New Hope for community
COLBERT – The beautiful high-end housing developments that dot north Spokane County belie the fact that not all county residents are prospering. According to data from Spokane County’s 2005-09 Consolidated Plan, some areas of unincorporated north Spokane County have between approximately 43 percent and 49 percent of residents considered low-income. In addition, Riverside school district has approximately 44 percent of students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch and Deer Park Middle School has 49 percent who qualify.
Sarah Gamber knows what it’s like to be one of those statistics. “When we moved here my husband had just gotten out of the Navy,” the Elk resident said. “We moved here, without much. We really kind of struggled.”
She found help at New Hope Resource Center. The center opened in 2003 and is in a mobile building on the grounds of Colbert Presbyterian Church. Janeen Leachman, executive director, said five churches came together to respond to the need they saw in north Spokane. Together they created New Hope.
According to the Web site, “The New Hope Resource Center is a faith-based ecumenical organization sharing the resources of the participating congregations and community to serve basic human needs in north Spokane County including communities of Riverside, Elk, Chattaroy, Colbert, and Mead.”
The consortium of churches has expanded to 12. Last year the center served more than 1,600 clients.
New Hope offers many forms of assistance from rent subsidies to chore services. Leachman said, “The greatest number of requests we receive is for help with utilities and gas. We’re talking about people without access to public transportation, who often drive gas guzzlers.”
In the last nine months, the center has supplied nearly $8,000 in gas vouchers. Gamber appreciates that help. “With the price of gas, it’s really hard to make ends meet,” she said. “When you live in the country and work in town, you’re basically working for your gas.”
Gamber said the way in which the assistance is offered is as meaningful as the help itself. “Other charities offer help,” she said. “But this place offers compassion – that really makes a difference.” She said when her father died she received a condolence card from Leachman. The mother of three children ages, 3, 7 and 10, said she’s been through some difficult experiences. “A lot of times people just need someone to talk to.”
Cleone Wigen found the same compassion when she needed help. The 90-year-old Chattaroy resident said, “My son got MS real bad and was placed at Cooper George in Spokane. He’d been my sole transportation.”
She called New Hope because she needed a ride to the grocery store. She got the ride, and she made a friend. Volunteer Jeanna Swanson was looking for a place to serve that would allow her to take her 2-year-old son, Daniel, with her. She heard about New Hope, and now most weeks she and Daniel drive Wigen to the grocery store or to hair appointments and other errands.
“Daniel calls her grandma,” Swanson said.
Without New Hope, Wigen said she would have been housebound. “There’s nothing out here. I would have had to move to Spokane. They’ve been so good to me.”
North Spokane County residents have found unique ways to offer help to those in their community who need it. Leachman said people have donated used musical instruments so kids could participate in school band classes. Others have offered free haircuts or taught ballet classes.
Both the volunteers and the community benefit. Swanson said, “Sometimes you sign up to help others and you end up getting more out of it yourself.”