Tragedy, Promise and Hope

October is usually the month when I tend to turn my attention to the upcoming winter months. Before we gaze in that direction, however, it’s good to look back for a moment and reflect on the blur of time and energy, along with its tragedy and promise, that has passed since March. Continuing services throughout the spring and summer was a real test of planning and humility, but I’m proud of our staff who were able to fulfill our 3 fundamental goals during the early days of the pandemic: continue to distribute food and meals, continue to provide access to our social workers, and to safely keep open our two residential programs called Jefferson House and On the Rise Bakery. Now, as we move into colder months, much of our programming is looking more and more like “normal” but the upcoming cold weather brings its own ominous problems. One of our staff persons today said something like, “getting backed into a corner can give rise to creative ideas.” So just as all of us together found ways to continue services through 2020 so far, I’m sure we’ll figure out ways to support people as best we can through the upcoming winter.