BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s Christian Assistance Bridge (CAB) offers many kinds of emergency help year ‘round to families and the elderly who are temporarily struggling. That help can take the form of assistance with emergency car repairs so the client can get to work; help in resolving an issue with a landlord, fixing a leak that’s driving the client’s water bill to unsustainable levels, providing emergency food for more than 1,500 folks in the community or any number of other emergency services.
Kate Williams, executive director of CAB, says dispensing all those services and provisions stretches her 37 part-time volunteers.
“It truly takes a village to do all of this, and while volunteers dispense the food, services, counseling and expertise in areas such as budgeting and job assistance, we depend on partners in the community to provide us with the food and financial assistance,” Williams said. “With our town growing and more people to serve, we desperately need more donations and more volunteers.
“Schools and churches usually do most of the food drives. Our financial help usually comes from individuals in the community, some grants, and from local businesses and service clubs. For instance, Fairfield Electric passes along funds collected in their Roundup program.
“To provide more services, we also need to be open more days. Right now, we’re only open Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. By the end of the year, we’ll probably be open on Tuesdays as well, and by the time Scout opens, we’ll likely need to be open Monday through Thursday,” she said. “The need is growing.”
With more than 1,500 clients, one of the greatest challenges CAB faces on a weekly basis, is being able to provide enough food to help families in the community who are in need. Last year, CAB dispensed almost 70,000 pounds of food. They have 50 senior clients on a senior food program, and they come in monthly to pick up groceries.
“The storm relief we provided last winter kind of dwindled down our reserve,” Williams said. “Many of our pantry shelves are empty right now.”
To help replenish them Williams recently held a community open house to acquaint the community with what CAB does and what its needs are. While the food trucks, volunteers, and entertainment showed up for the event, the sunshine and clear skies didn’t.
“It was an outdoor event, and, unfortunately, the weather was rainy and unseasonably cool, so not many attended,” she said.
Williams took the opportunity, though, to talk with The Voice about CAB’s growing needs.
“As for food items, we’re really low on everything right now – pasta, pasta sauces, canned tomatoes, soup, canned vegetables, rice and beans, peanut butter and jelly, any canned or dry goods, especially canned fruit and meat, and mac and cheese,” she said.
The food pantry is managed by Loretta Reeder, a part-time volunteer, and her husband.
“Loretta organizes the jobs each morning in relation to the food donations and distribution and makes sure the volunteers know what their jobs are,” Williams said. “Most of our volunteers work with the food pantry, but others volunteer to help clients with budgeting, income taxes, and other areas of emergency assistance.
“I think most people don’t know about some of the things we provide in addition to providing food,” Williams said. “For instance, we have a line item in our budget for foster parents. A family might have only 10 days to make adjustments to their home before the foster child arrives, such as having approved beds and mattresses. We will provide those. Maybe the fostering agency requires a shed to be removed from a backyard for safety reasons. We’ll tear it down and haul it off. Or maybe they need a fence installed around a pool …we’ll do that. There are lots of needs that we can meet to help a family provide foster care.
“We have seniors in the community who have dogs or cats, but struggle to have the resources to feed both themselves and their pets. One of our partners, Hoof and Paw, provides us with pet food that we pass along to our senior clients who need it,” Williams said.
Many of William’s encounters with clients naturally lead to her or her volunteers helping them set up a budget that will help them in the long run with their rent, utility bills …things that will help them get back on their feet.
“Some are struggling with high phone bills. We help them get discounts or suggest a different service such as Visible cell service that’s only $25 a line with free unlimited texts and calls,” she said. “It uses the same cell towers as Verizon. I have it myself,” Williams said.
Other clients need help completing income tax forms or financial assistance to help them move from a costly motel room into an apartment.
“It’s important to just get people in to talk about how much they spend, and then look at their income. We kind of brainstorm with them to find out what they could be doing with the time they have to make a little more money to get over the hurdle,” she said.
“Sometimes, it’s just saying, “Hey, you’re really amazing, and you’re only getting paid $12 an hour. With your qualifications, you could make a lot more money doing this other job. We try to give them that self-confidence to apply for a better job,” Williams said. “A lot of clients just need someone to cheer them on.”
Williams says it’s hard for most clients to come in that first time to ask for help. They are out of work, have had illness and don’t have insurance, or maybe can’t come ahead because of bad credit.
“On average, our families come to us three times before they kind of get back on their feet and don’t come anymore,” she said.
“Our goal is to dispense something more to our clients than an assistance check or a box of food. We try to help them have dignity and become independent,” Williams says. “Every time we find a need, we’re going to figure out a solution to help.
“Helping people understand how to manage their money – however much it is – is just as important as providing food,” Williams said.
CAB always needs more volunteer counselors to assist with things like budgeting, identifying resources for clients, and simply providing a listening ear. If volunteers don’t have expertise in these areas, CAB provides the necessary training.
While CAB receives most of its funding from local churches, local service clubs and private donations, Williams says more partners are needed to provide everything from excess garden produce to canned goods to anonymous cash donations earmarked for a specific purpose.
“A lot of people need help at one point in time,” Williams said. “They may be just one paycheck or two paychecks away from needing food or getting ahead. We depend on our partners and our volunteers to have what we need to help them get there.”
More information about CAB can be accessed online at christianassistancebridge.com or by phone at (803) 786-1903. CAB is located at 126 Blythewood Road.
