Pat and Alan Spitzer - Founders

Pat Spitzer, along with her husband Alan, local businessman and Lorain County resident, founded The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Project in 2021.

“Years ago, I would take my small children to Oberlin for violin and Japanese lessons with a student from Osaka. As I pushed a stroller around, exploring, I grew to love the cemetery - which kept calling me back - and the plaque commemorating the Oberlin community, who helped people escaping from slavery to mix into the community and to get across Lake Erie to freedom. Then Roots happened, and it was mind-boggling. So many lives skipped over... I started to go to outdoor drama, and loved the theatricality, the settings, the costumes, the music. I envision a place that can be used by the community, and have school buses bringing kids and senior citizens being part of this.

“I think people want to walk the walk with this history… I would just like to see the day when everybody wants to help everybody. That’s the ultimate goal.”