​​Friday March 13, 2020
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For Immediate Release
G.O. Community Development Corporation COVID-19 Updates

After further consideration and while following the guidance of the Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, we have decided to suspend public access effective March 16th, 2020. While we close access to the public for an unknown period of time, all of our employees will still report. We will begin giving away hot dinners in carry out containers between 3:00pm -4:00pm as a temporary replacement to our normal soup kitchen service, containers will handed out at the door. ​Due to the ban on large gatherings any upcoming Food Banks are now cancelled as well. We will still be accepting donations during this time, so please continue to drop off any donations.

Please follow some simple steps to stay healthy and minimize the spread of COVID-19:

​Thursday March 12, 2020
 
For Immediate Release
G.O. Community Development Corporation COVID-19 Updates

G.O. Community Development Corporation is closely monitoring activity surrounding COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. For the past several weeks we have been actively developing a response plan and are committed to continuing to provide access to food for our community.
 
We realize that the COVID-19 situation is fluid, but we also know that proactive communication, coordination and collaboration is crucial in these situations.
 
Here’s What We Know So Far
At this time, there is no change to the Food Bank’s operations. We are continuing to operate under normal conditions. If you are in need of food, please visit our Food Services page.

If there is any change to our operations or ability to normally distribute food, we will announce it on this webpage and on our social media channels.
 
We continue to follow guidance of the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. As citizens we can all follow their guidance to stay healthy and minimize the spread of COVID-19:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water
• Cover coughs and sneezes
• Clean frequently touched surfaces and objects
• Stay home if you feel you are sick and practice social distancing (e.g. not attending large gatherings, avoiding contact with others)

 
Anyone who has questions about the Food Bank’s operations or our response to the COVID-19 outbreak is asked to email info@go-cdc.org and a member of our team will respond in a timely manner.
 
Regards,
G.O. Community Development Corporation

It requires a village to support our students, and your involvement is critical. Please collaborate with us by sharing this information with families. 

The FREE shoes are on a first come-first serve basis.

Here are the dates you will need to know
We will begin distributing shoes at 9:00am on all three days.

• August 2nd, 2018 – First 75 kids only
• August 9th, 2018 – First 75 kids only
• August 16th, 2018 – Until remaining shoes are gone

Children must be accompanied by an adult when getting the shoes.

ASHTABULA — Members of the GO Ministries’s congregation and others joined together to celebrate two days at once on Sunday — of the 23rd anniversary of GO Ministries and of Pastor John Salters’ new Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies.

“We founded GO Ministries 23 years ago,” said Salters. “Now we have a soup kitchen, a recreation center and gym, a clothing bank and other outreach activities. We work with Birthcare, Helping Independent Parents (HIP), NarAnon and other groups. We also have an annual free Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas party where we give out free toys and gifts, plus food giveaways at various times throughout the year.”

He said also the Cleveland Food Bank brings food to GO Ministries twice a month. He said GO Ministries works with the local Community Development Corporation (CDC) regularly. He said there are also regular church services on Sunday, and the Ministries will soon see a daycare center called “Thrive.”

“I also just graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from Maranatha Christian College in Cleveland, so we thought it would be nice to celebrate that with our anniversary. We had a dinner and some speakers and it turned out to be a very fine event.”

He said GO Ministries started in the old Ashtabula Hotel, then moved to the party center on E. Prospect near JD’s Pizza, then the sewing factory, then at its current location at 3703 Station Ave.

“Now I’m going to go for my Master’s degree,” he said. “That will be in Christian Counseling studies. I enjoyed going to college and learned a lot. I’ll be happy to see our childcare place getting started soon.”

He said his wife Mae, who passed away in 2014, was instrumental in getting GO Ministries going. He said he also appreciated the work of his five children in helping make GO Ministries a viable community resource.

‘We’ve had some tough times along the way but God has blessed us,” he said. “A lot of community-minded area churches have helped us, especially with helping feed the community.”

Lenora Boysaw, of Ashtabula, is a member of the congregation and a Ministries volunteer. She said the GO Ministries grows every year.

“Pastor Salters is growing the Ministries,” she said. “Thanks to his ideas and leadership it gets bigger and better every year. The GO Ministries has helped people with a lot of things and will continue to help them as long as he’s here.”

Martha Richardson, of Painesville, said the anniversary was a “beautiful thing.”

“Pastor Salters’ work has been a blessing to the community,” she said. “He loves to help others.”

Denise Green, of Ashtabula, said she’s been with GO Ministries for almost 10 years now.
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“We think what Pastor Salters has done for the community is awesome,” she said.

ASHTABULA — The lives of hundreds of people are enriched each week thanks to the efforts of a sturdy group of volunteers that staff G.O. Community Development Corporation on Station Avenue in Ashtabula.
Donations and grants funds the programs ranging from meals for the needy, recreation for youth and free shoes and clothes for those down on their luck, said G.O. CDC Board President Drew Thomas.
“We get probably 100 people that come every day,” Thomas said. He said meals are fed daily Monday to Friday and a variety of educational and recreational programs occur throughout a month.
A small group of volunteers cook and serve meals and provide clothes and shoes for those in need.
In the summer computer classes are held to educate area youth, said Frances Norman, a volunteer, who also opens the shoe, clothing and toiletries program several days a week.
“We are always looking for people to volunteer,” Thomas said.
He said more information or ways to donate can be found at the organization’s website at go-cdc.org.

The food bank originally scheduled for October 16th, 2017 has been moved to October 9th, 2017.

10:00AM - 12:00PM

For further questions please contact our Food Bank Coordinator Frances Norman at fnorman@go-cdc.org.

ASHTABULA – Fifty-six employees from Cristal Global and their family members visited G.O. Ministries on Ashtabula’s Station Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 16, to wrap up a week of projects conducted at the faith-based social service aimed at improving, cleaning and generally sprucing up the building.
The project was part of an annual public service “giving back” effort for employees at Cristal’s Plant 1, according to Chris Morrison, a technical trainer at Cristal who helped with the G.O. Ministries job. 

“This is our way of giving back to the community,” Morrison said. “We do it every year. We partnered with G.O. Ministries because it’s such a worthwhile cause. They do so much for the community and it’s all run completely on donations.”

Over the week prior to Sept. 16, Cristal employees installed new LED light fixtures and ceiling tiles in two of the work spaces at the former Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, repaired a large exhaust fan and the dishwasher in the building’s kitchen and replaced a drinking fountain in the gymnasium.

On Saturday, employees turned out in the morning to spend the day scrubbing tiles and painting the building’s interior and doors.

“It’s fantastic what these people have done here today and in the last week,” G.O. Civic Development Corporation President Drew Thomas said. “The LED lighting and what they’ve done today is really going to help our dollars go a lot farther. A big building like this is always going to need some kind of maintenance. We’re really fortunate to have a company like Cristal that takes pride in their community to help out like this.”

Employees and families at Cristal also conducted a month-long food and clothing drive, delivering seven truckloads of nonperishable food items, clothing and shoes for G.O. Ministries.

G.O. Ministries operates a food pantry, serves free meals to area residents, teaches computer literacy, hosts a library, operates a clothing bank and holds after school activities for local youth. The building also serves as home to Helping Independent Parents (HIP), an assistance program for new parents in need of necessities for infants, as well as Birthcare of Ashtabula County, a nonprofit providing information and support as well as assitance with baby items such as diapers, formula, clothing, baby furniture and other necessities for new parents. 

Thomas said between 100 and 150 people pass through the doors at G.O. Ministries every day and Cristal’s efforts have helped the organization toward meeting its mission goals immensely.

“What they’re doing today is going to help families put food on their plate,” Thomas said. “The facility does some great things, it’s in a great location to do it and because of people like Cristal who come out and help is why we’re successful.”
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Pictured are Quinn Van Arsdale (left) and her sister Hannah Van Arsdale (right), two of 56 employees and family members from Cristal Global who took part in a cleanup and repair project at G.O. Ministries on Saturday, Sept. 16. Volunteers conducted repairs, cleaned and painted the building as well as making a delivery of seven truckloads of food, clothing and shoes to the Ashtabula nonprofit social service ministry.