Her’s is the first voice that a client hears when they summon the courage to call for help, and she couldn’t be a more perfect fit. You see, Lynn has been there. Several years ago, Lynn found herself unemployed. She was receiving unemployment, which covered only about 30-40% of her salary, and she and her husband found themselves in a tough spot. While Lynn looked for another job, they slashed their expenses, turned the heat down, and cut every corner they could, yet they still didn’t have enough to cover the bills.
“It was a scary time,” Lynn remembers, “I couldn’t pay our power bill, we just didn’t have enough, so I looked on-line and discovered POM.” But, it wasn’t easy to take that first step. “It was hard to come in,” Lynn says. “It took a couple weeks to muster up the courage. I had to admit it was a bit of a pride thing. I had never had to ask for help before, but I knew it would be incredibly hard to catch up if we got too far behind.”
Lynn recalls the day she finally walked through the door during Samaritan Services. “I stood at the front desk and said, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing but I need help.’ And, the receptionist at the time told me, ‘Well, you’ve come to the right place. We can help!’ When I went back for my interview, the case managers were so kind, but I was still nervous as I told my story.” Lynn and her husband owed about $400 on their power bill. They had enough for part of it, but couldn’t scrape up enough to pay it off and avoid shut-off. “When my case manager told me POM would cover my entire bill so we could catch up on other bills that were coming due, I burst into tears. They also encouraged me to use the food bank to save even more so we could get a little bit ahead,” Lynn explains, “After a few times we got caught up! It was such a huge relief knowing someone was there to help us…knowing we weren’t alone.”
Lynn didn’t stop there. She wanted to pay it forward so she applied to volunteer in POM’s thrift store. They quickly realized what an asset Lynn was! A couple months later when POM was looking to fill the receptionist job, they encouraged her to interview for it. She was a perfect fit! And, for the last four years now, Lynn has been what we like to call “the glue that holds this place together”. “My experience humbled me,” Lynn says, “I completely understand what people are feeling when they walk through that door or call for help. I want to give them the same feeling I got when I was told ‘You’re in the right place. We can help’. I want them to find that deep sense of relief of knowing that they don’t have to do this alone.”
We are grateful for Lynn. We are grateful to her for sharing her story. We are thankful we could be here to give Lynn and her husband a small boost when they needed it. And, we are grateful for a community that cares deeply for all those who need a little hand up.