As breakfast service ramped up, April Doshier could be found walking around Norman Food and Shelter.
With walls lined with resource posters, artwork and memories, Doshier greeted guests and checked in with staff members. Doshier, who worked with the shelter for 15 years, said the nonprofit was a meaningful place to her.
“Food and Shelter is an opportunity for people,” Doshier said.
Norman Food and Shelter is a nonprofit organization that provides residents experiencing homelessness or food insecurity with support.
Doshier announced her departure from the organization in a social media post Sept. 7. Doshier said she will join the University of Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities to serve as associate director of administration.
“There is no easy way to say it; I have decided to leave Food and Shelter in search of new opportunities, …” Doshier wrote. “Food and Shelter will always be a part of me.”
When Doshier was around 20, she reconnected with her absent father, who had left when she was a kid. She later discovered he had experienced homelessness.
Learning from her father’s experiences, Doshier said helping people experiencing homelessness was personal.
“My dad eventually kind of disappeared and went off in the way that, you know, addicts sometimes do, ...” Doshier said. “My dad ended up dying. I couldn't save him, but I can hopefully provide love and support and opportunity for the other dads and the other moms and the other sisters and the other brothers.”
‘We want more of that’
Doshier joined Food and Shelter in January 2010. Before that, she was the director of development for Positive Tomorrows. The experience gained laid the groundwork for her leadership with Food and Shelter.
As executive director of Food and Shelter, Doshier led operations with managing goals set by the community and the board of directors. Angela Atkins, Food and Shelter president, told OU Daily that Doshier’s work set high expectations for the next director.
“I have really enjoyed working with her. I've admired her leadership, … we want more of that,” Atkins said. “She's been able to be more hands-on and get to know people better, which helps you serve people."
That focus on connection has shaped how Food and Shelter serves Norman residents.
The meals and refuge provided by the day center have been a lifeline for many, something Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman said he knows from personal experience.
“(Food and Shelter) helped my dad out years ago when he was struggling with issues and housing insecurity, …” Holman said. “I'm just really thankful for what (Doshier’s) given to Norman and her time and her effort and the vision that she brought for Food and Shelter.”
Holman said he could see Doshier’s commitment to her role while working with her.
“Being able to directly communicate with April and get responses quickly and get people help has always been a real benefit,” Holman said.
‘Build everybody their own home’
McKown Village is a set of 32 tiny homes that Food and Shelter offers for those experiencing homelessness.
Doshier worked alongside Ideal Homes and Neighborhoods’ co-founder Gene McKown to build the village. McKown donated $110,000 toward the project and helped raise an additional $3.25 million to build 32 fully furnished cottages.
When McKown Village was still in the early stages, Doshier said she told McKown that it was a personal dream of hers to build a housing village.
“He came in my office and said, ‘Okay, if you could do anything, what would it look like?’” Doshier said. “I said, ‘Well, I'd like to build everybody their own home, just like you.’”
McKown told OU Daily that though he has worked on more than 16,000 homes, working with Doshier has left a lasting impact on him.
“She's a very unique and very unusual person who loves helping the underprivileged in the world,” McKown said. “She's one of the most amazing people that I've ever worked with in the community.”
‘Love, friendship and support’
The Share Center, which opened Sept. 18, 2023, offers free groceries to Norman residents facing food insecurity. According to Feeding America, Cleveland County’s food insecurity rate is 15.3% with 45,670 people facing food insecurity.
Doshier said the center reflects her vision for Food and Shelter.
“We are just a vehicle for the community to serve,” Doshier said. “We do that through thousands of volunteers who come in every year, and some of them just come and cook and serve a meal. Others help work in the cottages or work at the share center.”
As Doshier walked through the shelves and freezers of the Share Center, she said the Norman community has allowed Food and Shelter to thrive.
“Food and Shelter has so many friends in this community that support our work,” Doshier said. “We would not be successful without that entire group of people.”
Among those impacted by community support is Nancy Stockton, an ex-recipient of food and shelter services, who said the organization provided resources and support for her future.
“Food and Shelter has helped me out tremendously,” Stockton said.
Stockton had been without housing for seven years. She said that Doshier and Food and Shelter gave her assistance when she needed it most.
Stockton said she struggled with addiction while homeless. When she worked to become sober, Doshier supported her every step of the way.
Stockton said she has been in recovery for nearly two years.
“I went to rehab, …” Stockton said. “April sent me postcards, wrote me letters cheering me on, telling me I got this.”
Stockton said she had been using the resources Food and Shelter provided while living in Oklahoma City.
“I'd come down from (Oklahoma) City down to Norman,” Stockton said. “I made sure I'd go by there and check in, just to let (Doshier) see how I was doing.”
Stockton said she is working to repay Food and Shelter for the help it provided for her by volunteering at the shelter every week.
“I go up there and when people say, ‘Hey, I need help, I'm tired of the drug life,’ I try to help them out as best as I can, and if I can't, I send them to who I know can (help),” Stockton said.
Stockton said Doshier was a cheerleader for her success, and it was bittersweet to see her step down.
“That breaks my heart, that she's stepping down. It crushes me because it's going to be hard to fill her shoes, …” Stockton said. “She actually cares about what she does — she actually cares about us.”
Teary-eyed, Doshier sat at her front desk and said Food and Shelter has always been more than a job.
“We are a place that they go where they can be welcomed when they've often been not welcome anywhere else,” Doshier said. “Food and Shelter is so much more than a meal; we’re opportunity, hope, love, friendship and support. … I hope that everybody who comes through Food and Shelter knows that I was their friend, that I am their friend, that I love them and I care about them and that I was always fighting for them.”
This story was edited by Natalie Armour, Ana Barboza and Thomas Pablo. Larkin Bock, Arthur Shamayev and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
