BEHIND THE SCENES: A Volunteer’s Impact
This holiday season, Karen Littlejohn, a dedicated volunteer and generous donor, led our Holiday Shopping event for families alongside many other hardworking volunteers. What Karen accomplished during this time was extraordinary, and at a time when additional support was much needed. Our annual Holiday Shopping Event for families is held for two weeks each December when children and parents select gifts for each other in separate rooms at the Colorado House. With the help of volunteers, presents are wrapped and families reconvene with gifts ready for each other.
“I support Partners in Housing because it serves families with children. If children do not have stability, they are not going to be able to thrive. As an educator, I have worked with vulnerable children all my life, both teenagers and young children, and many of those kids came from unstable environments. I have learned firsthand, until children find some stability, whether at school or at home, they are not going to be able to achieve their full potential. It is the children who have no voice that need us most. If we don’t support and nourish and nurture these young kids and make sure they have what they need, what’s going to happen to us as a society? And no child in Colorado Springs should be sleeping in a car.”
In the weeks leading up to our free Holiday Shopping Event for families, Karen coordinated donation deliveries, met donors, set up and organized the gift area for display, coordinated volunteers, and spent countless hours ensuring we had gifts for every child and parent in the program. This steadfast commitment to families is no coincidence- Karen has worked with children of all ages throughout her career as a teacher in District 2 and District 11. She began volunteering with Partners in Housing after becoming acquainted with Partners in Housing’s mission at a Lunch and Learn event several years ago. She has spent many hours in the donation center, reorganizing and creating a more welcoming space for families to shop. As Holiday Shopping comes to a close, Karen has taken initiative and redirected her efforts to maintain our Welcome Baskets for families as they begin their year-long journey in the Family Self-Sufficiency Program.
When asked about the importance of volunteering, Karen shared that, “I think it’s important for people to consider volunteering as a way to support their community; volunteering is really rewarding whether you give an hour a month or an hour a week, it’s going to make a difference in someone’s life. I really believe the quote, ‘I cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good I can do.’ It is absolutely true. I think we all are called to do something meaningful, and something that matters.”
In her free time, Karen also volunteers twice a week assisting a kindergarten class filled with some amazing kiddos in addition to her work to support Partner families. Karen added that all her work could not be accomplished without the help of other hardworking and dedicated Partners in Housing volunteers. She reflected, “there is an amazing spirit of caring and commitment among the Partners in Housing volunteers that is contagious.”
Thank you, Karen, for all that you do in our community! We greatly appreciate you!
To read our full 2024 Winter Newsletter, please visit here!
Click Here to learn about our volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to our Volunteer and In-Kind Donation Coordinator, Tarin Hill, at Thill@partnersinhousing.org or (719) 559-3286 to learn more!
