Winter 2011 Newsletter Highlights
Featured Articles from the Winter 2011 Newsletter:
– Share Brings Holiday Festivities Home to Our Clients
– WHO Provides Warmth, Beds & Meals
– Volunteer Spotlight: Steve & Vicki Heil
– Bag Hunger for Share at Whole Foods Market!
To view a PDF version of the entire newsletter, please click here: Winter Edition 2011, Sharing Lives
Share Brings Holiday Festivities Home to Our Clients
Share’s Holiday Cheer Program joins with our community to make holiday wishes come true and to give joy to families in need. With our adopt-a-family and holiday party, Share reaches thousands of individuals each year.
Through our adopt-a-family program, homeless families get a chance to celebrate in the midst of what is probably the most difficult period of their lives. Adopted families are those living in Share shelters, involved with Share Outreach or enrolled in Share ASPIRE (transitional housing); they are surviving on extremely limited incomes and struggle to afford the most basic of necessities. Christmas presents are a luxury often out of their reach. Just knowing that somebody cares for them can make a major difference in their lives.
Share also hosts a holiday party, held this year on Dec. 15, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the Fraternal Order of Eagles, 107 East 7th Street. The party is free and open to the public and provides a complete holiday meal, carolers and a visit from Santa Claus.
Last year, Share distributed 12,000 gifts and helped 608 families through adopt-a-family during the holidays. This year the increased need of individuals and families is expected to surpass those numbers—your donations are truly appreciated and will sincerely brighten the lives of men, women and children in our community.
New gift items needed include:
• Women’s, Men’s, Teen’s and Children’s Clothing, including sweatshirts, underwear and socks (all sizes, including plus sizes)
• Shoes (all sizes, for men, women and children)
• Board games for all ages
• Gift Cards from any grocery, clothing or music store, movie theatre, etc., bus passes and gas cards
For a complete list of items needed, click here. New gift items can be dropped off at the following locations, dates and times:
Share Volunteer Center, 1708 Main Street
Dec. 1 to 11: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(Monday to Friday Only)
Share Fromhold Service Center, 2306 NE Andresen Road
Dec. 12 to 14: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dec. 15 & 16: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 17: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dec. 18: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Dec. 19 to 21: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information on Share’s Holiday Cheer Program, contact Susan Oberst, Director of Volunteers, volunteers@sharevancouver.org or (360) 750-4436 ext. 309.
WHO Provides Warmth, Beds & Meals
Wet weather and freezing temperatures place homeless people at risk of illness or injury. The Winter Hospitality Overflow Program (WHO) is the solution. Not only does the program provide a safe, warm place to sleep, it also provides the opportunity to help people get off the street.
Operated in partnership with St. Paul Lutheran Church, St. Andrew Lutheran Church and Council for the Homeless, WHO clients also receive a shower, a meal and the welcome and warmth of a caring community working to address the most basic of human needs. Generous contributions, donated facilities and thousands of volunteer hours are testimonials to the compassionate response of the Clark County community.
St. Andrew has a bed capacity of 42 for single women, couples and families, plus eight additional emergency family spots, for a
total of 50 beds. St. Paul has a bed capacity of 24 for single men. Each WHO shelter is staffed with professional Share case managers who help clients work toward self-sufficiency.
WHO opened Nov. 1 and beds are available on a first-call, first-serve basis through the Emergency Shelter Clearinghouse (ESC).
For more information about WHO, including volunteering, how to make donations (monetary or donations of clothing, food, etc.) or to access WHO services, please visit whoprogram.org.
Volunteer Spotlight: Steve & Vicki Heil
Submitted by Holley Walhood, Share’s Food Coordinator
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with Steve and Vicki Heil, who have been volunteering at Share House for the past five and a half years.
Steve and Vicki are very warm and kind, and within a few minutes of meeting them, most people feel that they are in the presence of good friends. They have been married for 36 years and often make me laugh the way they tease each other. They do it in a way that only two people who know and love each other very much can.
Steve and Vicki are originally from Union, Iowa but fell in love with Washington while visiting Vicki’s sister. After retirement, they decided to move here for the beautiful scenery and the mild weather.
They both enjoy volunteering for Share’s Hot Meals Program not only because they want to help others, but because they genuinely enjoy working with the staff and clients.
They volunteer the first two Tuesdays of each month and, even though they are usually the only volunteers on those days, they have the meal preparation down to a science. They always manage to get the entire meal prepared with time to spare. Share is very fortunate to have volunteers like Steve and Vicki, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
Vicki shared, in her own words, why she and Steve believe in volunteering for Share:
“We had both retired from the postal service and had just moved to Vancouver; we needed something to do with our time. I saw Share mentioned in the newspaper and thought it would be a great place to start. We were unsure what to expect, as neither of use had ever interacted with the homeless.
“Over the years, we have truly enjoyed our time at Share. Everyone we work with is so helpful and friendly and the guys often come back through the food line to thank us. It’s great to give something back to the people that need it most.”
If you are interested in volunteer opportunities at Share, please click here.
Learn about simple ways you can help make a real difference in people’s lives.
