Patchwork just completed our 46th year as an official organization. October 1 launched us into the next!
We keep a variety of records to try to quantify the impact we have on our community. This includes things like the number of people served and the number of services provided. Looking back at the year that just ended, one category of services jumps out because of its exponential increase over previous years: Neighborhood Hospitality.
Those of us who are around Patchwork in the mornings have felt an increase in the number of folks coming through our building, but even we were surprised by the results of the number crunching. Many varied, small services are grouped into Neighborhood Hospitality. They include things like lemonade and coffee, showers, questions answered, referrals to other organizations, use of the phone, clean socks, hygiene supplies, and pet food.
In all, last year we logged a total of 11,905 instances of Neighborhood Hospitality provided. The year before, we logged 9167. And the year before that we logged 7528. That’s a significant increase in a short period of time!
Those 11,905 instances of hospitality included:
- 2150 showers (594 women’s showers & 1556 men’s showers)
- Compare that to:
- 1275 showers the previous year
- 800 showers the year before that.
- Compare that to:
- 1712 pots of coffee and 346 pitchers of lemonade for our guests
- Compare that to:
- 1210 pots of coffee 169 pitchers of lemonade the previous year
- 952 pots of coffee and 88 pitchers of lemonade the year before that
- Compare that to:
- 2442 pounds of pet food distributed (1522 pounds of dog food and 920 pounds of cat food)
- Compare that to:
- 1350 pounds of pet food distributed the previous year
- 700 pounds distributed the year before that
- Compare that to:
- 1669 instances of individual hygiene supplies distributed
- 1336 pairs of socks distributed
That’s a lot of people and a lot of services provided. No wonder we’ve felt so busy!
And yet, our aim is not to continually increase the number of people we serve. Part of the reason why so many people come to us is that we are small enough to be able to adapt our services to the individual. For instance, we aren’t the primary place in Evansville for people to access shower facilities if they need them. However, we’re the place that is smaller and less institutional so folks who struggle with the hustle and bustle of larger places may find enough peace that they’re comfortable enough to shower here.
Things are similar with our other services. We’re a community hub and a starting point for folks. We’re small and friendly. We fill gaps left by other, larger organizations. We can help in many small and sometimes unexpected ways.
We know there is value in staying small but remaining busy.