CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Dozens of community non-profit agencies came together Friday to launch a new coalition designed to bring their services to more people who need them.
The Mayors' Coalition and Community Action Network features a collaborative effort among community service agencies and a one-call telephone number to link providers with people who need their service.
The collaboration is partly in response to a United Way survey that shows 46 percent don't know what help is available or how to access it, said William Lamb, director of Lee University's Leonard Center, the campus' service learning center where the network is based.
Lamb said the Leonard Center will provide small grants to five local service organizations, from an MLK Day of Service program, when they form a coalition of their own.
Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchens in Washington D.C., told a large crowd gathered at Lee that now is the time to tap the resources a young generation that wants no distinction between career and making a difference in their communities.
Matt Ryerson of United Way said city and county mayors have gotten calls for help with nowhere to refer them.