Relocating won’t affect services, the majority of which are still provided for women in crisis
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Answers Health and Resource Facility has been a fixture at 115 N.E. Commercial Circle in Keystone Heights for 10 years, but will be seeking a new location from which to provide its services as its final day at its current location is Aug. 15.
JoAnna Weldon, Answers CEC/founder, said she was informed that Clay County has decided to use the building for another agency. Answers rents the building from the county.
“Before we occupied this building, this building was vacant for a number of years. It just sat empty,” Weldon said.
Though she admitted she was surprised that another agency could be viewed as providing services more important than what Answers is doing, Weldon said she and her team can be nothing but grateful for what the county has done for Answers.
“We are very thankful that the county has provided for us as many years as they have at this location,” she said.
Answers does have a Starke office (512 W. Weldon St.), which is open on Wednesdays. Weldon said that office may be used to a greater extent during this time of transition.
“Starke has always been so welcoming to us,” Weldon said. “I think there’s a really special opportunity to serve Starke more thoroughly because we’re only there one day a week.”
Still, Weldon would love for Answers to find another location in Keystone, saying, “I do not want our clients to feel like we have abandoned them.”
No one will be abandoned. In fact, Weldon said this period of transition will not put a temporary halt to Answers’ work.
“There will not be a lapse in services,” she said.
Helping women still part of wider scope
Answers began with the mission of helping young women who became pregnant, inspired by Weldon’s personal experience with teen pregnancy. Services were eventually expanded to meet other needs, such as providing help to single mothers struggling to raise their children or to assist women who are experiencing domestic violence.
The expansion of services, in turn, led to focusing efforts on crisis prevention so that women didn’t find themselves in such situations. Answers also devoted efforts to helping women post-crisis, such as with a life-skills curriculum, consisting of such topics as Depression and Suicide, Home Health, The Monster of Debt, Credit Scores, Successful Family Living and Finding a Job.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Answers found itself serving a broader clientele. For example, the organization temporarily took over the daily operations of Lake Area Ministries’ food distribution since Lake Area Ministries’ directors were elderly and instructed to stay home due to health concerns.
Weldon said Answers basically got put on the map as a place for community members to go to for help. During that time, a lot of people needed help, which is how Answers began working with — and continues to work with — male clientele.
“It took us a little bit of time to figure out how to effectively minister to men because that’s not something we had ever done before,” Weldon said.
One of the ways in which Answers assists men is with its Volunteer Internship Program. Men volunteer to work at the Answers office, providing custodial, maintenance and landscaping services. During that time, Answers staff can teach men the skills necessary to be a good employee — showing up on time, doing a good job, etc.
Weldon said men who reach a “satisfactory point” then transition into doing community service under the leadership of Frank Bondurant.
“He does umpteen things around the community,” Weldon said. “He’s always building a wheelchair ramp or doing some repair on someone’s home. He’s been willing to take that man and basically allow him to work in a volunteer position for him out in the community.”
Weldon said when Bondurant “deems them responsible and ready,” Answers will then provide job references for those men.
“We can do that confidently, which is so great,” Weldon said. “It’s a win-win for our businesses and for the men who are needing jobs.”
Apparently, there has been talk in the community that Answers has been neglecting its services to women while assisting men, but that is far from true. Answers had 5,175 client contacts in 2022, with 78 percent of those clients being female.
“We’re still doing our pregnancy testing, our ultrasounds — nothing has really changed except for the expansion of serving men and women,” Weldon said.
In fact, Weldon said Answers is helping women even more now, since every woman has a male in her family, whether he’s a spouse/partner, son or father.
“As we’re helping women, if we’re also helping the man in that relationship, then we know that we’re actually doing a better job now — a more thorough job — because it’s the whole family unit that is being helped.”
One of the programs Answers has for women goes by the acronym of GROW, which stands for Generating Real Opportunities for Women.
“That’s when we have clients who we just see a lot of potential in,” Weldon said. “Really, the only things they’re lacking are some of the skills they need to be a good employee. They need a resume and just some experience, so we bring them on as an actual employee here and do kind of on-the-job training to get them ready for that next step in their life.”
Samantha Putnam has been working at Answers as part of GROW for approximately a year. She was no stranger to Answers, having been a client in the past. Putnam said Weldon asked her about becoming part of GROW several times before she finally said to herself she was ready to do something different with her life.
“It’s been great,” Putnam said. “I worked in a gas station. I was good with people, but I had no real skills. I had no office or career skills at all. I feel like I have gained a good handful of especially office skills and refined a lot of my people skills.”
Weldon has seen a difference in Putnam, saying, “I just see a grace and a confidence in Samantha that was cultivated in this culture of being able to be who you are and also having room to figure out who you are. We’re always figuring that out along the way.”
What GROW has done for Putnam is help her grow into a strong woman, Weldon said. Putnam said that wouldn’t have come about if not for Weldon and the other women she’s surrounded by at Answers.
“It has been great being around strong, brilliant women,” Putnam said.
Whether it’s women or men, the bottom line is a lot of people are in need in the community that Answers serves. In 2019, the number of Answers’ client contacts was 825. That number has increased to 1,858 in 2020 and 2,601 in 2021 before eclipsing the 5,000 mark last year.
Relationships
If the team at Answers can help someone overcome a crisis or to get their life moving in a positive direction, it’s a great feeling. Weldon said the greater feeling is when she and her Answers team really get to know clients and have their own lives enriched in the process.
“What I’ve learned is as you build relationships with each individual, they have so much to pour into us as people,” Weldon said. “Their life experiences, their compassion because of what they’ve been through, their humanity because of whatever their situation is — they’re teaching us to be better humans.”
Weldon said to think about how many people you pass and never talk to during a day. However, when you do take that step to talk to someone, Weldon said you may find yourself saying, “Wow. I’m so glad I met that person.”
“That’s how we feel about the people we meet through this ministry,” Weldon said.
And “ministry” is the right word. Answers is a faith-based ministry. Weldon said by her and her team being bold in their faith, they can help people in crisis lose their fear.
“There aren’t a whole lot of resources around to help you,” Weldon said, “but if you can at least go home and lay your head down on your pillow at night and know you have a secure relationship with God, then you’re going to be OK. You’re going to have peace. You’re going to have comfort.”
With the increase in client numbers comes an increase in the opportunities to share the love of Christ, Weldon said, adding, “When you have that many people walking through the door, and they’re hurting, and they’re broken, there’s a vulnerability there. They just want hope. That’s something that we can give them. Even if we can’t pay an electric bill, or we can’t help with a financial need, our clients don’t leave here without being prayed for and hugged and just encouraged on their way out the door.”
A team effort
In light of the fact that some people seem to think Answers is no longer serving women, Weldon stressed that she is available to talk to people about their concerns and answer any questions they have.
“I would hope our friends in the community would just come,” Weldon said. “We’ll have lunch. We’ll have a meeting. We’ll have time together. Ask any question you want. We’ll do our very best to explain where Answers is and how we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Weldon encourages people to take a close look at what Answers is doing. More importantly, by doing so, she hopes people will believe that Answers is worth supporting.
Feedback is always welcome. In fact, it can help Answers as it strives to improve every day.
“We’re always going to need that input, and we’re always going to have room to grow and to do a better job,” Weldon said, adding, “We’re a team. We need our community to support us and to help us do this work. We can’t do it all on our own. The more people we have who join forces with Answers, the more people we’re going to be able to help. That is the goal.”
To contact Answers, call 352-473-1000. The Keystone office is open Mondays and Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. The Starke office is open Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
You can also visit findanswersnow.org for more information.
