It’s been a crazy year, that we know for sure. This year, the needs of our community shifted, and grew considerably. It was a year of many changes, pivots, reevaluations, and more.
We had to come together to figure out how to safely serve those that utilize our Food and Nutrition Center. We had to restructure the way that our groups met, making sure that everyone was able to properly distance. We had to reevaluate our Summer STEM Camp and the After-School Program, while providing that much needed stimulation and normalcy for our students. We pivoted to using technology like Zoom to check-in with our teens. And finally, as we wrapped up this year, we also had to re-write the 66-year-old blueprint of Christmas Cares, Unions Share. The challenge in front of us was feeding more people, with less volunteers, while using a new system that we have never tried out before, and it was a huge success—over 2,300 families (over 9,200 individuals) had food on the table at Christmas.
This was also the year of the heroes, and we had many walk through our door this year. But three stand out to us. We wanted to take this moment to thank three special Food and Nutrition Center volunteers, Maria, Scott, and Rick. The “Trio” as we like to call them here at St. Stephen’s Community House, have collectively put in over 900+ hours of service during the pandemic. At times, it was only them—helping our staff provide food to the 100+ households that visit the FNC daily. They are our heroes and have become like family to us. So, thank you to our Trio!
We could not have had the impact that we did without the staff, volunteers, donors and our resilient community. What makes St. Stephen’s Community House special is our community. We don’t know what’s ahead in 2021, but with our mission to guide us, and with all of you with us, we will continue to strengthen families and empower our community together.
Happy New Year!