It can be a very cool thing when a business lives up to its name and even better when it comes down to a place dedicated to bettering peoples’ lives.
The Help Center Inc. Food Pantry & Thrift Store, 409 Fairground, in Mexico, is doing just that.
The Help Center recently released a list of “Agency Help” for those who might need some help getting back on their feet.
Jennifer Butcher, administrative assistant at the Help Center, said this movement is to help “everybody and anybody,” while being geared toward the homeless, veterans and people 60-years-old and above, but the program is open to all.
“It was a thought that came out of a dinner conversation about how we can help the community and what we needed to do in order to do that,” Butcher said. “Then it became about what agencies we ask, what can they help us with specifically, who can they help and where do people need to go.
“If they can’t get it here, then where else can they go to get help.”
That conversation has led to this initial list of suggested agencies the Help Center hopes to point people toward for various points of need:
• CMCA will be at the Help Center on Monday mornings to help with Medicare and Medicaid paperwork
• Aging Best will be at the Help Center two Tuesday Mornings a month to help with Seniors over 60 with Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Food stamps
• On Wednesday mornings, someone from the Help Center will be here to help with SSI/SSDI, food stamps, housing, and any phone calls.
• Vocational Rehab will be at the Help Center on Thursdays, aiding people get into a job. This is by appointment only and a person seeking such assistance must be referred.
• Missouri Job Center will be at the Help Center on Fridays helping with the job process, interview skills, resume writing and other aspects.
• Missouri Veterans Commission out of the VA home in Mexico is offering free help to help Veterans and their dependents with the benefits they are due.
Contact Lindsey Ward at the Veterans Home, 573-581-1088, for more information.
“(People should seek this assistance) when they get to the point where they need help and they realize they can’t do this anymore on their own and they have to get moving in the right direction,” Butcher said. “I am not sure how many people will apply to this, but I think we need to start thinking along the lines of there are people who are at the point, need the help and don’t know how to get it.
“Now, we don’t have to refer them out and they can come here to get that help and it will help them more in the long run.”
Butcher also added that the Help Center will hope to aid VA Health Care on the list of agency help and if people have children in tow, they can bring them along as the facility has a “kid nook,” to help during a visit.
“No one knows what’s going on,” Butcher said. “It’s them and the agency in the room.”
The Help Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information regarding when someone will be on site or just general feedback contact Butcher at 573-581-3238 extension 10.
