Meet the CCS Housekeeping Department: Bill and Linda Smith

You’ll see a lot of people walking in the hallways of Church Community Services. But no matter how hectic it gets, the hallways always seem clean and neat, and the trash is always taken care of.

You can thank the Church Community Services Housekeeping staff, which has only two employees.

78-year-old Bill and 80-year-old Linda Smith are the type of people you hope to grow up to become. They’ve been married 62 years and have lived in Elkhart their whole lives. They have two children, four grandchildren and seven great-grandkids. They had long careers even before they started cleaning the halls of CCS. Bill previously worked at Forest River RV and spent 30 years at Elkhart Products.

“When I was at Elkhart Products, I used to deal with grievances all the time,” Bill Smith says. “I’d come home, and Linda would say ‘I need to talk to you.’ I would say “File a grievance. I’ll be with you in three business days!’”

Linda worked at Montgomery Wards and retired from C & B Optical. She also worked at the Holiday Inn in Elkhart when the hotel hosted college football teams that were in town to play against Notre Dame.

“We used to get free tickets to the games and everything!” Bill Smith says. “We would meet all the outside teams and coaches!”

When Linda retired, she was looking for something to do to fill the time.

“When I retired, my neighbor told me about Church Community Services and said, “Why don’t you go there with me someday!’” Linda Smith says. “And I did, and I liked it, so I stayed!”

Both Bill and Linda started off as volunteers with the Food Pantry, a testament to their kind hearts.

“I started by working in the Food Pantry,” Linda Smith says. “Then (Financial Services Director) Vonda came up to me one day and said, ‘We’ve noticed you like to clean things when you’re here. Would you be interested in cleaning our hallways? We can pay you.’ So, I started doing that. Then they moved to the new building in 2009 and I needed someone to help me clean everything so I asked them if I can bring my husband with me. They said, ‘As long as you two can work together, we don’t care!’”

“I had to stop volunteering because I felt sorry for people and was giving away more food than what we were able to give out,” Bill Smith says. “If they asked for one can, I’d give them two.  If they asked for two hamburger mixes, I’d give them three. When I grew up, I didn’t have nothin, and I couldn’t stand to see people with 3-4 little kids not get more, so I gave them more and didn’t tell anybody.”

Bill and Linda have worked under four different Executive Directors during their time at Church Community Services.

Change is a part of life, but some things stay the same. Bill and Linda Smith cleaning the hallways and putting smiles on people’s faces has thankfully been a constant.

“It’s been good,” Linda Smith says. “Life’s been good to us.”

If you’re in the CCS office building on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday afternoon, you might be lucky enough to hear one of Bill’s witty one-liners, or have a nice conversation with Linda.

”Church Community Services is a great organization,” Bill Smith says. “It helps a lot of people and there are a lot of good people here.”

“All the workers here are very dedicated, and they become like family,” Linda Smith says. It’s not just a coworker, it’s a family and you feel close to each other. We’re all serving the community and helping others, and I think that’s what life is all about. To be able to help others that are having a tough time because we never know when that’s going to be us. It’s just rewarding to be able to help other people.”