Good Works will hold its 11th annual walk Saturday to raise awareness of rural poverty in Athens and to raise funds for The Timothy House, the only shelter in nine Southeast Ohio counties.
There will be five different walk experiences, each aiming to give those involved a better understanding of the realities of living in poverty, said Keith Wasserman, founder and executive director of Good Works.
“The walk is really an invitation to go deeper in loving our neighbors who are suffering in this community,” Wasserman said.
Through the walk, Good Works hopes to raise one third of its $180,000 yearly operational fees for The Timothy House.
Participants in the walk are invited to have sponsors who can donate to Good Works, but the event has an educational component as well.
The event is slightly altered each year, and this year’s edition will feature a route that educates participants about women living in poverty in Appalachia, said Anne Wilson, a caregiver at The Timothy House who will be leading the walk.
“Our desire is … focusing on what those struggles are and also focusing on the strength and the beauty we see in those women’s lives,” Wilson said.
Some of the other walk experiences are geared toward children and families, tailored for people who can’t walk far or designed to simulate living on the streets, according to the Good Works Walk website.
Good Works began as a project for Wasserman in 1981 in the basement of his house during his senior year at Ohio University. The Timothy House now provides a place to stay for 150 to 225 men, women and children without homes each year. The goal is to create a community of love for all who pass through, Wasserman said.
“When people know they’re loved, it changes them, gives them hope and empowers them to make good choices,” Wasserman said.
In the past, between 400 and 500 people have taken part in the walk. A number of them are OU students, including Maggie Krueger, a junior studying journalism.
Krueger has been involved with Good Works for the past three years and currently serves as president of Service Living, an on-campus organization, which collaborates with Good Works to get students outside the confines of OU.
Service Living will be participating in the walk by carrying banners, which have representations and profiles of the 248 people who had to be turned away from The Timothy House in 2012 because of its limited capacity, Krueger said.
“Good Works thinks it’s really important to have students invested in the community they live in for four years,” Krueger said.
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