Sandy Lehmann didn’t come to MCFOAR because she knew how to do reentry work. She came because she was a skilled accountant. With years of experience in bookkeeping and administrative work, Sandy heard that MCFOAR needed a volunteer accountant and offered to help. Ten years later, she’s still here.
Over those years, Sandy has had a unique view of MCFOAR’s work. While she’s often behind the scenes managing bookkeeping, payroll, and the administrative details that keep a nonprofit running, she’s also had a front-row seat to the conversations happening just a few feet away. What continues to inspire her is the way MCFOAR meets people during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
“They respect them and meet them where they’re at, and then encourage them with hope. And I say hope—capital H-O-P-E—is a big thing they do.”
Sandy has watched Rob and Gerry help people navigate needs that many of us rarely have to think twice about: getting a driver’s license, finding a phone, securing housing, or looking for work.
“Things that we take for granted every day and we can’t get through our day without.”
But Sandy believes the way MCFOAR provides that help matters just as much as the resources themselves. People aren’t made to beg for assistance. They’re treated with respect. They’re given space to be honest about where they’ve been and hopeful about where they’re going. And for Sandy, that’s what makes MCFOAR different.
“I think it’s more than a second chance. It’s treating people with a great deal of respect and giving them dignity.”
Her own role may happen mostly behind the scenes, but Sandy understands that it is part of the same mission.
“I cannot do what Rob and Gerry do with people. But I can do bookkeeping, accounting, administrative things that have to be done…so they can do what they do best.”
It’s a philosophy that extends beyond Sandy’s story.
A strong community doesn’t require everyone to contribute in the same way. It asks each of us to consider what we can contribute, whether it’s our time, our talents, our resources, or our financial support, and put it to work for someone else.
And sometimes, while Sandy is sitting at the computer doing what she jokingly calls her “accounting gig,” she overhears a conversation happening nearby and is reminded exactly why those behind-the-scenes tasks matter.
“I just have to stop and pray because it’s just such a powerful thing going on between individuals—giving people the hope and the resources they need to persevere.”
For Sandy, that’s MCFOAR at its best: meeting practical needs, restoring dignity, and giving people hope to keep going.