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Toledo shelter asking for donations for new van

Family House currently doesn't have a viable way of transporting their residents. They were awarded a $10,000 matching grant to buy a van, so they need your help.

TOLEDO, Ohio — A local homeless shelter is asking for the community's help to raise  $10,000 for a new van that would help their residents get to doctor's appointments, community events and more. 

The shelter says that money will go the distance in getting families back on their feet. 

"Some of our families have come to us from situations of a house fire. Some of them are families who are in domestic violence situations. Some of them are people who just lost a job and frankly are just down on their luck," said Stacey Langer, Volunteer and Development Coordinator for Family House. 

Family House Emergency Shelter is caring for 124 people right now. Eighty-three of them are children. Families typically stay for about two months and in that time, they need to get places. 

The shelter got a matching grant for $10,000 to buy a new van to make that happen. 

"This van, we're going to be using to help our clients get back and forth to doctor's appointments. Back and forth to community events that we're given access to," Langer said.

Right now, Family House has a bus. The problem is that they don't have a consistent driver with a commercial driver's license to be able to use it all the time. 

Family House said this van will solve that problem because it doesn't require the driver to have a special license. 

The shelter plans to sell the bus to help pay for the van, but it still needs your help. A GoFundMe account has been set up to raise the rest of the cash. 

"This is a crisis situation, so it's not an easy place for the kids to be. So, giving our families an opportunity to make memories together and being able to transport them to their doctor's appointments, that would be huge," Langer said.

If you don't feel comfortable donating online, you can drop off a check at the shelter located at 669 Indiana Avenue in Toledo.

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