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SCRANTON — The Outreach Center for Community Resources thanked its supporters Wednesday for allowing it to help others.
Outreach provided assistance to more than 5,000 children and families last year alone.
The organization, located at 431 N. Seventh Ave., will celebrate its 30th anniversary in January.
In June, it changed its name from EOTC, which stood for the Employment Opportunity Training Center.
“We’re very grateful to the community for supporting us all these years and we hope to be here into the future,” said Outreach Executive Director Linda Ciampi.
Ciampi, of West Wyoming, discussed the organization’s function in the community.
“Our mission is for family stability and economic self-sufficiency,” she said. “It’s a very significant goal for all our families and children. All of our programs are geared toward achieving that … .”
Through evidence-based programming, the organization’s youth-centered services focus on educating and enhancing each child and preparing them to succeed in school and life.
Some of the programs include job search support and job readiness, a Play and Learn group for children and parents, and family reunification.
“We provide a safety net for families and we become their extended family,” said Ciampi. “Families that go through one program will contact us and want to take advantage of some additional programming to help their own family stability.”
Per Ciampi, the programs are primarily funded through government grants as well as donations.
Ciampi announced the organization was set to launch a new website, outreachworks.org, designed by the Lavelle Strategy Group. Lavelle also collaborated with the agency on its name change.
Ciampi said members of the Outreach board dedicated a plaque to Helen Lavelle, president and chief creative specialist at the Lavelle Strategy Group, for her contributions and generosity.
‘Doing good things’
Thompson Tours and Abington Travel partnered with Outreach to offer a “Happy Valley Cruise” to the Bahamas for anyone who sponsored a child by donating $100 to allow them to take part in Outreach programs. Several former Penn State football players will be on board during the cruise.
Fidelity Bank won the cruise after a drawing Wednesday afternoon.
“As a community bank, it’s important for us to get behind those organizations that continue to make this area better,” Fidelity President Dan Santaniello said. “Outreach does a phenomenal job of creating stability within the families that live in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They have a long history of doing good things in the community.”
