Perry Volunteer Outreach helps beyond an immediate crisis, working with other local organizations to provide more than money to pay a past due bill.
In 2000, middle Georgia businessman Frank Shelton made a big commitment: He wanted to give away everything God had blessed him with, pouring it into his community in a meaningful way.
More than 20 years later, that promise continues to touch thousands of people in and around South Houston County every year.
"We use our resources to help people find resources," says Larry Wood, a Baptist minister who leads the Perry Volunteer Outreach, the organization founded by the late Frank Shelton.
"Some people have the resources and some people have the needs. We are the connection between the two."
PVO offers a wide range of services to the people in middle Georgia. The organization helps people with emergency needs pay utility bills, rent and medical needs, a service that proved especially helpful in the past year as people coped with the disruption of the pandemic. It offers transportation to social service appointments and medical appointments to elderly and people with disabilities, and operates a warehouse that stores and distributes donated furniture, appliances, and vehicles. Volunteers also provide home services such as building handicap ramps.
In 2010, PVO opened Grace Village, a women's transitional center that began as a homeless center and grew into a months-long program that includes coaching on how to enter the workforce for women coming out of prison or rehab.
PVO prides itself on giving people the help they need beyond the immediate crisis, working with other local organizations to provide more than money to pay a past due bill, Larry says.
"Our ministry is more than a Bible class and a check," says Larry, who coordinates a small paid staff and dozens of volunteers. "We work to give people dignity as they struggle in a rough patch of their life. We believe that if we strengthen the weakest in a community, everyone is stronger."
Learn more about Perry Volunteer Reach on Facebook.
About Cingo: The name Cingo means to surround and secure, conveying the company's commitment to home protection. The company has been protecting families in the Southeast since 1974. It provides home protection services throughout Georgia and South Carolina, including Atlanta, Augusta, Charleston, Douglas, Dublin, Milledgeville, Savannah, Vidalia, Waycross and all points in between. Cingo was named a Best Place to Work in Georgia by Georgia Trend Magazine and listed as a National Best & Brightest Company to Work For. Learn more at www.cingohome.com.