MARIA Metzler

Maria Metzler has focused on solving problems pretty much her whole life, including the last six years as executive director of Helpline House. She relishes finding new ways to lift people up. If you have a need—food, utility and rent assistance, counseling—just walk in the door. As a 10-year islander, Metzler’s happy to be raising three kids in a community that cares—and shares—so much.

BY CONNIE BYE PHOTOS BY TANNER RIGHTLEY

How did your previous job at Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Service Center influence your approach at Helpline House?

I learned about the human experience in such a deep way by facing it every day. There, we had a mindset of scarcity, where we had to do what we could with what we had. It made me want to operate differently here. If we have it and you need it, it’s yours.

What services does Helpline provide?

The food bank and social services are the main ones, and we have special projects. At the holidays, we have gifts for seniors and kids. For back-to-school, we have Project Backpack. And we have Project Happy Birthday. If you have a child between 0 and 18, you can fill out a simple form at the front desk and say, for example, my child is turning 10 and his favorite color is blue and his most favorite things in the whole world are soccer and baseball. We have a group of Birthday Angels who we send that request. Presents come in for this child, then the parent or guardian picks up the gifts at the front desk, goes home and says, “Look what I got you for your birthday.” It always works out.

What innovations have you tried?

There generally are lots of parameters when you shop at food banks: the number of times a week or month you can come, the number of items you can take. We used to have a limit on cereal, for example. But what if your two kids eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we say, “I’m sorry, but you can only have one box.” We decided to trust people to make choices for their households that are the best for them.

In the past six weeks, we’ve had more food bank shoppers than we’ve had since 2019—nearly 300 [shopping trips] a week. In 2019, we averaged 250 shops a week.

Is there enough food?

If there’s not enough, it’s our job to procure more, by asking the community, by careful stewardship of our dollars, by purchasing through Food Lifeline and Northwest Harvest. Two things with limits in the food bank: eggs and meat. Those are difficult to get and expensive.

How does the Kids Pantry work?

It’s offered during the four breaks in the school year and the summer. We partner with Rotary. Each bag contains five days of breakfasts, lunches and snacks—one bag per kid per household each week. People can come here to pick [bags] up, or they can be delivered to your door through Rotary.

How does someone access your services?

For the food bank, the easiest thing to do is walk in. No income parameters. We ask for information, but it’s optional. You can designate someone else to shop for you, or you can connect with [Island Volunteer Caregivers], and they will shop and deliver to your house.

We have an extensive porch pantry that’s open when the food bank is closed. We put out as much as we can that’s not perishable. We did a survey a couple of months ago and found people shop the porch pantry for three reasons: They can’t get to Helpline during open hours, they shopped earlier that week but need a little more or they want anonymity.

For social services, walk in or call and make an appointment. Mental health therapy is free. It can be one time or however long you need it. This is with a licensed mental health counselor.

For case management, we want you to make an appointment and let us help. We have partnerships, we have resources, we have referrals to places you might not have thought about otherwise.

What are the greatest needs on Bainbridge Island?

One of them is food, one of them is hunger. We do a good job of addressing that, so it’s not an unmet need. A huge unmet need is affordable housing.

How can people help?

Financial contributions help us. People also participate by volunteering and with food donations.

We distributed 51,000 pounds of food a month in 2022. The Sakai food drive is our largest food drive every year. When you’re at the store, consider buying two items [and donating one]. If it’s something you’d like to have for dinner, then that’s what someone else would like to have for dinner, too.