LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: Greg Knake

  • Dress for Success Cincinnati now at Loveland’s Care Center

    Dress for Success Cincinnati now at Loveland’s Care Center

    Loveland, Ohio – Dress for Success Cincinnati has announced that The Care Center of Loveland is their new satellite location for the StyleHER program.

    For the past 15 years, the Care Center has been assisting families by helping them remove the barriers and build the resources needed to thrive in life. Located at 11020 South Lebanon Road in Loveland, The Care Center will now be offering DFSC styling services to residents of the Loveland and neighboring communities.

    According to Data USA, the largest demographic living in poverty in Loveland is currently women ages 25-34. The hope is that through this partnership, they will be able to tend to that community of women living at or below the poverty line and offer them services that will nurture their employment mobility and help them to thrive.

    A strong supporter of this mission is Greg Knake, Executive Director of The Care Center, who recognized the opportunity for Dress for Success Cincinnati and The Care Center to help more women through a partnership early on.

    “Our mission is about helping people thrive in life, and one critical way we do that is by helping them reenter the workforce,” Knake said. “We also have a high value for not trying to recreate the wheel, and we instantly identified that Dress for Success Cincinnati already had a model that was successful. It is a perfect fit to incorporate Dress for Success Cincinnati’s services in what we do.” 

    Through this act of ‘not trying to recreate the wheel’ they have formed a partnership that can utilize the successes of both organizations to further benefit women. The Care Center of Loveland is a state-of-the-art resource center offering beneficial services such as childcare and transportation that help to eliminate major barriers that stand in the way of women receiving this support.

    As childcare is a service that is not currently offered by Dress for Success Cincinnati, they can now offer it to their clients at The Care Center’s location. Not only have they expanded the range of women they are able to serve but have expanded the accessibility for women to utilize the services as well.

    “We want to be a resource for people who want to take advantage of Dress for Success Cincinnati’s resource but may not have the reliable transportation to access the Norwood location,” Knake said. “We are excited to offer Dress for Success Cincinnati’s resources in areas like Milford, Goshen, and Loveland.”

    In addition to offering DFSC styling services at The Care Center, the new satellite location will also offer similar career assistance to that of Dress for Success Cincinnati’s Norwood office. Just as the DFSC office has partnered with Cincinnati Works to provide help with resume building, job searching, and more via an on-site Cincinnati Works representative, The Care Center will offer the same opportunity for clients.

    “We also offer career development resources through Cincinnati works and even work with the same Cincinnati works representative,” Knake said. “So, clients will have that same opportunity when they come here to be styled.”

    Dress for Success Cincinnati said that they are thrilled to launch this new satellite location and to be working with Knake and his team at The Care Center to offer their services, along with the added benefits that come from this new location to more women in surrounding areas.

    To learn more about The Care Center or schedule your styling appointment, visit The Care Center’s website here.

  • Tigers Helping Tigers Launches

    Tigers Helping Tigers Launches

    by Cati O’Keefe

    The prospect of higher property taxes brought on by the proposed Loveland school levy has spawned Tigers Helping Tigers, a charitable foundation formed to help those with limited resources pay their tax bills.

    Cati O’Keefe is a resident of Downtown Loveland

    The foundation was conceived by Art and Kim Jarvis. Art Jarvis is the president of the School Board, which proposed the ambitious new building master plan for the school system. “My job on the Board of Education is to make sure kids get the education they need to excel in the future. And that’s the purpose of the levy,” he says.

    That’s his board member perspective. At home with his wife, however, he found their conversations frequently turning to the impact the financial ask could have on those with limited resources. “The community member Art Jarvis was bothered with the thought that the levy could cause fixed-income neighbors to suffer,” he says.

    The Jarvises reached out to friends in the community, started sharing ideas, and Tigers Helping Tigers was born. Jarvis and the fledgling board (currently Kim Jarvis and Loveland residents Deb Ricci and Katherine Dannemiller) sat down with Greg Knake, executive director of The Care Center, and detailed their plan to raise $80,000-$100,000 to launch the new foundation.

    Knake was on board immediately, framing the issue as a problem that needed to be addressed long before the current levy. “We’ve seen poverty grow 100% locally from 2005-2015 in Loveland,” he says. “Approximately 15% of kids in Loveland are on free and reduced lunch. This is an eight times faster increase than in urban areas.”

    W​e’ve seen poverty grow 100% locally from 2005-2015 in Loveland. Approximately 15% of kids in Loveland are on free and reduced lunch.

    Knake believes the proposed tax relief adds another spoke in The Care Center’s service wheel. “We are trying to bring help and resources to families teetering on the edge, and do it in a targeted way by getting people back to work or into a better job, giving them life skills, and breaking the cycle of poverty with one-on-one coaching and mentoring,” he explains.

    The Care Center, which Knake describes as a faith-based organization, is collocated with the non-denominational North Star Church on Lebanon Road. The center is in the midst of a fund-raising endeavor itself, with a new facility slated for completion October 2020. “Our strategy employs best-practice research that has started organizations locally, like CityLink and the Healing Center, and is focused on bringing resources together under one roof,” he says.

    Knake highlights the synergy between Tigers Helping Tigers and The Care Center: “ We already have relationships with many of the families who would qualify for assistance from the foundation,” he says. “We have the forms and processes in place needed to prequalify families–plus financial coaches and mentors–because hopefully this isn’t just a little bit of help on taxes but is also integrated with financial coaching to get them to an even better place in all parts of their lives.” (While The Care Center encourages people to discover and use its services, participation in the program is not a prerequisite for assistance through Tigers Helping Tigers.)

    Tigers Helping Tigers board members are equally pleased with how the two organizations dovetail.

    While The Care Center encourages people to discover and use its services, participation in the program is not a prerequisite for assistance through Tigers Helping Tigers.

    “I am passionate about The Care Center’s impact on our community, and Tigers Helping Tigers is just another piece in assisting the marginalized, says Ricci. “The Care Center embodies the culture of our community, which generously gives back to those in need. The work of the Care Center team has helped so many cross the bridge of poverty to thriving in life. Having a strong education system is vital to our youth in reaching their greatest potential. This paired with the resources of The Care Center represents a community I am proud to be a part of.”

    Dannemiller, who also serves on the fund-raising executive team for Nest Community Learning Center, believes the partnership will pay dividends for the Loveland community. “We have put six kids through the Loveland school system and stayed for the quality of the schools,” she says. “The levy is a hardship, but bridging the gap for people on limited incomes through the Care Center is a natural fit. The organization takes care of people who need help and creates a continuous path for them to get on their feet. Combining our program with theirs will extend help to people in a way that is impactful.”

    At the end of the day, it is immaterial whether the current levy passes, fails, or gets kicked down the road to return in another iteration. Real need exists now.

    The process of pondering cost versus value on the levy has, for many citizens, served as a reminder that levies–even modest ones–threaten the fragile existence of some community members and families. At the end of the day, it is immaterial whether the current levy passes, fails, or gets kicked down the road to return in another iteration. Real need exists now. Please consider donating to Tigers Helping Tigers and The Care Center. Inquiries regarding donations, receiving services, or volunteering can be made through Greg Knake at greg@carecenter.com or Art Jarvis at jarvisa@fuse.net .