|
|
SEEING POTENTIAL, NOT POVERTY
|
|
|
"
I received tires with assistance from Christmas for All this winter. I just wanted to thank you and your organization for helping me. Now that it's snowing, I'm so grateful that I can drive safely through it to get to school and the other places I need to get to."
- Thankful Christmas for All Year Recipient
We are thankful for your commitment to Kootenai County as we work together to promote the human flourishing of our neighbors. Here's a peak into what we've been up to:
|
|
|
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & SPOTLIGHT
|
|
|
Rides for a Reason - Sunnie Helling Purchases New Car
|
|
|
The CDA Press recently shared the amazing story
of Sunnie Helling's purchase of a Rides for a Reason
car. Before we zoom in on Sunnie's story, we wanted to share a roadmap of how the program works. Check it out:
|
|
|
Now let's zoom in on Sunnie's life, because these stories are what we're all about:
For years, while Sunnie struggled with addiction to alcohol, Sunnie and her daughters lived with whomever would take them in. Everything changed after she entered the women’s recovery program at the
Union Gospel Mission
(UGM).
While in the program at UGM, Sunnie worked to transform her life beyond recovering from addiction.
She earned her GED and now works part-time at the Adult Education Center at NIC while studying full-time. She’ll graduate with an associate degree in the spring, walking alongside her 17-year-old daughter, who is dual-enrolled at NIC and plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Lewis-Clark State College. She has been sober for nearly four years.
Sunnie's previous car was barely running, and she was referred to the Rides program by the Center for New Directions
. Sunnie is a full-time student and works part-time, so she meets all the requirements to purchase a Rides vehicle!
As Sunnie waited for a vehicle to be available for purchase, she pursued the Budgeting Course offered by Mountain West Bank
. Joy with MWB shared:
"When I met Sunnie, I knew she had the drive to do what it takes for her and her daughters...Among [everything] on her plate, she still met me over the course of three weeks to complete the curriculum... She’s worked hard and deserved this chance!"
Sunnie also attended the Vehicle Maintenance 101 workshop offered by Lake City Auto
. Thanks to what she learned in that class, she was able to keep her barely running car going until a Rides car became available.
Once a car was ready, Lake City Auto, through its subsidiary, Lake City Preowned, made sure it was a good fit for Sunnie and facilitated the purchase. Their operations manager, Jessica, described the interaction this way:
|
|
|
|
|
"True to her name, Sunnie radiated excitement, gratitude, and kindness throughout the entire process. It is immensely fulfilling for us to participate in this program, helping hardworking and truly deserving individuals gain access to reliable transportation, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to our community.”
|
|
|
KTEC
students repaired the Nissan Versa, an opportunity to impact not only people like Sunnie but also the lives of the students working on the cars. John with KTEC shared how they are "able to have conversations with the students about the people we're helping, and they really buy in. Some of the students have lived in situations very similar to the ones facing the people buying these cars, and they get committed to helping through their work
."
|
|
|
|
Sunnie and the other hard-working individuals purchasing vehicles through Rides don’t see this as charity, they see it as an opportunity. They are so grateful to have access to something they can do themselves.
Rides for a Reason is
accepting car donations
. Community members who donate vehicles get a reduction on their taxes, but the greatest satisfaction they receive comes from the vital role they play in this life-changing work.
Read the full CDA Press article here
. Watch KXLY's coverage of the story in this short video
(2 1/2 minutes).
|
|
|
DOING BENEVOLENCE BETTER
(with dignity)
Reimagining charity is about digging into how we help the needy:
Not just loving with our hearts and hands but loving with our minds, too.
|
|
|
We are continuing our overview of
True Charity
's Mental Illness & Poverty
course
. In part 2, Restoration Counseling
's Brian Fidler discusses how you can utilize informal evaluations to assess your clients' mental health.
Importantly, a true evaluation and assessment should be done by a professional. However, you have to have ways to make sense of those you work with. Brian's aim is to empower and equip you to be able to conduct informal evaluations in order to do this.
Brian points to two processes that can illuminate someone's mental health: your intake process (forms, interviews) and self-reporting (what they say when you ask them a question).
Through these two avenues, it is your job to watch and listen for:
- Isolation
(How isolated? Does anyone know them?)
- Helplessness / hopelessness
(no way out / feel stuck)
- Expressions of loss or grief
(especially loss of something they rely upon)
- Stories of trauma or abuse
(defined by the person who experienced it)
- Addictive Behaviors
- Threats to self or others
As you hear the person you're with talk about these things, you can then "categorize" their mental health by tiers in order to triage
(not to put them in a box):
- Fairly Mild
: some symptoms of mental illness, or none at all; fairly high function.
- Moderate
: starting to decrease ability to function on a daily level; ongoing trauma
- Severe
: severe symptoms of mental illness, not functioning well at all, can't find way to break through to them, addiction putting others in harm, you feel severity of struggle
- Suicide/Homicide
: this is an altogether different level and require urgent intervention
You can even create a "tiered approach" reference guide for those in your organization to refer to as they interact with others.
Next month, we'll discuss part 3 where Brian discusses what YOU can do for a person within each tier listed above.
|
|
|
REFERRING PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
|
|
|
Hope Reins Foundation
strives to enrich the community by affecting positive change in the mental health, personal development, and relationships of local youth, families, and veterans through equine experiences based on the EAGALA and ARCH methods of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning in a beautiful, safe, and experiential setting.
We're thrilled to introduce them as a new partner!
|
|
|
|
Referring Partners are the boots on the ground, our community's Unsung Heroes, serving the poor who refer their clients to Charity Reimagined for specific assistance tailored to our work.
|
|
|
BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
|
|
|
DDS Northwest
offers exceptional dental care to the Coeur d'Alene area. Whether you need a simple cleaning, gentle injection or extra care, their doctors and staff strive to help you feel comfortable.
We are excited to share their new partnership!
|
|
|
|
Business Partners offer their services at a discount in order to meet the needs of those rising out of hardship. They give clients the dignity of interacting in the business world for their needs, not just receiving handouts. The role played by these partners cannot be overstated!
|
|
|
Partner's Appreciation
"We are building a comprehensive behavioral health program to partner with our medical program. I wanted to share the video about Shawn
, one of our patients at Street Medicine. This is a testament to the work we do with the support of Charity Reimagined [and others]. Thank you all for everything you do to help the most vulnerable people in our community. We are eternally grateful. "
-Chris Green,
Heritage
Health Street Medicine
|
|
|
If you're new or would like to learn more, we'd love to grab coffee with you and get connected. Your partnership makes effective charity in Kootenai County possible.
|
|
|
OUR VISION
No matter how big or small, no single church, charity, or “helping” organization can meet all needs. But, by all of us working together through communication and collaboration to identify categories of care and responding appropriately, pride can replace shame, hope can replace despair, and lives can be changed.
|
|
|
|
Our Contact Information
*{{Organization Name}}*
*{{Organization Address}}*
*{{Organization Phone}}*
*{{Organization Website}}*
*{{Unsubscribe}}*
|
|
|
|
