File Photo The Center of Charity's Friendship Room lies within the All Saints of Alpena building on 322 W. Chisholm St. on Tuesday.

ALPENA — Since the shutdown of Decorative Panels International on Thursday in Alpena, organizations such as the Alpena Salvation Army, All Saints Parish, Michigan Works, and the Alpena County Human Services Coordinating Council have started preparing events, programs, and services for all the employees now without jobs.

Some of those groups have already seen an uptick in services provided since the shutdown.

Mary Trudgen, a career navigator at Michigan Works, said she and other navigators have helped others with about 30 resumes in three days.

“Sometimes, a listening ear can make things a little bit better,” Trudgen said. “We’ve mostly been helping out with job searches, online applications, resumes, and other things to help people coming in and maybe even some answer questions they have.”

Trudgen also mentioned that some people coming in have utilized Michigan Works’ tuition assistance, which allows others to continue their education with grant funds.

Brenda Hanson, a business solutions professional at Michigan Works, promoted an upcoming job fair that Michigan Works will host on March 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Besser Tech Center at Alpena Community College.

Hanson said that about one dozen employers have already said they are coming and more are being confirmed.

“We’re doing everything we can to help people get placed in jobs,” Hanson said. “Right now, we have about 170 people to place and I’m hoping we can help get them something at the job fair. We are the employment agency.”

Other organizations such as the All Saints Parish and the Alpena Salvation Army help with necessary resources to survive.

All Saints Parish is currently holding a food drive for individuals and families affected by the Decorative Panels International shutdown that started on Monday and continues to Thursday.

Christina Kihn, director of the All Saints Center of Charity, said that the food pantry needs more supplies and hopes more donors come in so the Center of Charity can keep up with the high demand she expects to see soon.

“Right now, we’re just maintaining the soup kitchen,” Kihn said. “Whatever food that comes in, through our food drive, will be going right back out to DPI workers. We’ve had four individuals come in and get food boxes so far and we’ve had about six individuals come to donate.”

Kihn said that the pantry now has lots of spaghetti, macaroni and cheese boxes, and powdered milk. Items needed at the food drive are canned foods, dry cereals, fresh meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables.

Donors can drop off food at the Center of Charity’s Friendship Room at 322 W. Chisholm St.

“We’re also feeding anybody from DPI breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.,” Kihn said. “We’ll be able to get them at least some cold cereal … And they can come in every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and eat dinner, it’s a hot meal. We do ask for employee’s names when they do come in.”

Kihn also mentioned that the church also provides Catholic human services for counseling or any help. Anyone can either meet up with a religious official or ask them to come to their residence if people are looking for some guidance.

The Alpena Salvation Army, according to Corps Officer and Pastor Maj. Prezza Morrison is also preparing their services for DPI workers and collaborating with other agencies to help.

Morrison is unsure of what workers’ long-term needs are yet, so the Salvation Army has kept their assistance services and programs open like usual. Assistance such as food, personal care items, utility fees, rent and mortgage fees, and clothing are provided at the non-profit organization.

“Whatever they may need in the future, we’re prepared to make a quick change and help,” Morrison said. “We’re working in collaboration with a lot of other agencies, too. We don’t think we’re going to see much until about three weeks to a month. Right now, a lot of them are still figuring out how much money DPI might give them if it’s going to be 30 days worth, 60 days, or what. So, I think once they get the information, they’ll know what their needs are in the long-term aspect.”

Many non-profit organizations and human-service agency leaders in the region, like Morrison, are part of the Alpena County Human Services Coordinating Council, which is a council that coordinates resources and programs for situations like the closure of DPI.

Malinda Amlotte, Alpena County HSCC vice chair, said that over 100 people are on the council’s mailing list.

A day after DPI’s shutdown, the council came together to figure out how to move forward.

“As soon as we heard about the closure at DPI, our Alpena HSCC executive group took action,” Amlotte said in a statement. “By Friday afternoon, we were meeting with key players in our community, including government officials. The one thing that we all were striving for was a way for members of our community who were impacted to find the resources they needed to help them get through this tough time. Rather than recreate the wheel, we are working to strengthen and promote the Alpena County Community Resource page that already existed.”

On Monday, Amlotte sent out a press release for the council to highlight a Facebook page titled “Alpena County Community Resources.” There, flyers with program promotions from various non-profit organizations and agencies around Alpena County are posted on the page.

A release that Amlotte posted to the community resource page was about how the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan is sending semi-truck-worth of food to St. John’s Catholic Church at 2425 Fredrick St. on Thursday. Distribution starts at 3 p.m. and there will be a drive-thru-type of distribution.

Amlotte said that everyone in need of food is allowed to utilize the drive-thru on Thursday, but that it is first come, first serve.

“We want to do as much as we can to get the word out and say they’re not alone,” Morrison said. “They are people and family, and we care for them and love them very much. We want to help support anyone in any way we can and help them feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”