My name is Jane Williams, and I am the co-founder and executive director of Love Columbia.

We originally started Love Columbia because we wanted to see our Columbia neighbors be able to come alongside each other to help make a difference, because we believe that relational poverty is the deepest kind of poverty.

On any given day, we receive all kinds of different calls from people in Columbia asking for help, whether it be issues regarding housing, food, careers, transportation, just to name a few.

As for myself, five years after I started Love Columbia, I lost my eyesight, which began to bring up severe challenges in my life. But with the help of my friends, family, and the volunteers at Love Columbia, I received the support I needed to keep going.

And through that, I myself have become an example of what we are trying to do at Love Columbia: Neighbors helping neighbors.