When Kylie O’Brien, Service Coordinator and NaviGuide with United Church Homes (UCH), learned that delays in SNAP benefits were beginning to affect her team members at The Parkvue Community, her heart went immediately into action. She has seen first-hand how food insecurity—especially during the holidays—can create real stress for families already stretched thin.
And like so many at UCH, Kylie felt that familiar internal nudge—the call to serve that every NaviGuide carries.
An Idea Turned Action
What began as a simple idea—“What if we had a food pantry here on campus?”—quickly grew into something much bigger. Kylie shared her thought with Parkvue’s Regional Director of Healthcare Services, Jedd Rawlings, who immediately saw the potential.
Within days, employees and families began donating items. UCH leadership, encouraged by their efforts, matched a gift and the pantry shelves were fully stocked.
Kylie and her mother Robin O’Brien, didn’t wait for a workday. On their day off, they went shopping—cart after cart—filling them with groceries, staples and holiday essentials that they knew Parkvue employees would need most this season.
Jedd looked at the outpouring of generosity and knew this couldn’t be a one-time effort.
He made the decision: this would become a yearly tradition at Parkvue, a holiday helper pantry for staff who give so much of themselves all year long.
Living the UCH Core Values
The pantry may have been created to support employees through a temporary SNAP delay, but what it revealed was something much deeper—how United Church Homes lives its core values in the most practical, human ways.
- Compassion: Identifying a need before it becomes a crisis.
- Hospitality: Creating a welcoming resource with dignity at its core.
- Respect: Supporting team members without judgment or hesitation.
- Integrity: Acting quickly and transparently to serve those who serve.
- Stewardship: Using donations and matched gifts wisely to maximize impact.
- Transparency: Keeping the community informed, engaged and connected to the mission.
The pantry is more than shelves of food. It is an outward expression of UCH values.
The NaviGuide Heart
As a NaviGuide, Kylie’s role is grounded in advocacy, problem-solving, and unwavering care for those she serves. But her willingness to extend that care to team members—on her own time—captures what makes NaviGuides unique.
Kylie’s initiative embodies what every NaviGuide feels: a calling to anticipate needs, connect people to help, and bring hope to moments that feel heavy.
A Tradition Begins
Because of Kylie’s spark, Robin’s help, Jedd’s leadership, and the generosity of donors and families, The Parkvue Community now has a new holiday tradition—one that reminds everyone that they are part of something bigger.
A community that cares.
A workplace that sees its people.
A mission that lives beyond words.
This is the UCH way.
And this is the kind of compassion that changes lives—one canned gift, one act of kindness, one person at a time.
About the Author: UCH Team
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