Perched in a flowering tree just outside the windows of the Queen Anne Helpline office on McGraw Street is a tiny hummingbird nest. How tiny? Make a circle by touching your thumb and forefinger together. The nest could easily fit into that space.
The green-feathered mama sits patiently on her two to three eggs, alert to the possibility of threats to her and her babies’ well-being. Every so often, she flits away for the food she needs to satisfy her incredibly rapid metabolism. Such a small creature doing such a huge job. A hard-working survivor.
Inside the Helpline office are survivors of a different sort: people — your neighbors — who have had a run of bad luck and have suddenly found themselves struggling to obtain the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter.
A familiar situation
After she read my March 20 column, “Home Away from Homelessness,” executive director Lisa Moore invited me to come and see what the Queen Anne Helpline is doing to help.
“Our clients are people who have always lived by the rules and worked hard,” said Moore, who has been with the Helpline since September 2012. “It’s a common theme. People are devastated by a job loss or medical emergency, causing both financial and disability issues.”
A woman in her 50s, who had lived in her apartment for 22 years, was laid off from her job. Her unemployment benefits ran out, and too embarrassed to ask for help, she began selling personal items on Craigslist. When she went to the Queen Anne Helpline, she said, “I just want a job. I just want to work.”
A family of four was struggling after the father had emergency surgery and, being self-employed, lost his income. They were closer to homelessness than they ever dreamed possible.
A young mother in dental-hygiene school was struggling with school and child-care costs, along with rent and food. How does a single mom trying to better her situation do so?
As Moore told client stories, I was seized by the realization that, despite appearances, many of us are or have been a heartbeat away from similar stories.
My husband’s business dwindled during the economic crisis a few years ago, forcing us to cut back on things we had previously taken for granted. Later, his near-fatal accident permanently disabled him from working. And not long after that, I was laid off from my job. It was hard, it was real and it was scary.
“Once people visit our clothing bank,” said operations and office manager Kristin Moore-Huey (no relation to Lisa), “they are perfectly hidden, which keeps us from knowing.”
We pass people on the street all the time who are struggling with basic needs.
“There is a real need on Queen Anne and Magnolia,” Moore said. In our three ZIP-code radius, between shelter beds and subsidized housing, there are 1,200 units for our neighbors.
Various types of support
The Helpline, whose goal is to keep people in their homes, provides financial and basic-needs assistance.
“You can’t look for a job if you don’t have housing,” Moore explained. Rent and utility assistance comes from funding from individual donors and some corporate or foundation support. “The goal is to help people move out of their situation and live independently, with the help of job training, financial support, reeducation and child care.”
The Helpline collaborates with other social-service agencies to align services and provide a collective impact. The Ballard Food Bank, St. Vincent de Paul and the Queen Anne Food Bank are the main partners in the effort to help the population served by the Helpline.
“Collectively, we can do so much more than individually,” Moore said. The Helpline embodies the “it takes a village” philosophy.
In our little village on Queen Anne, upscale boutiques and restaurants line the streets. It’s easy to pretend that we live in a place immune from such troubles as Queen Anne Helpline clients suffer, but we don’t. And if we can, we must help.
It’s not difficult. We don’t need to travel far to make a difference. We can help our own neighbors by donating time, money or goods to the Queen Anne Helpline.
Cleaning out your closet? Donate those clothes to the Helpline. See some canned goods or nonperishable food on sale? Buy some for the Helpline. Having a birthday party? Ask guests to donate to the Helpline, instead of bringing gifts.
There is a need for IT support, event planning and data entry. One volunteer, a nurse in the neighborhood, calls herself “the cereal woman.” She shops for deals on cereal and donates numerous boxes each month.
A happier ending
There are many ways to help. But the first step is acknowledging that there is a need and that your neighbors are the people in need. Under the Queen Anne Helpline’s sign are the words, “Neighbors Helping Neighbors since 1982.”
I imagine, if she could, that little hummingbird looking in the window of the Helpline office would be impressed by what she sees: a bare-bones but warm and welcoming room filled with hardworking staff, volunteers and survivors.
And what the Queen Anne Helpline may lack in décor, it makes up for in its product: honor, pride and self-sustenance.
IRENE HOPKINS’ column appears on the third Wednesday of the month. She can be reached at hopkinsirene23@gmail.com.
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