Altra Gives Back: How this local nonprofit is helping families through tough times
Jenny Larson, executive director of Three Rivers Community Action, says her organization has been inundated with calls since the Covid-19 pandemic began — mostly from families, struggling to get by after losing their jobs in March.
“There’s so many people out there in our area that need assistance right now,” says Larson. “It’s a very tough time for a lot of families, and we’re doing our best to help as many as we can.”
One September day, Larson’s phone rang, as it has so often done over the past few months... but it wasn’t a client other end of the line. Rather, it was a representative from Altra Federal Credit Union.
“They heard about the work that we were doing to help people who were in crisis because of Covid,” says Larson. “We talked on the phone, shared information on our program and how it works, and they said ‘thanks for the information’ and that was it.”
Within a matter of days, that phone call led to a financial commitment — to the tune of $25,000.
“A few days later they called us back and said they wanted to make a donation,” says Larson. It was all pretty easy on our part.”
While the donations may have come out of nowhere for Three Rivers, it’s all part of Altra’s yearly tradition to give back to the communities it operates in. This past Monday, October 12 marked the third annual Altra Gives Back Day, where the organization and its employees donate a day of their time towards charitable organizations.
In a normal year, Altra would send its employees to various charities across their major markets to volunteer, as they have done for the past two second Tuesdays in October — but this year, Altra brass had to improvise.
Shawn Hauser, community relations manager at Altra, says the conversation quickly shifted to giving back through using Altra’s “treasure” instead of its employees’ time. In lieu of physical volunteers, Altra sent a total of $100,000 into its markets — split evenly between Rochester; La Crosse, WI; Tyler, TX; and Clarksville, TN.
“Our main mission was to get dollars where people need them the most, in the communities we serve,” says Hauser. “We looked for specific organizations that were doing the heavy lifting — helping people with food, housing, electric bills, food, the essentials.”
Larson says the money will be a “huge boost” towards Three Rivers’ Cares Fund, which helps families in need of financial help pay for various housing expenses.
“We’re using it to help people to make payments that they just can't make because of Covid-related issues that they’re having,” Larson says. “Maybe they’ve lost their income, or they’ve had to cut hours, their work is closed, or they have to watch their kids instead of going to work. We know there’s a lot of people working through very tough situations right now.”
Larson encouraged any family in southeast Minnesota going through tough financial times to reach out to Three Rivers, regardless of the level of financial need. Three Rivers doesn’t have limits to the amount of money they can give to a family — meaning whether it’s a $1,500 outstanding mortgage payment or a $100 utility bill, the Cares Fund can be used by anyone.
“Any family experiencing any one of those crises can apply to us, and we can help them with their housing expenses,” says Larson. “If they can’t pay their rent or mortgage, we can help with that. We can help with utilities. We can even help with transportation.”
From Altra’s perspective, Three Rivers was the perfect organization to partner with in this turbulent year. It’s the perfect partnership made out of a tough situation — if Altra’s employees can’t physically help, why not make it easier for the experts to serve the people that need it most?
“It’s people helping people,” said Hauser. “That’s what credit unions were founded on, and that’s what we live every day. We’re trying to make a difference in people’s lives.”
