The Reason All Year Long

Christmas is a time for giving, for love, and for joy. It is a time to be with friends and family. It is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. As many people say, Jesus is the reason for the season. At Pathways, however, the time for this is not one month a year. The time is all year around.

Over the past year, Pathways’ free clinic provided healthcare services to individuals who otherwise would not have been able to get the health services they needed. Families were able to receive free produce, ensuring healthier meals and better long-term health. Students graduated from our YouthBuild program receiving a high school diploma and professional certifications vital to being competitive within the job market. At our annual Harvest Fest the week before Thanksgiving, we worked with our community partners like Anthem and Feed More to provide hot meals as well as canned goods and produce. Last tax season, individuals who otherwise would not be able to afford professional tax assistance were able to receive free tax preparation services.

As patients visited our free clinic, they were with doctors, nurses, and medical school students who volunteer their time to care for their neighbors. Students in our YouthBuild program spent twenty-four hours a week at Pathways receiving not just education and job training, but mentorship, life coaching, and lifelong friendships as well. Tax prepares volunteered their time so that local working families could receive professional tax services.

Every year since Pathways opened, staff, volunteers, donors and community partners have come together to make Pathways a place of giving, joy, love and friendship, as well as a place where one can easily observe people following the teachings of Jesus and loving their neighbors. There is no specific time of the year for giving or being with friends and family. There is no set aside month where Jesus gives us reason. At Pathways, it is all year long.

For those of you who have been part of this constant mission with us all year, rather it was as a donor, a volunteer or community partner, we would like to sincerely thank you for sharing with us in this commitment to our community. For everyone else, we would like to invite you to join us so that next year we will be able to serve more patients, distribute more food, provide more job training and build more Pathways to success.