues,” Neef explained.
Neef intends to get feedback from the organizations who attended. If the organizations felt it was a productive day for community members and themselves, Neef would love if the event could take place again next year.