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Pam Washek’s nonprofit Neighbor Brigade offers support for those in need

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THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 05, 2012|By Bella English

(Anna Meliones )

WHO: Pam Washek

WHAT: The Wayland resident is the executive director of Neighbor Brigade Inc., a nonprofit with chapters in 24 Massachusetts communities, from Winchendon to West Bridgewater.

Q . How did you come up with the idea for Neighbor Brigade?

A . From my own personal experience. When I had cancer in 2002, a friend had it at the same time. Our friends came together and helped us through meal chains, giving our kids rides, house cleaning, walking the dogs. We were very well taken care of. When I was done with treatment, this light bulb came on that said, “I don’t know what we would have done without this. Maybe we should keep it going for other people.’’ Jean [Seiden] and I put the word out: Would people like to stay together for other families in need? We were originally known as the Wayland Angels. We kept it going in Wayland, and neighboring communities started calling to ask how we did it, how could they do it? After a couple of years, we had three or four communities. Then Jean got sick. Her cancer came back, and she passed away in 2006. But I really wanted to keep this thing going. In 2010 I launched a new nonprofit, Neighbor Brigade.

Q . What is your mission?

A . Our mission is to grow these informal networks, neighbors helping neighbors. People want to help people, and this is just such a simple way to make that happen.

Q . Who gets help, and what sort of help do they get?

A . Families in temporary crisis, an illness or accident or some other tragic event. It’s pretty much any nonmedical day-to-day tasks. Meals are a big one, and we provide rides to and from medical appointments. We’ve done a lot of dog-walking, light household tasks, all types of errands.

Q . What is a specific example of a family Neighbor Brigade has helped?

A . Recently we built a house ramp, a really nice community-wide effort in West Bridgewater where this family has a 13-year-old son with cancer. The West Bridgewater chapter leader reached out into the community to find support through a network of volunteers. She found a builder willing to donate time, someone willing to donate materials. In Medfield, we helped a single mom with three kids, who was battling breast cancer. Neighbors with the brigade provided daily meals, rides to medical appointments and kids’ activities, and ran errands to keep the household right-side-up. In Medway, a woman was expecting her fourth child when diagnosed with multiple myeloma. We helped her through meals, laundry, and after school and weekend childcare. In Natick, a family lost their home to fire just as school was starting. Our volunteers supported them with meals, rides for the kids, and numerous errands.

Q . If you want to volunteer, how do you do that?