Be Concerned, a Covington-based food assistance agency, announced today it has acquired United Ministries.
United Ministries has provided food help and other services to residents of Erlanger, Boone County and southern Kenton County since 1983.
Under terms of an agreement ratified by the boards of both organizations, Be Concerned will take control of all UM assets and be responsible for continuing its programs and staff management effective Feb. 1.
United Ministries provided services to nearly 300 households in 2018, with most of them getting help from its free pantry. The organization also furnished casework services, and operated a payee program and thrift store, offering free clothing and housewares to people especially in need.
Under Be Concerned’s stewardship, UM customers should see little change in those programs, said Be Concerned Executive Director Andy Brunsman.
“Our expectation is to provide the same quality of service at the Erlanger site as United Ministries did the past 35 years,” Brunsman said. “We are happy to carry on this tradition.”
United Ministries started in 1983 and moved into its current site on Graves Avenue in Erlanger in 1998. Its pantry addressed a critical need, particularly for the 55 percent of its client household located in Boone County, an area that has traditionally been short of food resources.
Leaders of the two organizations have been in talks for almost a year. Be Concerned got involved after UM leaders saw in it the opportunity “to serve more people in more places with more of the things they need,” said Becky Ewing, who has been UM director the last 12 years.
Be Concerned, which started as a Christmas program in 1968, has operated one of the largest food assistance programs in the region since its pantry opened in 1987.
In 2018, its free pantry and Senior Food Delivery programs helped nearly 1,500 distinct families encompassing 2,955 residents of Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties.
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