Take Five Community Outreach to open its doors to help the working poor of East Central Indiana

Take Five Community Outreach will open its doors in January 2003 with a commitment to helping those that are "between paychecks" by providing five items per week, free of charge, no questions asked.

Statistically, the working poor of Delaware County, Indiana, barely have enough money to provide for the basic necessities of life. When a financial hardship occurs (medical emergency, transportation issues, loss of a job), the burden of daily living can sometimes be overwhelming. This type of stress has a tendency to snowball, causing further financial and relational difficulty. Add to that the strict income guidelines and budget cuts of government and privately funded social service agencies, the working poor often have to choose between buying diapers or toilet paper, and buying food.

Take Five Community Services goal is to provide five items, per week, free of charge, no questions asked. These items would be made up of hygiene products, cleaning products, paper products, baby items and new/used clothing and shoes.

Since it is sometimes intimidating to seek social services, we will not ask any prying questions, but will ask for basic demographic information so that Take Five may track their progress (via a membership card) in order to be accountable to their sponsoring church - Selma United Methodist, their board of directors and their contributors.

Take Five Community Outreach is different from local food banks in that Take Five does not stock any food or other perishable items, nor does it require income guidelines or verification. Take Five believes in a three-phase approach to helping people through times of financial struggle: by taking care of the physical needs (cleaning/toiletry items), relational needs (taking the fear out of seeking help by providing a warm, inviting atmosphere) and educational needs (working in partnership with other organizations to help identify and direct our visitors to other avenues of help).

Take Five Community Outreach will be opening its doors in downtown Muncie in January 2003.

Although adopted as an outreach of Selma United Methodist Church, Take Five relies on individual, corporate and congregational donations to provide for the items to be given away and operating costs.

Take Five Community Outreach is currently seeking item and monetary donations to help defray opening costs.

For additional information about the specific needs of Take Five Community Outreach, please visit their website at http://www.take5outreach.org.