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SEEING POTENTIAL, NOT POVERTY
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Each month brings new progress in rethinking charity--shifting from quick fixes to lasting impact. Thank you for being part of this important work. Here's a peak at what we've been up to this month:
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Pilot Cooking Class for Moms
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Knowing how to cook delicious, healthy meals on a shoestring budget is a precious commodity, especially for single parents with several mouths to feed.
Women who recently completed the Center for New Directions'
(CND) Pathways to Prosperity
financial wellness program participated in our pilot cooking workshop at the Kroc Center
, where they were given tips and tricks to take with them as they navigate grocery stores and meal preparation on limited funds. They were also awarded Instant Pots, multi-purpose culinary appliances that can be lifesavers in the kitchen.
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One mom who attended shared: "Since this event, I have gone shopping with an entirely different perspective and knowledge of how many meals may be potentially made, with the right choice of meat, whether chicken, pork or other. Relative to my busy life, and long work days, the time saving to be had with the Instant Pot I was given is 100% priceless. I have been able to prepare my meals for 4 days, which has opened up time for me when I get
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home, exhausted...I am ever grateful."
The class was led by philanthropist, business owner and chef extraordinaire Michele Dirks, who offered insight regarding store brands vs. name brands, best practices for cooking rice and more.
The class was a picture of our community coming together in partnership: Charity Reimagined purchased the equipment, cutting boards, and supplies; Christmas for All-Year
(CFA-Y) funded the Super 1 gift cards for the food; CND facilitated the Pathways to Prosperity training; and the Kroc provided the workspace and child care so the moms with little ones could attend.
"It's bringing together the vision that we can cross-resource and all work together," Charity Reimagined founder Maggie Lyons said.
"Even though they don't have very much money, they have learned what their food budget is," she said. "We want to give them an opportunity to know they can make really good food on limited time and a limited budget."
These are life-changing skills that empower mothers to build healthy, practical habits that enable their families to flourish. Your donations make this work possible, and we are excited to offer more of these "cooking" classes in the coming months. The next two classes are scheduled for January and February 2026.
Read the full CDA Press article here
.
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Our quarterly training series
is officially underway. Our first session, a book study of Dr. Lupton's Toxic Charity
, is already full! See below for details and how to sign up for the next study, kicking off in January.
These hands-on sessions are all about moving from handouts to lasting impact, giving you practical tools to make a real difference. A huge thank you to our strategic partner, True Charity
, for providing the resources that make these trainings possible.
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Meet the Team: Nicole
Board Member
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Over the past few months, we have been introducing some members of our amazing team to you! Each person plays a crucial role in the work we do, and we want you to get to know them a bit.
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Nicole began working with Charity Reimagined in Fall 2024 and joined the board in 2025. She supports the CFA-Y program and manages requests from Heritage Health Street Medicine, Mountain States Head Start, and the Coeur d'Alene School District.
A lifelong Idaho resident, Nicole lives in Coeur d’Alene and works for Avista, focusing on community outreach
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program management and administrative support for the Avista Foundation.
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"From the moment I heard about Charity Reimagined's philosophy, I was excited to learn about this 'new' way of doing charity. I loved the simplicity of how to move past toxic charity
, and I wanted to be part of an organization where helping others wasn’t a hand-out but a hand-up that really acknowledged where people came from, where they were, and what their future had in store for them. I’ve seen firsthand how a small change in the approach to giving can create lifelong changes in the community it serves
."
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Nicole brings professional expertise and rooted passion for our community to the board, and we are thankful for her commitment to this work!
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DOING BENEVOLENCE BETTER
(with dignity)
Free Food ≠ Meals Eaten
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As the holidays approach, many organizations focus on handing out food. While well-intentioned, these efforts often fall short of ensuring a family can truly enjoy a holiday meal together.
Take Thanksgiving, for example. Giving out turkeys and trimmings seems helpful, but for many families, it's not enough. Some are homeless. Some lack a working oven, and some simply don't have pots and pans or don't know how to cook a turkey.
Let's help our neighbors who are struggling to afford groceries, but let's go upstream
from their immediate need. Let's empower them to meal plan, budget for groceries, and cook meals that work with their busy schedules.
Let's also ask about housing, transportation, education, job skills, physical and mental health, and childcare needs. When we work to overcome these fundamental barriers, we are embracing the genius of the " AND:" we can meet immediate needs AND
engage with the deeper challenges many are facing.
When organizations adopt holistic approaches to working with the poor, similar to the Cooking Class we were able to offer alongside our partners this month, we begin to ignite lasting change, lifting families beyond poverty and into a future filled with possibility.
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REFERRING PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
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The Salvation Army Kroc Center
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The Kroc Center
's aim is to carry out the ministry of reconciliation by serving others through building relationships that honor and dignify. They aim to come alongside to help individuals and families improve their physical, emotional, mental and
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spiritual health. Central to achieving this whole-body wellness is cultivating relationships and wrap-around care and support, whether directly through the center, or through facilitating a connection within the larger community.
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Referring Partners are front-line poverty-fighting warriors, our community's Unsung Heroes, serving the poor. They refer their clients to Charity Reimagined for specific assistance tailored to our work.
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BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
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Triple 'R' Dentures
provides excellent denture services to our community. Locally owned and operated, they have already provided dental partials and dentures for many of our applicants and are wonderful to work with.
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Business Partners offer their services at a discount in order to meet the needs of those rising out of hardship. They give clients the dignity of interacting in the business world for their needs, not just receiving handouts. The role played by these partners cannot be overstated!
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" I wish I could describe the relief and gratitude the student expressed when I let her know that Charity Reimagined would be walking alongside her during this final chapter of school." -Louisa Rogers, Center for New Directions
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Thanks to the Christmas for All Year program
, CND was able to step in to assist one of many single moms attending North Idaho College (NIC). This mom had struggled with addiction, which led to unsafe living situations, homelessness and instability.
A few years ago, she decided to take control of her life. She enrolled at NIC, with the dream of becoming a teacher. She has shown unwavering dedication and tenacity to succeed while studying as a full-time student, working, and dealing with the stressors of single motherhood. She has balanced all of this with grace and determination. She has worked all throughout her college education, but this final semester, her heavy workload at school forced her to reduce her work hours significantly. So close to graduation, she found herself in a pickle. How could she continue paying rent and her bills for the next few months, and complete her degree?
Seeing the incredible work she has done over the past few years, we invested in her to successfully complete her final semester by covering the portion of her living expenses that she was short and providing her with gift cards each month to Super 1 to help her with her grocery bill. We consider this "assistance" not "charity."
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If you're new or would like to learn more, we'd love to grab coffee with you and get connected. Your partnership makes effective charity in Kootenai County possible.
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OUR VISION
No matter how big or small, no single church, charity, or “helping” organization can meet all needs. But, by all of us working together through communication and collaboration to identify categories of care and responding appropriately, pride can replace shame, hope can replace despair, and lives can be changed.
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