The Second Chance Center of Hope — a community faith-based rehabilitation and training center — is celebrating its second-annual open house this Saturday and the community is invited to join.
Starting at 11 a.m., the community can join Second Chance at 420 Oakland Ave. in Washington Court House where a Chinese auction, some give-a-ways and light refreshments are available.
“The open house is to let the community see what we do,” program director Chiquita Nash said on Thursday. “The Reserves Network will be here as well as we have partnered with them to offer employment to our clients. We will have light refreshments, a Chinese auction, a 50/50 raffle and all proceeds will go to benefit the programming here at Second Chance. We will be doing tours and showing volunteer opportunities available as well.”
Nash said that through partnering with a few churches, they have been able to supply 120 kids with school supplies.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to help more children next year and hope to partner with more churches to make our school supply giveaway bigger and better,” Nash said.
Additionally, Nash previewed the upcoming Dinner of Hope, which serves as a fundraiser for the non-profit.
“Our Dinner of Hope will be November 14 and will be a virtual dinner, meaning that people can buy tickets and drive up to get their dinner,” Nash said. “We will also have a silent auction that day and will be accepting items for the auction. This is a good way to advertise their business. We will also be having a cake and pie auction and will need donations for that as well. Also, we prepared almost 700 tax returns this year and still have people making appointments. We always want to thank the community for their support. We are in this together and without the help from you all, we could not exist. We have not added any new programs recently but are in the process of researching ways to offer bullying support groups.”
According to its website, the Second Chance Center assists clients through referrals from Washington Court House Municipal Court, Common Pleas Court, Adult Probation Authority, and Community Action. Their goal is to help guide them to resources that will enable them to see the light at the end of the tunnel and lower their risk to re-offend. It is the mission of Second Chance Center of Hope to create a better life for the homeless, victims of domestic violence and low to moderate risk probation clients as determined by The Ohio Risk Assessment System.
The information in this article was provided by program director Chiquita Nash.
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
