4 minute read
Community Action Center
Advertisement
Organic garden plots are available. Come garden with us! • 20 x 20 plots- $65.00 • 10 X 10 plots $32.50. Free plots are available to qualified residents with low-income. Get in touch with the Pullman Community Garden at Koppel Farm for more information: • Email- koppelgardens@gmail.com • Website: https://sites.google.com/site/
koppelfarm/Home
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
groups/675211985894315
The Food & Shelter Folks
Meet the Staff: Deaneal McKnight, Case Manager for Youth Homeless Demonstration Program
Tell me about yourself. I’m a native of Southern California. I grew up in a single parent, drug-addicted household. I am the oldest of four kids, and at a young age I had to grow up fast to be able to take care of my younger brothers. As kids, we made money to buy food by bringing grocery carts back to the store. I didn’t have any positive role models so I embarked in the local gang, unfortunately, and sold drugs to earn money to feed my little brothers. Then I was incarcerated as a juvenile until I was 21. After age 21 I did three different stints in the California Department of Corrections. In 2002, when I was on parole, I visited Pullman and saw Deaneal McKnight my little brother get his PhD from WSU. I saw him graduate and I started questioning myself. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I was willing to get my life together. My mind frame was changed.
I got off parole in nine months, moved up here, got my first job at Shopko and enrolled in Spokane Falls Community College. Then, I graduated from SFCC and transferred to WSU. It was a pretty long road, as you can imagine. I ended up having a couple of kids and I was 17 credits short of graduation, working dead-end jobs.
I finished my degree in Sociology in 2018 and along the way I got a job at Lapwai Middle and High School. I coached middle school football, and did a lot of mentoring with the kids there. My heart is into helping people. I decided to go to grad school and will be getting my Masters in Criminal Justice in May 2021. Now I’m a case manager at Community Action Center. Describe what you do at Community Action Center.
I’ve worked here for three months. I work with the youth, helping them get housing and school services. I also work with ex-cons like myself. I invest in a lot of conversation, motivation, and resources so they are empowered to put one foot in front of the other. I have a lot of life experiences that benefit me in this job. For example, experiences of being incarcerated at a young age, having addicted parents, as a former gang member, and having to be dependent on other people for food.
It takes strength and courage to ask for help. I know, because I was there. My exterior is not that soft, and Community Action Center never judged me. Jeff Tietjen here at Community Action Center was one of my mentors along the way. I kept putting one foot in front of the other. I began to feel like I was part of society and not a miscreant, if you will. Pullman became home, and history is in the making. What’s special about your job?
My greatest joys are empathy, being in contact with people, and being able to meet them where they are. At one point in my life I needed someone to meet me where I was, without being judged. What do you do in your free time?
I’m a Southern California boy so I like low-riders and Harleys; a lot of my free time is spent fixing my Harley and my low-rider. I spend a lot of time with my children. I didn’t really have a father figure growing up, so I try to spend as much time as possible with my children. It’s kind of hard because I have two jobs and am a full-time student.
Community Food
We are taking food donations by appointment! We humbly ask our generous community members to call the front desk (509-334-9147) to make an appointment to donate food. We still encourage monetary donations. Your dollar will go farther in buying food than if you spend it yourself at the store! Please donate at: https://www.cacwhitman.org/donate/
We need the following donations: • Dietary restriction foods (glutenfree, sugar-free, low-sodium, vegan, etc.) • Toilet paper • Laundry and dish soap • Diaper wipes • Hygiene items (body wash, shampoo/ conditioner, toothpaste, etc.)
You can bring donations to 350 SE Fairmont Road in Pullman weekdays from 8:00-4:00 (closed for lunch 12:00-1:00). To donate, please come to the parking lot, call the front desk, and we will have a staff member come to your car to take the donation.
FOOD PANTRY BREAD ROOM
MONDAY Closed 8 am – 4:30 pm TUESDAY Closed 8 am –– 4:30 pmPlease note our Free Room is WEDNESDAY 11 am – 1:00 pm 8 am – 4:30pmnow closed due (note the change!) to COVID-19 THURSDAY 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm 8 am – 6:00 pm regulations.
