*Doing together what we cannot do alone | |
Dear Friend,
The power of community is especially meaningful for us at Friends In Deed. Our slogan of "doing together what we cannot do alone" speaks to our core value of working together to make a bigger impact on the lives of those we serve, versus what we'd be able to do if acting as individuals. You, our FID community of supporters, are the reason we are able to rise to the occasion. With our year end quickly approaching, we hope you will give what you can for our neighbors who need our help most.
To celebrate our community, we are throwing our first ever FID Sunday Funday on November 6th at Farnsworth Park from 1-4pm. You can now RSVP online for an afternoon filled with activities, food, and - you guessed it - community. All are welcome.
Read on for inspiring stories that demonstrate what we can accomplish when we come together.
In service,
Bret Schaefer
Board President, Friends In Deed
| | It is through your generosity that we are able to provide these programs and services | | Stories from Our Community | | Pasadena Community Gardens' Story - Abundance! |
Pasadena Community Gardens originated as one person’s dream. She had moved into a condo but desperately missed her garden. Her husband refused to consider moving again, so she had to think creatively – and a community garden was the result! The community shares knowledge, helps each other, and experimentally grows produce you’d never find in a grocery store! Have a look at this YouTube video to find out more.
But the Pasadena Community Gardens doesn’t just look inwards towards its own community, it also looks outwards towards the wider community. Two of the raised beds form the “Abundance Plot,” which is dedicated to Friends In Deed, and all the produce from those beds goes to the Food Pantry. Read more...
| | | | | Stacy's Story - Past and Future Commitment to the Community |
Stacy was invited to a Friends In Deed board meeting in 2016 to be introduced to and get to know the organization, and she must have liked what she saw, because by the end of the meeting she had volunteered to take on the role of board secretary! She continued in that role until 2020, and then more recently took on the role of vice president.
Her work behind the scenes has always been informed by her understanding of the way FID is rooted in the community it serves - she has volunteered at the Bad Weather Shelter many times, and seen all the programs in action. In fact, Stacy values the work that FID does in the community so highly that she has made a personal commitment to support it in the future, through joining our Legacy Society. Read more...
| | Stories from Our Programs | | Friends Western School's Story - Community Connections |
Tim (Director of the Food Pantry) says:
“One of the great things about the work I do is getting to help young people learn about hunger, poverty, and what Friends In Deed does every day.
Over the ten years I've been in charge of the Food Pantry program, I've had countless opportunities to speak with kids.
Most recently, I hosted a group of 4th and 5th graders from Friends Western School. Read more...
| | | | | Ransome's Story - Being Community Minded |
With a good job as a probation officer, Ransome had a stable life. Unfortunately, after taking sabbatical leave, he had problems getting his job back. Without an income, the challenges posed by the bureaucracy of the system became insurmountable and the inevitable homelessness that followed only made things worse.
Ransome tried multiple agencies to try and get back on his feet, but had no luck. Read more...
| | A Pantry Story - Diversity and Community | We have a very diverse pantry community. The three main languages spoken by our pantry community are English, Spanish, and Mandarin. We will also regularly hear Armenian, Korean, and Arabic to list a few more. Read more...
| | | | | Julius's Story - Able to Contribute Again | As happened with so many people during the stay-at-home order at the beginning of the pandemic, Julius found his primary relationships came under great strain. His girlfriend continued to work as a cosmetologist, and this meant a steady stream of clients visiting their home. Not only did the risk make Julius uncomfortable, but he also felt he was an unwelcome presence in his partner’s business. Read more...
| | Our Staff - Stories from Then and Now | | Merria's Story - Always a Cheerleader! |
Merria is the youngest of seven children in an athletic family and much of her childhood was spent going from one sporting event to another, cheering on her older siblings. She decided she wanted a more official role - and Merria the cheerleader came into being!
The spirit of cheerleading has never left her. In her current position as Director of Development, Merria sees much of her role as being a cheerleader - in fact, being the biggest cheerleader, not only for FID as an organization, but also for all the members of the FID community. Read more...
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Providing cold-weather support for our neighbors experiencing homelessness
Short- and medium-term rental support to prevent eviction
Dignified grocery shopping experience for 400+ households weekly
Team of workers on the streets engaging with our neighbors experiencing homelessness and connecting them to services
Daytime shelter for homeless and at-risk women
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Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Executive Director
Marty Campolo
Deputy Director and Grants Officer
Ryan Greer
Senior Director of Programs
Merria Velasco
Director of Development
Helen Angove
Operations Manager
Marlene Martinez
Director of TWR
Tim Nistler
Director of The Food Pantry
Tish Strickland
Director of Street Outreach and Housing
Stacey Cutshaw
Director of EPRA
Lindsey Reed
Senior Manager of Programs and Director of BWS
Rion Waller
Food Pantry Manager
William Shelby
Housing Navigator and Locator
Najwa Payton Jones
Housing Navigator and Outreach Specialist
Elyse Reed
Development Associate
Eva Rivera
Administrative Assistant
Jane Armbruster
TWR Program Associate and Case Counselor
Emelin Arriaga
Food Pantry Associate
Angel Maxwell
Street Outreach Worker
Michael Jaimes
Street Outreach Worker
Miguel Rodriguez
Harm Reduction Specialist
Doug Haught
Security and Grounds
Coty Dietel
Food Pantry Aide
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Bret Schaefer
President
Stacy Santeramo
Vice President
Christopher Pelch
Treasurer
Debby Singer
Secretary
Richard Cheung
Immediate Past President
Kevin Bourland
Barbara Dangerfield
Ervin Galvan
Rev. George Hines
Tim Howett
Nishanthi Kurukulasuriya
Pamela Marx
Jonathan Webster
Kathy Simpson
Ed Vidimos
Ursula Hyman
Rev. Marlene Pomeroy
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Friends In Deed is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. We embrace and celebrate the spectrum of our employees’, volunteers’, and clients’ ages, color, ability or disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, neurodiversity, and other characteristics that make our employees, volunteers, and clients unique.
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