White Bear Lake’s nonprofits help our community run smoothly, but those nonprofits can’t make a difference without your help. The White Bear Lake Emergency Food Shelf and Solid Ground are two organizations that have undergone many changes over the last year, thanks to donations and support. To bring you up to speed, here’s what they’ve been up to, and how you can help them continue to thrive.
Helping Residents Find Solid Ground
Founded in the late ’80s, Solid Ground was started by a group of women who wanted to help low-income women in the community access housing and education, and help them get through tough times. But Mary Chung, director of development and communication, says that since the beginning they’ve served families of all types. “Two-parent families, single dads … they all just have to have at least one kid under the age of 18,” Chung says.
With programs in Ramsey and Washington counties and a main site in White Bear Lake, Solid Ground helps families get back on their feet, and not just by providing a place to sleep. “We do a lot of different programs,” Chung says, including budgeting and tenant training, parenting and job programs, and a program called dialectical behavior therapy to help people break bad habits. These are offered alongside tutoring programs for students who need to catch up because of housing displacement.
In 2014, Solid Ground celebrated 25 years of assisting the community, and along with several special events, including an alumni reunion, the organization was the winner of a new kitchen from IKEA. Nominated by a volunteer and community member, Jan Gillen, Solid Ground was up against two other nonprofits. “We asked the community to vote and we won!” Chung says. The new kitchen is a full upgrade from the previous kitchen, which had been built 20 years ago. “It’s just got so much more storage, it’s more modern. And it provides a fresh place to teach cooking classes, like “Crockpot cooking on a budget,” she says. It’s one more resource that helps Solid Ground build better futures for the families they assist.
To donate or volunteer, contact Liz Meyers at volunteeratsolidgroundmn.org or call 651.773.8401 ext. 134.
More Than Just a Food Shelf
While some food shelves deal with food only, the White Bear Lake Emergency Food Shelf goes above and beyond to make sure its visitors have the resources they need. After a huge renovation this summer at their facility built in 2000, their mission has been to “drive food and support,” executive director Julie Jergens says. New staff members include Jergens and Alicia Gatto Petersen, who is in charge of outreach support.
The organization renovated 4,000 square feet, taking out a garage and adding storage, as well as opening up spaces and adding aisles. Now, visitors can feel like they are at a grocery store, rather than picking up food from the food shelf. “It’s a true shopping model,” Jergens says. Kowalski’s, Cub Foods and Festival Foods all drop off food several times a week.
The focus is on nutrition. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds in the summer months, when the food shelf’s backyard garden, which has been thriving for three years, is filled with fresh vegetables, a raspberry patch and herb garden. Gardeners from Hugo help out as well, bringing produce like blueberries, apples, potatoes, tomatoes and onions to the food shelf daily.
The money raised goes toward the food shelf’s many programs, including a backpack program for students who are eligible for free or reduced lunches, the thrift store (1965 E. County Road E) and the outreach program run by Petersen.
Jergens says the organization is working hard to be a place where clients are “used to getting good information, and they’re used to classes, and they’re used to resources, in terms of food or other things.”
For information on how to donate or volunteer, go to whitebearfoodshelf.org.
