A Joliet Volunteer with a Big Heart for Homeless People
While February 2020 brought a lot of negative realities, it also saw the start of a really positive one: Michal volunteering with The Salvation Army Joliet Corps Community Center.
At the time, Michal was running a cell phone business in downtown Joliet. When she heard a customer talking about volunteering with The Salvation Army, she asked if they needed help. Michal, a consummate helper, is always attuned to needs in her community and always does something to meet them, such as passing out dozens of pizzas or hundreds of Easter baskets to people in her community.
When COVID-19 caused shut-downs, including her store, Michal suddenly had a lot of time on her hands. So, she started volunteering every day at the Joliet corps. For hours, she reorganized and cleaned storage rooms where donated items were kept, making it easier to find whatever clients needed. She also helped with their food pantry, which became exponentially busier as people lost work due to COVID.
As the needs in her community grew, Michal transformed her store into a place where people could get items they need, such as clothes, shoes, blankets, winter coats, and diapers. Friends and community members donated these items at the shop and at Michal’s home. When she couldn’t meet a person’s need, she referred them to The Salvation Army.
Michal also started going with the Salvation Army van when it takes meals to homeless encampments around Joliet. She had already been feeding local people without a place to call home for nearly nine years.
Michal has a special place in her heart for homeless individuals after helping to care for a homeless man for years. They shared a bond like family, and she promised him she would care for other homeless individuals before he passed.
The Salvation Army van feeds from 80 to 100 individuals during each of their weekly visits. Michal offers them much more than a meal, developing relationships, giving them care packages she and her 12-year-old daughter make, and helping some get jobs. Many of those she helps call her mom.
“The physical work is nothing,” Michal said, referring to her efforts to serve others. “Not when I see the look on their faces, get the hugs, or hear them call me mom.”
“Often they just need someone to care for them so they can care for themselves,” she says, adding that most of these individuals do not choose homelessness but are simply trying to survive their circumstances.
She’s shared so often about how much she enjoys volunteering with the Joliet corps staff – including Envoy Scott, Linda, and Kevin – that some of the homeless individuals she’s helped now volunteer at The Salvation Army too, offering others the help they so personally know is sometimes necessary.
“To help others, you don’t have to be rich,” Michal said. “You just have to care.”