A hand up for the service, hospitality community

COEUR d’ALENE — In the back of the house, beyond the waiting areas and the server stations, food service and hospitality employees make the magic happen.

They wash, dry, clean, chop, slice, prep and plate so their guests have pleasant experiences while visiting their establishments.

These industries really get cooking in the summertime, but tend to see less action in the cold months, leading to fewer hours and, for many, smaller paychecks.

That's where CDAIDE comes in.

"Hospitality workers make up such a large segment of our community," said Rebecca Smith, CDAIDE board chair. "They follow a seasonal worker cycle, so a lot of them have really reduced hours in the winter and they have trouble making ends meet. That's unique to our community because things are so vibrant in the summer and people struggle in the winter."

CDAIDE is a young North Idaho nonprofit that is dedicated to supporting those workers, especially those who don't qualify for benefits and live one paycheck away from disaster.

"It's a very hardworking population of people in our community, people doing their best to provide for their families," Smith said. "There's often not a safety net in place for them."

CDAIDE receives referrals from managers, owners, co-workers and others and assesses the needs of the person referred to provide them with services such as financial assistance, access to health care, connection to community resources, mentoring, counseling and more.

"They're going to get kicked out of their apartment, they're going to lose their car, there's usually an emergency," said Yvette Wyatt, CDAIDE programming chair.

Wyatt said mentoring is a huge part of what CDAIDE does because it helps the volunteer mentors build meaningful relationships with those who are struggling, and those relationships can really help those in need to "turn a corner" and improve their situations. She said CDAIDE is in need of those mentors who are willing to share their talents and expertise while lifting up a fellow North Idahoan and coaching them through a tough time.

"For those folks who want to make changes, long-term changes that will affect their long-term outcome, we have someone who can walk alongside them to help identify goals, help with resources, encourage them, be that person outside of their immediate network," Wyatt said. "We are one of the only groups focusing on hospitality industry employees. There aren't other groups that focus on that."

All of the funds CDAIDE raises goes to helping these workers when they need it most. Smith said the areas CDAIDE assisted the most individuals in the past year were housing, transportation and medical needs.

"Our mission is to serve those who spend so much of their time serving the rest of us in their profession," Smith said. "We try to do this in a way that preserves the person’s dignity and empowers them."

CDAIDE will be hosting its second Care Affair from 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 7 in The Coeur d'Alene Resort to generate more support for the service and hospitality community. The evening will feature four local celebrity chefs who will prepare knockout appetizers for guests to sample as they mingle and peruse silent auction items. A live auction will follow the silent auction.

"It’s fun, lively and unlike anything else in Coeur d’Alene," Smith said.

Tickets are $25 per person, $250 for a sponsored table of eight with business recognition or $200 for just a table of eight.

Info: www.cdaide.org