Salt & Light strives to EMPOWER individuals towards lasting change by AFFIRMING their DIGNITY. One-way giving models unconsciously communicate the person has nothing of value to contribute to the “transaction.” We create opportunities for individuals to utilize their talents in productive and meaningful ways. This reinforces their competence and confidence to acquire resources while gaining a sense of pride that comes from providing for themselves and their families.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What inspired you or led you to your current career? | That is interesting, my background is in education, so I was teaching. I stumbled into ministry by the back door. I started doing this accidentally when I was at home with my kids. I started getting people contacting me who needed help with this or that. I didn’t know the answers but had the time to figure it out. I was doing this kind of work at the church as a volunteer and then as a staff person, and while in that position, I partnered with Salt and Light. Nathan and I had been friends and I had worked with him quite a while at Salt and Light. We had a lot of time dreaming about what Salt and Light would look like if we could make it look any way that we wanted. We were looking at changing it up from the current “Emergency model”. In 2014, Nathan said that we were going to be making huge changes at Salt and Light. You have been a huge part of dreaming of what Salt and Light could be and asked if I would want to be apart of that. This was a great opportunity to think something up and then to go and create it. |
| Tell me a little more about Salt and Light and how it is doing things differently? | We are allowing the opportunity to connect in a deeper relationship not only to the people we have set out to help, but the community in general. One of the things we learned with the emergency food pantry model was not a practical solution to meet the current needs. Food insecurity is not a short term challenge, for most people it can be a long term need due to disability, retirement or they working hard at jobs that don’t pay enough to make ends meet. They are forced to engage in an model that they wait week after week, month after month and even year after year to rely on a pantry model that does not necessary provide the high quality and nutritional food. This system creates a lot of time standing in lines and does not participate any other aspect of your life. They are going to stand and wait, then walk away with a consumable of questionable quality and nothing else. What we learned in that time was people needed something that was more dignified and desired opportunities to do something meaningful with their lives. People need an opportunity to use the amazing talents and gifts that we know everyone has. We found that everyone person we met had amazing stories and none of this matters in the food panty line. The model we use now is a community development model, saying what if we started with this idea that everybody deserves access to the same food as everyone else does. Everybody deserves to shop in the same store as everyone else, meaning no one will ever have to go to a place just meant for poor people getting a second rate quality of life. Our stores are open to the public. Everyone can come in and shop for both philosophical and economic reason. We wanted to create a store that everyone could come together as a community where everyone is a guest. If you are able to pay with cash or debit card, you are making a donation to making Salt and Light better. If you can not afford to do that, you can come in as a member and earn store credit with volunteer time here. You would be making an important contribution in your time that is helping build the community. By using your gifts and talents you are also earning store credits that can be used to make purchases throughout the store. It’s important that everyone goes through the same check out lane, buying the same food and paying the same prices. The only difference is how you pay. Everyone is a contributor and everyone is a beneficiary. |
| How long have you lived in Champaign-Urbana? | I moved to Champaign in 1998. |
| What is your favorite restaurant and what do you love to order? | That is hard to say. Probably Distihl. If I had to only pick one meal it would definitely, the grilled stuffed pasta is NO JOKE! That is probably the best thing I have ever had! |
| Who is the most interesting person you have met in Champaign-Urbana? | That is such a hard question, it’s my job everyday to meet fascinating people. One of the things I love about being here is that you do not meet any “ordinary” people. There is no such thing as an ordinary person. We have members with amazing stories of travels and strange experiences. I couldn’t pick just one. We had a volunteer yesterday that is our chief puzzle counter, if someone donates a puzzle, we want to make sure that it is all there. She lets us know if we can get it on the shelf to sell. What a disappointment it would be if you bought a puzzle and then had two or three pieces missing. This volunteer loves to do this and has an elaborate system in place and just has an amazing skill for it. Just yesterday, she had a 1000 piece puzzle there was a piece with a torn off corner on it. She found the torn piece in the box and tape it back together. |
| If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? | I am a person that believes in planting deep roots in the community. So I really have a heart for people and stories in this community. I have had a lot of friends from India. I always wanted to visit that country. It is a country of extraordinary beauty as well as immense poverty. There are a lot of lessons that we as Americans can learn. We put a lot of emphases on material possessions. We are drowning in stuff here in the US and being able to learn about happiness without material possessions is key. |
| What is on your bucket list? | I think the biggest thing for me as a mom is to see my two boys launch well. For them to be happy and successful in a place where they are operating in their sweet spot with healthy relationships and doing things that matter to them and the community. This is the most important bucket list item. I am a two time cancer survivor so I have had a lot of opportunity to think about what I could walk away feeling complete, it would be seeing them grow and be successful. |
| What advice would you give to a crowd of people? | I think for me it is the relationships in life that is the most important. Tend to the things in your care and make sure those things are flourishing. Relationships in your life are so important. |
| What is your favorite aspect of Champaign-Urbana? | I grew up in a tiny town, so Champaign-Urbana feels like a huge city, but I love the way it keeps the small town feel. I hear people in the store visiting and within a few minutes they discover the people they know in common. My boys have for quite a few years participated in the Illinois marathon. There are 8000 people running in the event and every time I turn around, I bump into someone I know! It has a nice hometown feel. |
| What three words or phrases comes to your mind when I say home? | I just participated in a community focus group and this was one of the topics. The primary word I think of is relationships, where I have my primary relationships. Home is primarily where we feel the safest but also most vulnerable. |
| Where do you see yourself in 5 years? | I see myself here at Salt and Light. We have some amazing things that are going to come to the store. We are making a real difference in the community and it will only grow in the future. |
| If you had a full time staff member, who was fully paid for, who would you choose? Chef, Housekeeper, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or nanny? | Definitely a housekeeper. If I ever won the lottery I would be doing the same thing as I am doing now, because I love my life and my job. But I would outsource things that eat up a lot of our time without receiving much reward. By not having to worry about keeping up with the house, I can spend more time with others, building relationships and most importantly spending time with my boys. |
| How could I participate at Salt and Light? | Ultimately we are looking to build community. Both inside our facility as well as outside. This goal is going to be a community supported effort. It takes everyone here to do this. The cool thing is everyone can be apart of the solution. There is a way for everyone single person in the community to engage, via shopping here, donating or volunteering here. I think what we have been able to prove here is that people are willing to invest in for a better solution. We are serving over 300 credit earning members and the members have earned over 250,000 in credit that is used to spend here. They are willing to work, invest and to give back to the community. As a community, we need to be able to give our support back to that. |
