The Concord community has done extraordinary things to welcome our new neighbors, the residents of the Elm Street family shelter. These are unhoused, displaced families, most of them children.
My experience has been as a weekly volunteer since the shelter opened, one of the many trained and vetted to work with the children. We arrive at our shifts and find brilliantly clean, cheerful, colorful playrooms. We offer time and presence to these children (many of whom have experienced trauma) and we give exhausted parents respite to work on housing and health-related issues. We see, face to face, beautiful and resilient children, their brave parents (who have endured so much) and we witness smiles and successes daily.
Thank you to everyone in Concord who has supported these families. There are so many of you! Concord residents, the public schools, the Community Chest, and all of our faith communities who have stepped up to welcome, clothe, baptize, and shelter families. Also to those who worked so hard to fundraise and build outdoor play space for these families.
You all make me proud to live in Concord!
I want to urge all of us in this community to continue to support one another, lift each other up when we need a hand, and continue to try our best to make Concord a safe, welcoming place for all, especially our children.
Mimi Krier
Middle Street
