It Still Looks Pretty Grim

continued

"Our mission now is to meet the human-services needs in the Manchester area and to provide a forum for the community," says Seyfried, "though we still offer services to unemployed people to find work. We have a volunteer to help them build a resume and learn how to do Internet job searches, and we let them use computers at our office.

"But we also work with other human-services agencies to make sure people's day-to-day needs are met," Seyfried continues. "If someone needs housing, we work with the county to make sure they don't end up on the street. We have a food pantry [where] people can come and shop, and we also do utility assistance. Mobile homes aren't necessarily very efficient to heat, and we can help with financial assistance, and we also refer people to the state and county to help them get their [heating] problem under control."

Small as the staffs of Faith in Action and Aid in Milan are, MCRC's is even smaller. "I'm the only employee, but we have between fifteen and twenty dedicated volunteers for the food pantry," says Seyfried. "We serve between fifty and seventy-five households per month at the food pantry, and with other referrals and phone calls, we probably serve another fifteen to twenty-five more households a month."