Celebrating 40 years

Last month some of our neighbors came to Helpline House to seek help. Some needed food, clothing or counseling while others asked for information, legal issues help, housing or transportation assistance. In their own words, they were:

Last month some of our neighbors came to Helpline House to seek help. Some needed food, clothing or counseling while others asked for information, legal issues help, housing or transportation assistance. In their own words, they were:

Getting help for my chemical dependency – are there low cost recovery programs?

Trying to pick up the pieces of my life, find full-time employment and stable housing. Just got out of an unhealthy, long-term relationship.

Unable to make my monthly rent payment due to unemployment and late child support payments.

In need of a ride home from the VA Hospital.

Seeking help with bus pass, food, clothes.

Forty years ago some good women of Bainbridge Island also recognized such needs and banded together, representing their churches, to respond to the “war on poverty.” They named their fledging organization Fishline, and the main concern was food, clothing and transportation for those who needed it. At the same time, according to the archives, “the increasingly heavy job of counseling those who were mentally and emotionally ill was falling on two island ministers, and they needed help. So Helpline came into being as an experiment.”

They discovered that the people who needed food and clothing often needed other help, and Fishline merged into Helpline. Like most new organizations, they had their growing pains and difficulties and some laughs.

“We grew and grew. The only places where Joan Holcomb (former founder and director) was able to do some private interviewing (of clients) were the bathroom, the parking lot or a restaurant…. Across the street was a veterinary clinic which was often a source of entertainment. They could always get a goat of out a Volkswagen bug, but getting it back in again was an entirely different matter.”

During the past 40 years, a cadre of volunteers and staff brought the dream of those prescient founders to reality bit by bit. They recognized a need for a friendly and welcoming place for people in distress, and developed a trained staff and knowledgeable, committed volunteers, giving their time, to carry it on.

By 1973, Helpline was an incorporated nonprofit agency and providing services far beyond the original survival issues. Along the line a clothing bank, information and referral to local and regional resources, medical equipment loans and day-labor referrals were added. In 1983, our current building was completed. In 1992 the affordable Family Counseling Program became a reality, and in 1995 a career support program, Skills Plus was implemented.

Today the volunteer force has swelled to over 100 men and women supported by a team of social workers that offers professional support as part of a coordinated system of services. Unlike so many other organizations these days, the telephone at Helpline House is answered by a real person, and every effort is made to be accessible, warm and caring. They provide time, attention and trust to those who call. Being a good neighbor to people who are troubled or in need is at the heart of the philosophy of neighbor helping neighbor, adult to adult, and it works well, every day, Monday through Friday, at Helpline.

On June 7, at our annual gala event, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of this terrific organization. Information about Helpline and photos of the party are on our Web site at www.helplinehouse.org.

And in recognition of volunteer service milestones, it is a pleasure to applaud the following persons who have given their time to our neighbors: 10 years: Malcomb Harris, Linda Henry, Tom Lockwood, Pam Dardis; 20 years: Clara Manny; 24 years: Terry MacDougall; and 25 years: Pat Best.

Garnet Logan is a board member at Helpline House