Stewarding our Resources
by Patrick Lemmons
The emails and calls have just kept coming. The word has apparently spread about the services we offer at Impact, and we have seen a spike in recent months of new people calling and emailing us. These people are often asking about our Resource Center food pantry, about how to get clothes, or about how to keep from getting evicted, but also increasingly about their need for furniture and household items.
- Mario and his wife both lost their jobs and are struggling to pay rent.
- Angela is a disabled veteran with housing but no food.
- Dakota comes to our food distribution but is also in need of baby clothes, formula, and a washer.
- Llilda emailed in need of beds and dressers for her two kids.
- Denequa emailed in need of a microwave.
- Stephanie asked for clothes for her stepson, who just started a new job.
- Fretaria just came out of homelessness and is in need of furnishings for her new apartment.
- Bobbie was just moved to new housing but lost all her furnishings due to the previous apartment having black mold.
- Natalya came out of a domestic violence situation and is in need of a bed.
This is just a sampling of the emails that have come to our Resource Center address, and doesn’t include the many phone calls we recieve. Those who are facing eviction or with more complicated problems we gratefully refer to our Arms of Hope social workers. Those who ask about clothes and groceries are easier to answer – we respond by telling them about our Resource Center food distribution hours, or about the next clothes giveaway. And for those who don’t have transportation and are asking for groceries we often deliver them, tell them more about Impact, and ask them to make arrangements to come to our campus in the future.
Discerning the best way to respond to those asking for furniture and household items, however, falls to Eric Morales, who is in charge of our warehouse. And that process can beoverwhelming. For example, how should Eric decide who gets a bed when there are only so many beds in the warehouse? Many of those who need help also don’t have transportation, and while he is willing and able to deliver items in special cases, there are only so many hours in the day because of his other responsibilities. So how should he decide who he’s willing to deliver to? In addition, while there are some people in truly desperate situations, there are also those who simply call because they heard from someone that ‘Impact gives out free furniture,’ so how does he discern who truly needs it?
Eric has navigated this challenge as best he can and in an admirable way. He has committed to calling and emailing everyone back, even if it is to tell them that he doesn’t currently have the item they’re asking for. He has also chosen Fridays as the day of the week that he delivers to those in special need of it. And this is all while fulfilling his other duties – managing the rest of the warehouse and Impact’s transportation fleet.
So please pray for Eric, and also for the team who continues to do the sometimes thankless and always sweaty job of sorting and organizing what comes into the warehouse so that it can bless those who need it. And please continue to donate your gently used clothes, furniture and household items so that we can bless and provide for even more people!
