‘A hand up’

Monica Bryant, chair of the Community With A Heart board, right, speaks with April Adams during a meeting in Ocala in 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

Every year around Thanksgiving, a dedicated group of representatives from area nonprofits gather to review cases of people needing help. The program is called Community With A Heart and these reps put their own hearts into the initiative.

Community With a Heart, or CWAH, was created by the “Ocala Star-Banner” in the late 1980s to provide assistance to families during the holiday season.

“The program’s philosophy from the beginning has been to offer a hand up, not a handout. It helps individuals who are generally able to provide for themselves but have encountered an unexpected major life event that has caused a temporary financial setback. Over time, the program grew from a newspaper-led initiative into a community-wide effort. It is now administered by a volunteer board of directors, which reviews all applications for assistance,” noted CWAH board chair Monica Bryant, the Family Violence Prevention Coordinator for the Marion County Children’s Alliance.

The annual drive relies on donations from members of the community and businesses, and all of the money is used to help people in Marion County. Individuals can only apply and receive assistance once in a three-year period.

“CWAH operates with no administrative costs. This ensures that 100% of all donations go directly to help Marion County residents. Instead of giving money directly to individuals, the program pays vendors directly for needed services. This may include rent, utilities, car repairs or other basic necessities to help families get back on their feet,” Bryant explained.

One of those who received help from CWAH in 2024 was Dorothy Graham, a U.S. Navy veteran who moved to Ocala in 2017.

She was separating from her husband and looking for a new start in life. But that proved to be a tough challenge and she lived for a short while at the Salvation Army in Ocala. She eventually found employment and moved into a mobile home park, where she lived for five years until it was sold. Graham was told she had to move quickly and was able to find an apartment through “God’s grace,” but then had to finish paying rent where she lived and also come up with the money needed to move into the new location. She said the stress at the time “kicked in my PTSD big time.” As a veteran, she twice reached out to the local Veterans Helping Veterans group for assistance.

In the interim, Graham’s husband passed away.

“I have three beautiful children. Now I’m all they have. I have a son and two daughters, both of whom are battling cancer. I am a breast cancer survivor,” she shared.

Graham, who now works for the New Directions Re-Entry Center of Marion County Inc., which provides mentoring and more, suffered another setback in life when her paid-for truck broke down.

“I was going through so much financially. I had to pay the rent, pay the electric. I had to make money and I had to get from one place to another to do that. A case worker directed me to Community With A Heart. I contacted April (Adams) and she is such an amazing lady. And that’s how I got my truck fixed. I’m go grateful and thankful to God for bringing all these people into my life, especially Community With A Heart,” Graham said.

April Adams is a social worker with the Veterans Administration and recalled representing Graham’s case to the CWAH board last year.

“She needed help getting her car fixed, which was vital for her getting to appointments, just general household transportation,” Adams noted.

Adams said that with the costs of pretty much everything continuing to rise these days, “so many people are living paycheck to paycheck or they are on a fixed income through Social Security or VA benefits or whatever their source of income is. When these unexpected things happen — something happens with a vehicle or medical expenses come up they weren’t anticipating — it takes away that budget to get anything fixed.”

“I’ve been on the CWAH board for a couple of years now and they have saved so many people from homelessness because many people really are one paycheck from that. We’ve been able to save housing for people who are in between jobs or lose a job. Children are sick, a spouse is sick, they have to take time off work. A lot of people don’t realize just how close to homelessness many people are,” Adams stated.

“CWAH is able to help so many people bridge that gap and also with these unexpected things that happen, like the car repair for Dorothy. That’s a big expense and vehicles are so important for getting to appointments and getting to work so they can maintain their source of income, so that’s a big thing for people,” Adams continued.

The CWAH holiday campaign, which runs from early November to mid-January, has helped hundreds of local families and has collected nearly $1.9 million throughout its history.

Member agencies

Marion County Children’s Alliance, Brother’s Keeper, Interfaith Emergency Services, Marion County Public Schools, Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida Inc., Ocala Housing Authority, Isaiah Foundation, Central Florida Community Action Agency, Marion County Community Services, Habitat for Humanity, North Florida Veterans Health System and Cleve Butler and James Jackson, community-at-large members.

How to apply for help

Individuals seeking help can go to communitywithaheart.org and complete the pre-application or contact one of the member agencies listed above for a referral. Applicants must agree to a home visit, present recent documentation of the need and demonstrate self-sustainability.

How to donate

Go to ocalafoundation.org/community-foundation-funds/community-with-a-heart/ or checks can be made payable to CWAH and mailed to P.O. Box 1777, Ocala, FL 34478. Donations are tax deductible.

For questions or information, e-mail [email protected], call a member agency or go to fb.com/profile.php?id=100075921828652 to send a message. Allow 24 to 48 hours to receive a response.