Courtesy of LifeWorks
By Susan Elise Campbell
LifeWorks Community Action has a long history of helping put individuals and families on the path to an economically healthier life. A staff of 114 and 200 regular volunteers carried out services throughout Saratoga County last year, and according to Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez, executive director, the non-profit’s 2025 direction is on “strengthening the workplace culture to benefit both the customers and staff.”
“Our focus as an organization last year was on training staff and embodying the spirit of helping people move forward, both economically and personally in their lives,” said Nowhitney.
“We increased wages, we looked at our benefits, and we launched a health and wellness program,” she said. “Together these changes are ensuring that we take care of employees and staff, and that they have the tools and resources to be successful here at work and outside of work, as well.”
“Staff are now better able to bring their best to the services we provide,” she said.
But funding services is an important piece of the work LifeWorks must do going into a new year. Some federal funding has already been cut, and Nowhitney said the organization is uncertain about changes coming from Congress.
“Congress is running on a continuing resolution, which will likely be extended into the new year,” she said. “But we don’t know what programs we will be able to sustain beyond 2025.”
Nowhitney drew attention to three of the major areas this “community of neighbors helping neighbors” performs: the food program, Head Start, and immigration services.
“There is an astronomical demand for our food program and we are committed to turning no family away,” she said. “There are 900 food pantries operating each month and we served 10,000 people in Saratoga County in 2024.”
This division is overseen by one full-time and three part-time staff. The rest is “volunteer powered,” she said. More than 600 volunteers packed and delivered 1,500 baskets of food for the most recent seasonal drive.
Despite some improvements in consumer prices, the demand for food is increasing, not decreasing, said Nowhitney.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows year-to-year that the lower quartile areas have higher inflation,” she said. “The biggest strain on families is housing costs, and once other budget items are paid for, there is little left for food.”
The Head Start early childhood education program in particular struggled from vacancies during COVID, Nowhitney said. There were 40 vacancies coming into the year and now only four or five remain open.
Nowhitney said she and the Head Start team credit workplace improvements introduced since the pandemic to the “huge success” in filling those vacancies.
Head Start is a long-running, federally funded program. Nowhitney said one of their funding sources is a flexible grant allowing local communities to design local responses to poverty. This grant has also been vital to their food programs in recent years as well, she said.
But funding is also dependent on enrollment. Nowhitney said notice was received a few months ago that their Head Start funding had been cut by $1.78 million.
“Half of the country’s Head Start programs were still struggling post-COVID and staffing was one reason,” she said. “We solved the staffing issue and families were ready to enroll, but our program, like others nationwide, is dealing with less funding.”
Nowhitney said Head Start has been a stable program since the advent of the 1960s war on poverty. However, proposals in the federal budget “would eliminate programs like this and weatherization completely.”
Weatherization provides energy services to needy families in both Saratoga and Schenectady counties.
“We are looking at how we can continue to not only offer but actually increase access to child care and early childhood education for all families in 2025, as well as weatherization,” she said.
Last year new funding from the state allowed LifeWorks to expand services and provide case management and legal programs for immigrants. The organization is responsible for all such programs in the northern Capital District.
“That was a small program that has been part of the agency since 2005,” Nowhitney said. “We were fortunate to have the opportunity to apply for this grant to solidify services, onboard new staff, and hire a new immigrant services director.”
Nowhitney said LifeWorks receives federally funded Community Services Blocks grants as a designated community action agency for Saratoga County, a provision since the Johnson administration.
“The concept is that each community knows best how to address poverty in their area,” she said. “But again, we are unsure of what future appropriations will be.”
Businesses that donate to LifeWorks and assist them as community partners are doing an invaluable service to the community, Nowhitney said. But the appreciation received from recipients of their programs is “priceless.”
“Our primary challenge today is identifying sufficient resources to meet our needs and not refuse service to anyone,” she said. “Another challenge is getting the message out what our organization does to address the needs of this community.”
There are major fund-raising events throughout the year and a new program is coming up in partnership with Posey Peddlar, she said.
“It’s called Blooms of Hope,” she said. “Proceeds from every bouquet purchased at Posey Peddlar or on our website through this program will support LifeWorks programming,” she said.
“Lady Bird Johnson said, ‘Where flowers bloom, so does hope,’” Nowhitney said. “The blooming metaphor evolved from our fund-raising and our conversations about what we aspire to do.”
Nowhitney continues to see a widening gap between people with sufficient resources and those who cannot achieve economic stability. LifeWork’s whole family approach looks at all aspects of people’s lives, from employment, food, education, and housing to their health and well-being.
“Another of our goals is to build awareness of the human services network of local organizations similar to ours so we build connections and bring together resources,” she said. “In doing this we are not only changing people’s lives, but also building a stronger community.”
LifeWorks is always looking for volunteers, donations, and community partnerships, Nowhitney said. Learn how to assist the non-profit at www.lifeworksaction.org.