With a dozen group volunteer shifts a week, Crisis Assistance Ministry is a great place for colleagues to give back and spend a little time away from the daily demands of their workplace. Workgroups find helping stabilize families through volunteerism is a great option for both team building and staying engaged in their community.
Duke Energy Brings Summer of Service Here
On an extremely hot day in August, nearly 100 Duke Energy employees swarmed Crisis Assistance Ministry with energy, enthusiasm, and genuine concern for their neighbors. Led by Harry Sideris, executive vice president at Duke Energy, colleagues from their Customer Experience, Solutions & Services group inspected and prepared donated items, stocked the store with new and gently used clothing and household goods, and spruced up donation barrels for use in the community.
Look to the Helpers
Nearly every day, neighbors come through our doors hoping for help during a crisis. And nearly all the time, there are helpers here to comfort them and connect them to the resources they need to get through the day and move past their crisis toward a brighter future. In addition to staff, there are hundreds of individual helpers who volunteer to keep donated items flowing into the Free Store, to make sure paperwork is complete and ready for financial assistance caseworkers, to receive clothing and household donations at the drive-thru, or to provide snacks for families as they await services.
Ed is Hopeful for the Future
Ed Holland is a grandfather, a volunteer, and an all around good guy. He’s seen plenty of struggle as he connects with people in the community, but he also sees hope.
Celebrating Volunteers
Nearly every day, volunteers share their time and their energy to support of Crisis Assistance Ministry’s critical mission: to provide assistance and advocacy for people in financial crisis, helping them move toward self-sufficiency. During National Volunteer Appreciation Week, and every week, we salute every neighbor who pitches in to strengthen this community in priceless ways.
Overcoming Challenges, Reclaiming Purpose
After watching dementia slowly take her mother, battling her own depression, and ultimately retiring due to health difficulties, things got hard for Deborah. Loss of income and grief overtook her, and before long she was, in her own words, “sitting alone in the dark, with no lights, no food, and too much pride to ask anyone for help.”
That’s when the master’s prepared social worker found herself somewhere she never imagined: sitting across the desk from another social worker, seeking help to dig herself out. There, she remembers being met with kindness, concern, and hope.
Four Ways to Help Families This Spring
As seasons change, many families discover the need to refresh their wardrobes: children have grown, last summer’s shoes are worn out, and there’s not a matching set of socks to be found. For low-wage earners, these needs can wreck a carefully balanced budget. Here are four ways you can help these neighbors meet their basic needs this season.
When Need Is Great, Numbers Are Subjective
Walter and his furniture-construction partner, Nick, have lost count. They’ve been deep into Ikea instructions, constructing drawers, adding liner paper, and hauling dressers to sit with the others that volunteers from True Homes have made.
Was it five dressers they constructed? Six? They can’t recall. But 22 newly constructed dressers and 24 tables were added to Crisis Assistance Ministry’s Furniture & Appliance inventory.