“I panicked.”

We all remember how scary those first days of the coronavirus crisis were, as our whole community shut down and suddenly it was every-person-for-themselves in getting the necessities. Except it wasn’t like that everywhere… 

While the world descended into dystopia, around the corner from one of Southwest Michigan’s little Main Streets was an apartment building of seniors and those with disabilities who were scared. Like many of us, they had limited food stocked in their homes, but unlike many of us, they didn’t have the resources to get more. Most of the residents in the public housing high-rise in downtown St. Joseph don’t have transportation of their own, and public transportation options were no longer available. They hadn’t yet received additional money on their food assistance cards or additional unemployment benefits. Most live on limited social security income. What’s more, many of the residents have health issues, and being more vulnerable to the disease, they were afraid to leave their units for any reason.

When Amanda Drew, Impact Director at United Way of Southwest Michigan, got a call from the St. Joseph Public Safety Department about the situation at 601 Port Street, “I panicked,” she said. That lasted for one second, and then United Way flew into action. Amanda called the apartment manager to find out what was needed.

With funds from the Southwest Michigan Cares Fund—which United Way of Southwest Michigan and Berrien Community Foundation coordinated to create in March for local emergency response and long-term recovery—UWSM sought to buy food for the building in trouble.

Diane Binder, Campaign Relationship Coordinator at UWSM, reached out to Ivan Price, an assistant store manager of Martin’s Super Markets in Stevensville. He offered groceries at discounted prices from suppliers and helped Diane pick out nonperishable items—from spaghetti to peanut butter.

“At the time, grocery stores were dealing with so much uncertainty, about the safety of their employees and customers, and with items running out, but with all the other things going on, Martin’s took the time to help us out with this problem,” Diane said.

Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency stepped in next. They picked up the items from Martin’s, packed them up, and delivered them to the residents in need by April 6. United Way dropped off 50 homemade masks that had been donated by our friends and neighbors in the community. SMCAA’s food truck packaged up another delivery of food from their sources on April 30 to help the residents get by until the shutdown began to lift.

This is one of many stories—of agencies, businesses, and individuals across Southwest Michigan stepping up in so many ways during what has been the most challenging times most of us have ever experienced. Because we’re all in this together. And United Way is here to make the connections. If there’s one thing we know at United Way, it’s that change doesn’t happen alone. Join us: https://www.uwsm.org/change

Photos by Ashley Tenter