Community Building
Open Hearth is really about one thing: changing lives for the better, through our effective programs, services and partnerships. Our Mission Statement includes our organization’s commitment to strengthening the fabric of our community through support of and participation in community building efforts that pertain to advocacy, housing, quality of life, stability, and empowerment.
The following are a few of our existing efforts.
In partnership with the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation, Open Hearth publishes the popular Help Book, a health and human services guide which is commonly and frequently used as a resource for agencies, organizations and community members to connect their various needs to area services.
To date, six editions have been published – in both English and Spanish – amounting to over 260,000 copies overall, which have been distributed for FREE to area families and individuals by direct mail and public distribution.
For the first time EVER, the Help Book has its own website! Visit www.the-help-book.org to use the online – English and Spanish – searchable directory of all the resources included in the book.
As a result of the needs identified during Help Book focus groups, Open Hearth created and administers the Phoenixville Area Resource Network (PARN), a monthly drop-in meeting attended by local social service agencies and interested community members on the 4th Tuesday of every month. Presentations are provided on topics relevant to the nonprofit sector, while also serving as a community forum to share agency news and updates and a networking opportunity for over 100 agencies. Additionally, we also provide an email blast service for emergency issues and agency announcements between meetings to foster regular partnership among participating agencies.
PARN has been so well received it has been replicated in the Coatesville area as CARN (Coatesville Area Resource Network) and Delaware County as DARN (Delaware County Area Resource Network) using our model.
If you are interested in presenting at an upcoming PARN meeting, please contact Nettie Wolfe Silva by phone (610) 792-9282 x. 206 or email [email protected]
Decade to Doorways is Chester County, Pennsylvania’s ten-year plan to prevent and end homelessness. It is a cross-functional, multifaceted partnership of consumers, government entities, service providers, educators, healthcare practitioners, faith communities, funders, businesses, and the general public that aims to effectively end homelessness by 2022.
Open Hearth has been involved in and a champion of Decade to Doorways since its inception in 2012, by way of staff sitting on action teams, volunteering in the annual Point-in-Time Count, and collaborating with other agencies to ensure that we are preventing or significantly reducing the time a family or individual experiences homelessness. Executive Director Kelly Raggazino was appointed the chair of the Decade to Doorways Governance Board in 2018.
To learn more, please visit Decade to Doorways
Open Hearth and other Phoenixville, Pennsylvania area health and human service organizations meet monthly to learn more about each other so that we can reduce barriers for community members who are experiencing homelessness.
Open Hearth supports the work of the Chester County ACES Coalition and its subcommittee the Phoenixville ACES. The overall mission of both initiatives is to increase our county’s awareness and knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) to ensure that we are a trauma-informed community that promotes healing, builds resiliency, and mobilizes resources to prevent and reduce the impact of detrimental childhood experiences.
To find out more information, visit Chester County ACES Coalition