From Humble Beginnings

In September 2021, then Fire Chief Dee McCluskey received several calls from community groups looking to support local families during the holidays. While aware of the generosity in Heber-Overgaard, Chief McCluskey also noticed an issue: some families were left without assistance while others received help from multiple sources. This sparked a meeting of over 50 community leaders—including citizens, businesses, religious groups, and municipal organizations—to address the misallocation of resources.

From that gathering, the Heber-Overgaard Community Resource Network (HOCRN or “Ho-crin”) was born. HOCRN was established on February 22, 2022. Fire Chief Dee McCluskey and local Realtor, June “Sassy” Call took the lead and together co-founded HOCRN (Heber-Overgaard Community Resource Network). Fire Chief Dee McCluskey serves as an advisor to HOCRN while June “Sassy” Call was elected president of our HOCRN board. Both Dee and June continue in these roles today. As local resources and outreach efforts combined, a clearer understanding of the community’s needs emerged. Today, HOCRN continues to grow, fueled by the enthusiasm of over 100 volunteers, all dedicated to supporting the community. Everyone is welcome to join and make a difference.

Goals

  • To provide information/coordination of our community resources with a central information hub (without directing or modifying the individual missions of the aligned groups) with the goal that “no one will be overlooked” in our community.
  • To provide emergency, urgent, and non-emergent resources to the fire and law enforcement communities operating in the Heber-Overgaard area.
  • To support area educational outreach with four HOCRN scholarships each year from funds generated from our expanded thrift store.
  • To further expand the HOCRN Thrift Store and other funding sources to provide financial support in extreme emergencies.