The Living Well Mission (The Well) was created to provide emergency services to individuals and families in crisis. An as-needed emergency food pantry was established in conjunction with the Penn Yan Food for The Needy program, which distributes food once a month.

Recognizing the needs of the Yates County community went beyond the scope of food instability, an emergency dry goods pantry (including paper products, hygiene products, cleaning and laundry supplies, and baby diapers) was established with the support of churches, community organizations, and volunteer donations. In the first 3 months of operation 389 families or 1,439 individuals in crisis were assisted with emergency goods, while Pastor Sandi and volunteers developed linkages with other agencies in order to expand services to our vulnerable clients. 

As a fledgling organization, The Living Well continued to grow its client base and expand its operations when the 2014 major flood cemented The Well as the go-to organization to meet community needs.

Homes and businesses were destroyed in a matter of hours as Penn Yan and the surrounding communities were inundated with floodwaters. By early morning much of Penn Yan including The Living Well were underwater. Pastor Sandi and her volunteers organized an operation in a local bank lobby to feed the hundreds of volunteers working to salvage the contents of flooded businesses and homes.

Local businesses and The Well volunteers donated food and water. Volunteers moved the contents of the emergency food pantry and dry goods pantry from The Well and launched a large-scale relief operation at a local church. When news of the disaster spread, thousands of people came to Penn Yan in hopes of lending a hand and The Well took on the task of a large-scale volunteer deployment operation. Agreements with The Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and several hardware stores were secured to provide clean-up supplies and tools for the volunteer clean-up efforts.

In December 2014 all available disaster relief funds were spent and The Well returned to its intended work as an ongoing emergency resource for families in crisis but it was clear from the disaster recovery experience, more than food and dry goods were needed to help support our vulnerable population.

To this end The Well has grown to include support groups, hands-on financial management classes, and health and wellness check-ups with a Nurse Practitioner. The Well has also become a home for health insurance enrollers, including Fidelis Care, United Healthcare, and The Say2 Navigator, helping Yates County residents obtain affordable and appropriate health insurance. 

Like much of the world, the COVID 19 pandemic drastically changed the needs of our community. The first change was moving both pantries (food, personal hygiene and perishable food) to a delivery model. During the height of the pandemic, over 50 new volunteers offered to deliver food to the people of Yates County, specifically to health care workers and people who could not leave their homes. The next shift was in our programming, as we began to offer activities for families that were not able to send their kids to school. These activities were educational and grant-funded.

A third shift in outreach was through the increase in our Grab N Go lunch program. Prior to 2020, The Well hosted weekly, which transformed into free, pick-up meals three times a week. These meals are sponsored and prepared by local organizations. Often Grab N Go lunches serves over 150 people each meal.

To keep our volunteers and staff as well as our clients and partners safe, some of our programs changed. We halted the Nurse Practitioner check-ups and Paul’s Place. In their places we started Sidewalk Shelves, expanded Grab N’ Go Lunches to three times a week, and added Grab N’ Go Dinners once a week. 

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