Helping Families Find Their Resiliency
“I love working with people and encouraging them to do better,” Marcella explained. “I came to the shelter with such a love and motivation for people. I wanted to help change the trajectory of someone else’s life and help them have a different outcome and opportunity.”
“I always found a way to give more, to encourage more. I did not want any family to feel the way I felt when I was a kid,” Marcella shared. “This drove me. This was going to be a place where people are respected, find support, and feels like home.”
Anyone who has sat down and talked with Marcella Kinard, Director of Shelter Services, knows what a special experience it is. Her stories, shaped by 34 years at Bell Family Shelter, pull at your heart while reinforcing the importance of the work happening every day there.
Marcella speaks with strength, compassion, and a deep desire to see families succeed. But her commitment to helping others is also rooted in her own experience.
When Marcella was 12 years old, her family experienced homelessness. York County did not yet have a family shelter where they could stay together.
“I had to live with a family member. That was the first time I felt unworthy,” Marcella remembers. “I did not like feeling that way.” Years later, that experience would change the course of her life.
When Marcella learned there was a shelter in York County where families could stay together, something pulled at her.
“When I heard there was a family shelter to go to, something in me said I had to apply,” she recalled. “I was in school for accounting, but I knew I was meant to do something different. So, I decided to change my goals and my direction.”
She began her career at Bell Family Shelter as a Resident Counselor. From the beginning, Marcella knew what she wanted families to experience. She wanted the shelter to be a place where families felt respected, supported, and at home.
For many people, home is more than a place to sleep. It is a launching pad—a place where you can find support, regain your footing, and begin looking toward what comes next. Marcella understood that families at the shelter needed that, too. They needed a place where they could feel safe and supported while working toward stable housing, employment, and a more independent future.
For Marcella, creating that home-like atmosphere also meant finding moments of joy during difficult times. Growing up, her family played cards together. So, on Friday nights, she would bring cards to the shelter and play spades with the families.
“It gave the parents time to have fun and a moment to regroup and break away from the pressure on them,” she shared.
Those moments may have seemed simple, but to Marcella, they were part of something much bigger: reminding families that they were valued, and they were more than their situation.
“I love working with people and encouraging them to do better,” she explained. “I came to the shelter with such a love and motivation for people. I wanted to help change the trajectory of someone else’s life and help them have a different outcome and opportunity.”
More Than a Place to Stay
After 34 years at Bell Family Shelter, Marcella has witnessed how quickly circumstances can change for a family.
“Many people who are homeless are hardworking,” she said.
A missed paycheck. An unexpected expense. A child sent home from school or a parent who has to miss work to care for their child.
“These are real-life situations,” Marcella shared. “If you have financial stability and a support system, you are blessed. Can you imagine your life without that? It changes everything.”
For families who arrive, the shelter provides more than a temporary place to sleep. Staff works alongside each family to identify goals, connect them with resources, and help them build a path toward stability.
“We try to help them learn and implement things in their life that can improve their future, so they are not homeless again,” Marcella explained. “This isn’t just immediate help; it is paving the road for long-term success.”
That work can include education, employment, housing, mental health resources, and other supports tailored to each family’s needs.
“The case managers consider Who You Are, Where You Came From, and Who You Want to Be, which is beautiful,” Marcella said.
At the center of that work is a belief Marcella has carried with her throughout her career.
“It is important to keep the family intact. It is a core piece,” she shared. “Families are stronger together.”
The Challenges Are Changing
The needs facing families today continue to evolve. Marcella has seen an increase in single fathers raising children and older adults, including grandparents raising grandchildren. Affordable housing has become increasingly difficult to find, while unexpected expenses can quickly overwhelm a household already living on a limited income.
“When people come in here, the effort is real,” she shared. “The challenges for helping families have increased. It is tougher for them to find a place.”
But Marcella has also witnessed something equally powerful.
“The families have taught me the power of resiliency,” she said. “We have the opportunity to be a positive experience for them, giving them the resources they need, and the opportunity where they can breathe, focus, and build a brighter tomorrow.”
Sometimes, she says, one of the most meaningful things families find at the shelter is something that cannot be measured in financial terms: a support system.
“Some people have never had a support system,” Marcella commented. “It doesn’t cost us anything to be kind or supportive or helpful, and those are the things that make the biggest difference.”
Still Looking Ahead
After 34 years, Marcella is still looking ahead.
She wants to see the shelter’s playground completed, continue strengthening educational opportunities for children, and develop additional resources for children with special needs. She also wants to help ensure older adults and couples have access to safe, affordable housing and the support they deserve.
And she knows she is not doing it alone.
“We have a strong team at the shelter who are here to motivate people to make positive changes,” she said.
For Marcella, the most rewarding moments come when she sees those efforts change a family’s life.
“These are the challenges that make or break you,” she shared. “When you see your hard work and effort come into fruition, and a family is better for it, it gives you such a feeling of happiness.”
Marcella’s childhood experience still shapes the way she serves families.
She knows what it feels like to wonder where you belong.
For more than three decades, she has helped make sure families who walk through Bell Family Shelter’s doors know they belong. They are seen. They are supported. And they are not alone.
“It’s important for families to know that you are someone in their life who cares about them and their situation,” Marcella said.
That is the heart of Bell Family Shelter.
It is a place to breathe, regroup, and find people who are cheering you on. A place where families can rediscover their strength, build stability, and ultimately find a path home.
Help Bell Continue Creating Hope
The stories of the families, staff like Marcella, and the life-changing work that goes on each day is why Bell Family Shelter has been nominated for a Chick-fil-A True Inspiration Awards grant.
Throughout September, you can help Bell Family Shelter continue providing families with the support, resources, and guidance they need to move from crisis toward stability and a brighter future.
Your vote can make a difference. Vote for Bell Family Shelter in the Chick-fil-A App and help us continue creating a place where families feel supported, respected, and empowered to build a stable future.
Learn how to vote here: Bell Selected as a True Inspiration! – Bell Socialization.