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Live United by Erin Haag

In our new space, there’s a blank wall that I have a vision for. We have stacks of photo albums with pictures and newspaper clippings. I want to get things out of books stacked on a shelf and get it up on the wall for everyone to see. United Way has such a rich and deeply rooted history in Freeborn County, and I love seeing how it’s evolved throughout the years. We added an item this week that we’ll be getting up on that wall: the ribbon from our official welcome reception and ribbon cutting.

That reception was on Wednesday, and people came throughout the day, touring our new space and learning about ways to help. The good folks at New Richland Area Food Shelf came for a tour, and we talked about ways to partner and support each other. While many were impressed with our space and the vision we have for it, these folks took it a step further. I’d say their reaction was one of joy — joyfulness for us, for the work we’re accomplishing and the space we have to do it in. Their joy brought me joy, and it uplifted us.

So here we go. We’ve showed off our space, and Monday is the opening day for the Welcome Pantry. Shelves have been built (although there’s more to be built). Pallets of foods have been unpacked and placed on shelves, and the fresh food delivery is on Monday. On Thursday we hosted a Resource Fair, where we registered around 100 people for the Welcome Pantry and explained to them what to expect.

I’ll admit that I’m pretty anxious about Monday’s opening. My landlord tells me to stop fretting, but it’s sort of what I do. I fret, I overthink and I somehow find the faith that it’s going to work out. What worries me the most about Monday is the traffic flow — the people flow, not just the car traffic. See — we’ve been doing distributions out at the Armory, and we’ve been able to serve around 250 households in about an hour. This is a different format — one where we anticipate serving four to five shoppers at a time, accommodating about 75 households each day we’re open. The reality is — we may not be able to serve everyone on opening day, and that’s always hard.

It will level out — we’ll be open from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays (closed July 3) and then from 9 a.m. to noon the third Saturday of each month. Shoppers can come twice a month, so things will fall into a natural pattern eventually. Until then though, it’s incredibly important to me that we be transparent with our shoppers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I remember a day when we ran out of food during our mobile distributions. It was probably the third one we did, and we hosted it at the Albert Lea Y. I remember the cars were lined up on the street going south all the way to the gravel road. Dennis Dieser and I walked that line, and we talked to every single car and let them know that there wouldn’t be enough boxes that time. We talked to people, we gave them the sheet with all the food resources available, and we made sure they knew where to go.

That’s the difference to so many — when you’re willing to walk the line, willing to talk to people, willing to take a moment and say hello. Dennis was willing, I was willing, Nikolle and Heidi are willing and I’m looking for volunteers that are willing. I’ve been doing food distributions for four (four!) years now, in a variety of formats. The times that I’ve expected anger, frustrations or more, it hasn’t happened. I’ve written articles about the times our clients have shown up for us time and time again — hopping out of their cars to help direct traffic, standing in the pouring rain, rushing to help clean up, helping their neighbor. Shopping for themselves and then coming back to volunteer, shopping for food they need, then going home to sew quilts or reusable shopping bags for us.

Thursday, a shopper came to pre-register for the pantry and to see our new space. As she looked around at the pantry, she kept saying how beautiful it was. I went over the information with her, including the gentle disclaimer that we might not be able to serve everybody at once. She told me, “oh that’s understandable. Look at what you’ve got here though! It’s going to be so wonderful to be coming here.”

She then went on to tell me about her experience the day our mobile distribution truck was late by about an hour. “I remember you — I remember when you come out to tell us what was happening. That was just so wonderful. We stood outside and we just TALKED to each other. We didn’t know each other but we were all just talking.

But when you came out to let us know what was going on, people were telling us to be quiet so that you could say what you needed to say. You just keep doing that, and it’ll be OK.”

I hope her faith isn’t misplaced. I’m not worried about angry people, I’m not worried about any violence or anything like that. I’m worried about people feeling valued.

They’re not a number in line, they’re human beings with families and other things to do on a hot summer evening.

So, if you’re available to help me keep that compassion, human recognition and general traffic director, give me a call on Monday at 507-373-8670, option 5. You’ll probably get my voice mail right now, but I check it often, and can usually call back fairly quickly. In the meantime, I’ll be over here reminding myself not to fret, remind myself to breathe and keep the faith. We’ve come an incredibly long way since March of 2020. The same faces that helped walk the line back then are still showing up today. We’ve collected some new dedicated people along the way. With that dedication — that willingness to step up for our community, it’s going to be all right.

Erin Haag is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.