July 1 to December 31, 2009

December 23, 2009 - Christmas with the Homeless 2009

How do our guests enjoy Christmas? For many of them, it is a sad time since many of them are away from or estranged from family and former friends. For some, it is one of the few days that they can stay with family or friends - surprisingly, we are rarely filled to capacity on Christmas Eve and almost never have to turn anyone away, unlike the rest of the year. Perhaps some families are a bit more compassionate than on other days of the year. We try to provide a little bit of comfort for the homeless in whatever extra ways we can.

At Franciscan House shelter, members of Greater Works Ministries are serving a special dinner of ham and soup tonight. Pastor Joseph Mosley and Brian Craft were at the shelter this afternoon chopping peppers and mushrooms for the soup. (see photo) Several other churches and groups are providing something special for dinner this week and next. The City of Chicago also provided a generous allocation of ham for our dinners in the next few weeks. We also have gift distributions on various nights of socks, gloves, gift packages, hats, and or t-shirts.

At the Marquard Center, we have a gift package from Korean Martyrs Church and $1 gift cards from McDonalds that we are giving out on various nights. Our friends from the Jewish Federation of Chicago and other volunteers will be serving Christmas dinner.

For the Streets to Home residents, we treated participants to a little Christmas Party here on December 11 at which they received gift cards that were donated by the Association of Catholic Women's Clubs and a small gift of household items.

Staff and Full time volunteers enjoyed a low-key pot luck Christmas lunch on December 18. Our traditional steal-the-ornament game was enjoyed by all.

We wish all of our guests, donors, and website visitors a healthy and happy Christmas and prosperous New Year!  Please say a prayer for those homeless persons who are lonely during this Christmas season.

We are still in need of monetary donations this year to avoid a deficit for the year. If you can make a year end donation, please remember us. Your donation must be postmarked by Dec 31 to count towards this year. It must be received by Dec 31 at noon to count towards our fiscal year that ends Dec 31. Thanks for all you've done this year to make our ministry possible.

November 23, 2009 - YouTube Videos of Guests who have Been Blessed

    Have you ever wondered whether our guests appreciate the food shelter, and case management services we provide?  Find out for yourself by watching the videos at

www.youtube.com/franoutreach

    Listen to them as they tell about what they have found here at our soup kitchen, shelter, or case management program and what it means to them. Subscribe to the franoutreach channel and friend us on YouTube. Rate the videos so that new donors know which ones to watch first. Post comments or words of encouragement for the guests. Add them to your favorites list. Forward them to your friends. YouTube is free and easy to use.

    If you like what you see, forward this link to your friends and networks. If you have been blessed, consider sharing some of your blessings with the homeless by making a donation to us through our secure web page. We have a $1,000 matching grant for internet or mail donations from new donors.  It's part of our year-end Been Blessed? campaign.

    We hope that we can raise enough to help make ends meet and wipe out the $185,000 debt we've incurred so far this year in keeping all our programs up and running despite these difficult economic times.  Any questions about our finances or programs? Contact Diana. To make an online donation, go to our online donation page.

   Let's see how far we can spread the word about the good work that we do here. Can we make this go around the world? Can we raise enough to keep all our programs open?

   While you're on the web, visit our Facebook page and friend us. We're at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Franciscan-Outreach-Association/70504120612  Friend us and/or become a fan!

October 15, 2009 - New Day Program Begins, Fall Dinner Happening Soon

In September we started a new day program at the Marquard Center. Guests can come into our dining room and stay from 12 Noon until 3:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will soon extend that to Mondays and Fridays during the shower and laundry times. On Wednesdays, guests already have the opportunity to stay here while our "Bridges" case management program is open from 11 am until 3:30 pm.

In our day program, we begin with a question for the day that everyone enjoys, continue with a guest speaker of some kind, and conclude with board games or the chance to just sit and relax. We serve a small snack. Case managers visit our guests during the day program to see if they can help them with accessing any social services or housing resources they may need.

We currently are serving approximately 20 guests per day, up from 10 when we first began. Guest speakers have included representatives from StreetWise, foot care experts, our own case managers on various topics, and others.  We also provide our guests with the opportunity to "Give Back" by helping with various chores on occasion.

In other news... our Fall Benefit Dinner is happening on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Maggiano's in Oak Brook. If you can come, please do so as we are concerned about attendance in this difficult economy. Are you part of a group that can buy a table of 10? Do you know someone who would like to learn more about us? Have you volunteered but not made a monetary donation yet? Are you just interested in a night out with your loved one or friends that serves the greater good? Do you like a good silent auction? Do you want to buy Christmas presents but still benefit the homeless? Can you advertise our dinner in your church bulletin or workplace? Do you want a work place outing that benefits the homeless while giving your employees a fun night out? For full details, see www.franoutreach.org/dinner.htm   We also need silent auction prizes. Contact Tony if you can donate anything.

For August 4, 2009 - On Track is Better than Under the Tracks

Many years ago, Ken Fisher had stable work in the construction industry and even held one job for 20 years.  His service on behalf of our country was commendable too, as evidenced by his honorable discharge.

However, a few years ago he found himself living under railroad tracks and suffering from an alcohol addiction. He would come to eat dinner at the Marquard Center most of the time. After a while he started talking to one of our case managers.

Over the years, our case managers helped him enter a substance abuse treatment program, find medical care, connect to the Veterans Administration for veteran's services, and help with his social security benefits.

About a year ago, he started the process of finding housing. He now has his own apartment in a senior building, has stopped drinking, and is paying his bills. Nick Benedetto, our Director of Case Management Services, says that getting him into housing was "like a miracle change for him." He still comes here for dinner most of the time and stops by for our Wednesday drop in center to chat and get help with anything he might need. He knows that we are here for him if he ever needs help with anything.

When he heard that Franciscan Outreach is in a tight financial situation, he decided to do what he could to help. Last Wednesday, he talked to Nick, and told him how grateful he is for all the help we have given him over the years. He made a $10 donation and said he wants to donate the same or more every month. We are grateful for his expression of gratitude and are very happy that he is back on track to a happy and healthy life.

Wish List  and other News--------

Men's socks - the doctors and volunteers from RUSH University medical school who staff our shelter on Tuesdays would like to hand out socks to the guests at the shelter, especially those who have athlete's foot. Can you donate socks? Contact Carin if you can. This might be a good project for a work group.

On Friday, August 14, we'd like to strip and wax the floor of our Marquard Center dining room. If we do so, we can't have the guests in the dining room for dinner. We'd like to hand our a sack lunch for dinner. If you have a group that can make 150 bag lunches and drop them off to us on that day r the day before, we'd be most grateful. If you can, contact Chris to schedule the date and David for more info about what to put into the lunch bag.

Pooch Walk 2009 is almost here!  It will be on Saturday, September 12, at Lake Katherine Nature Center in Palos Heights. Download the entry form at www.franoutreach.org/PoochInfo.htm or call us to have one sent to you. It's always a fun day!

Are you a former Full time volunteer? We posted a question for you on the discussion board on our Facebook page. It's under the Boxes tab. Go to http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Franciscan-Outreach-Association/70504120612?ref=ts

For July 13 - Marquard Guests Report Reasons for Homelessness

On March 17, 2009 we started collecting intake information from the guests who eat dinner at our soup kitchen. From April 1 to June 30, we served 1,197 different persons. One question we asked was "What one problem caused you to become homeless?" Here's what the guests from April 1 to May 30 reported. Note that because this can be a sensitive issue, some may not have revealed everything to us.

   Loss of job - 612 persons (51%)

   Insufficient income - 278 (23%)

   Alcohol abuse - 61 (5%)

   Family dispute - 53 (4.4%)

   Drug abuse - 52 (4.3%)

   Physical disability - 30 (2.5%)

   Eviction - 26 (2.2%)

   No affordable housing - 24 (2.0%)

   Release from Correctional facility - 22 (1.8%)

   Natural disaster or fire - 15 (1%)

   In transit or traveling - 12 (1%)

   Domestic violence - 10 (1%)

   Release from mental health facility - 2 (0%)

Compare this to the answers to the question "Which of the following affects you?"

   Alcohol abuse - 368 (31%)

   Substance abuse - 211 (17%)

   Mental illness - 130 (11%)

   Physical disability - 92 (7.6)

   Chronic health problems - 47  (7.6%)

   Domestic violence - 11 (1%)

   Developmental disability - 11 (1%)

   Ex-offender status - 39 (3.2%)

   HIV & AIDS - 4 (0%)

   None of these issues affect me - 284 (24%)

Since these are sensitive issues, we know that the process of gathering information is complicated. Some persons hesitate to reveal this information. Some will admit to alcohol abuse but not to drug abuse or to medical issues but not mental health issues. Even so, these facts give us a clearer picture of who we are helping with our Marquard Center dinner program.

Won't you help in this good work? We still need lots of volunteers to help with our soup kitchen (including dinner, intake, laundry and showers) and shelter (handing out sandwiches and doing intakes.  See the details and online calendars for the soup kitchen at www.franoutreach.org/parttime.htm and the shelter at www.franoutreach.org/volatshelter.htm.

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