Citizens Inn Haven From Hunger In High Demand This Holiday Season

PEABODY, MA — Citizens Inn Senior Development Officer Rachel Leibowitz said she expected demand for food, shelter and support services to begin to ease at least a bit as the third year of the COVID-19 health crisis approached.

Instead, she told Patch on Tuesday that the need for help has grown nearly 300 percent from March 2020 for the Peabody housing and homeless shelter serving the North Shore.

"We thought we'd see a decrease after life started going back to normal," said Leibowitz, adding that Citizens Inn Haven from Hunger has gone from serving about 400 households a month to more than 1,1oo over the past 33 months. "But, in fact, we've seen an increase. It's due to the fact that there is inflation, or people are still looking for work, or are new to the country."

Regardless of the reason, the Citizens Inn is delivering in several ways for those North Shore residents this holiday season and beyond.

Citizens Inn this past week completed its annual toy drive that provided more than 2,000 new toys to families across the region. On Christmas Day, Leibowitz said she expects Haven From Hunger will serve 600 hot meals for the holiday. And challenges will continue even as the holiday lights dim with volunteers sought to help out this winter and throughout the year ahead.

"Volunteering during the holiday season is great," Leibowitz said. "But volunteering on a random Tuesday in February is even better. Because that's when we need people and because that's when you will have a more intimate experience when volunteering. You will be able to have more of a conversation directly with the people you are serving.

"It helps put things in perspective and maybe helps with some of the prejudices (about the homeless and food insecure) that are out there."

Leibowitz told Patch this year's holiday toy drive was the biggest ever at Citizens Inn with donations filling two, 16-foot trucks that visited drop-off sites around Peabody along with dozens of more gifts coming in through private donation drives.

"We collected more than 2,000 toys — and that does not include stocking stuffers, books, little things like that," she said. "We're talking more than 2,000 big toys."

Families were able to register to go "shopping" with the assistance of a holiday helper after more than 40 volunteers at the Lynnfield Summer Street School sorted the toys by intended age group.

Leibowitz said more than 560 children received one or more gifts.

"We were able to accommodate everything," Leibowitz said. "It was our biggest drive and giveaway in all the years that I can remember.

"We had businesses sign up where private businesses and employees put collection bins in their offices, at the Peabody Fire Department, the library, police station, banks. We even had people doing drives who we didn't know were doing drives. They would just show up with toys."

She said there are still a few extra toys put away for any clients who were not able to make the appointments last week and are still in need.

When it comes to the Christmas meals and food services that Citizens Inn provides throughout the year, Leibowitz said the Greater Boston Food Bank gives some food directly, while Citizen Inn's "food rescue program" collects healthy food items from local grocery stores, retail stores and restaurants that may otherwise go to waste.

In March, Citizens Inn will host its annual fundraising gala at Danversport on March 18.

"We are expanding it to the second floor this year," Leibowitz said of the gala. "We really want to get people aware of what Citizens Inn is and what we offer to the community."

Those looking to volunteer with Citizens Inn can sign up to do so here. Children with adult supervision are encouraged to volunteer as well.

Those interested in holding a benefit drive to help North Shore residents in need at Citizens Inn Haven From Hunger are encouraged to contact Leibowitz at rleibowitz@citizensinn.org.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)