HARRISON, Ohio — To help students and their families with essential resources, Southwest Local Schools and the nonprofit City of Refuge have partnered together to raise $300,000.
“I just keep seeing the needs grow,” said Rosanne Moore, care director with Church on Fire and City of Refuge.
Moore said so many families and students are in the same situation volunteer Kaitlyn Thrasher was in.
“I was living my life in complete fear,” Thrasher stated.
Thrasher is a single mom. Between depression and trying to make ends meet, she was struggling to stay afloat until she found Church on Fire.
“I struggled really bad financially. I was sick for about two years. I was completely paralyzed so I couldn't work I couldn't drive,” she said.
Church on Fire helped get her on her feet, from recovery services to making sure she always had food on her and her daughter's table.
“[Church on Fire] definitely changed everything,” Thrasher said.
Church on Fire, Moore said, is now launching a local chapter of City of Refuge to fill the gaps for families and students.
“To hear from our school district several years ago how many kids are on free and reduced lunch that just can’t have needs met, there’s a lot of emotional mental health needs within the schools. Unfortunately, we had a couple of suicides here last year,” she said.
A fundraiser called the ‘Warriors of Compassion’ is underway to raise the money for the schools. Organizers said they plan to raise the money through raffles, tables bought and donations.
“We’re hoping that they’re compelled they see the heart of why we’re trying to launch city of refuge,” Moore said.
In a Southwest Local Schools board meeting on Sept. 19, the board voted on more mental health resources in schools.
“We’ve got some kids that come from trauma, heavy trauma at home, or mom and dad may both be jailed or incarcerated and dealing with seeing tremendous adversity at home,” Superintendent John Hamstra said.
Hamstra said the needs of local families are something he hears about frequently.
“There’s no one there to feed them and they barely have a roof over their head, so we’ve got some pretty heavy poverty and some of the needs out there are very intense,” he said.
He said before schools can expect students to excel in math, physics or English, certain needs have to be met. The funds from the Warriors of Compassion will go straight to the Wildcats Care fund prioritizing “food and clothing, all the way up to mental health services.”
“That's why we named it Warriors of Compassion because we want people to know it takes everybody we’re all warriors,” Moore said.
If you want to learn more about City of Refuge or want to donate, you can visit their website.
