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What's New Archives for July 18, 2008 to Dec 31, 2008 For December 22, 2008 - Franciscan Outreach on Channel 2 News - Derrick Blakley Franciscan Outreach will be on Channel 2 News again tonight at 6:00 pm. I and several guests will be talking about the how the downturn in the economy is affecting grants and donations and how that might affect our programs. Several guests will talk about what it's like to be homeless, how the economy is affecting them, and how we've helped them. Here's the link to story that you can copy and paste into your web browser (you may need to download Flash Player to see it): You may also be able to access it by going to the main webpage at www.cbs2chicago.com and typing "Franciscan Outreach" into the search box. December 18, 2008 - Are we at a Turning Point? - An alcoholic who's been living on the streets for the past ten years sees a friend die and figures and decided to talk to a case manager about how to change his lifestyle
- A man who's just been released
from prison decides that he wants to
stay out of jail
and find an honest job asks a case manager for help - A construction worker who lost his job because of the economy and run out of savings decides to swallow his pride and eat at our Marquard Center. While he's here he talks to a case manager who tells him how to get help paying his past due electric bill. ...all of these persons are at a turning point in their lives. They are also typical of the men and women who come to our Marquard Center dining room and our Franciscan House shelter: they make a decision that they want to do something different with their lives and come to us for help. We only hope that all of our programs will be here for many years to come so that they can find the help when they need it. At the moment, though, we are wondering whether we are at a turning point ourselves. We've been living beyond our means and have debt of $235,000. If the end of the year isn't good for us, we may have to close one of our programs in order to keep the ministry strong. If you can make a year-end donation, please do so. If you know of anyone who can make a year-end donation, please contact us. Since the current payroll and bills are paid, whatever comes in for the rest of the year will go towards keeping all our programs open by paying down the line of credit and saving for next year. We are working hard to cut unnecessary expenses and increase funding, but any increase in funding will take time. To learn more, contact Diana and ask for a pdf of our Turning Point Appeal that will show you where we are and what we need. Together, we can keep all our emergency food and shelter programs open. November 18 - Franciscan House shelter on Channel 2 News Dana Koslov of CBS/ Channel 2 News did a story about the cold weather and our shelter on the news last night, November 17. You can see the story and video at http://cbs2chicago.com/local/hard.economy.franciscan.2.867212.html She did a great job of condensing the hour of video they took down to a 2:07 piece that got straight to the critical issues. Contact Diana if there is any way you can help the homeless at this critical time of the year. November 11 - Are More People in Need of Help? During these difficult economic times, are we seeing more people who are in need of help? The answer is "yes and no." At our dining room for the homeless at the Marquard Center, the picture looks like this: October - 4,134 meals, up 171 meals from previous month September - 3,963 meals, up 130 meals than previous month August - 3,833 meals, down 207 meals from previous month July - 4,040 meals, up 483 meals from previous month For the shelter, the number of new clients has remained relatively stable: October 48 new guests September 41 new guests August 52 new guests July 52 new guests In case management, the number of new clients has also remained stable: October 117 new clients September 114 new clients August 124 new clients July 118 new clients Whether up or down, we still serve a lot of people who have no where else to turn. We are glad that we can be here for all those who need us! October 24 - A Slice of Wednesday On Wednesdays we have a lot happening here at the Marquard Center. What happened on Weds Oct 22?
Just one of the many successes that day was the following, as told by Nick, our Director of Case Management: "One of our case managers helped an individual into housing and he moved in yesterday. Today he came up to say thank you and see us about furniture. We arranged a basic set of furniture for him that will be delivered later today. He will go out with a case manager tomorrow to buy household goods, including a bed-in-a-bag and an alarm clock. He's happy that he finally has a place to call home again, with a key and everything." What did the 43 guests talk to a case manager about? Many guests had more than one need - there were 112 issues discussed.
There's a lot going on here on Wednesdays! We're also open for case management at the Marquard Center every Monday through Friday, too. Our offices at St. Peter's are open Monday through Thursday, as well. Last year, our case managers discussed 15,549 separate issues with the guests. Your support makes it all possible. Now is the time to buy your tickets for our Fall benefit dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy in Oak Brook on Saturday, Nov 15, 2008. We're celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the shelter! You should have received your invitation in the mail, but you can always buy tickets on-line. We're worried that because of the economy the attendance will be less, so if you can afford it, please come. We also have raffle tickets for a deeded timeshare that are available by calling our office. Thanks for your support! October 4 - St Francis and the Animals - Pooch Walk for the Homeless October 4th is the feast of St Francis of Assisi. Why is he known as the patron saint of animals? Everything he did demonstrated his sense that all persons and creatures are children of the same God. In the book Francis of Assisi by Gianmaria Polidoro, as translated by Fr Benet Fonck, a good friend of Franciscan Outreach, it is written:
Miracles about the saint started to abound. People were
saying that he sp Or there was the story about Francis making peace with the famous wolf of Gubbio on behalf of the terror stricken people of the town. The wolf gave Francis his paw as a sign of friendship, and the citizens promised to feed it. And then they treated it with respect and veneration as though it were a living relic of the holiness of Francis himself. (Right, the 13th century fresco from Assisi depicting the legend of St Francis preaching to the birds) If St Francis showed that kind of respect to the birds and a wolf, how much more should we show respect to the men and women who find themselves in difficult circumstances? You can help us do that by joining us next Saturday, October 11, for the Pooch Walk for the Homeless. Come our for a beautiful day at Lake Katherine Nature Center. Bring a dog if you have one or just come without one. You can register on-line. More details are at www.franoutreach.org/PoochWalk.htm Good News!! Today, October 3, the president signed into law an extension of the law that provides that persons who are age 70 1/2 or older can donate to charity from their IRA without incurring a tax penalty. If that applies to you, please remember the homeless! You can buy tickets online for our Fall benefit dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy in Oak Brook on Saturday, Nov 15, 2008. Watch the mail for your invitation. We also have a raffle for a deeded timeshare that are available by calling our office.
September 22 - Who eats dinner at the Marquard Center? On Tuesday, Sept 9, we conducted a survey of the guests eating at the Marquard Center. Of the 132 persons who ate here that night, 101 agreed to fill out a survey. What did we learn? Here are some highlights: Are they homeless?
How far do they come to get here?
What is the nationality or race?
How long have they been coming here to eat?
How often do they eat here?
Any other info?
Some conclusions:
For September 8, 2008 - Unseen Flood Causes Two Night Closure of Shelter In an event reminiscent of the Great Chicago Flood of 1992, (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Flood), an unseen flood caused the closure of our shelter at Harrison and California. As the rains of Hurricane Gustav moved through Chicago on Thursday, September 4, at around 7:00 pm. the power went off at the shelter. Since we normally let the women in at 8:00 pm and the men in at 8:30, we had little time to spare to get the power back on so we could open. Even with the emergency back up lights, it was pitch-black in parts of the shelter. We determined that it would not be safe to open, since the emergency lights, flashlights, and any other battery operated lights we could get wouldn't last long. The guests, at this point, were standing outside in the pouring rain waiting for us to open. Some had gone down the block to stand under a construction scaffolding. We told them what had happened and asked them to be patient. Although they were cold, wet, tired and hungry, most were very cooperative. When ComEd said that they wouldn't be out there until 9:15 to look at the problem, we started working on a plan B. Several calls were made to the City, the Red Cross, the police, and the Department of Human Services. Many of the original 37 women and 209 men who had signed up decided that they would not wait in the rain. Eventually, four CTA buses were dispatched to at least get the guests out of the rain and warmed up. By the time the buses arrived at 11:00 pm, 22 women and 132 men were still outside. After a little while we brought the evening's sandwiches and water onto the buses to serve the guests dinner. Despite a false report that the power was out in the whole area, it was only our building that was affected. We called a 24 hour electrician, CDG Electric Corp, who had someone on site within 15 minutes. An inspection of the electrical box revealed an inch and a half of water in the bottom of the box. Rain water from the roof above the electrical box had leaked onto the pipes going into the box which shorted out all of the breakers. Apparently, the problem had been happening for a little while, without our knowledge, because some of the breakers were rusted. We had had the roof in that area repaired a few months earlier but apparently it didn't fully solve the problem. Meanwhile, the representative from the City had been trying to locate alternative shelter for the 154 guests who were dozing on the buses. Since we are such a large shelter, doing so was not easy. By 12:50 pm the electrician had installed a few temporary breakers and restored partial power in two of our three of our dorms, but by then the buses had left. The 22 women were taken to another shelter. The men were taken to a Department of Human Services community center where they received two blankets each and a place on the floor. When we learned this, we turned all the electricity back off and sent the electricians home. The next morning, the electricians purchased the supplies they needed while the roofers that had repaired the roof several months earlier added more tar where they thought it might be helpful. After determining that the repairs would not likely be completed with enough leeway to be certain that we could open on time, we worked with the City to find alternative space for our guests for Friday night. The Department of Human Services arranged for the 37 women to go to another shelter, 75 men to go to a temporary facility set up for them with emergency cots and staffed partly by our shelter staff, 95 men to go to a seasonal shelter that doesn't usually open until October, and the remaining 38 men to a fourth shelter. We conducted opening as usual but handed out numbered flyers that the guests used as their admission tickets into the other shelters. We sent various members of our staff to the seasonal shelter and the temporary facility to assist with our guests. The City and one of the shelters provided vans to transport the guests for the first two hours of opening. On Saturday, the electricians replaced our electrical box and installed new circuits. The work was complete by 6:23, so we could open Saturday night as usual. Many of the guests were very grateful that so many persons had gone out of their way to find them shelter. They realized that we could have just closed our doors and were happy that we took care of them. We would like to thank the following individuals who made this situation less traumatic than it otherwise could have been:
If you'd like to help us recover financially from this event, we would be very grateful. You can participate by covering the unexpected expenses:
If you can appreciate how important basic shelter is, please consider making a donation to help offset our everyday operating expenses. It costs us $2,007 per day to run the shelter. That's a very efficient $8.16 per person per day and includes two meals and many extra services. We are presently in debt and waiting for donations and grants to pick up in the Fall. If you value the emergency shelter we provide, please help support it financially. If we can't raise enough to avoid incurring debt, then we may be at a turning point at which we have to reconsider our ability to provide these basis emergency services. The specialized housing and case management services are of more interest to the City and foundations, while basic food and shelter needs the support of individuals like you. We don't charge our guests, so we can only provide these services if you support them. If you can participate in this good work, mailing a check is better than making an on-line donation. We use a credit card processor that doesn't charge us any fees, but as a tradeoff, it holds the donations until the middle of the following month. That would be mid-October for donations made in September. Contact Diana if we can provide you with any more information about our programs or finances. We're also happy to provide tours of our shelter and soup kitchen or sign you up to volunteer so you can see first hand what good work we do. With your help, the invisible flood at Franciscan House will become a piece of our history, one, we hope, that will never be repeated. July 18, 2008 - Fr. Larry concludes 9 years of Service, Diana Faust appointed Executive Director After 9 years of dedicated service, Fr. Larry Janezic, OFM, leaves his position as Executive Director of Franciscan Outreach Association to begin a new ministry as a legislative advocate for the new Franciscan Action Network in Washington Dc. Franciscan Action Network is a grassroots, faith-based legislative advocacy organization with a growing national base of organizations and persons who are inspired by he witness and example of St. Francis and St Clare of Assisi. Its mission is to bring a coordinated and effective voice to matters of justice, peace, and care for creation to Washington DC, the US, and beyond. Fr Larry will build upon his experience here at Franciscan Outreach, his one year internship as a lobbyist with Catholic Charities before he arrived here, and his many years of prior experience as a pastor and community organizer in San Antonio and Chicago. We are sorry to see Fr Larry go but are excited for him as he begins an exciting new position in Washington. We welcome Diana Faust as our new Executive Director. Diana has been with Franciscan Outreach as the Assistant Executive Director and Director of Development for 11 years. Diana is a Secular Franciscan who will continue the tradition of Franciscan care for the poor that has been the hallmark of Franciscan Outreach. Prior to arriving at Franciscan Outreach, Diana practiced law for 10 years in Chicago. We also welcome
Join us is pledging your prayers of support to Fr Larry as he begins a new career and to Diana, Fr Vaughn, Chasity, Greg, and Kathleen as they continue a fine tradition of service here at Franciscan Outreach. Air conditioners needed! The air conditioners in our conference room (which is the only source of air for Fr Vaughn's office) and the full time volunteer living room are so old that they don't emit cold air anymore. We can purchase a 10,000 btu one for the conference room for $249 and an 8,000 btu one for the volunteers for $199, both Kenmore brands from Kmart. Please contact Diana by 3 pm today if you can help. Go to previous Archive page.
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