Jenny was having a run of bad luck – her husband’s shop had burned down, and the family was short of cash. Then she had a call from a former coworker, Lindsey, who had heard that Jenny was looking for some extra work. She offered Jenny a few hours per week at The Women’s Room at Friends In Deed.
Her first day was totally different to her other job, and initially overwhelming – but Jenny really needed the money, so she stuck with it. Then, after her first couple of weeks, she began to feel like maybe she could “do this.” And that’s when she started to get really invested.
The laundry room at Friends In Deed house is unrecognizable since Jenny took it on. She collected storage bins, sorted toiletries, sourced erasable labels for guest laundry baskets, and created a request system for needed items. This, in turn, enabled her to look for patterns in client requests, and then she could add those items to our donation wish list to make sure we always had them in stock. Something as simple as being able to source a guest’s preferred brand of menstrual pads made that guest feel cared for in a way our ladies don’t often get to feel. And Jenny found the more she organized, the better service she was able to provide.
It’s likely that Jenny got her organizational abilities from her mom, who brought up 10 children as a single parent. Jenny says that she didn’t even realize, as a child (our picture shows her at this time), that she was living in poverty – their food may have come from federal programs and their clothes and shoes from thrift stores, but there was always home-cooked food on the table, and clothes for everyone to wear.
It’s also likely that this is where Jenny learned her sense of community. Her mom experienced great kindness from the community in East LA where she first lived after immigrating to the States, and she passed that kindness on – no matter how little they had, Jenny’s mom was always able to find a little extra to give away to someone in need.
Still living in Lincoln Heights where she grew up, Jenny has a husband and two daughters and loves to go hiking and camping with them. She has also recently completed her associates degree in business administration at PCC.
Jenny’s hours at FID have increased from a few hours a week to a few hours a day, and then to full-time. And now that Lindsey is looking forward to maternity leave, it is Jenny who will take on the day-to-day management of The Women’s Room in Lindsey’s absence. We’re very grateful to Jenny, allowing Lindsey to take the time off knowing that TWR will be in capable hands.