A team effort delivers extra holiday cheer for families in shelter
A few days before Christmas, Program Manager II Josean Roldan’s team at a Way Finders’ family shelter program was busy. First up, a team potluck later that afternoon. Followed by a festive event for the shelter’s 28 families held on Christmas Day. All in addition to their everyday work—of supporting families and assisting them with their rehousing plans.
“Everybody’s running around, cleaning, cooking, organizing, trying to start the planning for Wednesday,” said Roldan, who joined Way Finders in 2023, and worked previously with the New England Farm Workers Council. “We picked up toys yesterday from Way Finders’ Toy Drive and just picked up gifts from the Gray House in Springfield this morning. We’ve been packing up all our cars, bringing the gifts here, unloading them.”
The wrapping of presents—led by Residential Advocate Selena Flores—was top of mind.
“It’s going smooth, no hiccups. We’re trying to manage,” said Roldan, of the effort to wrap gifts for the more than 50 children. “The staff has agreed to come in a few hours on the weekend, too, and keep wrapping things up. So that maybe we don’t have to keep wrapping up until the last minute.”
The presents were to be shared with families in a new way this year, in a common space that was decked out in seasonal style, with a Christmas tree, lights, decorations, and a fireplace banner.
“We kind of moved things around and made it look like a little home, we tried our best,” said Roldan. “Families have been surprised, it caught them off guard. It’s the first time we kind of went to that extent with the space.”
The timing of the event was also different this year, Roldan noted. “We thought it would be nice to do something on the actual holiday. Usually, staff are doing their own thing and they’re busy, so we end up doing it on a regular workday. This year, staff told me that they could be available on Christmas Day, and we started planning and it all kind of worked out for everybody. We’re going to have it around 10 or 11 in the morning, to give out the gifts and have some snacks for the kids.”
Getting into the festive spirit—and attire!—were Residential Advocate David Reyes (who dressed as Santa and gave gifts to children), Case Manager Luis Rodriguez (the Grinch) and Residential Advocate Joe Borges (an elf). For any family who chose not to come down for the event, staff made special deliveries later in the afternoon to their units.
“I don’t think every year we’ll be able to do our event on Christmas Day, because of people’s schedules and lives. But it’s worth a shot to try and see,” said Roldan, who was focused on making sure the staff had everything they needed ahead of time.
Roldan was happy to share one other tidbit of good cheer from his program: that a family is soon moving out into their own housing.
A big thank you to Roldan and all the staff for helping to bring holiday cheer to the families at your program!
Postscript
We checked in with Roldan in the new year to ask this question: “How did it go?”
“I’m so proud of my team, they went above and beyond this year. And the feedback was really positive,” said Roldan. “I’m especially grateful to my team for sharing their gift of time on the holiday, that means a lot to our families.”