Stories

During the recent civil unrest in Kenosha, this was a question that was posed in response to the outcry over the violent, turbulent rioting that took place. Can you hear us now? I have to admit this question made me pause. Made me think. It made me take measure of my white privilege and question how I was using it to make things better in my community. One answer I came up with was I work for Kenosha Human Development Services. Throughout my 27 years at KHDS, I have witnessed great works of kindness and inclusion. I’ve seen people working […]

If 2020 had a mascot it might very well be this dog. This year arrived with a bang and just keeps on giving. We’ve come through the threat of murder hornets, moved an entire business in one week and are still dealing with daily issues of the move, and are working/living in a time of a pandemic that has made social distancing and working differently the norm. August brought us a time of great social unrest in our city adding to the stress and anxiety that we were already experiencing. We watched fearfully as portions of our city burned and […]

How do you say good-bye to an old friend? The big red building at 5407-8th Avenue was “home” to so many of us for so long that it really feels like leaving someone behind as we make a momentous move to a new place. Over the years, that red building has seen so much. If walls could talk, as they say, those walls would have tales to tell. Tales of kind, caring people working hard to provide quality services to those in need. People brainstorming on how to meet the needs of the community when there was, quite frankly, no […]

Strange days, indeed. The age of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it much more than just the illness itself. We are living in times that are unprecedented. Families have been home-schooling their children and are now wondering if schools will reopen in the fall. Businesses hoped to reopen and now are rethinking their decision and scaling back operations as we’re seeing an increase in positive coronavirus cases. People who were furloughed months ago are still waiting for their unemployment money and fear being homeless. And there is a constant political argument of “to mask or not to mask”. Of […]

Loving each other is simple. We are born knowing how to do it. Listening to one another is easy. You just stay quiet and let the other person speak. Those two things combined are a great beginning to understanding and healing. But they are not enough. Idle solidarity, or static love, isn’t enough to create the change that must be made in the world. It’s true that it can seem so overwhelming to know how to help, where to start, what to do. The events of the past week beginning with the death of George Floyd and the subsequent marches […]