A Helping Hand for the Homeless

This nonprofit offers shelters, job programs, support in finding a home and more.

- INTERVIEW BY EMMA PATCH

What inspired you to start Jewels Helping Hands? When my daughter was a heroin addict, I wanted to learn about where she went and what she did. I knew nothing about homelessness or addiction. So I stood outside of a shelter, handing out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that I had made, and talked to people.

In 2018, I started making meals with a group of other volunteers for our city’s warming centers, which provide shelter during cold weather. Then, in 2019, I started Jewels Helping Hands, an official nonprofit warming center.

What were those first few months like as you got started? Prior to 2019, our local warming centers didn’t serve food. They were just an overnight space where people would sleep and leave. When Jewels Helping Hands started making meals and feeding folks that first winter, we served more than 100,000 meals over a six-month period. We made them in our own home kitchens.