Federal pass-thru funds have been directed by the Manteca City Council to address numerous issues with an aging house at 609 West Center Street that is home to the non-profit Love, INC.
Love, INC — which stands for Love in the Name of Christ — provides integrated counseling and financial assistance related to emergency utilities.
That is in addition to other services such as delivering food and even at times providing families with needed furniture and other items.
The organization has served nearly 1,300 individuals and families.
The $150,000 Community Development Block Grant will address the house’s many aging components such as air conditioning and heater, roof replacement, siding, removal of deteriorated patch stucco walls and finishes.
The home has a storied history that dates back into the late 1950s.
It started with Frances Bynum.
She took it open herself to cooking meals for the less fortunate and then took to collecting food and clothing for them and then distributing the items out of her home
Antone Raymus — the founder of Raymus Development who has since passed away — was impressed with Bynum’s efforts.
He provided her with a two-story home on Center Street next to the railroad tracks where Love Thy Neighbor for nearly three decades helped thousands of people each year keep food in their stomachs, clothes on their back, and arranged for help during financial emergencies such as their power being cut-off.
She literally went from a one-woman outreach effort to those who were struggling as well as the homeless to building a small army of volunteers that helped her with her endeavors including taking endless donations from community members for everything from food and clothing to money.
Love Thy Neighbor, under Bynum’s leadership, also was the primary source of holiday food baskets for the needy at Christmas and Thanksgiving in Manteca, Lathrop, and French Camp.
Her endeavors in the early days of working out of her home earned her a story in the now-defunct general-interest bi-weekly Look national magazine.
Raymus, after Bynum was unable to continue her volunteer work, allowed the South County Crisis Center use the house.
The non-profit organization provided free counseling for families, women, and children who were dealing with domestic violence.
In 2012, Love INC took over the building
Love, INC, Manteca was founded in 2005.
It is one part of a national movement of 125 plus affiliates serving thousands of needs across the nation that mobilize churches and their congregations in local communities to transform lives.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
