Reach Out Lakota expansion to improve clothing distribution

HOW TO GO

Reach Out Lakota, 6561 Station Road, West Chester Twp.

Hours: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday and from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and Friday.

More information: 513-779-7515 or visit www.reachoutlakota.org.

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A local non-profit organization plans to expand its headquarters to better serve those who live or attend church in West Chester and Liberty townships.

The additional space at 6561 Station Road will give 21-year-old Reach Out Lakota a better way of displaying and storing clothing items it supplies for its clientele, according to Lourdes Ward, the group’s executive director, CEO and only full-time employee.

“Right now, the clothing department is very small,” she said. “The racks are packed but at the same time we don’t have enough space to give everybody what they need. Even though we’re giving out 1,000 tops and bottoms each month, there’s a lot of people who are not finding what they need because we don’t have anywhere to put it out for them to take.”

The non-profit also doesn’t have enough room for storage for clothing, she said.

“It’s very gratifying that we’re going to be able to help so many families that just a need a little help with getting clothes for their families,” Ward said. “A lot of people on fixed incomes, if they can come to us and get clothing for their family, it makes a difference in how they can use the income that they do have.”

The expansion means another 700 square feet added on to the existing 6,000 square feet, Ward said.

“We’re kind of landlocked between the road widening project that’s coming and the flood plain and all these other things,” she said. “It’s about all the room we have to expand.”

The expansion also will reconfigure the lobby and shift offices to create a more wide-open design and increased seating room for the public.

The Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty donated $50,000 of the expansion project’s projected $110,000 cost, Ward said.

The expansion could be completed by as early as the end of this year, she said.

Reach Out Lakota moved into the facility in 2000 and expanded it by 1,000 square feet in 2006 to improve food options for its clientele.

The non-profit receives 290 visits each month and those served come from all income levels, mostly hourly workers, Ward said.

“We’ve got a lot of mothers who, as a result of divorce, their income level plummets and they’re trying to support their children,” she said. “We have elderly and disabled people who are trying to make ends meet on a fixed budget.”

Ward said people may be surprised to know Reach Out Lakota serves all the neighborhoods in the two townships, not just those who live in apartment-based communities. It also serves registered members of churches in both townships.

“It’s harder when you are a middle-income family and your job gets down-sized and you … have a mortgage, a car payment, children who are used to go to the mall for new clothes,” she said. “Just the whole process of unemployment and getting re-employed when you’re (in your) late 40s, early 50s is not as quick as people think.”

Besides Ward and one employee who works six hours a week, all those who help out at Reach Out Lakota are volunteers.

“We’re very fortunate to have so many caring volunteers here and we’re grateful to the community for keeping our doors open the last 22 years and we look forward to serving even more,” she said.