An Environment Where Promising Futures Can Grow

As we come closer to the move to our new facility, you can feel a new energy pulsing through the halls of our food bank on 3rd Avenue.  This is the energy of possibility, which partially comes about because ideas that have lied dormant in the minds and hearts of our staff and volunteers can now be explored. 

Without facility limitations, we now have permission to move into areas we believe will result in the best outcome for our clients.  You can only imagine how invigorating this is for the creative people who have come together so they can lift burdens and create opportunities.

But to truly implement programs that offer lasting benefit, we must be very clear about the dynamics of economic crisis, the root causes and what might be a way out of the varying downturns experienced by so many in our community.

So our Client Services Team has come together to learn, through surveys and follow up conversations with clients who've received our help, which of our services have had the greatest positive impact and where people continue to struggle.  Should Fishline offer a new branch of services?  Are clients telling us about plaguing issues that can be solved through greater community effort?  Can education be a key to promoting well being and breaking negative cycles?  These questions and more are being asked by skilled volunteers trained to draw out honest responses.

What we learn from these outcomes will turn into valuable planning tools.  Classes, already taking shape through discussions with community experts, can be organized and delivered through our new Resource Center, where people can learn about nutrition, employment techniques, smart budgeting and health and family care.  

Information resources can be offered to address the most commonly-experienced crisis contributors, such as foreclosures, health problems, unemployment and addictions.   Sometimes just learning about our own self-defeating patterns or limiting perceptions can prompt a shift to a more positive outlook, increasing odds for success.  Onsite consultants will be available to provide guidance in a confidential, safe environment - perhaps offering just the right advice to move an individual forward and restoring hope.

At the heart of this effort is a desire to go beyond our emergency services and provide supportive services, recognizing that client empowerment is the best way to open up possibilities.  In a world where change happens so quickly, and there seems to be a constant shuffling of job possibilities and economic challenges, most of us need friends or mentors to help us navigate our dizzying times.  Through this support, we will embody the Fishline mission, turning the S.O.S. request for help into a new S.O.S., Stability, Opportunity and Success.

It might not surprise you that many people think the name Fishline came from the old adage about teaching people to fish instead of giving them the fish, thereby feeding them for a lifetime.  Though that isn't the original premise of the name, we can surely make it so through these efforts...and bring about the possibilities for long-term prosperity that lie within every crisis.

Thanks to your support and your donations, this bright new horizon is unfolding for Fishline and the community it serves.  We hope that what can come from it is the fertile environment where promising futures can grow, the best outcome of all.

Learn more about our new building needs and how you can help by clicking here.