CHP awarded grant for Mobile Service Unit

Community Helping Place is on a roll. Literally. The local non-profit was recently selected as one of four regional recipients of the Gainesville-based North Georgia Community Foundation’s 2023 Opportunity Grant.
In a recent press release the foundation announced it will be awarding $60,000, the largest of this year’s four grants, for the purpose of “purchasing and remodeling a Mobile Service Unit, which will provide CHP a new way to help clients overcome transportation barriers.”
The foundation’s other 2023 awards include a $20,000 grant for Promise 686 in Rabun County, $15,000 for the Open Arms Clinic in Stephens County and $12,000 for the White County Family Connection.
“These four nonprofit organizations have the capacity to create tangible differences through their new or expanding programs. NGCF is proud to support their efforts and looks forward to witnessing the positive impact they will have on our community,” NGCF’s Director of Strategic Initiatives Abi Carter stated.
The Nugget sat down with CHP Executive Director Melissa Line to discuss the origin of the grant award and how the addition of a Mobile Service Unit will enhance the organization’s local initiatives going forward.

ADDRESSING NEEDS

Line said that she already had a specific purpose in mind when it came time to write the grant proposal, and its origin dates back to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the pandemic, we broke the mold,” Line explained. “We said we kind of have to do whatever it takes to reach people, because what we offer is essential. So we said, ‘How do we get to the people who can’t come here?’”
The first answer to Line’s question would arrive in the form of a church van donated by St. Paul United Methodist Church.
“They gifted us with a church van, and we were able to use that for well over a year transporting people, transporting food, transporting clothes, whatever the need was,” Line said.
In addition to those services, CHP also began offering mobile medical clinics and expanding telehealth during that time. The van travelled to campgrounds, rural church parking lots and even a downtown restaurant to deliver necessary services.
Eventually the church van’s size became restrictive and, after receiving a Ford Expedition, they gifted the van to a client.
“The Expedition served us for a couple of years before the oil started to look like a milkshake … Then we bought our Explorer,” Line said.
CHP’s current vehicle fleet consists of “Dora” the Explorer, a refrigerated van named “Frosty” that can be used for home delivery of groceries and their dual thrift store vehicles, "Dumpy" and "Scrappy."
“During the pandemic was really when our eyes were opened to the value of mobile services, and we never stopped doing it. So it’s now part of our regular operations.”

APPLYING FOR FUNDS

Line said Margaux Dolenc, the NGCF’s Senior Director of Grants & Community Partnerships, reached out and invited her to apply for this year’s award.
“[Dolenc] said ‘This is special funding, and what would your organization do if you could get your hands on 50,000 or 60,000 dollars?’ And I was like, ‘Well I’ll tell you right now what we would do!’ We were already working on it,” Line recalled.
Line indicated that the NGCF award would not be the sole source of funding for the Mobile Service Unit project.
“About the same time, the current Sunrise Rotary President Diane Bates said ‘We’d like to do our foundation grant towards this project as well,’ so that comes up in the spring. And also we’re working with another funding source from Georgia State University, so the money’s coming together to do this,” Line said.

MOBILE SERVICES

While there is not a concept design for the Mobile Service Unit yet, Line described her vision for the multipurpose vehicle.
She said the Mobile Service Unit would “ideally be a school bus that is outfitted in such a way that we can use it for basically any non-profit services.”
She said the idea is to try to deliver CHP’s services to folks who couldn’t otherwise access them.
“So either they have a transportation barrier, or they live so far out off the grid that it’s not feasible for them to come here. Maybe they’re shut-ins or they’re elderly and they can’t leave their home, or maybe it is a single mom who can’t take all the kids out.”
Line said that no matter the circumstances, CHP wants to be able to deliver the same kind of services that are currently available at their facilities on Rock House Road, including the “food pantry, our clinic, our outreach operations (Spirit of Christmas and the Summer Food Pantry), household goods, shoes, clothes, items from our thrift store, stuff like that.”
Line indicated that the new vehicle, which she’s dubbed the Opportunity Bus, will be made available to other local non-profits as well.
“We want to share it with our partners. It won’t just be a CHP vehicle,” Line said.  

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Line elaborated on some of the other ways the Opportunity Bus could potentially be put to work for the benefit of the community, including shuttling kids to and from the library’s summer reading programs, swimming lessons at the new aquatic center or fire safety activities at the fire department.
“We envision this [vehicle] being used by the Rotary Club, the Woman's Club, Friends of the Library, and other non-profits using this to meet the needs of their clients,” Line said.
While a specific bus, as well as the final design for the interior, have not yet been selected, Line has plenty of ideas for possible modifications.
“We hope that it will have stations inside where people can apply for a job or have someone help them build a resume. One end of the bus may have a closet where they can choose an outfit to wear to an interview. We may be able to set up an appointment to pick them up to take them to their interview,” Line said.
Line said CHP will be searching for a good deal on a bus while they secure additional funds to purchase and outfit the mobile unit. She anticipates that process to be completed within the next three to six months, with a goal of having the unit on the road in 2024.
“Right now we’ve been working since about July, gathering data and looking at the trends in the community, visiting different groups, seeing who needs what so we can design the bus in such a way that it meets the most needs,” Line concluded.