Sandra Gail Foundation
Serving those experiencing homelessness in Central Ohio.
Donate"I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
About Sandra Gail
Sandra Gail, known to most as Sandy, gave her heart to Jesus at a young age and shared her faith throughout her life. She was involved at Spring Hills Baptist Church, primarily in women's ministry, and one of her passions was ministering to female inmates at the Licking County Justice Center through that ministry.
She loved to write and was finishing her first Christian book when she passed. She is remembered for putting others before herself.
“Even in our brokenness, we are treasures to God, who salvages all the pieces because we matter to Him.”
The Through-Line
Sandy spent the later part of her life ministering to women at the Licking County Justice Center. It was hands-on work with people everyone else had written off. That work is the seed of this foundation.
Though it started with Licking County Jail Ministries, founded in 1986 and led today by Chaplain Scott Hayes, her son has continued and broadened that commitment toward homelessness in the same county: first through Newark Homeless Outreach, then the Community Drop-In.
The thread connecting all of it: meeting people where they are, without conditions.
What We Support
The foundation supports organizations meeting critical needs in Licking County.
Newark Homeless Outreach
A project of OhioCAN, led by Trish Perry, at 10 Buena Vista Ave., Newark. Every Saturday from 10am to noon, volunteers serve a hot meal to 80 to 130 neighbors and provide clothing, hygiene items, tents, blankets, harm reduction supplies, and help accessing housing, treatment, and jobs. The corner lot purchased in October 2020 became a permanent building in 2021, dedicated in memory of Sandra Gail.
The Licking County Foundation selected Newark Homeless Outreach as the host of one of five community navigators funded across all of Licking County, giving the outreach a funded executive director for the next five years.
Community Drop-In
Hosted at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, led by Deb Dingus. Low-barrier day shelter Tuesday through Thursday, 10am to 2pm: sack lunch, restroom, phone charging, rest. Also a Wednesday night community dinner open to all. Filled the gap when a prior day shelter closed.
Visit WebsiteIn May 2024, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver featured Newark Homeless Outreach in its main segment on the opioid crisis and homelessness.
Watch the clip on YouTubeThe Need
people without stable housing in Licking County on any given night. That's a one-night snapshot that doesn't capture the many more who are one crisis away from losing their home.
HUD Point-in-Time Count
of people experiencing homelessness in Licking County are going through it for the very first time.
United Way of Licking County
Homelessness here is almost always situational, not chronic. A lost job, an unexpected medical bill, a relationship that ends. Any one of these, landing on someone with no financial cushion and nowhere affordable to turn, can be enough. The people the foundation's partners serve are, more often than not, experiencing this for the first and only time.
How to Help
Gifts to the Sandra Gail Foundation are deployed through its donor-advised fund at the Columbus Foundation, directly supporting the organizations it partners with.
Note: The foundation does not accept direct payments. All giving flows through the donor-advised fund.
Stay in Touch
A short email update on the foundation’s work, a couple of times a year: what your generosity made possible, and where help is needed next. Reply to any update if you’d like to be removed.