Peru JCEO outreach has larger space at St. Augustine's

PERU | Since 1966, the Joint Council for Economic Opportunity (JCEO) has been helping people and their families here make ends meet. The regional non-profit organization is central to outreach throughout Clinton and into Franklin counties. With outreach centers in nearly every town in Clinton County, they provide vital connections and hands-on assistance on all fronts, from emergency funding for utility bills to weekly fresh food provision. In Peru, JCEO moved last summer from the town hall building to the former St. Augustine's School office. Services here are coordinated by outreach worker Breana Warren, who facilitated relocation. "This site has really allowed us to expand," she said, grateful for St. Augustine's Parish support. "We have about triple the space in this location." Warren staffs the food pantry and outreach center every day from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., except for Tuesday when she's in Keeseville. Neat rows of closets and storage areas in the front room have household, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. The adjoining room has shelves filled with canned goods and non-perishables, along with a freezer and a refrigerator for perishables. On Tuesdays, Warren travels to cover distribution at the outreach center in Keeseville while JCEO looks to hire a new worker there. "I'm in Keeseville on Tuesday to do the fresh food delivery. Otherwise, people from Keeseville come here for everything," she said in a recent visit with the Sun. "Everything" includes emergency financial support for a myriad of concerns that hard-working families face as they try to make ends meet. "We provide help with fuel assistance; we've provided help with housing and rental payments," Warren said. "We've helped people moving come up with security deposits. We've helped with a car payment; we can help with emergency heating repairs and utility bills. We've even been able to provide one family with a washing machine." JCEO puts together school supplies for local children every summer. They distribute for the Christmas Bureau. And they help families with scholarships for summer camp and other youth programs. They connect people to other local organizations that provide help with unique situations, such as travel costs or ferry tickets for medical care in Burlington. They know how to troubleshoot. "If someone in community needs it, then they can call or come in here and see if it's something we can help with," Warren said. JCEO's organized network also means that if a person needs something not found in one town's site, there might be a source nearby. Outreach workers at JCEO are a pretty industrious group. "If one of us doesn't have something at their center, we can call around to the other sites and ask," Warren said. "It's really great to have outreach workers throughout the region." Mondays at JCEO in Peru is fresh food delivery day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Food comes from local grocery stores: Walmart, Target, Sam's Club and Market 32, in turns. It's food that grocers move from their shelves to outreach centers. "We have about 20 households that come in for fresh food," Warren said. "The food pantry sees about four families per week." Even stocked nearly full, food supplies in Peru might get the outreach center through about two weeks. "A good portion of people who come in are working families," Warren said. "Some are people getting back into the workforce. Many of the people who come for fresh food are older, in their 60s to 80s." Warren organized the food pantry around tables in wide aisles to make it easy to choose supplies. Her desk in the front room offers a central place to lend a hand and sort solutions. People need help most often with applying for heating or fuel assistance, Warren said. "I have helped older people with Medicaid questions," she said. On Wednesdays, St. Augustine's Church parish hosts a Community Meal that is cooked on-site in the former parochial school kitchen and served as a take-out dinner at 4:30 p.m. The common goal to feed community has proved a good collaboration, with JCEO sharing food items that weren't distributed on Monday. Peru's JCEO is always willing to take on volunteers, Warren said, someone who might want to spend a little time organizing or cleaning the food pantry or help with fresh food distribution on Mondays. "And we're always open to suggestions," Warren said. They're working on getting a new sign up to mark the St. Augustine's entrance. But it's just behind the two church-run thrift shops and has a big parking area in front. Peru's JCEO Center is at 3030 Main Street and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 518-643-8455 or send an email to: peruor@jceo.org The Sun will feature each Clinton County JCEO center and the local coordinator in coming editions.

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Peru JCEO outreach has larger space at St. Augustine's

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