Columbia/Hellam/Wrightsville townlively.com
OCTOBER 2, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXV • NO 31
Workcamp will offer free home repairs BY CATHY MOLITORIS
If you need home repairs, but your budget is tight, help is here. The Eastern York Workcamp Initiative provides free home repairs during a weeklong camp held in June. The program is currently accepting applications from homeowners looking for
help with work such as installing handicapped ramps, interior or exterior painting, weatherization and limited construction. “This is an opportunity to get free help,” said Joe Bachman, director of the Eastern York Workcamp Initiative. “Group Workcamps has been working with low-income, disabled and See Workcamp pg 5
Volunteers prepare items for the Columbia Dream Center’s food pantry line.
Lending a hand at the Columbia Dream Center
local businesses that donate items. In a typical month, the pantry serves close to 900 families. Mondays through Fridays, the Columbia Dream Center provides lunch for area residents through a soup kitchen that features a hot meal four of the days and a bag lunch on Wednesdays. “Our soup kitchen numbers continue to grow,” Hollinger shared. “We did over 4,000 lunches last month.” The Columbia Dream Center used to operate as Hands Across the Street but rebranded once it became an affiliate of the original Dream Center program based in Los Angeles. It now operates as a ministry of Columbia Presbyterian Church. In the church sanctuary, the Dream Center operates the Restart Day Center, offering access to computers and help with finding resources such as housing or jobs. Downstairs in the building, a clothing bank provides free items to men, women and children.
Campers complete home improvements at a previous summer’s workcamp.
Bingo will benefit animal shelter BY CATHY MOLITORIS
Walk through the doors of the Columbia Animal Shelter, and you’ll be met by purring, furry friends looking for their forever homes. You can help support the mission of the shelter by attending a gift card bingo event. It will be held on Friday, Oct. 18, at Hamb ones S o ci al C lub, 726 Manor St., Columbia. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m., and bingo will begin at 6:30 p.m. “There will be 20 games of bingo and one jackpot at the end
of the night,” explained Tammy L. Jalbert, executive director of the shelter. “The prizes for the bingo will all be gift cards from a variety of locations like Texas Roadhouse, Giant, Weis, McDonald’s, Royal Farms, Turkey Hill and Rutter’s, just to name a few.” Along with bingo games, the fundraiser will feature food for purchase. “We will have chicken corn noodle soup, chili and walking tacos, as well as drinks,” Jalbert shared. Proceeds from the event will support the work of the animal
See Dream Center pg 4
See Bingo pg 5
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nside Columbia Presbyterian Church at the corner of Fourth and Locust streets, dreams are becoming reality. The Columbia Dream Center staff members and volunteers are working hard to provide opportunities for people in need through a variety of programs, and their efforts are flourishing. “We have jammed a lot of stuff into this church,” explained Jenn Hollinger, outreach coordinator for the center. “We used to have a separate building for our shelter, but now everything we do is under this roof. We do not have one square inch of extra space.” The Columbia Dream Center hosts a food pantry, provides shelter space for men and women, serves free lunch on weekdays, operates a resource center and houses a clothing bank. As Hollinger explained, the center moved its shelter into
the church in April of 2023. The move cut the shelter’s size in half, and the space can now only accommodate 16 adults. “Columbia has the secondhighest homeless rate in the county,” Hollinger said. “Lancaster city is first, and then here. It’s a dream to be able to do a family shelter, because there is a great need here, and we are looking for a shelter building. It just hasn’t manifested itself yet.” On the other side of a divider from the shelter, volunteers set up the food pantry for guests to use once a week, either on Tuesday evenings or Wednesday mornings. People complete a self-declaration of need and do not need to live in Columbia to use the pantry. “They come through the line and pick up what they need,” Hollinger said, noting that items vary depending on what she can get from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Blessings of Hope and
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