On a recent chilly Saturday, Loretta Scott spent three hours working in a program that’s one of the Fort Wayne religious community’s better-kept secrets.

A member of Fort Wayne’s St. Joseph United Methodist Church, Scott, 65, helped clean a downtown non-profit agency’s yard as part of a community-service project.

The project was organized by her church, with assistance from NeighborLink of Fort Wayne, a faith-based non-profit that matches community volunteers with people and groups that need things done.

Last year, volunteers, mostly from churches, accomplished 500 NeighborLink projects, and despite a shoestring budget, the organization looks to do more.

“Right now we have one project in each quadrant (of Fort Wayne) each month. As we move forward, we would ideally have up to four each weekend,” says Andrew Hoffman, 27, NeighborLink’s executive director.

“We are absolutely seeking more projects and more churches and more volunteers.”

NeighborLink, Hoffman says, grew out of a ministry started about seven years ago by John Barce, a Fort Wayne attorney, and Fort Wayne businessman Doug Crane. At the time, the men were elders at Blackhawk Ministries, 7400 E. State Blvd. Crane is now a Blackhawk administrator.

After attending a workshop about a program that did practical “acts of compassion” for individuals and groups in need, the two started a similar endeavor at Blackhawk.

Over the years, the ministry expanded to include members from other churches, hired a coordinator and developed a Web site, www.nlfw.org, that matches volunteers and projects.

The way the site works, Hoffman says, is simple. Anyone who knows something that volunteers could accomplish in a few hours – typically during a weekend – can post the project on the site.

The group’s board will then find people with suitable skills willing to do it. The board includes Barce and Crane; the Rev. Joe Johns, of Fellowship Missionary Church in Fort Wayne; and Mike Cass, of Fort Wayne’s First Assembly of God

Typically, projects help individuals and families who don’t have the ability or financial resources to fix their homes and yards, Hoffman says.

Clients often include older people, those with disabilities, low-income residents and single parents.

NeighborLink gets regular referrals for projects from the Allen County Council on Aging and the city’s Neighborhood Code Enforcement office, which uses the non-profit to help people who lack financial means to address property issues and avoid fines, he says.

Ten area churches, including Fellowship and Blackhawk, have provided volunteers in the past year, sometimes more than 100 at a time, Hoffman says.

He acknowledges that many who could contribute don’t know about NeighborLink, which has a budget of about $40,000 a year. The money is is used on Hoffman’s salary and administrative expenses.

“Without funding, your marketing and communication abilities are much smaller, so we have concentrated on meeting the needs that do come in,” Hoffman says.

This weekend, NeighborLink plans to help move a donated pole-barn building from a Fort Wayne used car lot to another property. The barn is being moved for Dare to Dream, a group that rescues horses to use in a program for troubled youths.

On May 17, volunteers scraped old paint from a deck and porch, sprucing up the grounds of Historic Hattersley House, Friends of the Poor’s headquarters, at 611 W. Wayne St.

NeighborLink also assists people such as William Thompson, an 86-year-old Fort Wayne widower who has been using a wheelchair since spinal surgery in 1999.

Volunteers from Fellowship Missionary cut his grass and trimmed his bushes three times in the last year.

“How have they helped me out? A million ways,” he says. “I’d be in a heck of a hole if they didn’t.”

NeighborLink doesn’t mind doing multiple or recurring projects for people with considerable or continuing needs, Hoffman says.

“That’s what we really encourage,” he says.

One of the group’s goals is to start a fund for projects that take a larger financial investment than cleaning and mowing, Hoffman says.

The group is also looking for more people with home-repair skills such as roofing and plumbing, he adds.

Although churches have been at the fore, any organization can participate as long as it doesn’t take issue with the group’s mission – fulfilling the teaching of Jesus to love one’s neighbor as oneself, Hoffman says.

rsalter@jg.net