May 21, 2012
By JODY MURPHY (jmurphy@newsandsentinel.com)
Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Essentially Yours is an outreach program which provides basic living essentials required by the homeless to establish a dwelling.It is a member agency of the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Dorothy Dicks, chairwoman of the group's board, said many times it is difficult, if not impossible, for the transition to be made without having basic necessities to independently live.
Several nonprofit organizations, including the Voices of Triumph Gospel Choir which originated Essentially Yours, the Salvation Army, Community Resources, the United Way Alliance and Westbrook Services, have formed a collaborative specifically to address this need.
Dicks said since Essentially Yours opened in 2010, it has serviced 162 households, only two of which returned for help again.
"We are trying to help those individuals who are struggling," she said. "They get an apartment. They get furniture and don't have money to buy the sheets, towels or dishes. They get frustrated and end up back on the street. We give them those things that will save the little financial burden, the things we take for granted," she said.
Essentially Yours distributes dishes, cooking utensils, silverware, pots and pans, sheets, blankets, kitchen and bath towels, small appliances and cleaning products. Personal hygiene items such as soap, shampoo, toilet paper and others are also dispersed.
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