TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – This Christmas, holiday cheer is reaching some of Tallahassee’s most vulnerable individuals thanks to community support at the Kearney Center.
Community members, churches and local organizations banded together to donate gifts that Kearney Center staff will distribute on Christmas Day.
Caseworkers said it’s fulfilling work. That’s why they got into this job, after all.
“The end goal is housing, but to see them get little gifts and meet little milestones along the way, honestly, it just kind of makes my day and just makes me feel like what I do is really important,” Audrey Lavender, housing case manager, said.
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Caseworkers are hard at work, ‘filling’ Santa’s sleigh with a mix of essentials, but also some wants too. They’re aiming for a “real” Christmas effect.
“So, the least we could do is show our appreciation by them going out every day, going to go look for a job, going to go look for housing, just trying to get their self in a better position to become self-sufficient,” Kaniela Rhymes, housing case worker supervisor, said.
Executive Director of the center, Sonya Wilson, said many of the local churches are praying with them, for them and over them.
“We couldn’t do what we’re doing without the abundance of love from this community,” Wilson said.
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