GLEAP, which stands for Grand Ledge Emergency Assistance Program, helps community members with short-term emergencies, who are in need of help. These emergencies can include losing a job, needing help paying a bill, or even just getting groceries.
“If someone loses a job or needs help, we will help with water bills, utilities, housing and we also have a unique partnership with the Grand Ledge Food Bank. We give the food bank money for food that they can give out to the community every month,” Michelle D’Alessandro, Grand Ledge High School (GLHS) librarian and GLEAP board member said.
GLEAP has existed for many years, but there have been times when the board members were unsure if the program would be able to continue.
“There were years where we thought we’d have to fold because our balance got so low but the community rallied and brought us back into the black,” D’Alessandro said.
The community gives to this organization in order for the organization to give it all directly back to community members in need of help.
“Each year we take in about $65,000 and give out $60,000 right back to the community,” D’Alessandro said.
With the holiday season in full swing, the community tends to have a higher need for more supplies and help with families. Many of these families want to be able to give more to their family members but don’t always have the opportunity to. So families in the community want to give back to an organization that could have once helped themselves.
“We have had people say ‘well I’m going to donate once I’m back on my feet, you know you’ve helped me and I understand what this is about’,” Angel Landis a GLHS English teacher said.
The board includes very few people to keep the confidentiality of their clients a priority. The confidentiality of the clients is so important so it is very hard for students to be involved in the program. If students are interested in being involved there are a few ways that they can help, such as getting the word out about GLEAP as well as helping with social media accounts, especially the designing of the website that GLEAP has.
KC3 (Ken Clark’s Coat Closet)
Ken Clark’s Coat Closet (KC3) has been opened up for the holiday season once again. The annual Grand Ledge Shopping Tour has been a hit at KC3 for many years, and many families use this event in order to meet their winter needs.
The shopping tour is where families are given a specific day and time to come in and get all the winter essentials like winter coats, boots, gloves and hats.
“We have been trying to do more outreach to Pure Heart of Michigan where even then they can come in on days that we aren’t necessarily open and bring large groups of people that are the most in need,” Eaton RESA, GECKO Coordinator Sarah Mida said.
KC3 was started by Midas’ family and they have been doing everything they can in order to keep KC3 open. They pay out of their own pockets, so a lot of times anything helps.
“We got a $5,000 grant this year from Meijer for the Community Service Award for the area, that was a pretty big deal because without that, my family just pays the rent and expenses and that will pay utilities for ten months,” Mida said.
The main goal of KC3 was to give kids with disabilities more work and social opportunities. There are no paid employees at KC3. Instead, they involve kids from the Eaton County area with disabilities to come and get experiences that they might not get anywhere else.
“The hope is here that the students learn the skills on how to interact with customers, how to follow directions, inventory, and learn a lot of skills that they can take to other jobs in the community,” Mida said.
The involvement of different schools in Eaton County allows students to meet other peers that they might have not had the opportunity to meet before.
“Students from different schools get to meet each other, it is hard for our students with disabilities to find peers of the same age to be friends with and this helps form some awesome friendships,” Mida said.
The friendships that are created are real friendships that are being formed. KC3 is all about inclusion of students with disabilities and the friendships that are made are just one of the perks of working at KC3 along with the life skills that are learned that students might not have the chance to obtain outside of this.
