Northeastern Area Caring Communities Coalition

The coalition began in the midst of social unrest and the COVID-19 Health pandemic in 2020. A time colored by finger pointing, name calling, verbal assaults, and politicizing all of which was dragging us deeper into the problems and not the solutions. We could not have been farther away from finding solutions because we were so far into our own corners and not willing to meet in the middle to move forward. We forgot that our neighbors were people and not just another police officer, just another democrat, another republican, just another white person, another black person, or another immigrant. We forgot that we are more alike than different. The response to this division and labeling was "enough is enough!" We needed to move forward towards compassion and morality. In partnership with various members of the Northeastern school district, this coalition was created to enable our neighbors by connecting our community through service, resources, empowerment and support.

As a result, we created "Not One More Thing" dinners. These meals were free to all and were offered during times when families could not bear to add "one more thing" to their list of things to do. Families were overloaded with juggling multiple responsibilities such as parent-teacher conferences, after school pick up, elder care pick up, etc. This meal was provided to hopefully alleviate stress and improve familial well-being. We started the back to school Shop with a Cop event. In coordination with the local school district, kids were invited to have lunch and go back-to-school shopping with an officer. These kids were students who may have had a rocky year and needed to build a positive relationship with police officers. These students may have also experienced economic challenges, which makes preparing for school a challenge. This program was rewarding for both the officers and the students and got them off to a positive start in preparation for the school year.

With your donations, we hope to continue these efforts and expand our impact. Your donations will go towards creating resources for officers in their daily efforts to address quality of life issues especially of those impacted by the mental health crisis. We aim to create educational resources, such as mental health pamphlets, for officers and school district personnel to use and distribute to our neighbors in need across municipalities. We hope to sponsor parent cafes, mobile resource units, and increase access to nutrition as a result of our efforts. We are actively working across municipalities to identify solutions while building positive relationships.