Storing up good will
<p>Pat Steele, with Coeur d'Alene Crane Service, moves the roof to a 13x16-foot shed that was donated to Fresh Start in Coeur d'Alene.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Never has the arrival of a storage building received such fanfare.
People stood with cameras and snapped pictures.
Women stood with babies and watched.
A man fired up a barbecue to celebrate and feed the volunteers.
Passersby stopped to see what was happening on a cold but sunny Thursday morning at 16th and Sherman.
"It is so needed," said Leslie Kline, board member of Fresh Start, a nonprofit dedicated to serving the homeless.
The delivery of the 13-by-16-foot storage building donated by Coeur d'Alene man Paul Bielec and family came as the organization is seeing continued increase in clientele.
"Once people realize what we're doing here, we have been overflowing with absolutely great donations, and we had one itty bitty little closet," Kline said.
That meant she had to find storage space of clothing, food and supplies in her garage, a friend's garage and another friend's shed. It was scattered wherever she could keep it.
"Now I can get organized," she said.
Everything from the delivery truck to the crane to the men helping out was either a donation or a volunteer.
Fresh Start helps about 250 people a month, who come in for meals, to do laundry, access the Internet, make a phone call or just get out of the cold.
Howard Martinson, executive director, had to smile as he watched the roof of the shed swinging from the crane and being lowered into place.
"We've been praying for good things to happen," he said.
And they have.
Fresh Start received more than $100,000 in donations in 2009.
"We are solvent," Martinson said. "We're not wealthy."
Some days, people stopped in and contributed a $100 bill. In response to a December flier from Fresh Start, others wrote checks.
There were times, he said, that he doubted whether the 6-year-old organization could survive.
But no more.
"We kept the faith," he said. "We worked our keisters off to try and do the right thing."
The generosity of the community toward Fresh Start has exceeded expectations, Martinson said.
"There are way more good people in the world than bad," he said.