Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: What is Love Our Community?
A: Love Our Community (LOC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded to unite our community around meeting the unseen needs of our neighbors. Our vision is to be a community who serves together to meet the unseen needs of our neighbors.
Q: If homelessness is such an issue in our community, why haven’t I heard about it before?
A: Just because you haven’t heard about homelessness in our community doesn’t mean it’s not an issue. The stigma and shame of being homeless in our society leads many suburban families to suffer in silence. Since starting Love Our Community, we’ve connected with dozens of individuals and families living out of their car, sleeping on a friend’s couch, or even sleeping outside. Helping these people out of poverty and into affordable housing is a very present need in Hartville and Lake Township.
Q: What is the Love Our Community building?
A: In 2019, Love Our Community purchased the former Lake Center Christian School building, located at 1116 Woodland Street SW in Hartville. Our plan is to transform the building into a community resource that offers stable housing for individuals and families facing homelessness. By meeting basic needs, like food and shelter, the LOC building will help residents focus on building a better life. Our current plans include an “anchor family” residence and four additional apartment units.
This is the story of our community, and neighbors coming together to care for each other.
A Dream
In the spring of 2016, a dream began. A dream of businesses, churches, schools, and individuals coming together to provide an event for the community - a simple egg hunt. This event was a collaboration that surprised many but gave birth to the belief that TOGETHER we could make an impact to last.
That same summer there were three (3) fires, out of these challenging events this same collaboration birthed the Clothing Closet - an emergency resource for immediate needs.
Collaboration Continued
Seeing the huge benefits of working together, the collaborations continued. As we continued to work together many needs were identified.
In the last parts of 2018, over 23 of our neighbors struggled with housing instability ~another way to say this is that they were homeless, many of them children. The sad reality is this IS OUR COMMUNITY. Many times communities do a very good job of pretending everything is "fine," when behind closed doors life is falling apart. As awareness grew and conversations continued almost every conversation went something like this ...'" this is unbelievable I've lived here my entire life, I had no idea" or "This can't be, I don't see people sleeping on the streets." We knew then we had to do something!
Fast forward, this dream is now Love Our Community, a 501(c)3 Non- Profit Organization. Love Our Community seeks to care for neighbors who are in need of tangible help, of relationships, of a place to serve.
Click here for more information on our hidden homeless.
