U - CAN  BE MORE FOR UCAN

,The title of this article is not a mistake in arranging words.  It is, instead, a call to activism.  As most of you at Ashland know, UCAN is an acronym for United Churches Assistance Network.

Ashland has been an active partner with this ecumenical coalition since its beginning in 1996. UCAN has been expanding its outreach each year
since its inception.  We now interact with approximately 90 - 100 clients a month representing 130 adults and 115 children.  Our monthly expenditures exceed $12,000 per month and on November 23, 2009 UCAN exceeded $1,000,000.00 in emergency assistance since it opened its doors. Not bad for fourteen churches which began this mission 13 years ago with a lot of Faith and Prayers and only $500.00 in their bankbook.

This is not a call for additional funding.  It is an article to illuminate the activities that UCAN now finds itself involved in throughout the
greater Cockeysville, Timonium, Reisterstown, Sparks and Monkton areas.  It is also a call to solicit additional volunteers to help us adequately
support our efforts. As the economy has faltered, we have found that we need more folks to carry out tasks that our clients desperateneed. 
Our organization is totally staffed by volunteers - from office personnel to client interviewers, people with financial expertise and folks with computer skills.  We need patient listeners and people who can keep records, file, and operate simple copiers, phones and fax machines.  We have a dedicated group of volunteers who keep our office open 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday throughout the middle of the day.  Even with 30 people now active, we could do so much more with an additional 15 volunteers. We train our volunteers on the job and make them comfortable in some aspect of our mission to those who are experiencing hard times. 

As we experienced a greater need for funding that our member churches couldn't totally meet, we began to reach out to other funding sources that support non-profits.  We were able to secure FEMA funds and United Way monies. We also found some grant money such as the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.  Those funds coupled with individual gifts from many good folks outside our church families have kept our
doors open.  What we desperately need is a talented Grant Writer. 

UCAN wishes to become a ONE-STOP SHOP for our clients - to give them every opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency, as possible. 
In the last six months, we instituted a Maryland Fuel Fund office in our facility - open only on Friday and staffed by our volunteers. 
This  provides us with additional funding opportunities for our clients as we work in tandem with Social Services, Maryland Energy Assistance Program, BG & E, and the Fuel Fund.   Hopefully, working with Baltimore County and Social Services, we may soon have an on-site social worker stationed at UCAN at least one or two days to whom our Interviewers will be able to make direct referrals.

      Now, what are we imploring you to consider?
1.  Pray for our continued success.
2   Continue your support.
3.  Consider volunteering.
4.  Visit our facility
5.  Think about your talents.
6.  Think about resources for UCAN
7.  Tell your friends about UCAN
8.  Ask Annette Merrill or Dick Uhler about UCAN
     

 Dick Uhler

January 2010