November is national Homeless Awareness Month and the Champaign County Continuum of Care hopes to draw local attention to the issue through a homeless awareness event to be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 4, at Caring Kitchen, 300 Miami St., Urbana.
Marilyn Cohn, Caring Kitchen executive director, said the event will take place in front of the shelter, weather permitting, and will feature the following guest speakers: state Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Urbana), Urbana Mayor Bill Bean, Champaign County Commissioner Steve Hess, and Mark Keim, a former Caring Kitchen consumer who will share his story.
“This is my temporary home,” which is the theme of this year’s homeless awareness event, will be highlighted by the distribution of empty picture frames to those in attendance.
“Being homeless is like having a frame with no picture,” Cohn said.
The event will include a free lunch provided by the Mercy McAuley Center, and local agencies will provide information on public services offered countywide.
Renovated facility to be on display
This year, for the first time in decades, Caring Kitchen has a fresh, new look following an $86,659 renovation.
Completed this past spring by West Mansfield-based Detrick Enterprises Inc., the project was funded with a $57,500 grant through the Ohio Development Services Agency’s Emergency Solutions Target of Opportunity Program and a local match of $29,159.
Cohn said to cover its nearly $30,000 share of the project, Caring Kitchen spent the $20,000 it received over a decade ago through a court settlement combined with nearly $10,000 in local donations.
Those who attend the event on Nov. 4 can tour the facility, Cohn said, pointing out the renovation resulted in upgrades throughout the building.
In addition to the inside walls receiving a new paint job and new vinyl flooring in the dining and living rooms, hallways and both bedrooms, the majority of the renovations took place in the kitchen, bathrooms and food storage area.
Cohn said one of the most notable changes involves the kitchen, which contains new cabinets and countertops, as well as a new tile floor.
“The workers did an amazing job throughout the building,” she said. “We were never forced to close down anything, so we were able to keep everything moving as normal during the renovations. They did a great job working around our schedules to ensure we were able to still house and feed the people of our community.”
As part of the renovations, both bathrooms were outfitted with new shower stalls, sinks, toilets and tile flooring.
The pride and joy, however, of the project in Cohn’s opinion can be found in the food pantry area of the building where a new walk-in freezer was installed, which replaced five of the facility’s seven upright freezers.
“The freezer is a dream come true,” she said. “We are very thankful for it. Not only does it help with organization, but it will help us save on electricity costs as it’s more energy efficient than our older freezers.”
