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“She used to come home with all these stories about how, you know, this person came in and they needed things and she just couldn’t help them. And I felt so bad … So that really made me want to be more involved in the community … to help communities just be better, be stronger and come together.”

Helping others was in Leslie’s blood. Her mother worked for the Department of Human Services for more than 30 years. Stories of the families her mother helped, and those falling through the gaps, permeated her childhood.

“She used to come home with all these stories about how, you know, this person came in and they needed things and she just couldn’t help them. And I felt so bad … So that really made me want to be more involved in the community … to help communities just be better, be stronger and come together.”

Those dinner table conversations inspired Leslie to pursue a life in service of others. Now, as a peer advocate at Nurture the Next—a nonprofit dedicated to stopping the cycle of child abuse and neglect—Leslie has the chance to do just that every day. Through home visits, evidence-based care and case management, Nurture the Next works with families to help them break multi-generational cycles of abuse, develop healthier parenting skills and connect to the resources they need to care for their families.

Their client base is diverse. Every family comes from a different background or set of circumstances and therefore has its own unique needs. Leslie says immigrant and New American families often need the most support.

Leslie recalls one specific family she worked with recently. A mother had escaped a refugee camp in Tanzania with her small children. Her husband unfortunately had to stay behind. The adjustment was hard. They faced language and cultural barriers. Without her husband, the mother had no income or way to support her family. They arrived in their new home with so little.

She struggled to create a home for her children and to get them a sense of stability and familiarity.

“And one thing she said was … cooking really helps her stay rooted in her community, in her heritage and culture, but she didn’t have pots and pans to cook with. Because of donations to our Amazon Wish List, we were able to get them some pots and pans so they can cook their meals and share their stories and their memories with each other and just find some kind of positive.”

Sometimes it’s the simplest things, like a basic set of pots and pans, that can make all the difference.

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