Mike Malmin sees opportunities for Serve Wenatchee Valley to play a bigger role here
Mike Malmin, the former pastor at Wenatchee Nazarene Church, has returned to the valley to become the third executive director of Serve Wenatchee Valley, a nonprofit organization that helps keep struggling families from becoming homeless.
Malmin sees this new role, replacing Thom Nees, as a golden opportunity to help make a difference in the community in a way that is consistent with how Jesus chose to serve humanity — helping those most in need. “Loving and caring for the poor is a priority for me,” said Malmin.
Serve Wenatchee Valley, founded by Rev. Bob Shepard, works in partnership with local churches, businesses and individuals to provide assistance to those who are at risk of becoming homeless. The organization has a grocery store, a rental assistance program and a warehouse of donated furniture to help families.
One of the things that I appreciate about Serve Wenatchee Valley is that they serve everyone, not just those that are Christian. As Malmin pointed out, Jesus had a special passion for comforting those at the margins.
Serve Wenatchee Valley approaches helping people with discernment. In their intake process for new clients, they learn the story of each individual to help understand “when we should help and when helping hurts,” Malmin said. “We try to understand what kind of help is specifically needed, as opposed to what is specifically being asked for,” he added.
When community members think of people experiencing homelessness, the typical mental image involves those who are chronically unhoused and camping on the streets or nearby.
“You know, people get frustrated when they see the RVs around town. At the same time, these are human beings. I love that Serve (Wenatchee Valley) is committed to keeping people in their homes before it gets to that point. Because once it once it is at that point, it becomes harder to reverse,” he said
Viewing those who are struggling as human beings rather than dehumanizing them as a problem or a blight on the community is a fact that all of us need to be reminded of.
One of the endearing aspects of Serve Wenatchee Valley is that there are hundreds of volunteers from all across the community who help serve the needs of those who struggle.
One of the signature projects is August’s Clothes for the Classroom where they provide clothing for more than a thousand students in need. They collaborate with Columbia Valley Community Health which provides backpacks of school supplies for kids. At Thanksgiving, the nonprofit provides Baskets of Blessings to feed families who don’t have enough.
Everything about Serve Wenatchee Valley reflects the reason Malmin, a recovering television journalist, chose to become a pastor.
Malmin sees an opportunity for the organization to build on the strengths of the work done by the staff and previous executive directors and do more to help those in need. “Amidst all the division over the last four years, there’s still a desire to help people in need and care for people who are hurting and we want to be one of the places people think about when those issues arise,” he said.
He sees potential opportunities to find other ways to help low-income families down the road. One idea for the future is to provide values-based training for young people to help them become more self-sufficient and lead healthier lives.
Kids who grow up in poverty can benefit from learning skills that they may not have been exposed to. Bob Shepard was working on a similar project prior to retiring in 2017.
“The need is to train people how to work, find jobs, keep jobs, and become healthy people and healthy families,” said Malmin.
At the heart of the work of Malmin and Serve Wenatchee Valley is an abiding sense of the dignity and humanity of every individual. He sees an opportunity to let go of the anger and hatred towards those who are struggling and replacing that with love and understanding. “Don’t get me wrong, there are times to be angry. There’s a righteous anger, but the healthiest anger leads to action that’s beneficial,” he added.
Seeing the humanity in our neighbors who are struggling is something we can all work on. For more information about Serve Wenatchee Valley, check out servewenatchee.org.