People come to the Preble County Food Pantry almost every day. For some people it is part of their monthly schedule. For others, it is the first and only time. Sometimes it is an act of desperation. One day a woman came to the Food Pantry and in the address section of the application the women had simply written “Homeless”. When staff asked where she was staying, the women was brief with her answers. Her body language made it clear she was uncomfortable discussing it.

 

The staff served her at the food pantry and told her about the homeless shelter. A couple of weeks later the same women came back to the food pantry and asked to speak with staff. She could barely say two words before she began to cry. Once she was able to compose herself, she explained that all she had was her car, a bird, and the clothes on her back. She had been living in her car and did not want to go to the homeless shelter because they would not allow her to bring in her bird. However, the nights were getting too cold for her or the bird. Further conversation revealed that she had lost her driver’s license and was having trouble getting a job and signing up for Food Stamps without the picture ID. 

 

She felt trapped by her circumstances. The staff made a couple of calls to the Driver’s Bureau, a partner church and the homeless shelter. Once the staff had gathered enough information the plan was set into motion. The partner church agreed to pay for her to obtain her birth certificate and driver’s license, a friend agreed to take her bird and she moved into the homeless shelter later that day. A week later the women returned to the Preble County Food Pantry, head held high with her new driver’s license in hand, just as proud as can be. She further explained that she had never seen a lower time in her life before, yet with the kindness and assistance she had received she also had not seen such a time that she had felt more loved.