Life & Work with Paula DuPre’ Pesmen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula DuPre’ Pesmen.

Hi Paula, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
There With Care is 15 years old and based in Colorado. The mission began with the idea of connecting people who have a child facing a critical illness, with individuals and businesses who want to help them. When a child is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, people often don’t know what to say or do. By receiving families through hospital referrals, There With Care is able to serve those most in need during their medical crisis. We build a community around a family with a child facing a life-threatening illness by bringing people together to ease their stresses and give parents more time with their children. To do that, There With Care delivers groceries, cleaning products, toiletries, paper products, transportation assistance and more. The organization has grown to serve an average of 180 active families. In 2020, we served 720 families throughout the course of their medical crisis, supporting 44 more families last year than any previous year. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, There With Care did not miss a single delivery to families.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There With Care grew as a grassroots organization built by the community to serve others. There are of course, challenges with any start-up organization, but the needs were clear, and the team and volunteers found ways to meet them to ensure that families received basic day-to-day support when they need it most. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the needs increased for families who feared going to the grocery store where there were life-threatening germs for their children with low to no immune systems. Many parents faced a loss of income and still had to balance getting a sick child to medical treatments while homeschooling siblings at home. Resources and support systems were strained due to social distancing and families faced increased isolation. By taking some of the often overwhelming tasks off of a family’s plate and reducing some of their financial stress, they are able to focus on their families.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In my previous career producing films, it was important to quickly manage challenges and problem-solve to keep things on track. Also, preparation was key to supporting the film team. At There With Care, those are the same skill sets that we all bring to our work. Managing logistics of support to align with the immediate needs of the families, especially during a pandemic, is how we reduce the stresses for them. It takes a dedicated team and a wonderful community to meet the ever-changing needs and we are grateful that together we can all respond to a family during a challenging time in their life.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson is to remain flexible and adapt to the changing needs of a family in a crisis and the community that support them. That has always been a part of the fabric of There With Care and during the COVID-19 pandemic, that lesson became even more clear. We saw it in how we adapted to source the supplies needed each day, in how we safely deliver to families and in how we remain thoughtful to our community who is also facing challenges due to the pandemic. The ability to listen, adapt and be flexible still remains at our core, and being mindful of the struggles our entire community faces to ensure we give them care also is at the heart of our work.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@therewithcare.org
• Website: therewithcare.org
• Instagram: @therewithcare
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThereWithCare/
• Twitter: @therewithcare