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Live United by Erin Haag

A nonprofit executive director asked to meet with me this week. This is the “consulting” portion of my job, where I provide support and a listening ear for sticky situations, a fresh perspective on programmatic changes or reading over a grant. It’s something I truly enjoy, and I hope to be able to do more of that in the future. The director walked in amidst volunteers coming to pick up for SEMCAC’s Meals to Go, other volunteers cleaning the pantry, and even more, volunteers working to install security cameras outside, taking advantage of the nicer weather. A community member stopped by to donate food to the Welcome Pantry and learn more about the needs; another group from a local business dropped off their Jingle Family gifts. The director looked around and said, “I think about the days when you started when it was you, then you and Heidi and Nikolle, and now — now this is a living, breathing place to be.”

I treasure their comments and their genuine admiration and respect for what has been created. As we had lunch with a group of volunteers to celebrate Merle’s upcoming graduation next week, we commented how we need more space and a bigger break room if we’re going to have all these things to celebrate! One volunteer will be gone for a while but promises to return and jokes that when he returns, we’ll have knocked out a few walls and built others.

In one week, we’ll be closed for a break that is well deserved. We’ll take turns monitoring phone calls and email, but otherwise, we’ll enjoy some quieter times, and maybe some organizing, and cleaning. I have a few plants that need to be repotted, and one that needs to go live somewhere else, because he’s not getting the sunshine and attention he deserves. Until then though, we’re working hard to make sure that everyone is warm, everyone is fed and that our Jingle families are able to be adopted out.

I’ve been wondering when a night like Thursday night was going to happen. We’ve known it was coming for a while. Thursday evening, we hit our capacity limit 20 minutes after we opened the doors. We turned away families — inviting them to come back on Saturday and providing additional food resources.

We packed emergency food boxes in the back, providing what we could to get families by until they could access other resources. We worry about how to keep up this next week with this huge increase. It worked out on Thursday evening, and we did the best we could. No one was angry. Families “shopped” the tables and racks of clothing, coats and other miscellaneous items that had been collected. Children played with each other in our toy corner, and others looked over our Little Free Library. Everyone in the waiting room got their groceries, and I held a tiny baby while her mama shopped, much to the jealousy of some of my volunteers.

The logistical challenges of serving over 80 households at the Welcome Pantry aren’t our only focus, though. Approximately half of the Jingle families that have been referred to us have been adopted, but we still have eight families left. Here are pieces of their stories.

One family of eight has a member of their family on hospice. One parent works full-time, and the other works part-time and is the sole driver for the family.

Another family of three has moved several times and, as a result, has lost things along the way. The teenage daughter wants to work to help support the family, but her father wants her to focus on her education. Teenager is receiving Christmas support, but her 11-year-old little brother is not. Dad has only requested some basic household supplies rather than gifts for himself.

One grandmother writes that she is on disability and has gained custody of her 12-year-old granddaughter. Much like my own daughter, she loves animal puzzles and art/drawing items, and her favorite color is Everything.

One writes, “I’m a single mom of three kids and one left for the Marines. I have my teen and 7 year old at home. I work 40-plus hours a week just to make sure I can pay my bills and the little extra I can spend on them, I do. I put their needs in front of mine so they can have a decent life.”

Another family writes about health issues faced the last two years. Handwritten by mom, on lined notebook paper, she writes about a challenging pregnancy and not being healthy enough to hold her youngest child. She writes about how it has changed their lives. “To have to really think about if somewhere had stairs, an elevator, ramp, a bathroom on the same level or nearby. Then to have to make decisions if it was worth it to go to holidays, events, get-togethers, store trips and parks. To have to re-think how to cook, clean, do hair, play, cuddle and drive everyone. I couldn’t even care for myself anymore as time went on.”

As my readers will know, my team and I always look for the small signs of hope and joy Of course, we found it with this family. She goes on to write the following, “I have finally received a serious surgery with an unknown amount still to come, so healing is finally in our future. As tiring as it has been, it has been amazing how our family has grown in unexpected ways, worked together differently and made new traditions that we love more than we thought possible. We learned how to slow down to take our lives moment by moment instead of rushing through it.

If you’d like to help contribute by adopting a family or even part of a family, let us know. You can email us at programs@unitedwayfc.org or call 507-373-8670. We’ll be monitoring email/phones this weekend to ensure we get families adopted on this last weekend before Christmas. As always, donations to keep our programs operational can be received at PO Box 686, Albert Lea, MN 56007. Any donation postmarked by Dec. 31 is tax deductible, or you’re also welcome to drop it in the white dropbox at 411 S. First Ave., Albert Lea, MN 56007.

Erin Haag is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.