Interview with Joe Szeker

Interview with Joe Szeker

Community organization; Economic assistance, Domestic; Community development

This is an interview with Joe Szeker, director of a local organization, People to People ministries. People to People is a network of churches in the area of Wayne County, Ohio that provides network and community services.

Morgan Day

Joe Szeker

Unpublished

2018-11

College of Wooster Libraries

Presented with permission from Joe Szeker

In copyright

mp3

eng

Sound

Joe_Szeker_Interview

Wooster, Ohio; Wayne County, Ohio

Morgan Day

Joe Szeker

Wooster, Ohio

Joe Szeker Interview
Edited for clarity by Morgan Day

Morgan Day: Hi, my name is Morgan Day and I am here with Joe Szeker who is director of operations at People to People Ministries. I just got a tour from Joe showing me all of the operations that they have going on here at People to People Ministries. So, my first question is, could you tell me about People to People Ministries?… A little about the history and an overview of what you guys do.

Joe Szeker: Sure, People to People Ministries was created in 1978 by a council of twelve churches to help churches better meet the needs, and emergency needs of people in our community. People unfortunately like to go to different churches for the same need. So, part of that was to make sure that the churches weren’t being abused and using their funds unwisely. So, a lot of what we do is make sure that we provide for people that really have the need.

MD: Mm-hmm, thank you, and what is your role within People to People?

JS: As the director of operations I make sure everything functions properly. I make sure we are taking care of the needs of people that we do-- We have changed a few things, just trying to make things internally better. How we function-- you went through the clothing room-- it is a lot more friendlier to shop. We are making things a lot easier for our volunteers as far as tracking things, and accounting for things not only that we get in, but things that we give out. So, we want to be a good-- we want to use the resources we get very wisely and help people to understand that we truly cherish what they give us, and we want to make sure we give it out appropriately. So, that’s a lot of what I do. I’m a fundraiser, that’s a part of my job as well, and reaching into the community and talking with other agencies so we don’t duplicate effort. That’s a really big thing, Wayne County really works together all the agencies, we all get together and communicate very well with each other which is very important, and we all try to use what resources we have to the best of our ability.

MD: That’s great. Where does most of your fundraising come from?

JS: Our funds come a lot from churches and organizations like that.

MD: Do you still just have the twelve churches?

JS: No, there is a myriad of churches throughout Wayne County that provide some sort of support for us. Where we went down and saw the food, we are in the midst of our food drive. So, we’ll have not only our churches but other organizations and businesses that will show up with food, they’ve been doing the food drive for us. So, the Rotary is a big huge one. Oh, and then there’s a big basketball tournament at the College of Wooster. You come and bring a couple of cans of food for us and then you get into the game for free. So, that’s really kind of nice and has been going on for quite a while and we get a lot of food through that, so it’s very helpful.

MD: Oh, very cool.

JS; Yep!

MD: And that leads perfectly to my next question, which that sounds like one collaboration point between the college and People to People, but have there been other projects or collaborations with groups from the college and People to People?

JS: Definitely. I met Nate Addington and we connected, we actually have a college professor from the College of Wooster that did a class for first time students that can come, and they actually participate in what we do every day, they are interacting with them. So, it is an accredited through the college, that we have the kids come and see what we do and interact with clients, so they can learn better what poverty is and how better to help people when they go back to their own communities. So, we have that collaboration. There’s quite a few things that we do with the College of Wooster. We’ve connected with them to get other items for our clients as well, so, in the summer when students leave, they leave some things behind, so we are able to get some of those things. The college students at the end of the year they turn in their college cards and they go purchase things for us, I showed you all the personal products...

MD: Oh, yeah…

JS: So, as Christmas break rolls around they left over money from the students cards, they’ll go and purchase personal products and bring them here for us. So, there’s a good collaboration now between the College of Wooster and People to People.

MD: Mm-hmm, very cool. Well you also touched on this a little bit, but what other organizations does People to People work with?

JS: We work with all of the social service agencies. We work with One-Eighty, with Community Action, with Red Cross, Salvation Army. We work with many that are government funded and many that are faith based and many that are business oriented as well. So, we try to share what we can, we all share um, individuals information, so again so we don’t duplicate effort. We only do so many different things, One-Eighty does different things, Community Action does different things, so when individuals come to us with a need we can effectively send them to the right places to get help. So, the more that we coordinate the better it is for the people our community.

MD: Yeah, it sounds like you have a good network going.

JS: We really do, Wayne County has a great, great network of participants that work together.

MD: Yeah, do you have any upcoming events? I know you told me about some of them but,

JS: Yep! We are in the midst of Thanksgiving so we are giving out complete dinners that include the turkey, we don’t make it but we box it up and give it to people. There’s probably close to 300 families that we’ll serve next year, and they will come next week to get their stuff. Our board members and other volunteers will come and box them up Friday and Monday. Friday this week and Monday next week and then we will give them away next Tuesday. And then we’ve also been signing people up for our Christmas Toy project where children come, we probably have five or six hundred children signed up for it, many families that come to get Christmas items for their children for Christmas. During the summer we have the back to school project where children get school supplies. We touch base with all the schools and found out what they are requiring their kids to have. And we get those, a lot of that we get donated, we get money donated to help purchase those things, and we come and give the school supplies and clothing at this project as well.

MD: Great yeah! That’s a lot. It sounds like you’re busy all year.

JS: We get to recoup from like January to like March (laughs).

MD: [laughs] Okay, that’s good, so like a couple months.

JS: And then it starts all over again.

MD: How much, are the families you serve mostly in like Wooster proper or is it all over Wayne county?

JS: It’s all over but the majority of them end up in Wooster proper.

MD: Okay.

JS: We try to get a lot of information. Orville does a lot through the Salvation Army so they hit Rittman and some of the ones that are North East. North Western ones we try to reach through different organizations to get them here to make sure that we serve everyone in Wayne County. But a lot do come from Wooster proper.

MD: Makes sense... what, this-- what are some ways that local organizations or ways the College can help in the future and do you have initiatives in mind? Or do you already feel like you have a pretty good…

JS: Well, we always invite all students to come. It’s really interesting that we are a walk away from the College of Wooster.

MD: Right.

JS: And we encourage them any given time. We have a fraternity, Nate was really instrumental in getting some of the, some of the, orientation changed to where this year we had bus loads on new coming in students that went to all of the organizations around so they can see what they do to see if they want to help with volunteering and helping us out. A big part of what we need is volunteers, and when students are here we get a different perspective, like we were talking before a lot of our volunteers are older, so a lot of their choice for clothing that they put out might not be what a college student would put out.

MD: [laughs] Right.

JS: So, it’s very helpful to have a younger perspective on things. Plus you, usually young people will bring other young people. And we want to instill and make sure you know that you can kind of have a good time it’s not just coming to work but you’re coming and you can talk and work at the same time, and you help people. So, provision of items that the college already does with the purchase of personal products at the end of each semester. Having volunteers and having different kinds of events where we can aware of what goes on, you know, just a couple blocks away from the school they’re attending.

MD: Mm-hmm, that makes sense. Do you make a conscious effort make this area a LGBT friendly space?

JS: We serve anybody and we have no criteria that we will not serve anybody for. If you are in need of food and clothing, you will always get food and clothing. If you need financial assistance, you’ll always get financial assistance. There is no restrictions on what anyone does socially with their life.

MD: Very cool. And how do you think that People to People Ministries makes an impact on the greater Wooster community?

JS: I think we make an impact in people’s lives. I mean we give material items. I personally am very interested in understanding poverty and understanding the people that are in poverty and really making people feel like they have worth. Part of a ministry is that we believe that God created all people equally and we all have a purpose under Him to help other people. So, we try to help people understand that they have a purpose, you are here for a reason, you’re not a mistake, you’re not here to be poor, but you have a value that you can help somebody else with. So, that’s kind of a message that we try to give to everybody, not just provide stuff , but provide hope and provide some way to life people up above poverty, that’s a real goal of mine, and a lot of our staff here. Actually, all of our staff here.

MD: Right yeah. Makes sense. What are some of the main obstacles and challenges your organization is currently facing?

JS: Monetary donations, down, everybody is down everywhere, a lot of our churches are down. Volunteers is another one. So, money to do what we do, and people to come help us do what we do. That’s always the challenge. I think it is age old.

MD: Right. Why do you think funds are down?

JS: I think people in general are struggling. It’s starting to get better, we are starting to have more work in our community. But when people are unsettled, in any climate, they are more apt to hold on what they have and not to give it out and I think we are kind of in a period like that.

MD: Mm-hmm, okay that makes sense. Is there anything else you would like to mention about People to People ministries?

JS: Other than that we are here to help people and we want to be a part of not only our faith-based community but just our community to understand that what we know is that we are, we have a purpose here, and we want to provide hope, not just stuff. And I think that’s really important because if we provide hope toward our community, then our community can somehow find a way to help themselves and generate a positive attitude which is huge in a community it’s like any sport team. We always use the sports team analogies. When you gain momentum, better things start to happen and we try to use that analogy with people come out of here not feeling like they’re a number.

MD: Right.

JS: Unfortunately, they come in and grab a number and they go through intake. But we try to diffuse the whole process of unhumanizing people and let them know that we’re here. We put music on in the lobby. We have places for kids to play and things like that, so we really try get people to know that God loves them and we love them too.

MD: That’s awesome. I guess I do have one more question. There has been lots of news about the opioid crisis in Ohio…

JS: Wait, can you say that again?

MD: The opioid crisis.

JS: Yes, yep.

MD: I was wondering if that’s something you see…

JS: Well we sadly see affect often because that’s the way that a lot of people get to be in need. So, it’s a huge, huge, huge thing. People to People personally, we just try to be supportive when those people come out of jail or out of prison and try to help them with the material needs that they have. And again try to encourage them that there are places that they can seek help. One-Eighty we do, we always try to guide people in the direction of finding ways to get help. It’s a big thing that we care about people.

MD: Right, okay, awesome. Well thank you so much for the interview.

JS: You are very welcome.

MD: And good luck with your Thanksgiving project and everything.

JS: Thank you, thank you! Sorry my phone went off. [laughs]

MD: [laughs] Oh no worries!