According to one survey, small businesses donate 250% more than larger businesses to local non-profits and community causes, and a staggering 75% of small business owners donate an average of 6% of their profits to charitable organizations annually.
This article’s local non-profit spotlight is a Columbus, Ohio shelter named Huckleberry House.
Huckleberry House states “Huckleberry House works with Central Ohio’s youth and families who are dealing with some of the most difficult problems imaginable. Issues like abuse, violence, neglect, poverty, and homelessness. No matter how hopeless the situation may seem, we offer proven programs and committed people who know how to help young people and families take control of their lives. So they can move past the circumstances they’re in, and move toward the future they want.”
There are many ways you can volunteer at The Huckleberry House:
- Donate money or goods
- Serve a meal
- Play games with the teens
- Clean up or fix things around the house
They also host multiple fundraising events throughout the year. One of the biggest fundraising events they host is called SleepOut Columbus. SleepOut is an event where individuals or teams raise funds to help combat the homeless youth problem in Central Ohio. The individuals raising money then sleep outside on the sidewalk for a night. One of our staff participated in this event last year and stated; “It really puts into perspective what the homeless deal with on a regular basis. What I experienced does not come close to what they experience, and I know that I can go home to my bed after the event is over. It makes you want to do everything you can to help reduce homelessness affecting our area.”
At the end of 2019, 10tv reported that there were 3,000 youth in Central Ohio who are homeless and 4,000 who are at-risk for becoming homeless. Huckleberry House reported that in 2019, 24% of homeless youth were pregnant, and there were a total of 55,318 youth living below the poverty line in Central Ohio alone (enough to fill the Cleveland Browns stadium to capacity). One local teen says that Huckleberry House “gives us support and love that we’ve never had before.” This program provides food, shelter, counseling, like skills, and even apartments for runaway teens ages 12 to 24.
Another problem Ohio faces is that every year, 1,000 youth will age out of foster care. 26% of those youth will then become homeless. Local foster parent, Lisa Dodson volunteered at Huckleberry House in 2019:
The woman in charge of our volunteer experience was wondeful. Being able to provide these youth with a hot, healthy, home-cooked meal was a privilege. Taking a tour of the house, and being able to engage with the youth, and hear of the hardships they were experiencing really opened my eyes to the need we have here in Central Ohio. I have helped raise hundreds of foster kids in Central Ohio, but going a step further and being able to help in some small way the youth that still have no place to go was an honor. I hope to continue serving Huckleberry House in the future. They do so much for our community.”
For more information regarding Huckleberry House, or to volunteer there, please visit: http://huckhouse.org/
Also, please follow the hashtag #CBUSSEEUS to help support efforts to combat these issues in our community.
