Leah Loveless has always wanted to help those less fortunate. She thinks it may be because “I’ve been there before.” She reached out to Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services (GCBHS) in October and with the backing of her supervisors at UC Medical Center, held a winter clothing collection for our clients. “I feel that every single human deserves their basic needs met,” says Leah. “Everyone has the opportunity to better themselves if shown a little kindness. That can be all it takes – knowing that someone cares.”
Leah got her co-workers in the PACU, Same Day Surgery, and OR involved. Together, they along with Leah’s friends, family, and students from the La Salle High School Key Club, collected 93 hats, 51 pairs of gloves, 68 scarves, earmuffs, and socks, 26 coats and jackets, 8 blankets, and 44 handwarmers. But Leah’s quest to help those in need was not over. She explains, “A friend from outside of Maineville, said he had women’s rainboots, never worn, in various sizes and would we like them?"
"I planned on filling my car with as many as I could take. But then my friend called back. He said that he sold his semi-trailer and needed to get rid of everything in it, so did I want ALL the boots. ‘How many is ALL’, I asked? He said around 600 pairs!”
This is where our friends at 3CDC came in. GCBHS partners with 3CDC to provide Street Outreach Workers for their GeneroCity513 program, so we called Marissa Reed, Director of Operations, and asked if they could help. “3CDC has developed a strong partnership with GCBHS through GeneroCity 513. Providing a short-term storage solution for these boots was an easy way for us to provide support to GCBHS and other social service agencies who are directly connecting to individuals struggling with homelessness and other challenges.”
With 3CDC on board, the only thing left was to transport 600 pairs of boots! Leah graciously rented a truck and GCBHS staff helped with the loading and unloading. Leah recalls with a laugh, “It was cold, and dark, and there were no lights in the trailer but there were mice!” As of press time, almost 500 pairs have been given out and additional organizations have been contacted.
Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services would like to thank everyone involved in making this happen so quickly – particularly because of how many people we were able to help. Sometimes it really does take a village!
