I want to take a minute to thank everyone who has noticed a strain on the safety net in our community. This includes noticing neighbors that need help with food, housing or health care. I especially want to thank those who noticed and did something about it!

The community safety net is made up of the obvious organizations like Harrison Hospital, Peninsula Community Health, the Kitsap County Health District, Kitsap Mental Health and Bainbridge Island’s own Helpline House to name a few. I do recognize that there are many more individuals and small organizations that have pitched in with time and/or money to help those in greatest need.

It is a good time of year to remind ourselves of how fortunate we are and to lend a hand to those in need. I suggest your read “Breakfast at Sally’s” by Richard LeMieux as a reminder of the problems present here in our own backyard. I am always grounded by a 1989 quote from Cardinal Roger Mahony that states: “Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members; the last, the least, the littlest.”

With the high cost of housing, high cost of health care (including dental and mental health) and rising unemployment, I find more individuals and families turning to the safety net for help. Unfortunately, the safety net is experiencing decreases in funding across the board (federal, state and local). With greater need and lesser funding, our safety net is straining. But is the new safety net buoyed up by individuals?

To the office of Dr. Sally Hewitt, my hat goes off to you and your office (also my dental provider) as you graciously accepted a non-paying client with severe dental disease.

Thanks to all doctors, dentists, optometrists, counselors and anyone else on Bainbridge Island who looked beyond your profit and accepted the last, least and the littlest with respect and professionalism.

Finally, to the staff and volunteers of Helpline House; you are the infrastructure of our safety net on Bainbridge Island. Thank you for all that you do. Please find time this season to support Helpline House.

Scott Lindquist MD

Bainbridge Island