SERVICE OPENS DOORS

Mrs. Claire Haider helping community leaders

For over two decades Mrs. Claire Haider has been an advocate of service and uplifting communities throughout the country. Claire started out in WFWP as the first vice Regional Director in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Ohio in 1992. In 2000 in New Jersey—where she and her family now reside—she was requested by a church leader to do some interfaith outreach in a low income neighborhood called Paterson, the third largest city in New Jersey. From that time she has never left.

Claire and her family have now been leading the WFWP Paterson New Jersey chapter and have done extensive service work there. "I can never leave Paterson alone. I have a lot of foundation with different groups there. Paterson is an inner city community and there are a lot of problems there. I love Paterson. I love the people and I understand that there are a lot of unfortunate situations there," Claire reflected. She and her daughter, Meadow Tallakson, have gained a reputation as women the community trusts and have become an invaluable support system for many organizations they have been working alongside.

"I think of service work as networking," says Claire. "You have to be willing to reach out and work with different organizations, too." There are various organizations that WFWP has been collaborating with in Paterson, including Women Against Family Abuse, the Passaic County African American 100 Women Plus, and the American Muslim Union of New Jersey.

Some essentials collected and donated

One of the simplest and most effective ways that Claire and her team have been able to serve and make a difference in Paterson is to buy and give out necessities that food stamps don't cover. Claire points out that there is a great need for small materials like shampoo or toilet paper, which the government doesn't provide. She and her team are always on the lookout for sales for commodities that she can give to the people of Paterson.

"Through serving them, by bringing coats and bringing supplies, my daughter and I and others in our chapter, buy things on sale and bring them to Paterson. It really opens up their hearts. I have made a lot of relationships and contacts. Because I'm always bringing things, people come to me in the streets with stuff asking, 'Can you use this?' 'Do you know anyone that can benefit from this?' We buy supplies like shampoo or laundry detergent, things that you cannot buy with food stamps. What I get from the founders of WFWP is that you have to be stable, you have to be there for people, and then they are able to trust you; and then the doors just open up," Claire explained.

WFWP in New Jersey continues to collaborate and serve the Paterson community through the foundation of trust and love that Claire and her team have built over the past 15 years. On March 28, Claire was invited to speak at the Passaic County Africal American 110 Women Plus event. On April 18, WFWP will be the co-sponsors for the Women's Interfaith Conference in Paterson. They have been cosponsoring this event for 11 years now.

"When I don't know what I'm doing, I feel like I just got to drop low, serve; and the doors will open; and God will tell you how to serve," Claire concluded.