- “Pick me” were the words of a first grader to get help with his letters and words at Rivera Elementary school
- “I sat in the car and cried” were the words of a community member who donated fresh eggs to the Meadows Community Center
- “I already have a job lined up” were the words of a young man who came out of 10 years of incarceration, and we were able to get him into a program to learn welding through Worknet
- “Jesus loves you” were the words of a volunteer who shared the Easter Story
- “I am learning so much” were the words of a staff member who is taking a college class.
- “I love to help, it keeps me grounded” were the words of a homeless person who volunteers at our center
- “I love seeing the kids having fun” were the words of a grandparent watching kids enjoying the outdoors
- “Thank you” were the words of dozens of people who received free help with their taxes
- “I want to learn more about God” were the words of a community member
- “Bless you” are my words to the staff for their amazing work and their dedication
- You have heard the stories of ‘bubble’ children, kids whose immune systems are so compromised that they cannot live in the normal environment, they have to be kept in isolation and miss out on so many things in life.
We often talk about all of us living in bubbles. It might be the neighborhood we live in, the career that we chose, the ethnicity that we were born with and live with, the faith community we attend. Every ‘bubble’ has its own language, its own culture, its own structures and opportunities.
Living in poverty has it’s own bubble. You constantly worry on how to pay bills, how to get to appointments, how to help your children, how to make life work. There is no time to step out of the bubble. No time to think about the future. No time or energy to move forward.
But the worse part is, that you don’t know anybody else who is not in the same situation. You don’t know people who could help you, provide you with other views, give you opportunities.
LifeLine is about ‘popping the bubble’. We want our community members to learn about options, to see other things, to dream about a preferred future for themselves and their children.
How do we pop the bubble?
- When we celebrate someone’s success and rejoice with them as they develop resilience and move forward
- When we walk with people through their struggles and ‘sit with them in the dark’
- When we provide connections and resources and open doors to move forward
- When we help lift the burden of food insecurity through our gardens and emergency food boxes
- When we give kids opportunities to learn and grow and see something else
- When we give people opportunities to use their gifts and strength to help others
- When we help first graders learn to read
- When we help seniors with paper work
- When we encourage youth to develop their skills
- When….
FACTS:
It takes $547 a day to facilitate our work.
We just completed VITA and brought over $548,000 back into our local community (and had dozens of amazing conversations).
We want to expand to a third community center this year.
We can always use more volunteers!