While the holidays conjure warm, fuzzy feelings for most, that's not the case for everyone, especially some of the most vulnerable members of the community. For many years, Haven House has tried to take some of the stress out of the season with their Adopt-A-Family program.
Haven House is a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter with offices in Wayne and South Sioux City. Adopt-A-Family lines up volunteer donators with Haven House clients in need, according to Connie Reyes, Wayne County shelter manager.
"A lot of times, the clients that we're continuously working with don't have the funds (for gifts during the holiday season)," Reyes said. "They're either just starting out or they're just trying to make ends meet with only one income so we just try to alleviate that stress during the season."
For Haven House clients taking part in Adopt-A-Family, they anonymously make a list of wants and needs for themselves and members of their household, as well as listing clothing and shoe sizes. For clients that are experiencing big life changes, what becomes holiday wish lists can be eye opening, according to Haven House executive director Amy Munderloh.
"It's really humbling to see that most of their wants and needs are food and basic necessities," Munderloh said.
Over the last three years Denise Tello, bilingual advocate and Reyes have been spearheading the program. According to the pair the community has stepped up to ensure that Adopt-A-Family participants have something under the tree. This year, 27 families, including 70 children will receive something over the holiday season.
"The community support for the program has increased over the past three years," Tello said. "The first time we took over we had to call people to adopt and now we have people calling us."
So many individuals, organizations and businesses have lined up to adopt a family this year, that currently, Haven House has more people willing to adopt a family than families in need of adopting.
Reyes and Tello said that Haven House began getting calls about Adopt-A-Family as early as October. Some area business have held drives for supplies for Haven House and some have decided to adopt families instead of having Christmas parties. The donations are good for both the adoptees and adoptors.
"It's fun to see, when the clients come in to pick up their gifts or when we drop them off, the look on their face like 'oh my gosh, this is so much,'" Reyes said.
"Even the people who adopt the families, the community members, when they drop off the presents they're just so excited about giving. It's nice to see both reactions," Tello added.
Though Adopt-A-Family was so successful that all of the participating families will have gifts, there are still ways to donate to Haven House.
"People can donate in other ways, whether that's gift cards for around town or personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, things like that," Reyes said.
Other items needed include children's socks and undergarments, paper products, toothbrushes and pillows.
For those interested in participating in Adopt-A-Family next year, or those interested in donating at any time, contact Haven House at (402) 375-5433.
