When Carol Hallquist heard Sister Berta speak a couple of years ago, one statement stood out above all others: “Don’t judge our mothers. They’re doing the best they can.”

Carol kept turning those words over in her mind and wondering how she and her daughter might get involved at Operation Breakthrough. Soon, Carol was planning a series of monthly classes where Center moms could relax and have a little “me” time.

Over the past year, Carol, a Hallmark vice president, has done yoga with the moms. She has given them crock pots and recipes for cooking on a budget. She has put on a fashion show of garage-sale finds to show moms how they can look sharp for just a few bucks. She has brought in friends to teach cake decorating, jewelry-making and quilting.

While the moms are having fun, Devin Hallquist, 17, baby sits their children. One recent evening, her work entailed sitting on the floor while preschoolers eating pizza climbed on and off her lap and styled her hair with greasy fingers.

“I really like coming here,” says Devin, who also reads to Center children on other days. She agrees, though, that her mom, who was off quilting with the ladies, “gets the easy job!”

After each class, says Family Advocate Kendra Brack, “the moms are raving about how much fun they had. These classes allow our moms to take a break from their stressful lives.”

While working with the mothers, Carol says, she noticed “the staff needs pampering too.” So, she and Devin set out to interview all 122 employees and create a poster about each of them to be displayed in the Center’s lobby. Carol is compiling the interviews into a book she calls, “The Heroes of Operation Breakthrough.”

“I am in awe of the women who work here,” she says. “Did you know that Ruby, the cook, is an accomplished horsewoman? She works with teenagers and horses in her spare time…. The staff has such a passion for children.”

One employee offered to spare Carol from spending hours interviewing by having staff fill out a questionnaire.

“I said, ‘Oh, no! The interviews are my favorite part.’” Connecting with the staff – and the moms – “is a recharge,” Carol says. “I look forward to it… I know this sounds really cliché, but I have learned so much and gotten so much out of doing this.”

Neither Carol nor Devin will forget the staff member who shed tears during her interview.
“No one had ever asked her about herself before,” Carol says.

The mothers in her classes come from similar situations.

“Everybody wants something out of these mothers – their employers, their kids…. There is rarely a time when someone says, `Let me do something for you.’”
“Many have two jobs. You see how hard they work, just to get by and take care of their kids.”

Carol remembers talking with a single mom who serves her children a hot breakfast and a homemade dinner every night, then, after working all day, supervises homework, baths and bedtime, all by herself.

“These moms are doing the best they can,” Carol says. “That mom does better than I do!”

Carol appreciates the help of friends who have come to her classes and shared their time and expertise with Center moms. Guest teachers to date are:

Leslie Schmitz--Yoga
Shere Anderson--Exercises you can do anywhere
Kristin Riott--Saving money on your utilities
Nancy Ornce--Garage Sale makeover fashions
Susan Morgenthaler--Jewelry from "found objects”
Joann Schwarberg--Cake decorating
Jamee Friedmann, Kelly Weixeldorfer, Aimee Fitzgerald—Making beaded jewelry
Kim Newton--Quilting