“I am a firm believer that every kid should have a bike,” said Erin Barthle, office manager at the Samaritan Center. Erin is not the only person at the Center who believes this, so when Sharon Smith-Hensley the social services director got a unique request for bikes, her answer was a resounding, ‘YES!’
When needs arise in the community, the Samaritan Center partners with other social service organizations to better assist people in our area. One of these partners is the Relative Caregiver Program (RCP). This program supports children whose parents are unable to care for them and as a result have informally placed the children into the care of family members. Theresa Jorgensen works with RCP in caregiver support services. This means she works closely with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents to make sure the children’s needs are being met.
Recently Teresa reached out to Sharon about a client of hers in need of assistance. The client is a disabled grandmother, we will call her Sue, who is caring for her four grandchildren two of which are autistic and need special care.
With COVID-19 restrictions in place and Sue’s health at risk, the family has been spending more time at home. The children have been taking the situation in stride spending time playing together outside and riding their bikes. The children enjoy riding their bikes together and in Sue’s words it is the ‘highlight of their day’.
With increased use and play, one of the older bikes broke apart and another was left outside and mangled by a car. Knowing how much the children enjoyed riding their bikes Sue wanted to get them replacements. However, Sue is disabled, on a fixed income, and caring for her grandchildren so, unfortunately, new bikes were not in her budget. Sue asked for assistance in finding some replacements and when Theresa heard her story she knew exactly who to call.
Because of the generous support of our financial donors, the Samaritan Center was able to gift two sets of bikes to this family. Each set included a new bike and a new helmet.
“I can’t wait to drop these off! When the kids see the bikes they are going to be so happy.” Theresa said while loading the bikes into her SUV.
This small act of service and kindness is just one way the Samaritan Center carries out the mission of bringing help to the community today and hope for the future. We are grateful for our community partners and financial donors that help us reach people in need.