River of Refuge newsletter, February 2025

Budgeting Classes Help River of Refuge Mom Rebound From Break-In to Disabled Car

The 2002 Mercury Sable sputtered out on the interstate earlier this month as Tyler Buffington was headed to her Amazon job in Lenexa from River of Refuge.

“I felt like everything was crumbling around me,” said Buffington, 31, who has been at River of Refuge for about three months with her four kids (ages 11, 10, 8, and 7). “That’s the only means of transportation I had. I could just see everything I was working towards falling away from me.”

Buffington’s story ends happily, but not before the situation went from bad to worse.

She incurred the cost of towing the Sable to River of Refuge and hoped to get some money out of the car through salvage.

The operator left it in a lot below the secured parking ROR provides to staff and residents, and a few days later, Buffington returned from work to see her car sitting on cinder blocks.

Thieves had taken the tires and wheels, cut out the catalytic converter, siphoned her gas, stole clothing, and taken the cleaning supplies she was saving for when she moved out of River of Refuge.

The robbery devastated Buffington, but the support and assistance from the staff was reassuring. “I just wasn’t as alone as I would have been,” she said.

Buffington moved into River of Refuge after a divorce. She lived with her former in-laws for a while but that was not a good situation.

The silver lining was that, in excelling at the budgeting principles taught at River of Refuge, Buffington had $5,000 in savings. In working with her case manager, Buffington used the savings for a down payment on a 2020 Ford Edge with relatively low mileage.

The Edge is the newest car Buffington has ever owned.

Another positive development is that Kansas City, Missouri police have told Buffington they have a suspect in the break-in of her car. The break comes thanks to the security cameras installed and maintained by River of Refuge volunteer Hunter Shoptaw.

She was driving a 2006 minivan with approximately 300,000 miles on it when she moved into River of Refuge, but it conked out, and she had only had the Sable for about 90 days before its engine quit. The only help from the dealer that sold her the Sable was that they would charge her to fix it.

Had this situation arisen before River of Refuge taught her about saving money from each paycheck, Buffington said she would have had to rely on other people to get around and probably had to quit her job to find something closer to home.

Changing jobs would have been particularly painful because her job as an Amazon delivery driver pays $21.25 an hour, whereas her previous job managing a Subway sandwich shop paid $13 an hour. She got the Amazon job after River of Refuge case manager said she needed a better job to provide for her family.

The budgeting lessons at River of Refuge, Buffington said, have helped her make better financial decisions for herself and her children. “I’ve been saving more than I ever have,” she said.

Even with the car situation, Buffington remained on track to graduate from the program on Saturday. She is moving into a four-bedroom, two-bathroom rental home in Lee’s Summit.

Buffington has built her savings back up to $3,000, and she thinks that her tax refund will get her back to the level she was at when the Sable broke down.

She will leave River of Refuge feeling more independent and self-sufficient.

“I feel like I can do this with my children, and I don’t have to worry about — Can I afford housing? Can I afford our (daily expenses)? Because I have an understanding of what I need to do with how much I need to make to make that happen, compared to having no idea and thinking it’s impossible.”

 

Acts of Kindness Kick off New Year for River of Refuge

River of Refuge is the beneficiary of goodwill throughout the year, but our cup has overflowed the last several weeks with many acts of kindness:

Thanks to Next Page Printing, we now have a brand new sign. The old sign on Raytown Road previously had the name of a now-closed psychiatric facility on it, and the River of Refuge banner we had used to hide that name was starting to look pretty rough. Next Page Printing came to the rescue.

Little Blue Valley Church also generously donated cleaning products, diapers and wipes, laundry supplies, trash bags, and much more.

Messiah Church of the Brethren provided delicious homemade, decorated cupcakes for the monthly S1TC Community dinner with ROR families, volunteers, and staff.

Finally, the Church of the Latter-day Saints provided Valentine’s goody bags for our families.

 

FROM THE DIRECTOR

What is the recipe for the successful launch of River of Refuge’s demonstration kitchen? How about having a retired brewmaster teaching our families how to make a famous Jewish dish?

Michael Crane did just that last month when he showed ROR families how to make kugel. Crane is the co-founder of his namesake microbrewery located in Raytown, Missouri.

Kugel is typically a baked casserole made with starches, such as noodles, potatoes, or matzo, mixed with eggs and fat, according to online information. It can be either sweet or savory, depending on the ingredients used.

As you might remember from my letter in December, Michael discovered ROR through his involvement with Slow Food Kansas City, which is part of a worldwide movement that embraces authentic ingredients as an alternative to processed food. The group donated $1,500 to River of Refuge for ingredients instructors can use in the teaching kitchen.

It was delightful to see our families so engaged with Michael. His religion and the origins of his dish did not matter in the least to our families.

For them, he was a nice guy giving his time to teach them something new. I am grateful to Michael as well; he could be doing a lot of other things in retirement rather than volunteering at ROR.

Our families left with to-go boxes and an experience they likely never would have had if they were not working the ROR program.

The feeling was mutual. Michael enjoyed interacting with the families and told me he is excited to return for another demonstration.

When workers put the finishing touches on the teaching kitchen late last year, it was a dream come true for me and several other ROR supporters. Sunday marks my fifth anniversary at ROR, and the teaching kitchen has been a priority for me throughout my tenure.

For me, the kitchen is an extension of the community garden and the hens we have at ROR. For me and the staff, it is important to educate our families about healthy food and about where their food actually comes from.

Michael was the perfect guest to kick off our cooking demonstrations, and I am excited for our upcoming events.

We have a gal coming in next month to demonstrate budget-friendly cooking, and representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are coming in April.

Michael is set to return in May and we are having another budget-friendly demonstration in June. We are busy filling in other slots to have a demonstration once a month until our schedule gets busy during the holidays.

From what I can tell, kugel is sweet enough to eat for dessert. But in our case, it served as an appetizer for future cooking lessons.

Until Next Time,
Pamela Seymour, Executive Director