|
Episode #2308
Helping Through the Holidays
Lewis: During the holiday season more focus is given towards helping those in need. We’ll talk with two charitable organizations about what they are doing and what you can do next on Black Issues Forum.
VO: Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting UNC-TV.
Lewis: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Black Issues Forum. I’m Mitchell Lewis. We hear a lot during the holidays that it is a time of giving. It’s usually easy to give to someone you know but what about the person who isn’t family or a friend who is in need? On this edition of Black Issues Forum we will talk with representatives from two charitable organizations who see the needs of others not only during the holidays but year around. And we will meet someone who is new to our state who will share with us her views on the importance of giving. And before we close out we will let you know how you can help. Our guests for this program are Ashley Delamar, Director of Operations and Communications for the Salvation Army of Wake County, Sylvia Wiggins, Founder and Director of the Helping Hand Mission based in Raleigh, and Mina Danielson, a native of New Orleans who came to North Carolina after surviving Hurricane Katrina. And to the three of you, welcome to Black Issues Forum.
Wiggins: Thank you. Glad to be here.
Lewis: Sylvia, I will start off with you. Give us a little bit of background as to why you decided to start Helping Hand Mission.
Wiggins: Helping Hand Mission, Helping Hand is such a grassroots phrase that it covers lending a helping hand to anyone in need. It started with me being born of a mother who died when I was being born. And as I grew up I just saw the need to help others. I won’t claim the credit because many volunteers and friends helped us to put this together to be able to offer hands-on support to families in need.
Lewis: And, Ashley, of course a lot of people have heard a lot about the Salvation Army but give us a background about the Wake County chapter.
Delamar: Well, the Wake County chapter is actually the first chapter of the Salvation Army in the Carolinas, North or South Carolina. We have been serving the citizens since 1887. So we have a long history of meeting needs right here locally throughout the county.
Lewis: And, Mina, I will get you in the conversation. Now I understand that you came here from New Orleans. What was it like being displaced from your home and coming to North Carolina? What were some of the things you had to deal with?
Danielson: It was starting all over again. You know, I had to find out—make new friends. Find out how to—where to get help from, you know, start all over. I met Ms. Wiggins and she helped me a lot with all different things that I needed to do.
Lewis: And, of course, Sylvia, looking at this time of year, it seems like people are drawn to give towards this time of the year although it seems like there are needs throughout the year. What are some of the challenges your organization is facing especially when it comes to giving?
Wiggins: Well, there are so many families right now, some of them haven’t even had their heat turned on because of the high cost of the utility bills; some people are going through different kinds of problems, health problems, diabetes, paying a lot of money for medicine. There are different reasons that they can’t provide for their families this time of the year. It gives us a chance to meet the people, to go to there and do home assessments and to find out what the need is and this time of the year people have a tendency to open up and to let you know a little bit about how you can help. This time is more open than any other time of the year.
Lewis: And, Ashley, being a part of Salvation Army it seems like you have the same challenges but also a rather unique challenger as it relates to the Salvation Army.
Delamar: That’s true. We are fortunate with the Salvation Army to have such a world recognized symbol in our shield and fortunately that brings with it a sense of credibility to our services. But also it is an obstacle in itself. A lot of individuals give us credit and support us based on our history. But they don’t really know what we do. So it is an ongoing struggle for us in not just providing direct service but educating. We always want people to know to the deepest roots of what we do, what it is we do and how we change lives. We offer so many programs beyond what you would think about at the Christmas season, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day we are meeting needs and changing lives. But we want people to see beyond the red shield that the world knows.
Lewis: Now are there some other areas that people may not be aware of that—as far as services are concerned that the Salvation Army provides.
Delamar: Absolutely. First and foremost, in Wake County we operate a 34-bed shelter for women and children. It is located in downtown Raleigh. We house women who have come to the area or are residents of the area who have fallen on hard times. Many of our clients are as simple as one to two paychecks away from being homeless, being without lights, being without food. And that’s a service we provide to anyone in need but, obviously, women and children are our focus. We have crisis assistance programs that are aimed at catching people on that short fall, that they may receive a government service. That government service just isn’t enough to make it happen. As of a 2005 study, half of all North Carolina women with children fall below the acceptable standard of living. And that is where the Salvation Army comes to the table.
Lewis: And Sylvia, I understand that the mission actually has several branches and people look at helping folks and it seems like when it comes to compassion there really is no color involved when it comes to compassion. But do you see more challenges, say, among folks in the minority community?
Wiggins: I do see a lot of challenges, pretty much more. Because a lot of the people are living in substandard housing, dealing with substandard housing your heat bills, you know, it doesn’t have enough insulation. A lot of people are renting. There are a lot of people that don’t see a way out of that rut. They are having—and you see another generation being born and that we need to jump in and to educate, to show them a different way. So you know a lot of times there are such things living in certain neighborhoods and I been living here all these years, grandma lived here, but you know what? The services a lot of times aren’t in those neighborhoods. You might move away and you get different things in different areas, you get better housing development.
Delamar: I’d like to add to that if I could, and that is that virtually a Caucasian male earning a 100% salary and an African American male only earns about 75% of that salary and even further down the line an African-American female is only earning about 64% of that salary. So the wage is a significant issue when it comes to service and brings that population to the forefront of need.
Lewis: And, Mina, of course when you got here to North Carolina you didn’t know anyone. And you didn’t know what type of direction you were going in. What was it like when you met up with Sylvia? How did she help get you kind of back on the road?
Danielson: Well, she—I’m staying at the New Bern House which she runs. And I volunteer over at, you know, the mission. And she takes me around to different places, you know, to do the things that I have to take care of.
Lewis: And, of course, thinking of volunteerism and things of that nature especially this time of the year, there are some people out there who are kind of reluctant to give to organizations because they question, okay, where is the money going? I’ll start of with you, Ashley, how do you go about making sure, because you have state regulations, federal regulations and that sort of thing. What do you do to make sure that everything is above board?
Delamar: Well, as a charity you have to really be your first check and balance system. And the Salvation Army strives to be transparent in everything that we do. We want the donors and the volunteers and the clients to know how we are using their resources, be it volunteer time, be it cash donations, or in-kind donations. So our financials are an open book. We want everyone to know what it is but we also make every effort to publicize how we use the dollars. We ended our last fiscal year using 90 cents of every dollar directly in community service. So we don’t want to ever fall below that benchmark in Wake County. That’s a standard we hold ourselves to. But the Salvation Army, as a worldwide organization, opens itself up twice a year to internal and external audits. Again, we make sure that we check ourselves and then we ask the community to come behind us and check us as well.
Lewis: Sylvia?
Wiggins: At the Helping Hand Mission we provide hands-on. We welcome volunteers. We want them to come into the facility to see what we are doing. We want them to go to homes when we carry toys and gifts. Bring your group, bring the family, let’s involve ourselves and meet the people. And there is no better way to see where your dollar is going as when you involve yourself. That’s when you come down to New Bern House, see some of the rooms that have been decorated by volunteers, see where your donations are going. And, also, with Operation Warm Clothing and some of the other programs that we do, involve yourself to see where your money is going.
Lewis: Now, are you having any challenges in getting volunteers to actually come and participate?
Wiggins: Fortunately the volunteer project is working very good. All the way from university and colleges, from Boy Scout troops, from parents, churches, civic clubs, it has been a very good year with people coming in and volunteering. And also with the schools now requiring students to do 20-25 hours of volunteer work, that really works. And it also shows young people what the homeless have to put up with and the things that they go through. And so it is a win/win situation for everybody.
Lewis: And both to you, Ashley and Sylvia, what are some of the things that you are in need of now?
Delamar: Sylvia?
Wiggins: All right. We—it takes money to keep it going. It takes money ___. We are able to get our volunteers to the stores, to go to some of these big discount chains and say I have X amount of dollars, will you match that? To be able to plan on, we also do have families right now that need sponsorship that they can meet directly with, family and work with them and to provide through them. We also have a list; we have a wish list of young people asking for toys and gifts. At New Bern House dedication of rooms, where families live, we have a playroom where families moved in and the families are traumatized, we have a place where the young people can go and they don’t have to be traumatized. They can come somewhere and be comfortable. Have a little security blanket, so to speak. So the need is all over the place.
Delamar: And I would like to build on that. Obviously the Salvation Army, we like to think that we are partners, not just think, we like to know that we are partners in what we do. And echoing all of the needs that Sylvia has at the Helping Hand Mission, the Salvation Army has the same needs. But we want people to also if they can to bottle this spirit of giving and volunteerism that they have at this time of the year and keep it going. There are 12 months in a year, and our services do not decline. If anything else we see an increase throughout the year. So think about how it is that you as an individual, as a company, as a civic group, can get involved. It is not just dollars. Dollars are terrific, we need them. Material resources, we need them. But as a volunteer we want your heart, we want your passion, we want your hands, we want you working with our ministries and helping people.
Danielson: All through the year instead of just Christmas.
Lewis: And, of course, you have been volunteering. How important has that been for you especially since you came here and you’ve gotten assistance from Sylvia and you are giving back in volunteering. How important is that to you?
Danielson: It’s very important. It’s a privilege to be here and be giving back to what people gave me when I first got here, not having anything.
Wiggins: We also had a meeting with the Department of Social Services, Cheerful Giving, and Holiday Giving. The Salvation Army was represented. And, you know, they have kicked off the doing most good campaign and they—we strategize how to reach more people, how to spread your base around, how to have checks and balances. If you are helping one person to make sure that person is being taken care of through the Salvation Army, Helping Hand Mission, Raleigh Rescue Mission, other organizations so we won’t ___. We can spread our resources. It was a very good meeting.
Lewis: And I understand, Ashley that the organizations have sort of gotten together in a way to make sure that in spreading all the giving, that you are not doing duplications. Talk about that.
Delamar: Absolutely. And that comes down to being responsible to the donor. You know, our obligation is first and foremost to meet need and help people. But secondly we have to let our donors know how we are using their dollars. And if we are assisting clients with the same levels of assistance from different agencies, that is not being effective. So we have all come to the table and opened up our books essentially. So these are the services we are providing, these are the individuals we are helping. Now let’s make sure that if we are giving them one level of assistance, you are not duplicating that same level of assistance. Now at the same time, Wake County, for a single mother and a single parent, to pay bare bones expenses, they have to make almost $40,000 a year. That’s providing housing, transportation, healthcare, childcare, miscellaneous expenses and food, just the basics of life. And as I said before, 50% of the population is not making that. So there is plenty of need to go around.
Lewis: And since we are talking about the holiday season, is there a specific age group or a specific group of people that seem to have the greatest need at this time?
Delamar: Well, kids in general. I mean, we all know that. Our services do not discriminate by age, by income, by race, any capacity. But everyone wants to help kids. But we do have a problem as I am sure that Sylvia sees, meeting the needs of those older children, children ages nine to twelve. They are more difficult to shop for, the items they want are a little more expensive, and it may not be as easy for families to adopt one of those. But they’re kids too. There are items that they can be provided with that the typical family can’t afford. And we just ask that people would think about them as well. And then our senior citizens. Many of them obviously are living on a fixed income, very little resources and for them all it takes is someone stopping by and a touch, a touch on a hand, we have a program called League of Mercy where we provide hygiene gift packs at Christmas to the Wake County Prison as well as nursing homes. About 7,000 of those gift packs go out but most importantly we have a group of volunteers that go out and touch them. Sit beside them, talk with them, let them know somebody cares; these individuals may not have family. It may be some of the only visits they get every year.
Lewis: Go ahead, Sylvia.
Wiggins: A lot of times at the mission we try not to define ourselves. We find out when we do you miss someone. We try to be compassionate. And doing home assessments, when we do home visits and we visit families, we see things in the home that needs to be addressed. Sometimes we see children sleeping on the floor. We see families that, look in the refrigerator, nothing in it. So, you know when we see that little something, sometimes we go back to the mission and I am sure you do it at the Salvation Army, we go back to the mission and we find little things that will make it so much better. And I was just the other day here if I can give a reference, a volunteer family went with us on a visit, they saw a need, they returned with groceries. And one of the ladies had received a plate from an organization that does give food and she had a banana. And she wanted to give it to the lady’s little girl. And that made her feel so good. So we try not to define ourselves. Sometimes it is the older people, the young people. There is always a need. And the thing is, just like being there, just to be a help and to provide assistance.
Lewis: And, Mina, get you back in here so you won’t feel alone here. Especially during the Christmas holidays, who have you come to, say, depend on as your family while you are here?
Danielson: Miss Sylvia. [LAUGHS]
Lewis: And how has she helped you in that point?
Danielson: Well, she’s been my support, you know, she has been there when I needed to talk to somebody. You know, she’s helped me do different things. She’s just been there for me.
Lewis: And I understand because—tell us about your family. Tell us about your family.
Danielson: Well, I haven’t spoken to anybody, you know, in my family. Three and a half months after the hurricane I found out my mother was found in her house, you know, she didn’t make it out. I have a sister and brother, I haven’t spoken to them. I don’t know where they are. I came here alone. So I have no family here.
Lewis: But you have a new family.
Danielson: I have a new family, yes.
Sylvia: I’ll tell you when I met her, her accent; I didn’t know who she was when I first met her. Her accent, I said, you are not from here! She said, “I’m from New Orleans.” And then she told me that she was a victim and we got to talking. And, you know, she pulled herself up. She’s been a very beautiful person and she’s been with all the tragedy and all the things that have happened in her life, she is giving back. She’s done visits with us. She’s given back to families and kids and she’s been just a blessing. And that’s what it’s all about, it’s all about giving, receiving, helping, it’s like need a penny, take a penny. And that’s the theory for my Operation Warm Clothing. If you got a coat, give a coat, if you need a coat, take a coat. And that’s what it’s all about. A closet full of clothes is no good for nobody. Pass it on and let somebody use it.
Lewis: And go ahead, Ashley.
Delamar: Well, I would just like to say that individuals like Mina are—they are part of our community now. And as she said their need hasn’t gone away. Hurricane Katrina is long gone by the calendar but the need still exists. The Salvation Army we are so fortunate to have two staff, two full-time staff that are key to us who came here just like she did as a result of the hurricane. So they are giving to our community, they are involved in our community and the need exists for them still. So we just hope people will be compassionate when they meet an individual who might be in the same situation.
Lewis: And quickly, you had talked about a program that the Salvation Army has involving gift cards.
Delamar: Yes, this is very exciting. Obviously, we are a charity. We are always looking for ways to engage donors and give them a new opportunity to give. The gift cards will be a $100 billion industry, and that’s with a “B,” this year, a $100 billion. Ten billion of those gift cards will go unclaimed. Individuals many not spend any portion of it or they may have a few cents left on those cards. You can donate those cards to your local Salvation Army in any community in any part of the United States, we will collect those cards, send them to our partner firm and they will send us a check back. So by giving us those unused dollars we can turn them directly into service dollars in your local community.
Lewis: Mina, I would like to ask you especially being a volunteer and getting to meet people, how important has that been for you in getting acclimated to North Carolina?
Danielson: It’s been very important because like I said, I came here not knowing anybody. And getting and volunteering and helping people and talking to people, I am getting to know the people here.
Lewis: And we are getting close to the end of our time but I have a two-fold question for the two of you. One, why did you decide to get involved in this type of service and what advice would you offer to someone who would consider getting into this type of service? I’ll start with you, Ashley.
Delamar: Okay, I’ll take the second question first. First and foremost is clarity of mission. If you are interested in getting involved in a charity or just supporting a charity with your hard-earned dollars, make sure that that charity has clarity of mission. You know what their purpose is, you know what their goals are. And on the reverse side of that, make sure they are accomplishing that mission. They have to be held accountable. Why did I get involved in what I do? It’s changing lives. Where else do you get to go everyday, leave at the end of the day knowing you had a positive impact on someone’s life who needed you, needed your organization at that time and they are thankful for what you have done?
Lewis: Sylvia?
Wiggins: Well, primarily, my mother died when I was born and it started when I was little. Somebody gave to me. Somebody helped me out. And once I got past that I wanted to do the same thing. I wanted to reciprocate. I want to give back. I want to give totally. And my goal is to do something wonderful, somebody can do something wonderful just do something wonderful to people. Just encourage people. Give lives. And you know what, with young people, teach and preach love and caring. And you know what? Our legacy will be to help someone in need, to always give back and to improve your community whether you are doing it with animal control, animals or people or kids, youth, which is my project, wherever you do it at, just get on out there and make an impact on somebody’s life.
Lewis: Mina, if there is a message that you could give to folks telling them how important it is to give back, what would you tell those folks? If somebody would ask you, why should I give back? It’s my money, why is it important?
Danielson: Because you never know when you are going to need something. You know, when something is going to happen in your life and you are going to need that person to help you. So you should help them, you know, help other people.
Lewis: And we are under a minute so I wanted to make sure and get this in. But just in case folks want to donate to the cause, where do they need to go and what do they need to do? Sylvia?
Wiggins: Okay, Helping Hand Mission is located at 623 Rock Quarry Road and we are off of Exit 300 off the beltline. Come on down, I’ll give you a tour of New Bern House. And you know what? I’ll give you the name of a family, we’ll work directly. We’ll just get on out there and have fun and beat the bushes and find the need. And bring smile to family faces.
Delamar: For the Salvation Army the quickest way is to hit us online at keepthebellringing.org at your local Salvation Army in Wake County. Or anywhere you see the red shield, stop in.
Lewis: And I think we will stop it here. Thank you all so very much for being with us and happy holidays to all of you. Once again, I would like to thank my guests for being here. And if you would like to get in touch with our guests or obtain a copy or a transcript of this program visit us online at unctv.org/bif. When you visit be sure to give us your comments and program suggestions. You can also call us on the BIF line at 919-549-7167. For Black Issues Forum, I am Mitchell Lewis. Thanks for watching.
VO: Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting UNC-TV.
[END OF RECORDING]
|
