It’s the season of loving! This Valentine’s season, we want to highlight something important: love of and in our community.
We have talked about community a lot on this blog: The community we serve, that we create, and the community we are supported by. Without our community and the love in their hearts for our mission, we wouldn’t be able to continue serving.
Our volunteers are some of our most loving and supportive members of the Renesting community. Every step of their work is full of love. They clean and prepare donated items, making sure our clients only receive items that are clean, functioning, and of lasting quality. When putting together kits, either for beds or kitchens, our volunteers work to make sure that items match and make sense together. They want our clients to love their new items.
Not to mention, they love each other. Our wonderful volunteers have forged friendships with each other and staff while serving at the Nest. They grab lunch or coffee together after volunteering (at least pre-Pandemic). Many of them love to cook and bake, and sharing sweet treats is very common at the Nest- they even bake birthday cakes!
And what could we do without the love of our donors? For example, this past Saturday we had winners come pick up their February Pop Up Auction items. One winner noticed we had a pretty low count of drop-offs that day. So she returned a little later with a trunk full! That is love- for our mission and for her community. The best part is, we have so many wonderful donors with similar stories.
Last, but certainly not least, the community we serve. The love we feel from our clients and our partner agencies keeps the love of our mission alive. Before we temporarily suspended deliveries and Renests, getting to see the looks on our clients’ faces when they received their items was heartwarming, to say the least. In one instance, a case manager had reached out to Renesting to ask about a multi-picture frame. The client had a large family and had shared many family photos with her case manager. Renesting and this case manager worked together to put those photos in a large frame that we hung on her wall when we Renested her. She was so grateful, so happy, so full of love for her family and new home. It was an unforgettable experience.
Of course, many of you know the story of the world’s best voicemail. An audio reminder of the love we have felt from clients, even as we have shifted to pick-up-only services. We feel, see, and hear love from our clients in other ways as well. Their case managers reach out to us to relay messages of gratitude. We hear it from them during exit interviews. Clients have even donated items previously donated to them- to share the love with their community now that they’re able.
We love our community. Our hearts are full and we can’t wait to see what happens next!