Julie LaFontaine, the NSUW Unsung Hero for 2009
Julie LaFontaine, the Executive Director of The Open Door, is the winner of our 2009 “Unsung Hero” award.
The Unsung Hero Award goes to the person that best embodies the spirit of the North Shore United Way by making a real and lasting difference in people’s lives in one of the areas we have designated as a critical need. Julie does this in a myriad of ways from developing new and creative programs to alleviate hunger in the Cape Ann community to networking with other food pantries and developing best practices to help each organization do more with less. Julie was an obvious and unanimous choice for this year’s award. Julie has been the Executive Director of The Open Door in Gloucester for 7 years. She started as a volunteer in the pantry 2 hours a week, joined the Board of Directors and rose to the position of President of the Board. A few years later, the Executive Director stepped down and the Board only had to look as far as Julie’s chair for the perfect replacement. Julie’s is an inspiring story of a woman whose parents first instilled in her the joys and benefits of joining together around the kitchen table for a nutritious meal. She took that early example and has become passionate about replicating that sense of community built around a dinner table. Every program she builds or expands has “community” at its core, engaging with people instead of just giving them food, treating them with dignity and offering them choices and respect.
Under Julie’s tenure, The Open Door has worked to connect families to federal nutrition programs such as the summer lunch program, which now provides Cape Ann children with more than 4,000 lunches each summer, and to provide clients with food stamp application assistance. Julie also developed the Mobile Market, which is a free farmers’ market on wheels for low-income households that has grown from one site to four since it began in 2005. The Market not only offers fresh fruits and vegetables, but also cooking demonstrations and collaborative efforts with the community so that families can see the link between health and nutrition. Julie initiated a purchase program, whereby the pantry supplements donated food with fresh produce, milk and eggs that they buy wholesale. The Second Glance Resale Store has also thrived, serving those in need with affordable clothing and household goods and providing 27% of The Open Door’s annual operating budget. The NSUW supported the new programs, including the Mobile Markets and the summer lunch program.
Julie is quick to point out that she is supported by a dedicated staff, a Board of Directors that has vision and commitment and a team of volunteers that bring the programs to life. She credits those who came before her and says, “The Open Door had a very solid foundation when I came in. We built a 5-year plan and we’ve achieved our goals with the help of a lot of people and organizations like the North Shore United Way. We’ve helped more individuals than we dreamed possible. We’re getting ready to think through the next 5 years and we’re all very excited about the possibilities.”
Julie also works with the North Shore Hunger Network on developing “smart programming for tight times” and helping to document and share best practices for food pantries. She is on the Advisory Council of the North Shore Community Health Network, helping to insure that the need for nutrition for low income families is represented in the Network’s programs.
Julie hails from Michigan, has been married for 23 years and has 2 children, Jayna and Jared, of whom she is very proud! Her 10th great grandmother, Anne Bradstreet, was the first female poet in America to be published. Julie is making her own mark as an Unsung Hero, and no doubt one day her great grandchildren will brag about her accomplishments, too.
