By MARY NADER

The holidays are a very busy time for all of us, and those of us in the everyday world at Fishline join the hectic holiday pace each year.

Working together with local churches, we provided almost 500 Thanksgiving turkeys or hams with all the trimmings for our clients this year, and we expect to do the same for Christmas.  Hundreds of area children will receive gifts under the tree through our Christmas Child program. And the steady stream of donations will keep us hopping until well after the first of the year.

In the midst of so much commotion, it can be easy to forget that our work is not only about the hundreds of clients seeking our help or the lines that form or the statistics that we will gather as we look back on this year. Our work is most importantly about the transformation that happens in a single life, the impact that kindness and a second chance can have upon the fear and anxiety that can often accompany hard times.

As if to remind us of this truth, in the middle of a busy, crazy day recently, a young woman came to visit. Susan has been a client of ours for over a year, registering for services when her husband left her with two small children and a mortgage she couldn’t pay.  Without job skills or a savings account, this young mother had nowhere to turn but to Fishline.

Her house was in jeopardy, and she was scared. We helped her hold onto her home, provide food for her family and encouraged her as she went back to school.

A year later, this determined woman has found the job of her dreams. She now works for a local social service agency and helps mothers like herself regain their footing and care for their children.

In a perfect completion, what started as a trauma that could have buried Susan turned into just the right way to reinvent herself and help others do the same.

These are the outcomes that light up our lives and refocus us upon the true joy that comes when we can be part of one person’s growth and realization of potential. This young woman’s candle will go on to light hundreds of others, and our community will be brighter as a result.

In a world that often seems beyond repair, it can be heartening to know that here, in our little world of North Kitsap county, there is a quiet revolution happening, a decision made by consensus that refuses the gloom of negative predictions and worried despair.  If each community voted this way, with its unrelenting hope and compassion turned into tangible assistance, those gloomy predictions would evaporate. They could not exist in the light of so much optimism.

We know that 2015 will present its challenges and, after the holiday festivities ebb, the harsh realities of cold nights and high electric bills will surround us once again.  But those dark nights will not last long, thanks to the warm glow of so many like Susan who will be helped because of your generous spirits.

A heartfelt wish from all of us at Fishline to all of you for a peaceful, kindness-filled new year.

— Mary Nader is executive director of North Kitsap Fishline. Contact her at director@nkfishline.org