Friends of Kim: How One Backyard Brunch Became a Lifeline

It started with a Mother's Day brunch.

Back in 2021, as the world was still finding its footing after COVID, Kim saw a call for volunteers:  Grandma's House of Hope needed people to provide brunch for the women in its care.  She thought of her friends, a dozen women from different backgrounds with nothing in common except their friendship with Kim.  They gathered in her backyard, put together food trays, and delivered brunch to two Grandma’s House of Hope homes.

"We really enjoyed doing it," Kim says. 

So she asked if her group could adopt one house and bring brunch every month.  Grandma’s House of Hope said "yes".  They never picked a formal name.  When someone at one of the homes asked who they were, the answer came naturally: 

"We're just friends of Kim."

They started on the second Saturday of every month and they've shown up ever since.

What began as brunch has grown into something bigger.  A few months ago, Kim learned that a woman moving into her first apartment would need basic supplies to start over:  dish soap, cleaning products, a welcome mat.  Kim asked her what she liked.  The answer was simple:  Joy dishwashing liquid. 

"She was very emotional about it," Kim remembers.  The group filled a laundry basket with cleaning supplies and delivered what they now call a “Joy Basket”.

"Can you imagine being her?"  Kim says, her voice catching.  "Someone's asking you, what do you need?   And you know that when you answer, that need will be filled.  It's like, I need to be able to clean my new place.  A place that's mine now."

Friends of Kim keeps showing up, and the group keeps growing.  They're learning what the women need directly from the Program Managers and asking how to help further.

Kim says what draws her back each month isn't gratitude.  It's connection. She recalls one conversation with a participant, who as kid turned out to have lived on the same Air Force base in Germany at the same time. 

"We could have been in the same elementary class," Kim says.  "The world's so small."

What sets Grandma's House of Hope apart, in Kim's eyes, isn't that it provides a bed for a night.  It's that it builds a path forward. 

"It's one thing to provide a bed for somebody," she says. "It's another thing for a community to come together and help them get into independence, help them get a job, help them learn life skills."

Her advice to anyone considering something similar is simple: start small. 

"It's not like what we do is difficult," Kim says. "Bringing some food once a month is easy. If lots of people do just a little bit, it adds up to be a big thing.” 

And she's quick to point out that the gratitude runs both directions: she's incredibly grateful to all the generous friends who give their time and resources alongside her.

Want to start your own Friends of Kim? If you'd like to adopt a home, organize a monthly brunch, or put together “Joy Baskets” for participants transitioning into independence, reach out to us.  We'll help you get started, and we can even connect you with Kim.