For the week of June 29, 2004 - Gratitude is an Attitude!

Some of our guests at the Marquard Center dining room recently shared these words of gratitude for us to convey to our donors and supporters:

"In appreciation for all the wonderful things you guys do for us all year 'round, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  God bless you."

"From a long-time person, you helped [make] life easier."

"Thank you for your help. It's nice to have a place to go in a time of need."

"I truly thank you for your kindness.  Your gift is really a blessing."

"Two words--Thank You."

"I like the food."

"You are heaven sent."

We at Franciscan Outreach share the sentiment of these guests' comments.  We thank all of the supporters who help make it possible for us to continue in our work.

For the week of June 22 - Needed at the Marquard Center--Can you help us out?

At Franciscan Outreach Association, we try to do all that we can to affirm our guests' dignity and help them to maintain a sense of self-respect and self-worth.  Providing the city's only free drop-off laundry service at the Marquard Center is one way that we work towards this goal.  Twice each week, guests drop off a bag of laundry to be washed, dried, and picked up at their convenience.

The washers and dryers that we currently try to use have been here for at least 10 years.  Some of them barely work.  Some don't work at all anymore.   From January 1998 through the end of May 2004, we washed and dried 8,287 loads of laundry for our guests!  The machines have served us well.  But now we are looking for replacements.

We need two heavy-duty, large capacity washers and dryers, preferably gas-operated.  It doesn't matter whether they are front- or top-loading.  If you think you might be able to help us (and our guests) out, please contact Fr. Manny at (773) 278-6724 or frmanny@franoutreach.org

UPDATE: We have obtained one washer/dryer set.  We still need one more of each.

Can't help with the washer/dryers?  Maybe you can help with something else.  We also need several gallons of latex semi-gloss paint in light colors so we can put a fresh coat or two on the walls of the dining room.  Again, contact Fr. Manny. 

UPDATE: We have received a generous donation of the needed paint.

For the week of June 15 - Words of Catholic Social Teaching

At Franciscan Outreach, we strive in our work to manifest the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.  Below are some quotations from Catholic Social Teaching writings.  Click on the title of the source to read it in its entirety on the website of the Office of Peace and Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

That so many people are poor in a nation as rich as ours is a social and moral scandal that we cannot ignore.   Economic Justice for All #16

Now a man can scarcely arrive at the needed sense of responsibility, unless his living conditions allow him to become conscious of his dignity, and to rise to his destiny by spending himself for God and for others. But human freedom is often crippled when a man encounters extreme poverty, just as it withers when he indulges in too many of life's comforts and imprisons himself in a kind of splendid isolation.  The Church in the Modern World  #31

The primary purpose of this special commitment to the poor is to enable them to become active participants in the life of society. It is to enable all persons to share in and contribute to the common good. The "option for the poor," therefore, is not an adversarial slogan that pits one group or class against another. Rather it states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community. The extent of their suffering is a measure of how far we are from being a true community of persons. These wounds will be healed only by greater solidarity with the poor and among the poor themselves.   Economic Justice for All #88

It will be necessary above all to abandon a mentality in which the poor - as individuals and as peoples - are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced... The advancement of the poor constitutes a great opportunity for the moral, cultural and even economic growth of all humanity.   The Hundredth Year (Donders) #28

The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendent worth -- the sacredness -- of human beings. The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured. ...Human personhood must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other, we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred. For that is what human beings are: we are created in the image of God (Gn 1:27). Economic Justice for All, #28

The principles of Catholic Social Teaching include promoting the dignity of the human person, an option for the poor, community and common good, and the participation of all in the life of society. That pretty much describes the basis for all we do here at Franciscan Outreach. You can participate by volunteering or donating.

For the week of June 8 - Volunteer Calendar for Shelter Sandwich-makers now On-line!  Announcing ... a new convenience for our part-time volunteers at the shelter!

     The calendar for the volunteers who make and serve sandwiches at the shelter is now on-line. You can go to the page on volunteering at the shelter and then click on the link to the calendar. Try it now...

Volunteer at the Shelter page

or

www.franoutreach.org/volatshelter.org

     When you'd like to schedule a date to volunteer, call or email the contact person listed or use the form on the Volunteer at the Shelter page. Volunteers work from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at our shelter on Harrison. (See map.) Volunteering is a great way to get to know our guests and see what happens at the shelter. Now it's even easier for you to sign up.  Hope to see you there!

For the week of May 25, 2004 - How Many are Veterans?

This coming Monday, as we remember those veterans who died serving their country in the military, let us not forget those who fought beside the fallen who are now homeless.

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that on any given night, 299,321 veterans are homeless.  According to numbers released by the Interagency Council on the Homeless in 1999, at least 23% of homeless individuals are veterans.  At Franciscan House of Mary & Joseph, the number of veterans responding to our quarterly surveys ranges from 20-30%.

John (pictured left) and Tom (pictured right) are two guests of the Marquard Center Soup Kitchen who are veterans.