KINGWOOD, W.Va. — An online-based community assistance platform that aims to connect churches and businesses to families in need is set to launch in Preston County.
The CarePortal Initiative will officially launch on Tuesday, May 13, where county organizations, businesses, and families in need alike will be able to sign up and immediately receive responses on requests for services or material assistance. The program is supported with the help of Chestnut Mountain Village and the West Virginia Department of Human Services and includes partnerships with a combination of local religious organizations as well as local businesses willing to volunteer to donate goods and services.
“We’re excited to say that we’re going to launch in Preston County,” said Chestnut Mountain Village Director of Foster Care Initiatives Greg Clutter. “On Tuesday, May 13, we’re going to have a public launch event at the Kingwood Community Center right there in Kingwood at 2 p.m. that day.”
The app connects businesses, nonprofits, child welfare professionals, churches, and other local organizations that can respond to the requests of the needs of families through the portal who are a part of the West Virginia Department of Human Services Family Support Center. Once the organization or business goes through a mandated background check and the needs of families are vetted by child-serving professionals, those qualified churches, organizations, and “Community Champions” will then be alerted of the people in need, who can then partner with each other to address any need in its immediacy.
“If a car breaks down for a single mom with two kids, or if the HVAC breaks down, Community Champions has the ability to sign up for CarePortal,” said Clutter. “We train them how to respond, and they’re able to say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, I can help fix this.'”
The CarePortal Initiative has already been launched in Monongalia County, with similar other programs seen in 37 states across the country. According to Clutter, in less than a month of being active in the county, over a dozen requests for services and necessities were tended to within a couple of days after the notices were received by area churches and businesses. These services varied from home repairs to auto repair.
“We’ve seen HVAC repairs already, we’ve seen food needs met, and we’ve seen some clothing and furniture needs met,” said Clutter. “We’re frontline child welfare professionals who see these needs and say, ‘Hey, church? Can you help get this?” The community has really stepped up.”
The hope for state officials is that the CarePortal Initiative will create another avenue for families in need to get in touch with reputable sources in a timely manner. This is aimed at keeping families that may be financially struggling together and preventing any children from entering the welfare system. With hundreds of various churches, local organizations, and businesses willing to take part in the program across West Virginia, Clutter hopes to see the app find ways to not only support families in Mon and Preston Counties, but others across the state.
“These kinship families take on a lot, we’ve just asked you to take care of them,” said Clutter. “Gosh, if those grandparents get sick, and it gets to be too much, and those kids leave the grandparents home and go right into foster care, we can take care of this problem.”