Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez
Executive Director, LifeWorks Community Action
Together, we’re creating lasting change.
Every number in LifeWorks Community Action’s Annual Impact Report represents a person, a family and a story.
A child sleeping in a bed of their own. A homeowner who is warmer and safer through the winter. A family reunited after months of uncertainty. A neighbor finding food, support or simply someone who knows where to turn next.
These are the moments behind the numbers.
Across our community, LifeWorks helps people meet immediate needs while creating pathways toward greater stability, independence and opportunity. Sometimes that begins with one service. Often, it becomes something much more.
Meet some of the people behind our 2026 impact.
Community Impact in Action
-
Sometimes changing a child’s future begins with something as fundamental as having a safe place to sleep.
When a LifeWorks Head Start Family Advocate learned that two local families did not have adequate sleeping arrangements for their children, she began looking for a way to help. A conversation with members of Mountain Community Global Methodist Church set something much bigger in motion.
After receiving permission from the families, the church council approved the purchase of mattresses for seven children and two adults.
Then the generosity spread.
Church members reached out to others throughout their close-knit community. Soon, the families had not only mattresses, but bed frames and bunk beds, dressers, furniture, toys, a bicycle and other household necessities.
When it was time to deliver everything, six volunteers traveled from Speculator to Saratoga Springs with two pickup trucks and trailers and an SUV filled to capacity.
They didn't simply drop off the donations.
They stayed.
They assembled beds, arranged furniture and spent the day helping transform previously empty spaces into comfortable homes.
For the children, having beds of their own—and, for one child, a first bicycle—meant far more than receiving new belongings. It meant comfort, dignity and the feeling of having a space that was truly theirs.
And the relationship didn't end when the trucks pulled away. Members of the church have chosen to continue supporting the families during the holiday season.
When one connection becomes a community
This story began with a LifeWorks Family Advocate listening to what a family needed. It grew because people were willing to respond.
LifeWorks is often the connection point—bringing together families, resources, volunteers and community partners in ways that can create change far beyond one program or one moment.
This is what building stability looks like.
Some members of the LifeWorks staff.
Brett, Weatherization Director
-
The work of LifeWorks begins with people helping people.
In 2026, 108 LifeWorks employees worked throughout our programs, providing education, advocacy, food, resources and support to neighbors across the communities they themselves call home.
LifeWorks invested approximately $4.5 million in employee salaries, dollars that not only support the people delivering vital services but remain connected to the local economy.
This year, LifeWorks welcomed 18 new team members, expanding the organization's ability to respond to community needs.
But building a strong team means more than hiring.
LifeWorks invests in the people who carry out its mission.
Staff received agency-sponsored training in CPR, First Aid and opioid antagonist administration. Within Head Start, educators continued pursuing their own professional goals: two employees are preparing to test for their New York State teaching licenses, two are beginning graduate school to pursue teaching licensure and another is completing a bachelor's degree.
Employees also have access to benefits designed to support their own wellbeing and financial stability, including an Employee Assistance Plan, Calm app subscriptions, a monthly health reimbursement option and Flexible Spending Accounts.
Investing in the people who make the mission possible
Every LifeWorks program depends on skilled, compassionate people who choose to serve their community.
By investing in their wellbeing, professional development and future, LifeWorks strengthens its ability to be there for thousands of neighbors who depend on its programs each year.
Because strengthening a community also means strengthening the people who serve it.
This is what strengthening futures looks like.
-
Every family deserves access to the nutrition, information and encouragement they need to help their children thrive.
Through WIC, LifeWorks supports pregnant and postpartum women, infants and young children with nutritious foods, breastfeeding support, nutrition education, referrals and the personal guidance of a team that understands that every family's circumstances are different.
But WIC's impact is best understood through the families behind the numbers.
Sometimes the most meaningful support comes from having someone who understands what you're going through—and is there when you need them.
For one mother participating in LifeWorks WIC, that person was Kayleigh, a WIC Peer Counselor.
Peer Counselors provide encouragement, practical guidance and personal support to mothers during an important—and sometimes overwhelming—time in their lives. For this mother, having Kayleigh in her corner made an impact she could immediately feel.
After connecting with Kayleigh, she shared this message:
“I can’t express to you how grateful I am to have this kind of support this time around. It’s a huge relief.”
Her experience was especially meaningful because it was support she wished she had received with her first child.
She reflected on how difficult that earlier experience had been and how she wished she had known then how to better advocate for herself and her son.
This time felt different.
She had someone to turn to. Someone to answer questions. Someone to listen. And someone helping her feel more confident navigating the journey ahead.
“I wish I had this for my first, so I honestly was holding back tears.”
More Than Nutrition
WIC provides families with access to healthy foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and other important resources.
But sometimes its impact is found in something that is harder to measure.
Reassurance. Confidence. Connection.
For this mother, Kayleigh's support provided something deeply personal: the feeling that she didn't have to figure everything out on her own.
That's the difference one caring relationship can make.
And it's one of the many ways LifeWorks helps parents build stronger beginnings for themselves and their children.
This is what support looks like.
-
Food assistance addresses an immediate need. But its impact can reach much further.
LifeWorks Food Programs help ensure that individuals, families, seniors and neighbors facing difficult circumstances have somewhere to turn when there isn't enough food at home.
Through the food pantry, community meals, deliveries and other assistance, LifeWorks provides more than food. Each interaction can also become an opportunity to listen, understand what someone is facing and connect them with additional resources that can help.
Food Programs | Volunteer Spotlight
For 40 years, Mary Withington dedicated her career to helping people.
As an advocate with The Legal Aid Society in Saratoga Springs, Mary worked with individuals with limited incomes who were navigating difficult circumstances. Through that work, she saw a side of Saratoga County that can sometimes be easy to overlook—and learned just how many of her neighbors were struggling.
When Mary retired in 2022, her commitment to helping others didn't end.
In January 2024, she began volunteering with LifeWorks Community Action.
From one shift to four days a week
Mary started as a delivery coordinator, preparing grocery deliveries and loading food into volunteers' vehicles for distribution to LifeWorks clients.
It didn't take long before she wanted to do more.
Today, Mary has helped with nearly every aspect of LifeWorks Food Programs. She has packed groceries, stocked pantry shelves, delivered food directly to clients and prepared meals in the soup kitchen.
She now has a standing volunteer shift at LifeWorks four days each week.
But for Mary, volunteering is about much more than the work itself.
It's about people.
She has developed friendships with fellow volunteers as they work side by side, sharing stories about their families, travels and everyday lives. And she sees firsthand what that work means to the people LifeWorks serves.
Sometimes it's a thank-you text after a delivery. Other times, it's a client explaining that the groceries Mary brought will help their family get through a particularly difficult time.
Whatever the circumstance, Mary says clients are “always grateful.”
Seeing another side of Saratoga County
Of all her volunteer roles, delivering food has made a particularly strong impression on Mary.
Driving throughout Saratoga County and bringing groceries directly to people's homes has given her an opportunity to see the impact of LifeWorks' services firsthand—and the extent of the need that exists throughout the community.
“Saratoga is a very affluent county. I wish people could see the other side of it and know how many people need help.”
Behind every grocery bag packed, meal prepared and delivery made is a neighbor who needs a little help—and often a volunteer willing to give their time to provide it.
Volunteers like Mary make it possible for LifeWorks to reach those neighbors, one delivery, one meal and one act of kindness at a time.
This is what community looks like.
-
For Joann Whiting, staying comfortable in her home during a New York winter used to mean watching the oil tank—and knowing it would likely need to be filled three times before the season was over.
When the LifeWorks Weatherization team evaluated her home, they discovered an opportunity to make it more energy efficient. But first, they found problems that went beyond energy costs.
Knob-and-tube wiring in the attic created a potential fire hazard that made adding insulation unsafe. Deteriorated chimney masonry and flashing were also allowing water into the home during heavy storms.
Before LifeWorks could weatherize the home, those problems had to be addressed.
Using Weatherization Readiness Funds, the team was able to remove and replace the hazardous wiring, repair the chimney masonry and flashing, and install a chimney liner to help protect it from further deterioration.
Then the weatherization work could begin.
The attic was air sealed and insulated, helping the home retain heat and become more energy efficient.
The difference was something Joann could feel.
She reported being significantly more comfortable in her home this winter. And where she had typically filled her oil tank three times during the winter, she had only recently needed her second fill.
More than energy savings
Weatherization can reduce energy use, but its impact can go much further.
For homeowners like Joann, it can mean addressing safety issues that might otherwise go unresolved, protecting the home from further damage and making it more comfortable and affordable to live in.
It means helping someone remain safely and securely in the place they call home.
This is what building stability looks like.
WIC Peer Counselor, Kayleigh.
-
For one local family, life changed suddenly when the household's primary breadwinner was detained for four months.
A mother was left caring for five children, including two children with special needs, while navigating enormous emotional and financial uncertainty.
They turned to LifeWorks.
The Immigrant Services team quickly became a consistent source of support and advocacy for the family.
Case managers helped make sure immediate needs did not become insurmountable obstacles. The family received weekly food assistance, transportation and essential supplies for the children in a safe and welcoming environment.
At the same time, another critical effort was happening behind the scenes.
LifeWorks served as a bridge between the family and legal counsel, helping organize essential documents and coordinating with an attorney who entered the detention center to establish a power of attorney.
The support continued after the husband was released.
LifeWorks' legal team helped guide him through the complicated process of applying for an adjustment of status.
Today, the family is together again.
And the husband has received his Green Card.
Stability means knowing you can move forward
For this family, the journey involved much more than resolving a legal issue.
It meant having food when household income disappeared. Transportation when it was needed. Help navigating an unfamiliar legal system. An advocate who could connect the pieces. And people who continued showing up throughout months of uncertainty.
Today, the family can look toward the future with greater security, dignity and peace of mind.
This is what strengthening futures looks like.
Mary pictured here with LifeWorks’ Food Program Manager Stephanie.
Building Stability.
Strengthening Futures.
This impact happened because neighbors helped neighbors. Your gift keeps LifeWorks here - preventing crisis, building stability, and strengthening futures.
Any time of year, your financial contributions are welcome. These vital donations fund our food programs, family services, immigrant services—and our mission to empower individuals and families to achieve self-sufficiency.
You have the option to make a one-time or recurring donation. We gladly accept support from both individual and corporate donors.
