Merrick Community Services

" It has been a true honor to have the opportunity to sit on Merrick Community Services Board of Directors, I have never before had the pleasure and relationship with any organization that is so committed to serving people, its amazing to think that Merrick is the oldest non-profit on the East Side of Saint Paul and will be turning 100 years old this year. Furthermore, its the passion of the organization that resonates in the community, and serves approximatley 30,000 individuals annually, which makes the East Side such a wonderful place to live and work. -Matt Warzala

Merrick provides a wealth of services and attracts a large number of volunteers. I live in Sweden but am often in St Paul and always volunteer at Merrick when I'm here - I miss this opportunity in Sweden. I deliver Meals on Wheels, have helped with the Christmas toy distribution and always met with the Senior Ladies' Social Group on Tuesdays until this year, when I have a job that doesn't allow that. I really miss the ladies and go to see them when I can now! The Tuesday group gives them an opportunity for needed social contacts (see St. Paul Almanac 2008 for stories by some of them). They have given me more than I've given them. The university where I am working this year has just joined the Meals on Wheels program and we have about 25 volunteers delivering meals now, including some upper level administrators. The employees at Merrick are extremely committed and work longer hours than 40 a week for salaries that are not at all high. They often attend evening and weekend events and attend meetings in the community and thus maintain a network throughout the community. The Eastside itself has an interesting and diverse history, and Merrick has reached out to the various sub-communities in the Eastside and encompasses them. But in today's world, an updated website is crucial. This is where people go to get information, and this is what attracts people, in the case of Merrick, both people needing services and volunteers. If a website is used often, it appears in Google searches and this in turn generates more interest and contact. With the wide range of services Merrick provides and their key role in the Eastside of St Paul, an updated website is crucial - and no one at Merrick has the skills to do this, nor does the agency have the money to hire outside consultation. As an educator heavily involved in online teaching and learning, I emphasize over and over how necessary a good, usable webiste is. An improved website will allow Merrick to increase their service to the community and benefit the children and adults who they serve. Just imagine that sometimes a meal deliverer is the only contact a senior has in a day; imagine children that would have no after-school or vacation place to go without Merrick; imagine the smiles when crawlers and toddlers are brought in to see the Senior Ladies each Tuesday - where else do generations from diverse backgrounds come together as they do at Merrick? Please, please help Merrick to update their website and enrich the services they provide to the community. I think it isn't exaggerating to say that an updated website is necessary for Merrick's continued survival and certainly for its thriving.

MCS offers help to East Siders from cradle to grave. We do so much in this community, but lots of people who need our help don't even know what we offer. A better website would help people find the services they need, from a bilingual preschool, to a case manager for a family in crisis, to services for an elderly parent. Volunteerism is a huge component of our service. Our programs provide a way for our extremely diverse community to pull together, and for neighbors to help each other. A good website would give people the information they need when they are searching for volunteer opportunities.

Merrick Community Services provides services to 1/3 of the City of St. Paul. They send out 130 meals each day with volunteers to their Meals on Wheels program. They do such good work - but they really need help to move into today's internet world. Their many volunteers are aging - myself included! They need to be able to attract and communicate with younger internet dependent volunteers quickly and easily to keep all of their community services projects afloat. Today's and tomorrow's volunteers will need increasing flexibility and communications to enable them to pick up the many miscellanny assignments that our Eastsiders depend on Merrick to furnish them. My husband and I teach internet classes to Elders - sites need to be easy to navigate for this ever growing population group. Please help Merrick to improve their website and in turn, facilitate their tremendous contribution to St. Paul's Eastside.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services and Merrick Community Services have been partnering since 1993 on providing volunteer drivers for the daily Meals on Wheels program. We currently have approximately 40 individuals from our Department who serve as volunteer drivers helping to deliver meals to our house-bound east side residents. A better web-site would be a great marketing tool to further advance the level of participation within our State agency.

I found Merrick 26 years ago. I was single mom with 2 boys trying to make it off public assistance. As I was fighting to get out of the system I need help with a lot of things. I needed help with food, school supplies, & childcare. You get a part time job your assistance is cut back.. How do you choose between food or medicine for a sick child? How do you tell a child Santa will not be coming? Because you’re heating bill has to be paid? Merrick helped so I didn’t have to do these things. With help from the job program I found a full time job. I own my own house. With out programs that Merrick provide there in no drought in my mine I would of never of made it out of the system. This will be my 19year volunteering at Merrick. I want to give another person a helping hand. Merrick needs a new web site. Theirs has all the information but it would be nice to find the information you need in just a couple clicks. Pleas consider Merrick for your progrom

I just visited the Merrick website and....well....bontà,carne salata! Cosa un certo brodaglia! Please, decide quickly that MCS deserves a new website so that they can move into the new millenium. Enable them to continue to serve and inform their community as they have for the past 100 years. Bring Merrick back from the brink of web death by allowing your talented staff the opportunity to work their magic on the Merrick Community Services website. Thank you for your time. Divinità benedire!

I have been delivering Meals on Wheels out of Merrick since 1989. These people know whenever something happens to one of their clients, and care deeply about them. When there aren't enough volunteer drivers, they deliver three or even four routes while performing their regular duties. They are tireless in their passion. I just checked the website for volunteer opportunities. The link doesn't work. A phone call has to be made. It would be much easier for them if people could see what opportunities are out there and get information from the Internet, rather than making phone call after phone call for each thing in which they have an interest.

My name is Jake Heidelberger and I have been a Meals on Wheels (M.O.W.) volunteer since 1999, and I am deeply grateful for all that Merrick does to make volunteer opportunities such as M.O.W. a possibility. Merrick's current website could certainly use some enhancements: some of the links do not work (most notably the "Volunteer Opportunities" link). Updating this website would certainly increase Merrick's ability to reach out to the community as it would make it easier for those in need to learn about the programs that would best help them, as well as increasing the site's ability to attract new volunteers.

My wife and I have been delivering Meals On Wheels out of Merrick Community Services for about five years now. We have also work for their Christmas toy distribution program. I believe that Merrick does a good job of attracting volunteer workers to carry out their programs. In this, they do a lot of good work for a relatively low cost. I am also a volunteer web site maintainer for a local non-profit. Merrick's website could be improved in at least three ways: First, there are a number of broken links on the site. These need to be fixed. Otherwise, people who come to the site may be discouraged and not follow through to get the information they want. Secondly, there are some design problems with the site. They make the pages a little harder to read. Cleaning up some of this would help. Finally, a more extensive, possible interactive, area for volunteers would be a big improvement. It would eliminate the need for a lot of phone calls and help volunteers to be surer of their assignments. While I could correct the first of the above problems, the next two are beyond my abilities. In fact, if Merrick could be provided with a template based web-authoring system, this would be a great help. They could then use volunteers with a lower skill level to maintain their site.

Merrick Community Services will be celebrating their 100th Anniversary this Their time is directed at the community needs not web design. A new and refreshed website could provide interested volunteers in checking out the agency and their mission. There are not many organizations that celebrate 100 years of service this is a perfect time for change. I hope that you consider MCS as a recipient for the web design.year. Over the many years they have provided a multitude of services to children, senior citizens, homeless, hungry and emergency needs. I have had the privilege of working side by side with the passionate and committed staff of MCS.