Last Monday, it was confusing at first to witness Andrea Meadows, Tedford’s special projects and administrative assistant, carry and cram what looked like way too many totes and packaged housewares into her car at Tedford’s offices on Middle Street. Surely nobody could need all this stuff at once, I thought.
Kami Bard (left) and Andrea Meadows of Tedford Housing. Courtesy of Tedford Housing
Finally, the minivan was filled to bursting and Andrea drove to Tedford’s family shelter, where she met up with Family Case Manager Kami Bard. As the pair schlepped loads through the rain and inside, Kami explained an unusual coincidence of breakthroughs in securing permanent housing for several families who had been staying in the shelter. “Everything became available around the same time, so they just exited one after the other. Three families moved out of the shelter within the week.”
As manager of in-kind donations, Andrea delivers the needed supplies to the shelter, where Kami sets them up in each apartment. Gesturing around a kitchen piled high, they cheerfully enumerated the list of essentials that are provided to every new family. “Blankets, sheets, pillows, dishes, pots and pans, kitchen utensils, towels, hygiene stuff and cleaning stuff. Mop, bucket, shower curtain. Toilet paper, paper towels, silverware!”
The list is long because many families who have lost their housing are also forced to give up their possessions while experiencing homelessness. “A lot of the families will tell me when they move in that it feels like Christmas to them because they’ve been living in a car and they’re taking a bottle of water to brush their teeth,” Kami said. “So to have some new hygiene stuff, and towels, and a bathtub is amazing to them.”
Kami explained how the loss of safe storage space also slows the process of becoming re-housed. “It’s very common for people who are moving around a lot and are living in cars, that they are losing social security cards and birth certificates. If they don’t have those documents it takes longer because we can’t even start applying until we have those. You have to have ID for applying for any vouchers, any type of subsidy, even to enroll kids in school.”
Kami’s case management empowers families to reclaim the dignity and self-sufficiency that have been threatened by homelessness. The supplies play a part too. “Our guests always do love the pots and pans and spatula, because they can cook!” Everything each family receives will be theirs to take into their next home.
As they review the inventory, Kami and Andrea also discuss where they can add in unusual items that happen to be available. She especially relishes the occasional donated high-end bath and beauty items. “Any chance I get, when we have, like, the spa things donated, I always try to throw those in for the moms.”
Andrea expressed gratitude for our community of donors, who appreciate how guests’ experience at Tedford will influence their path to stability. “People are so generous when it comes to making sure families have their essentials,” she said. “And everything donated here is new.” Just as MCHPP provides a store-like shopping experience for its food pantry clients, by providing items in new condition Tedford conveys to our guests an affirmation of their dignity. See our household supply wish list at tedfordhousing.org/giving/wish-list.
You can see Andrea and Kami’s three-family setup day as it happened — please watch our one-minute video: youtu.be/WEWTt-uTEiU.
As we head into Hunger & Homelessness Awareness week from Nov. 13-16, we hope you will consider all the work that it takes from organizations like Tedford to assist the many families in our community who struggle to make ends meet. And if you are able, please consider supporting Tedford this holiday season.
Andrew Lardie is interim executive director at Tedford Housing.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
