My name is Jenessa Abernathy and I joined the United Way of Anderson County team in January of 2020. I was so excited at this new opportunity. As most people starting in a new career direction, I was nervous and felt confused as I learned the new ins and outs of United Way and the position I held within the organization. So many new things to learn, and I had to hit the ground running, and, if I am being completely honest, I did not even know what all United Way did, I just knew it was an important part of my community and I was eager to learn why.

There was so much to learn and there were many times I felt frustrated and inadequate. I worried that I would do something to mess something up for one of my co-workers and I know I bugged my predecessor with my constant questions. One of the first things I did was learn about this amazing non-profit organization I had joined. After all, how can one understand their position if they don’t understand the organization that houses said position? I read the mission statement, did my research, and the more I found out, the more I knew, I had found a special place to work.

I started to understand more about my position and how to make my day to day work go smoothly. I built a relationship with my co-workers, which by the way, are all AMAZING humans, and I really felt like I was starting to understand my role.

Then Covid-19 hit.

The world stopped and we, as United Way of Anderson County employees, had to learn how we could still do our jobs from the safety of our homes. Life was different and I, like most others, had to learn how to balance work with my children at home distance learning. This was not as easy task, as any parent will attest to. Yet, people still needed help, now more than ever, and now we had to figure out how to get them the help they needed, as everything had changed in this new world we were facing.

The first thing that needed to happen was there needed to be a central place for those in need to find the resources or connections to get the help they were looking for. I was tasked with creating a new page on our website that had all these much needed resources. Creating or working on websites was not in my wheelhouse, so I learned some new things to make this happen, and things were changing so fast that it was hard to keep this page up to date. So much help came in from all different directions. This was heartwarming, to say the least, to see how people came together to help those in need.

People who had sewing talent banded together to get everyone masked, others created shopping networks for senior citizens, local churches created meal drives, and schools made sure the children were able to receive hot and nutritious meals while the school buildings were closed.

It is during these times that we see the best in people, and you certainly did not have to look hard, the best was on display.

I am beyond proud of what I am doing with United Way, and I have seen first hand how humanity is still within us.