On June 23rd, we had the privilege of attending the Grand Opening of One Safe Place for Community Partners and Stakeholders.  One Safe Place or the North County Family Justice Center is a project of the San Diego County District Attorney’s office and is intended to provide services to victims of domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, human and sex trafficking among other crimes. This gives victims one place to go for medical care, trauma recovery, therapy, legal assistance, and job counseling, among other services.  This is where victims can come to receive help, regain hope, and begin to heal.

Assistance League of Inland North County became a partner of One Safe Place in 2021.  Our role is to provide gently used business attire for their “Dress to Thrive” boutique that victims can get at no cost for court appearances and job interviews.  These items usually come to us in excellent condition and are not big sellers in our shop, so this partnership is mutually beneficial under our Waste Not program.

The event was both exciting and inspiring as we heard from San Diego County officials, community partners and those who were involved in putting this 40,000 square foot facility together from the beginning.  This project was envisioned more than 20 years ago by Casey Gwinn, then San Diego City Attorney, along with fellow prosecutor Gael Strack, and resulted in the San Diego Family Justice Center, which became a model for many centers around the country. They are both nationally recognized experts on domestic violence issues.

As in any construction project, the North County Family Justice Center was subject to terrible delays, and it opened almost a year later than planned, but the building is spectacular and worth the wait.  The best part of the day was hearing from some of the victims who found hope and healing in their centers in San Diego. The success of these healing services inspired the District Attorney’s office to build a facility in North County so people would not have to travel so far and to so many different locations to get the help they needed.

Assistance League of Inland North County is proud to partner with One Safe Place and participate in the Help, Hope and Healing.

This event exemplified the power of teamwork.  We were gratified by the help from our own members and also by the essential help of the community volunteers who unloaded all the boxes of papers.  Also, we appreciate the Franklin Farm community, our partners for these events, and all those who helped spread the word about this event.  In addition, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our member, Maureen Dawson, who again organized this event, and to EcoShred/Vecoplan for providing the technician and the truck that made it all possible.  Lastly, we express our sincere appreciation for all those who made contributions to our chapter or donated food or sneakers.  All these gestures are especially fitting because April is National Volunteer Month.

For every month since January, the number of sneakers we’ve collected has increased as has the number of collection boxes.  We’ve recently recruited several businesses to collect sneakers for us, and we thank them for helping us raise funds that will support our philanthropic programs.  Two Jazzercize facilities, in Herndon-Reston and Falls Church, have set up collection boxes for their members, as have the Burke Racquet Club and the Fairfax Racquet Club.  We greatly appreciate their support and thank them for the all the sneakers they’ve accumulated for us.  One group recently delivered 80 pairs of sneakers.

If you have gently used sneakers to donate, contact a volunteer near you to locate the closest collection box.  Your donation of gently used sneakers will help us raise funds for programs that serve children and families in need, and will keep old sneakers out of landfills and help the environment.

Mindy Hellmich, Assistance League of St. Louis member and Co-Chair of Steps to Success explains HOW: “You think outside the box. You think WAY outside the box!”

The all-volunteer Steps to Success (Steps) team has adapted and refined sizing, fitting and delivering children’s athletic shoes and socks since COVID began. They continue to streamline the system to provide shoes to children in St. Louis City and St. Louis County Schools. The program’s other Co-Chair is Beth Yeck. The Steps team focused on 25 schools in St. Louis City in the Winter-Spring 2020 session, using a voucher system. An Assistance League liaison provided each school with an envelope of vouchers for shoes and instructions in English and Spanish to be redeemed within 8 weeks at the Maplewood Shoe Carnival Store. The returns and redemption rate were disappointingly low. Results of a follow-up survey to parents revealed two issues: finding transportation and scheduling a fitting before the deadline. Undaunted, volunteers devised a new form for Spring 2021 to more accurately reflect the necessary requirements (child’s name, sizes/style). Parents’ responses and vouchers were then given to our Shoe Carnival contact, Katie Junge, who filled the orders at the Maplewood location. Chapter volunteer liaisons delivered over 1,900 athletic shoes and 3,300 pairs of socks safely to the schools.

OPERATION SCHOOL BELL^® 

How do volunteers meet the challenge of providing fitted, new clothing when schools are closed? Claudia Dooley, Assistance League of St. Louis member and Co-Chair of Operation School Bell, reminisced about past years in which program volunteers took pride in being able to directly interact with the school children who visited our headquarters for uniform fittings and fun activities. Besides everyone being in high spirits, the team could take accurate measurements so that each child had fitted clothes that looked good. But that was the past, so the team leadership, also co-chaired by Kris Lewis, reviewed current processes, took what would work, dropped what didn’t and adapted so that they could continue fulfilling those objectives. The Operation School Bell team developed a process which included forms sent to school personnel; these were then passed along to parents who were responsible for measurements and noting any special needs. Schools would return the forms in batches via email. The forms were reviewed, fulfilled, bagged and delivered by chapter volunteer liaisons to the school for distribution.

If you’ve ever measured someone for a sewing project or tailoring, you’ll appreciate the challenge that the Operation School Bell volunteers had when interpreting the responses. Claudia smiled and stated that the team was fortunate to have a number of ladies who “were really good fitters” and able to work out the appropriate sizes. Their success was realized when it was noted that very few of the packages were returned requesting a different size. The fitters hit the mark the majority of the time, even without being able to physically measure the children themselves.

Each package is generously filled with two pairs of pants, three polo shirts, one fleece jacket, six each of socks and underwear, a toothbrush, toothpaste, hat and gloves, a belt and a grade-appropriate new book. That’s a lot of items to pack when serving over 1,500 students and 28 elementary schools. But again, the team went into action and continued to refine processes and develop new ones for organizing and scheduling the packing days. Being mindful of COVID rules when organizing how many volunteers could be present on a packing day, remaining masked and staying socially distanced meant finely tuned logistical work had to be done upfront to hit their goal of completing packages in one day. That goal was met every time. Even under difficult circumstances, the team delivered over 28,000 items for students in 28 elementary schools and to stock closets in eight middle schools and 20 elementary schools. Closets are maintained to provide year-round clothing, shoes, coats and other necessities. In 2022, the program volunteers continue to take pride in their accomplishments knowing that COVID didn’t slow them down and hundreds of school children were warmly dressed this school season.

Everyone can help simply by donating their sneakers, and your donation will reap triple rewards, at no cost to you!  You will help Assistance League raise funds for children and families in need in our community, you’ll help those who want quality athletic shoes, and you will also keep sneakers out of landfills and improve the environment.  Win-win-win!!!

We currently have seven volunteers in areas throughout Northern Virginia who are collecting sneakers for our chapter.