Reality Columbus: Life Beyond The Freeway
Call: 2-1-1 or (614) 221-6766 ext 119
E-mail: training@firstlink.org
Most would consider life in Columbus, Ohio, to be rewarding. Columbus is the largest city in the state and the 15th largest city in the country. With a median household income of more than $45,803, Columbus has all the trappings of the good life, including major hospitals, a wealth of universities, institutes of research, culture, sports, entertainment, restaurants and shopping.
But in spite of all the success for many in our community, more than 20.7 percent of adults and 18 percent of children live in poverty. Not all residents have found success in our city. What is the safety net in our community?
Reality Columbus: Life Beyond the Freeway explores a side of Columbus with which most are not familiar. A unique four-hour tour, Reality Columbus transports you from the relative comfort of your world into the safety nets of our community. The tour provides an educational focus on the issues of poverty, hunger and homelessness.
Following a brief orientation, participants venture into the world of public assistance and meet the people whose job it is to assess the needs of those who have little or nothing. Participants see where persons sleep if they have no place to call home and witness the lines they stand in if they have nothing to eat.
The tour stops at human service providers such as homeless shelters, permanent supportive housing units, the Engagement Center at Maryhaven, community kitchens, food pantries, Mid-Ohio FoodBank, Amethyst, Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services Opportunity Centers, settlement houses, Habitat for Humanity, clothing pantries, halfway houses, MAP Furniture Bank, health clinics for low income, Boys & Girls Club of Columbus, and the Somali Community Association of Ohio.
Reality Columbus will not only affect how you view the lives of our less fortunate citizens but how you view your own life as well.