On August 21st the speakers were Janice Komisor, CEO, Antoinette Cavaliere, Director of Programs and Angel Ackerman of ProJeCt of Easton. Janice indicated that ProJeCt was created in 1968 by leaders of the areas Protestant, Jewish and Catholic churches to provide a non-profit organization to help individuals and families in need. Their mission according to their website is “Building a better community by helping people help themselves.” As Janice put it “Education is key to our mission and we offer a system of education support services to help our clients break the cycle of poverty.” It is important to help people to reach higher goals in life and have a good education is critical of achieving these goals. One of the major programs they offer is obtaining a GED and when achieved they have formal graduation as they would have in high school. Janice has been with ProJeCt for 25 years and she manages a budget of $1.8 million/year and raising that amount of money is a challenge and consumes much of her time. She indicated that most people do not understand how our community would function without organizations like hers and the service organizations like ours. In the City of Easton, the below poverty level is 23.3 % of the population and ProJeCt works hard to lower that percentage by not just giving but helping those at that level to get out of poverty. They have to reach higher to improve their skills. Janice indicates that they have reached out and made a difference to approximately 5000 people but there are many more that need their help.
Antoinette talked about ProJeCt’s integrated services which they provide. One of those services is case management and quite ofter they have clients who need emergency help where they would provide food vouchers and shelter if needed. They also work with other agencies depending on the circumstance of the emergency. In 2018 and to date in 2019 they have handled 600 emergency service cases according to Antoinette. ProJeCt has the largest food pantry in Northampton County where clients come and shop once per week to get fresh vegetables and meats. One of the staff members helps them shop for their specific needs. For example, if someone had high blood pressure they would recommend low sodium food. Every client has different needs. The pantry has been in operation for 13 years. To answer a question of how people qualify for the food pantry Antoinette indicated that “they are not allowed to have people prove that they are hungry”.
The educational component of the services is critical in what ProJeCt does in helping people help themselves. They work with the Easton Area School District Middle School teaching students life skills and making good decisions. They just completed a summer reading program for 110 kids with the objective of closing the reading gap. They teach adult and family literary stills which are the first step to being successful. As mentioned previously, they have a very extensive GED program where 20 volunteers are involved in providing education. They also teach adult life skills.
Angel talked about the Highmark Walk where they had a total of 82 people “walking” for ProJeCt of which 52 had soles on the pavement. She had a goal of $10,000 and came close with a total of $9,822 of which $1,625 came from the Kiwanis Club of Palmer Township. We should be very proud that 16.5% of the donations came from our Club. Doing this great shows the excellent sales skills of Debbie Ashton-Chase!!!! It is easy when you are selling a product like ProJeCt. Based on this we again won the Golden Sole award with Angel presenting it to Victor. Thanks to all of the “walkers” both virtual and soles on the ground.