Published: August 25, 2008 05:58 pm            

A new CAReS — 08/26/08

Boyd County agency excellent model for Carter County effort

Marsha McDavid hopes that a program much like one that has worked well in Boyd County for nearly 20 years can also be a success inCarter County. She says her passion for helping others has inspired her to start Carter County CAReS, a community assistance and referral agency modeled after CAReS in Boyd County.

Carter County CAReS will primarily be a referral agency. While CAReS in Boyd County has expanded over the years to include overseeing the annual Giving Tree program, operated in conjunction with the Ashland Area Ministerial Association, and providing emergency help on utilities, food, prescriptions and other needs, it originally was formed to be a screening agency for individuals and families seeking assistance.

By keeping a record of families receiving assistance from individual churches, the goal of CAReS was to assure that those receiving assistance were truly in need and to prevent families from going from church to church for assistance. By reducing the duplication of services, more families can be helped.

However, in addition to being a referral service, McDavid wants Carter County CAReS to offer other programs such as providing home repairs for the elderly, operating an emergency crisis center and working with the family resource centers at schools on the Kids Backpack Club, which provides backpacks of nutritious food for weekends to needy children. As with all nonprofit agencies, how much the new Carter County CAReS can help meet the needs of the poor and elderly will depend on how much money it is able to raise and how much volunteer support it has.

While the office of Cater County CAReS — which will be on the third floor of the old courthouse in Grayson — has yet to officially open, the new organization has scheduled its first fund-raiser: A three-on-three basketball tournament slated for Sept. 27 at the New Beginnings Revival Center.

Much of the support of CAReS in Boyd County comes from churches that are “covenant partners” and regularly send donations to the agency. A similar type of support for the new CAReS from Carter County churches would provide a regular and reasonably dependable source of revenue for the agency.

While it has the same name, Carter County CAReS is not a carbon copy of CAReS of Boyd County. Each agency is independent of one another and responsible for only its programs and support. However, Carter County CAReS has an excellent model in CAReS of Boyd County. May the new program be as successful in meeting the needs of the needy in Carter County as its namesake has been in Boyd County.

        

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