Lehigh Valley Outreach Depot
At first glance, you might take the Lehigh Valley Outreach Depot for a used furniture warehouse, or a thrift store. It certainly has elements of both. But the Depot is far more than that. It's a place of generosity, of kindness... It's a place where lives are literally transformed, lives like that of Crystal Roman, a mother of three -- two of them special needs children -- who says her home is literally bare.
Sara Fuentes, a social worker with Lehigh Families Together, Inc., acknowledges that Crystal has been struggling. "For Crystal, when we entered her home we realized that she was sleeping on an air mattress and there were some things that she needed to help her with her children. So when we found out about this organization we referred her here, and the rest is history. Here she is, getting what she needs for her kids."
Crystal is getting what she needs -- what she wants -- without having to pay a penny. It's free. All of it. And that seems to have left her a little bit stunned. “I never knew a place like this existed and for people to volunteer and do this, is amazing. Like for a person that is in need, it's amazing."
Everything in this 5,000 square foot warehouse is donated. The 200-some volunteers who've worked here since 2010 do so for free. The owner of the space offered it to the group for their first year for free. It is a charitable organization. But it's a charity focused on respect. For example, Communications Coordinator Bob Totten says it was a group decision to refer to their clientele as "guests."
"And we appreciate the fact that instead of saying, 'You can have this sofa -- that's all you can have, you can have this sofa, do you want it?' -- you say, 'We've got four sofas that are available; choose one.' That gives somebody a little bit of dignity, you know?"
Lehigh Valley Outreach Depot also assembles disaster relief kits that are sent wherever they are needed. They put together personal care kits for the local rescue mission. There are cleaning supplies handed out to guests. So far, there have been nearly 750 of those guests representing 3-thousand individuals, taking home almost a quarter of a million dollars' worth of household furnishings.
Barbara Reimers is the Kit Coordinator. "This has been one of the most satisfying things I've ever done. See, I'm gonna get teary-eyed,” she laughs.
Crystal, too, had to fight back a few tears.
Says Fuentes, "It was moving to see how she grew in this short time from being sorry for everything to starting to take things and feel okay with it. And seeing that people wanted to help her, because they wanted to."
Crystal smiles. "My kids didn't have a bed. Now they do. That's amazing."
Ed Sinko is President of Rustic Exteriors of Bethlehem and owner of the property housing the Outreach Depot. His advice to others: "There are an awful lot of causes to believe in and there's many ways to help. Find yours and do what you can."
Some of the guests who enter through the doors of the Lehigh Valley Outreach Depot literally have nothing. When they leave, though, it's with something. And that....can mean everything.
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