Photo by Erik Hackman | The Republic During the open house, Human Services employees gave tours of their facility and showed visitors what a classroom for the Early Head Start program looks like.
For 60 years, Human Services Inc. has been serving the lower-income populations in Bartholomew and surrounding counties.
To celebrate the milestone, the organization hosted an open house on Monday. This was an opportunity for the public to meet the employees and learn about the impact Human Services had on the areas it serves.
Human Services Inc. (HSI) was founded in 1965 to aid in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” Some of the first programs included the Head Start Summer program, the Food Buyers program, the Feeder Pig Project, the Cabin Craftsman’s Center and the Sewing Cooperative. At this time, they only served Bartholomew, Brown and Jackson counties.
Now, the organization serves five counties, Bartholomew, Decatur, Jackson, Johnson and Shelby. There is a total of 16 programs in the five counties HSI serves. They help their energy bill, education for children, homeless prevention and more.
The anniversary was a day to look back on the past 60 years and celebrate the past and the present, stated Donna Taylor, the Executive Director at HSI. This was also a time to look ahead and see what they are doing to continue to combat poverty.
“We are here until poverty is eradicated,” Taylor said. “It’s a lot harder to do, but that is our core mission and vision for the future.”
Another goal HSI has for the future is to provide services that are not being met. For example, they do not want to duplicate a service that is already being provided in a community. They would rather create a new service for a need that is not being met in the community.
Last year, HSI served 7,518 households and 17,128 individuals through its programs and services.
“It’s very rewarding to know that you made a difference,” Taylor said. “Days are incredibly challenging… At the end of the day, we’re making a difference. That just gives you that springboard to come back and do the work tomorrow.”
Nathan Haza worked with HSI in the Horizon House from 2009 to 2013. Horizon House is the organization’s emergency family shelter. After he left the shelter, Haza was asked to serve on the board for HSI. Now he is the vice president of the board.
About 15 to 20 years ago, HSI was helping individuals build life skills and teach them to make better choices for themselves that are attainable, Haza stated.
“It was more obtainable for individuals 15 to 20 years ago to find suitable employment where they could be self-sufficient on themselves,” Haza added. “Today, it’s harder.”
Haza believes it is important that HSIs’ programming focuses on childcare and childhood education, while parents make improvements with better job opportunities or by getting an education.
Looking ahead, HSI will continue to search for new grant opportunities from the state or federal government to create new programming. They want to continue growing and being competitive in grant opportunities.
