About EWSC

The East Wayne Street Center (EWSC) is a not-for-profit organization focused on strengthening families and individuals empowering them to become self–sufficient. Originally the old Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church built in 1917; the Center has been empowering low income families and children in Fort Wayne for the past 45 years. The Center focuses on improving the overall living conditions of impoverished households by stabilizing the home environment, addressing the environmental impediments and paving the pathway to self sufficiency with education.

Most of the families served by the East Wayne Street Center are single female-headed families. The median annual income for female-headed households with children under six years old is roughly one-fourth that of two-parent families. Research indicates that children from single-parent families are more likely to drop out of school and have trouble keeping jobs as young adults. Seventy-five percent of children in homes below the federal poverty guidelines live with a single parent. Forty percent of the births in Allen County are to single mothers and twenty-four percent of children under age six live in poverty. These Indiana statistics identify the target population for the East Wayne Street Center programs: Family Literacy, Project Solve and Food Bank.

Board of Directors

Diana Jackson, Chairman

Asst. Director of Diversity/International

Ivy Tech Community College

Kirby Moss, Secretary

Attorney

Moss Law Offices

Ian Rolland, Treasurer

Retired Lincoln Life President

Kim Barnett-Johnson, Vice President

Dean, School of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Ivy Tech Community College

Clarence Benton

Retired GM Manager

Steve Collins

President

Fort Financial Credit Union

Gregory Copeland

Owner

Copeland Contracting

Donald Gage

Sales & Service Agent

AAA

Jean Hershberger

Vice President

Centier Bank

Crystal Milton, MS.ED.

Academic Advisor

IPFW General Studies Dept.

Carolyn Spake-Leeper

CB Richard Ellis/Sturges

Annual Report