Kearns High School 1978 graduate Susan Ison has visited many countries and has lived in a few different states. But, for nearly all of her soon-to-be 65 years, she’s lived and worked in Taylorsville.

Back in 1992, Helping Hands, Inc. opened its doors in Taylorsville. The 501(c) 3 nonprofit assists professional day care centers and family child caregivers in receiving federal funding through the United States Department of Agriculture to provide nutritious snacks and meals to the kids they care for.

Barely a year after opening their doors, Helping Hands (5522 South 3200 West, Suite 110 helpinghandsutah.org) hired Ison.

“I started as co-director in May 1993 and was named executive director in the summer of 2000, when the nonprofit founder decided to step away,” Ison said. “I’m excited to have more time for travel and other things after I retire; but I’m not stepping completely away. I’ve been invited to join the volunteer board that operates Helping Hands.”

Uncle Sam provides the meal funding Helping Hands assists its clients to tap into. According to the United States Department of Agriculture website, “USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program plays a vital role in improving the quality of day care and making it more affordable for many low-income families. Each day, 3.3 million children receive nutritious meals and snacks through CACFP. The program also provides meals and snacks to 120,000 adults who receive care in nonresidential adult day care centers. CACFP reaches even further to provide meals to children residing in emergency shelters, and snacks and suppers to youths participating in eligible afterschool care programs.”

Ison explains, even an aunt or a grandmother who regularly cares for one or two preschoolers can be eligible for CACFP meal assistance, provided they undergo certain trainings (CPR, for example) and pass background checks.

“We only work with about 10 professional, for-profit day care centers,” Ison explained. “But we have about 200 other clients who operate family day care homes. The state Health Department oversees them. With the proper licenses and certificates, people can care for up to eight kids by themselves and up to 16 children if they hire an assistant.”

Recent slash-and-burn federal funding cuts are stirring some concern among businesses like Helping Hands. But Ison is confident they remain pretty safe.

“CACFP funding is tied in with school lunch funding and with WIC (special nutrition funding for women, infants and children),” she explained. “I suppose cuts are possible; but there would be a huge, nationwide uproar. I believe our programs are just about as highly thought of as Medicaid and Social Security benefits.”

Ironically, although there are only a few nonprofits like Helping Hands across all of Utah, a second one is also located in Taylorsville. Paula Barton is the executive director at Alliance for Children (5667 South Redwood Road #5A allianceforchildrenutah.org). She’s been with them a bit longer than Ison has been at Helping Hands.

“I have worked with Susan for many years,” Barton said. “We are ‘competitors;’ but we actually work together on many things. We’ve attended lots of national conferences with each other. The most recent was last year in Orlando. Susan will be missed. She has worked so hard to protect the integrity of the (CACFP food) program here in Utah. She’s also worked at the national level on policy changes. I will miss her friendship and expertise a lot.”

The leadership change at Helping Hands is expected to be pretty seamless, as Ison’s assistant director is poised to take the reins. Evelyn Lopez started with the nonprofit as a receptionist in 2009, working her way up to being Ison’s assistant a couple of years ago.

Married, with four children (ages 9 to 26), Lopez was born in El Salvador. She and her family immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s, when she was 4.

“Susan brought the idea to me to apply for the director position when she first began thinking about retiring,” Lopez said. “I am very passionate about what Helping Hands does to assist families. We do so much to ensure kids eat more nutritious meals. Susan’s confidence in me inspired me to complete my bachelor’s degree with BYU. I’ve got a lot more to learn; but I think I am ready for the challenge.”

In addition to receiving their USDA federal funding, Helping Hands, Inc. also accepts public donations. One of their most consistent and valuable donors operates yet another 501(c) 3 nonprofit, Blue Skies Forever (blueskiesforever.org). Under founder Boyd Bellows, Blue Skies is all about socks.

“We lost our daughter in a skydiving accident years ago and wanted to start a charity in her memory,” the grandfather of six, Bellows said. “By 2018 we had settled into gathering new, donated socks – primarily in men’s adult sizes. We donate these socks at homeless shelters, because 80% of people suffering homelessness are adult men.”

However, Bellows further explained, Blue Skies Forever receives many, many donated pairs of socks in children’s sizes. Hmmm… what to do with those, since homeless shelters just don’t need many of them. 

“I just started searching online for a good place to donate children size socks here in the valley, and that’s where I found Helping Hands,” Bellows continued. “We made our first donation to them in about 2019. Nowadays, Blue Skies Forever drops off probably 500 to 600 pairs of children’s socks at Helping Hands, three or four times a year. That’s not nearly as many as the adult socks we give to homeless shelters. But it’s a great place for our smaller sizes.”

As she continues to learn the Helping Hands executive director duties, Lopez is grateful the sock donations are one thing she can count on amidst the changes. 

Meantime, Ison will mark her 65th birthday April 13… and her final workday, April 30. 

“I don’t have any immediate plans for retirement, but I love to travel,” Ison said. “I just returned from a three-week trip to India and Thailand. I’ve visited much of Europe, South America, Canada, Central America. But there are more places I would like to see.”

And when she’s home in Taylorsville?

“I am excited to serve on the Helping Hands Board,” Ison concluded. “I also plan to volunteer in the community. I’d like to be a student tutor or maybe a school librarian. I know I won’t have any problem filling my time.”λ