St. Anne's

by Nina Smidt

 I’d heard about St. Annes through a family friend and knew right away we had to volunteer with this organization. We had just finished a very successful donation drop off for hurricane Sandy victims and had an abundance of leftover women's clothing, shoes, and accessories that weren’t suitable for east coast winter. So Carla and I loaded up her car and headed over to St. Anne’s to deliver the goods and introduce ourselves to the volunteer director. We figured a good way to leave an impression with him would be to show up with a loading cart full of donations. 

 St. Annes covers two blocks and houses over 60 young women and their children who have been abandoned, neglected, or abused. Most of these young women have been tossed around the foster care system and are currently underage mothers or mothers to be. St. Anne’s started out in 1908 as a safe refuge for unwed, pregnant young women. It has evolved into one of the most well respected social service agencies that specialize in programs and care that help and empower these at risk women and their children, so that they can live flourishing lives and break the cycle of abuse. Since getting these women into the work force and helping them with their self confidence is a priority, we were happy to have boxes full of cute clothes for them. 

 Nestor, the volunteer program director greeted us in the lobby and gave us a quick overview of what St. Anne’s does. And he told us that they needed 4 more volunteers for their upcoming Holiday dinner for the residents. We signed right up and assured him we’d have 2 more volunteers. A couple months later we arrived at St. Annes with two of our angels, Sarah Bell and Kayleigh Hendricks, ready to work. We immediately spotted Nestor signing in volunteers and walked over to get our name tags and fire engine red aprons. We were asked to have some pictures taken in front of the 12 foot donated Christmas tree. There I met a gorgeous woman named Kathy, who is the vice President of development at St. Annes. She had heard that we were the girls who dropped off boxes full of clothes and invited us to come back  for a full tour of the facility and lunch to discuss more volunteer opportunities.  The next 2 hours we served food, cleared tables, and smiled while the residents watched their kids dance around to Christmas music in the middle of the room. 

  I left that night, my heart warmed with gratitude knowing that a place like St. Anne's exists to help these families feel safe and nurtured. 

Stay tuned for upcoming volunteer opportunities with St. Anne’s.

For more info on St. Annes go to http://www.stannes.org/