Absolutely No Service (sort of)

Weekends at Manna on Main Street are reserved for the soup kitchen only. We don't operate the food pantry or provide any case management services. The intent is to set boundaries for clients, to help them plan ahead and not run to us when minor emergencies arise. It also gives our staff a bit of a break from responding to crises seven days a week.

This past weekend was a little different. A young man called and explained that his insulin prescription had been exhausted. He didn't want to bother us on Friday and was hopeful he could get help from one of his family members to have the prescription filled. It didn't work out, and so he called us. We could have told him to call back on Monday, or go to the hospital emergency room; but in the long run it would made his life more difficult and more expensive for our community to provide care. So we called the local pharmacy and told them we would cover the cost of his medication.

Sometimes breaking our own rules is the best thing we do...