Courtyard Tenants Provide Thanksgiving Meals to Local Families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Nov. 19, 2020) – Five local families will have Thanksgiving meals thanks to the tenants of the Courtyard apartment community.
The Courtyard, located at 530 Home Ave., provides permanent supportive housing to young adults, ages 18-25, who are aging out of foster care, or those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. CHILL (Creating Hope, Instilling Life Lessons), Inc. provides free training and support to tenants at the Courtyard.
The Courtyard’s Tenant Council came up with the idea of hosting a Thanksgiving Food Drive for families using SCAN services in lieu of holding a Thanksgiving meal for tenants in consideration of COVID-19 precautions. The council created a grocery list and tenants committed to providing items on the list to create baskets for five families.
Tenants included $20 gift cards in the baskets for each family to help cover the cost of any additional items. The families received their meals on Monday. The tenant council has already received two thank you notes from families describing what it means to them to celebrate together and not have to worry about stretching their budgets to purchase a meal. One of the families shared, “This is the first time in over 10 years that we have had Thanksgiving together.”
“Our SCAN families need hope. They are dealing with so much, be it job loss or school changes for their kids, and all the demands that parents are put under to get their lives back. They literally have to turn their whole lives around,” Program Manager Endia Cassel, Ph.D. said. “If we can do just a little bit to ease that pressure and provide hope, just by the means of a meal, for our families at SCAN, then I’m all in.”
Cassel said the staff has worked to shift the tenants’ culture from receiving to giving during her five years leading the program, and to see the tenants come together “was the best.” The tenants will also sponsor one family for Christmas. Cassel intends for the Thanksgiving Food Drive to be an annual event.
“I tell them all that being in foster care is not a handicap. It’s a part of your story, and if you use that to push through, you can do great things. Because of their past, they are a lot stronger and more resilient than they really think,” Cassel said. This philosophy inspires Cassel to continue to instill in the tenants that they no longer have to live their lives as a victim.
About CHILL (Creating Hope, Instilling Life Lessons), Inc.
Established in 2019, CHILL prepares young adults for self-sufficiency by establishing positive relationships and teaching life skills while connecting to community resources. CHILL service recipients are young adults who are homeless or aging out of foster care. CHILL services are based at The Courtyard in Fort Wayne and receive administrative support from SCAN, Inc. In 2020, CHILL served 44 young adults as they gained vital life skills. Learn more about CHILL’s work at www.scanfw.org/chill-at-the-courtyard.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Whitney Craig
Marketing and Communications Director, SCAN, Inc.
334-398-2634 | wcraig@scaninc.org