By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Amber Wild arrived in Bowling Green last year.
Pregnant with no place to go, she headed east from Washington State to stay with a friend. She didn’t have a permanent place to live, had a juvenile record and was pregnant. She was “couch surfing.”
Then Wild contacted PathStone in Bowling Green.
The private social service and employment agency helped her get a place to live, she said. They helped her find an obstetrician. Helped her find a fast food job and set her up with training to become a State Tested Nursing Assistant. Helped her sign up to get food assistance.
PathStone helped with the day-to-day needs as well, providing her with mattresses and dishes. All that she needs, Wild said, “so I can raise my kid correctly.”
“They’re definitely more laid back,” Wild said. “They tried to help with everything you might need help with. They don’t limit themselves. I think that’s a good thing. They helped put me on the right path, so I could do what I wanted to do.”
PathStone, which is part of a national non-for-profit human services and community development organization with headquarters in Rochester, New York, opened up shop in Bowling Green in January. At first the office was open part time and shared space behind Panera Bread with the Children’s Resource Center. As of Sunday, PathStone has taken over the lease and is open full time, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. off the parking lot behind 143 S. Main St.
Operating with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, PathStone aims to provide a range of services for Bowling Green residents age 14 through 24.
Niki Schroeder, regional administrator, said residency extends to university students, teens in foster care and inmates incarcerated at the Wood County Justice Center or Juvenile Detention Center.
PathStone now has 54 participants, she said. It has funding for 125 through the end of December, when the program hopes to get renewed funding for another two years.
For those 17 and under, she said, the emphasis is on education. That could mean help completing high school. The center provides correspondence courses through the Wood County Educational Services Center for students who need to make up courses they failed. Computers are available onsite, so students can work on the online courses that Bowling Green and Otsego offer for students who need to retake courses. “We help get them back on track for graduation,” Schroeder said.
PathStone employs a certified teacher, Clayton Lutz, who tutors in the detention center and in schools as well as overseeing students taking correspondence courses.
For those 18 and older, the educational focus shifts. PathStone provides tutoring for the GED and helps pay the cost of taking the test. Or if a participant has an eye on college, PathStone can pay the cost of taking the ACT.
Center staff work with a number of training programs, including the nurse assistant program that Wild is in. Also, it offers training in operating a forklift, which can help some step up to a better paying job, or truck driver training.
They help participants connect with training programs offered by Owens Community College and the Penta Career Center.
Schroeder said that the assistance extends beyond training and placement. PathStone tries to assist in overcoming any obstacles to getting and keeping a job, whether transportation or getting uniforms.
Lori Fox, mentor coordinator, said the center also offers counseling on food preparation and budgeting, so participants aren’t “blowing their budgets on Twinkies.”
Personal finance advice provided by local banks is also available.
PathStone can help university students training to supplement their degree programs.
They also have community service opportunities for those who find themselves in trouble and in court, Schroeder said.
Finding those who need the services was the first step. “It was really hard to get the name out there to agencies to get any referrals,” she said.
“It was a grassroots effort,” added Fox.
Now they’ve established firm working relationships with other agencies.
The efforts continue. Casey Farley, placement and career services developer, will be at a Right Direction event May 28 at the skate park in Bowling Green City Park, spreading the word about PathStone.
“Our participants have been great in referring people,” Fox said. They’ve had success here, so they share it.”
Eric Cox was referred to PathStone by a friend who’d been helped by the program.
Cox was between residences and struggling with completing high school. Suffering from depression, he’d wake up and wonder if it was worth it to go to school.
“They accepted me with open arms,” he said of the PathStone staff. “I just met these people and they said ‘we want to help you.’”
They helped him get settled in a new place, and training for a better job. Fox made sure he got to school every day.
This May he will graduate from Bowling Green High School. “When they first met me, I was very lost on the path I was taking,” he said. “They helped me so tremendously with school.”
He said graduating is “virtually a miracle.”
“I was on the verge of getting kicked out. They encouraged me. They told me they believed in me. I never had anyone do that.”
He’s one of nine participants who will graduate from high school this May.
Now Cox can look forward to the future. “Something I’ve wanted my entire life is to be stable. To save up some money and then go off to college.”
He’d like to study psychology and be a therapist. He’s also interested in biology. “I really love science.”
These kind of success stories are only possible because of the support PathStone receives. “The community support has been amazing,” Fox said. “When we find someone in need, we do reach out and the community has been very generous.”
Mike Mittman, placement and career services developer, said helping someone can mean reaching out to a half dozen or so different groups to meet her needs.
The agency also relies on volunteer mentors who work one-on-one with participants as they seek jobs, they can help them fill out applications, write resumes and conduct mock job interviews.
The office, Schroeder said, was furnished by Bowling Green State University through Nick Hennessy of the Office of Sustainability. He even donated a couple bikes.
Also, a pool table sits in the middle of the office.
“A lot of conversations go on around the pool table,” Fox said. “Sometimes they may just want to come in here and do something where they’re not getting into trouble.”
Cox said he’s gone in and played pool and ping pong. “You can go in there and you can talk and eat lunch and share stories about how we found our jobs.”
Would he recommend the service? “Definitely. It’s really great. If I needed vent to them, I could always talk to them. You never have to be afraid to speak to them.”
