Good Works to Host ‘Day In The Life’ This Saturday
Each year, Good Works, Inc. raises funds to support its cause of assisting and caring for people experiencing homelessness in Southeast Ohio. As an organization operated solely through donations, Good Works relies on this funding for shelter, meals, staffing, insurance, supplies, and other needs.
For 17 years, the organization organized The Good Works WALK to educate people on the conditions of poverty and homelessness and raise enough funding to support the Timothy House – the housing shelter operated by the organization. The Timothy House is also the only shelter for people experiencing homelessness 8 rural counties in Southeast Ohio, according to Good Works’ Day In The Life website. Good Works need $180,000 each year and $500 a day to ensure the Timothy House is fully operational. At its peak, Keith Wasserman, founder and executive director of Good Works said, the WALK had 500 participants each year.
“In all, we probably had 50 different walk experiences from 2003 to 2019, but in 2019, I knew it was time to shift,” Wasserman said.
The last Good Works WALK was in February of 2019, but the organization brought back an iteration of the fundraising and educational event in 2020 called Day In The Life. The first two Day In The Life events were virtual because of the pandemic and this year will be the first time there is an on-site walk.
On Saturday, December 2nd at 10:00 a.m., people can choose to participate in one of two walking paths with the same goal in mind: understanding and learning about the causes and experiences of homelessness. Both of The Day In The Life paths will begin at the picnic shelter at 450 West State Street and then go their separate ways.
“We’ll have some speakers there who are former residents and volunteers,” Wasserman said. “We hope to have some surprises for everybody that’s coming.”