One of the region’s older non-profits celebrating 50 years of service as Helping Hands of Putnam County focuses on a hand-up.
Director Becca Duncan said Helping Hands was started as a one stop shop, so people in need did not have to bounce between resources all over town. Duncan said the non-profit helps address various community needs in a centralized location.
“A lot of times, we see people come in, and they have had a medical emergency, a car accident, or even a car repair,” Duncan said. “And so, they have gotten behind. And with just a little help, they’re back on track and able to continue on getting by.”
Duncan said the non-profit does everything from food and rental assistance to fuel for out of county medical appointments. Duncan said Helping Hands has many of the same problems as it did before, but it still benefits from local support.
“Housing is the number one thing that we face, as well as the number one thing that we kind of are still fighting for answers for,” Duncan said. “Locally, as the price of rent goes up, we’re seeing more and more people, especially seniors in our community that had enough to get by and now they’re not.”
Duncan said Helping Hands is very active in the homeless community, as it has helped open a 501c3 Cookeville Community Cares. Duncan said some of the homeless population is able to house some homeless through this charity.
Duncan said she has only been the director for the last three years, but she has seen lots of lives touched by the program. Duncan said the organization takes a personal approach with each person they serve to find out exactly what they need.
“I think it’s huge, because sometimes they come in and think they need one thing,” Duncan said. “And when we listen to why they think they need that, we work so closely with most of the organizations in Putnam County that a lot of times, we can refer them to things that they didn’t even know there was assistance for.”
Duncan said the 50 year milestone is awesome, but there is still work to be done. A 50 year anniversary celebration fundraiser, “Disco for a Difference,” will be held in early October. Duncan said people may dress however they like despite the disco theme.
The gala will take place October 4th from 6 to 10 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the Helping Hands website.
