The Well Fairfield receives $50,000 grant

FAIRFIELD — The Well Fairfield announced it has received a $50,000 grant for job training services.

The grant came from the Future Ready Iowa Employer Innovation Fund, and will go toward creating a Well Works program in Fairfield.

The Well opened its Fairfield chapter in April 2021 in what was previously Fairfield Foursquare Church on South Main Street. It includes The Well Resource Center and The Well Thrift Store. This grant will allow The Well to add yet another component to its list of services.

Eden Koolmees, The Well’s director of advancement and marketing, said the grant will go toward renovating space at the Fairfield facility, and toward supplies and training. The Well Works program in Fairfield will be modeled on the Well Works program at The Well’s facility in Pella, which has hosted a Well Works program since 2018.

Well Works is a work environment where participants engage in their recovery, develop soft and technical skills, remove life barriers and “experience transformation that leads to stability in life,” according to the organization.

To get Well Works up and running, The Well needs to raise another $75,000. It hopes to do so at its Better Together Gala on March 12 at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center. The night will feature comedy from Marty Simpson, a plated dinner, a silent auction, and a presentation by The Well CEO, Jayson Henry. Jefferson County Health Center and Libertyville Savings Bank are sponsoring the event, too.

Henry said he is excited to get Well Works off the ground in Fairfield and repeat the success of Well Works in Pella.

“Fairfield has strong employers who are willing to partner with us to provide work contracts through Well Works, to continue to build into the economic fabric of this community and raise up healthy employees to work in the local businesses,” Henry said. “Ultimately, we work better together.”

Koolmees said Fairfield employers such as Dexter Laundry and Airgas have written letters supporting Well Works, and several other businesses have given verbal commitments of support.

The Well Fairfield plans to have Well Works up and running by the fall of 2022.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com