Hello Neighbors!
It’s another grand day in the ol’ West End.
Inasmuch Ministry
At our November membership meeting we had a very powerful presentation by our neighbor Mary Ann Mings on the Inasmuch Ministries located at Broadway Christian Church. Their mission is to help the hundreds of homeless in our region, which they do and then some! Mary Ann informed us that Inasmuch helps more homeless than any other local resource – by about two times – and that the demand for its services is unfortunately growing.
Contrary to popular belief, more than half of those homeless in Allen County have full time jobs and just 1 in 10 has an untreated mental illness. This is NOT what we hear and perhaps have individually concluded (guilty as charged). The vast majority are simply poor and have had some major event that pushed them out of their home and into the streets.
Inasmuch is regularly needing winter coats and clothing, food for their pantries and of course money. You can find out where to give here or simply put it on Mary Ann’s front porch and she’ll make sure it gets to the right place. In addition, the Circles of Allen County is looking for mentors to help end generational poverty. While a very simple job description, the results are astounding. They meet most Mondays at the Inasmuch facility on Broadway where you can learn much more and become a mentor. Or click here for more information.
2025 WCNA Officer Elections
Past board president Ben Wahli then led the process for electing officers for 2025. All current members (listed at the end of this letter) were willing to serve another year in their respective positions and were presented as the slate of officers. There were no additional nominations from the members in attendance. Ben asked for a show of hands for approval of the slate of officers and the vote was unanimously approved. Congratulations and thank you to Kelly, Bethany, George and Anita!
WCNA Spending Policy
The West Central Neighborhood Association is very uniquely fortunate to have a very sizeable bank account, thanks almost exclusively to the proceeds from the annual Home & Garden Tour. This money is to be invested back into the neighborhood through programs, projects and other means. To this end, about five years ago a policy was developed to help guide these investments and has been updated by the current board.
You can find the entire policy on our website, but the intent is the following:
- Encourage our resources are invested in neighborhood member priorities
- Protect the solvency of the WCNA
- Encourage appropriate spending/investment each year
- Guide the WCNA leadership on future projects and priorities
While we have a policy, we still need your input on specific project and priorities. You can share your thoughts by taking a very simple web- based survey. Please take the 2 minutes to complete it – we value your input.
Speaking of spending, beginning immediately and at each monthly membership meeting we will ask attendees to choose a cause that is in need of our support. A gift of $250 will be given to that organization or service from the WCNA. Connie Mettler presented three ideas for the November and the unanimous choice was Inasmuch Ministry. (It should be noted that we are giving to the assistance of local unhoused residents, not to Broadway Christian Church.)
Announcements
The WCNA Annual Cookie Swap will be held on Wednesday, December 4 th at 6 – 8 pm. Ellen Sauer & Sonia Checchia are hosting this year’s event and all of neighbors are invited. Save the date, preheat the oven, and join us! The Cookie Swap will be held at the home of Ellen & Joel Sauer, 1110 West Washington Boulevard. Contact Ellen Sauer (260-615-0825 ) or Sonia Checchia (301-602-1311) to RSVP.
There will be no December membership meeting so please make a note of this. Instead we will be holding our annual WCNA Holiday Party on Monday, December 9 th from 6 – 9 pm at Chapman’s at Electric Works. There will be a raffle (cash only) for prizes with all proceeds going to Settlers Inc. and the Swinney Homestead. Enjoy free hors d’ oeuvres and a cash bar and celebrate the holidays with neighbors. You do not need to be a member to attend.
Hope to see you all at Chapman’s on December 9th and on the front porch!
Joel Sauer, President
(260) 433-3672
2024 & 2025 Board Officers
- Membership: Anita Kuker membership@westcentralneighborhood.org
- President: Joel Sauer president@westcentralneighborhood.org
- Secretary: Bethany Pruitt secretary@westcentralneighborhood.org
- Treasurer: George Taylor treasurer@westcentralneighborhood.org
- Vice President: Kelly Benton VP@westcentralneighborhood.org