Transforming pain into purpose

Collier Resource Center founder: ‘People want to help, they just don’t know where or how’

In the moments after the tragic shootings across the country in September, I came across a prayer shared by a friend: “Though it feels impossible to hope or to help, may we reach out to one another and be open-hearted in our pain … handling the … fragile with care.”

So many people are hurting right now; fragility and fear are all around us. If you were to look into my eyes when I was a child, you would have seen both. Watching my mother work tirelessly as a nurse, I didn’t want to ask for anything more. After I became a single mother, I prayed no one got sick, because I knew I could not afford medical bills.  Fearful and fragile again.

As an adult engaged in nonprofit administration in Collier County, I saw desperation on one side, and motivated people on the other. I stood in the middle of these two worlds. I knew where to find the resources. I could not sit with all of that information in my head.

So, in 2015, I drafted a document listing food pantries, disability services, help for seniors, veterans, families, and immigrants. When I founded the Collier Resource Center (CRC), my only prayer was for either the support to go forward or the dignity to close down.  Volunteers soon emerged, including Ernesto, an IT expert who organized the files in my brain into a searchable database.

Today, CRC is celebrating 10 years of transforming lives. What began as a simple dream − to connect people with necessary resources to improve their lives − has become a trusted source of help and hope. In our first year, we assisted 60 individuals with free caseworking services. Now, we help thousands of adults and children annually at no cost to them, with follow-up care until their concerns are addressed.

Last month, we received a referral for a 61-year-old man named Steven who had not been able to leave his mobile home for nearly one year. Partial blindness from diabetes, plus severe neuropathy, forced him to use a wheelchair, but he had no ramp to exit his home. He was also in dire need of a haircut.

We started with a Facebook group called Naples Moms 2.0, a network of 30-thousand women. Four hands were raised to give a free home haircut. We vetted the volunteers and then arranged with two board members to join me and visit Steven. The barber, Megan Menendez, lost a limb in a devastating car accident requiring 32 surgeries. She, like Steven and many of us, vowed to transform pain into purpose and limitation into legacy. When Steven made every attempt to pay her, she refused and promised to return if he couldn’t come to her barber shop, LimbitlessCutz.

Next, we reached out to the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida, experts in supporting independent living. Steven’s laundry machine is down a few stairs, which doesn’t work for a man in a wheelchair.

Project Outreach was our next call. Their founder, Julie Thomas, reached out to a general contractor willing to volunteer  help.  He donated the labor to remove the existing steps, create a new base, and build an ADA-compliant ramp. Steven has supportive siblings who will help him pay for the building materials.

People want to help, but they just don’t know where or how. CRC knows the where and the how. This November 6, we invite the public to celebrate with us at our 10-year anniversary gala, a moment to come together with purpose and a plan to find solutions to suffering in our community for the next decade and beyond.

Nina Gray is founder, Collier Resource Center. Nina was a member of the four-person team hired in 1982 to start Avow Hospice, then called Hospice of Naples.  For 16 years, she served as the CEO and chief advancement officer for the Neighborhood Health Clinic. Additionally, she is a Florida Licensed Mental Health Counselor who specializes in individual and group therapy to help clients with their life transitions.