"Can you help me?"
It's a call we get at my office numerous times a day. Someone has found himself or herself short of dollars or resources. They start calling the social service agencies they find online, in a resource guide, or in the phone book. Each one has a story. If we can help, we do. Sometimes it's just pointing him or her in the right direction.
Sometimes it's a situation that is out of our league. We don't have a shelter. We have little access to transportation. A stranded traveler who needs to get somewhere, we probably can't help. We might be able to help with a room or a tank of gas, but we can't drive someone to the Valley. We can't put them up indefinitely.
"It's my three children and my husband. We don't have any food."
Fortunately, providing food is something that's fairly easy. We have hot meals, sandwiches to go, pantry items, commodity boxes. We're open four days a week and today is one of them.
"My keys are locked in my SUV."
OK, now this has taken a little different turn. The woman needs help for her family, including her husband with health issues, but getting here is a problem. Another agency has put them up in a motel, 10 miles away. There's no buses from there. Her family is hungry and she's out of resources.
"Can you help me?"
Usually I work on administrative tasks for our agency. But several people are on vacation. And I have the ability not only to solve the immediate problem, but both of her needs. I arrange to deliver some food that is appropriate for their situation, and try to get a community member to help with the locked vehicle. Within 30 minutes, I have solutions. I will take the food out on my way home, the locksmith will do the work, gratis, within 24 hours.
Her children play outside in a back parking lot at the motel. We unpack the food and put some in her refrigerator. Among the food is applesauce, bananas, and macaroni and cheese -- her kids will be ecstatic. I wonder if they will remember this, and if so, as an adventure or a traumatic time? I ask her how long they will stay here, and what the future holds. Do they have other supportive services or people? A sister lives 90 minutes away. They may be able to go there and stay a while. At the moment, it seems like a good option. Time to regroup and get back to stability.
"Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." John 21:16 (NIV)
Showing posts with label hunger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hunger. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Monday, May 20, 2013
Not-for-profits carrying too much responsibility
Having worked in a not-for-profit environment for the past 11 years, I know that working there is never quite the same as working in a corporate or business entity. When something at a business breaks, you fix it or replace it. At a not-for-profit or community benefit organization, as my former agency preferred to call itself, there was hand-wringing.
Fortunately, none of the food went to waste. But not repairing the freezer immediately was not an option. Our service company knows we run on a shoestring, so we'll get the best deal possible.
Last year, the Coalition for Compassion and Justice's Open Door had over 34,000 individual visits for food and other assistance. We feed people, provide them with clothing, various types of emergency assistance, provide them with a bathroom, a shower, and emergency shelter on the winter's coldest nights. We provide meals and pantry items with donated food, and sometimes buy more food when the shelves get bare. And we debate what else we should do, whether it is our mission, and whether it is critical enough to do if no one else will do it.
We have 15 staff members, including a couple that come to us from Americorps VISTA and AARP on poverty-level wages themselves. And we put lots of volunteers into service -- our count is about 180 at any given moment.
Our goal is to work ourselves out of business: end poverty in this community. But it doesn't look like we'll be out of business anytime soon. Even as the economy begins to recover, our guest count doesn't appear to be tapering off.
Through the past few presidencies, there is a greater emphasis on allowing charities to do this kind of work. Oh, and faith-based initiatives. Just a kind way of saying "The government isn't interested in helping. Find a charity or church to feed the poor and shelter the homeless, care for the mentally ill and provide hope to those in prison (or recently released from prison -- pretty much one in the same. Probationers and parolees don't stand much of a chance of turning their lives around without companies willing to hire them, so they turn to charity or crime).
As soon as one suggests that government should swing the pendulum back in the other direction, you may as well have suggested America becoming a Socialist state. But that isn't true. America came out of the Great Depression on some serious government programs included in the New Deal. Social Security and the Tennessee Valley Authority are still around. Most of them faded before World War I.
It's time for the government to turn that corner and beef up services and programs that give people a fair shot at economic security. It shouldn't completely rest on nonprofit programs to assure that our communities are fed, housed, treated with health care and mental health services, and gainfully employed. Nonprofits should be filling in the gaps, rather than being the only place for people in crisis to turn.
- What will this mean for the budget?
- Can we get it donated instead?
- Would someone donate money to cover the cost of that item?
- Should we buy it now, or wait until the beginning of the month or the next quarter?
- How important is that item, anyway?
Fortunately, none of the food went to waste. But not repairing the freezer immediately was not an option. Our service company knows we run on a shoestring, so we'll get the best deal possible.
Last year, the Coalition for Compassion and Justice's Open Door had over 34,000 individual visits for food and other assistance. We feed people, provide them with clothing, various types of emergency assistance, provide them with a bathroom, a shower, and emergency shelter on the winter's coldest nights. We provide meals and pantry items with donated food, and sometimes buy more food when the shelves get bare. And we debate what else we should do, whether it is our mission, and whether it is critical enough to do if no one else will do it.
We have 15 staff members, including a couple that come to us from Americorps VISTA and AARP on poverty-level wages themselves. And we put lots of volunteers into service -- our count is about 180 at any given moment.
Our goal is to work ourselves out of business: end poverty in this community. But it doesn't look like we'll be out of business anytime soon. Even as the economy begins to recover, our guest count doesn't appear to be tapering off.
Through the past few presidencies, there is a greater emphasis on allowing charities to do this kind of work. Oh, and faith-based initiatives. Just a kind way of saying "The government isn't interested in helping. Find a charity or church to feed the poor and shelter the homeless, care for the mentally ill and provide hope to those in prison (or recently released from prison -- pretty much one in the same. Probationers and parolees don't stand much of a chance of turning their lives around without companies willing to hire them, so they turn to charity or crime).
As soon as one suggests that government should swing the pendulum back in the other direction, you may as well have suggested America becoming a Socialist state. But that isn't true. America came out of the Great Depression on some serious government programs included in the New Deal. Social Security and the Tennessee Valley Authority are still around. Most of them faded before World War I.
It's time for the government to turn that corner and beef up services and programs that give people a fair shot at economic security. It shouldn't completely rest on nonprofit programs to assure that our communities are fed, housed, treated with health care and mental health services, and gainfully employed. Nonprofits should be filling in the gaps, rather than being the only place for people in crisis to turn.
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