Conference News and Notes
for Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Sent to all Vincentians & Staff
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Vincentian Reflection for the Third Sunday of Easter
May 1, 2022
Gospel: (John 21:1-19) At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. The disciples had gone fishing but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Have you caught anything to eat?” They answered “No.” So He said, “Cast your net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
Reflection: Resurrected life has its demand - but the incredible thing about our God is that God provides us with all we need, beginning with offering us new life. Accepting the abundance that God offers means that by following Jesus we become Jesus’ resurrected presence with the grace to lead others to Him. Every day we must take care that our actions announce God’s blessings at the same time that they speak of God’s goodness and care. Leading others to Jesus doesn’t mean doing big things; it means doing the little things well and so reflecting the life of Jesus in us. (Living Liturgy, p.116)
Vincentian Meditation: It is a remarkable fact that in all the appearances of Our Lord after His resurrection, His disciples and friends had a certain difficulty in recognizing Him. Yet that difficulty did not conflict with the assurance which eventually dawned upon all of them, that Jesus Christ had indeed risen from the dead. That should be a source of encouragement to us. We also do not see Him with our physical eyes, and with the first disciples we share the difficulty of seeing Him clearly in the ordinary events of our lives. St. Pius X once wrote: “In all circumstances of your life say: ‘It is the Lord.’” This is very Vincentian, as St. Vincent was deeply devoted to the Providence of God, and he recommended that we accept all things by saying: “when something unexpected happens to us in body or mind, good or bad, we are to accept it without fuss as from God’s hand.” If we could live that ideal of St. Vincent, we would have great peace in our lives. “In all circumstances, say: ‘It is the Lord.’” (McCullen, Deep Down Things, p. 278)
When in your life or ministry have you found the grace to say: “It is the Lord”?
Are your eyes, ears, heart, and soul open to Him in the form of our neighbors?
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Your Remaining April Formation Opportunity
Home Visit Workshop
A chance to hone your skills, share insights and ask lingering questions about this foundation of our work in the Society.
This Saturday, April 30, 9:00am-noon, St. Catharine of Siena (Westwood)
Last call! Registrations due by end of day today (Wed, 4/27)
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Please Save the Dates!
On the near horizon:
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Our Annual Conference Presidents Meeting - Sat morning, 5/14, @ Guardian Angels; invitations have been sent to Conference Presidents; we're eager to have all of our adult Conferences represented for a participative program tailored to our Vincentians' perspective
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Our Summer Meeting - Wed evening, 6/15, site & theme TBD; this popular annual event emphasizes our Vincentian friendship with food, beverages, and most importantly you! More info to come
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Join St. Vincent de Paul in honoring Sherie Marek's and Linda Mueller’s commitment to Cincinnati’s neighbors in need.
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Anderson Pavilion & Carol Ann’s Carousel
Tickets: $90*; Includes dinner, drinks, and parking
Reserved Table for 10: $1,200; Includes dinner, drinks, priority seating, table signage, and parking
*Vincentians receive 20% off individual ticket prices! Use the following code at check-out: COSVINNY22
Sherie Marek and Linda Mueller are longtime advocates and friends of St. Vincent de Paul. They both annually support neighbors in need, and were instrumental to the success of SVDP’s Upward Spiral Comprehensive Campaign – which helped drastically expand access to resources for local families. SVDP is grateful for Sherie's and Linda's generosity and commitment to our community. Join us in celebration of their service!
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Conference Referrals from our Central Help Line:
Please Note Procedural Enhancement
Every day, our Council's central Help Line (513.421.0602) receives many requests for assistance from neighbors in our Conferences’ service areas. Until this week, Call Center team members have returned these calls, giving the neighbors the correct phone number for the Conference in their area; the neighbor would then call the Conference directly. Beginning this past Monday, April 25, our Call Center now calls the Conferences directly and leaves messages on the neighbors’ behalf. Doing this will reduce the number of phone calls that our neighbors must make and should also reduce duplicate calls to our Help Line. Vincentians should expect messages from NOC staff and/or volunteers sharing neighbors’ name, address, phone number, and the type of assistance they are requesting, and should return these calls as they typically return calls from neighbors who call them directly. We are hopeful that this step will help to provide better service to our neighbors and our Vincentians. If you have any questions about this new process, please contact Call Center Manager Adriana Howard at ahoward@svdpcincinnati.org .
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Archdiocese of Cincinnati Beacons of Light Initiative
- We will have 24 Families of Parishes in Hamilton County. 23 of the 24 Families have at least 1 active SVDP Conference currently. We have active Conferences present in 56 of the 74 current Hamilton County parishes. Of the 18 current parishes without a Conference, 16 of those parishes are in Families with at least 1 active Conference. Sure sounds like an opportunity to welcome more Hamilton County Catholics to the gift of our Vincentian vocation!
- How are you preparing for opportunities in your Family of Parishes?
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Our Archdiocese continues to post fresh content at BeaconsAOC.org .
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Our Archdiocese hosts monthly Beacons Roundtable Zoom gatherings on Tuesdays, 1:30-3pm. These gatherings are attracting priests, deacons, parish leaders, and passionate parishioners from throughout our Archdiocese. April's gathering yesterday, entitled Stewardship as a Way of Life, attracted over 100 participants. Upcoming dates are 5/17 & 6/21. This is all part of Phase 0 - Warm-Up - of this Beacons of Light initiative. In this Phase 0, we are encouraged to pray, learn, and prepare. Phase 1 - Leadership - begins with the implementation on 7/1.
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Summer Heat Relief
We will again be providing fans and air conditioners to eligible neighbors throughout our District Council's footprint. This program will officially begin this Mon, May 2. Please use this link to review our program description: https://www.svdpcincinnati.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Summer-Heat-Relief-2022.pdf or find this explanation on the Member Support & Forms page of our website under the heading “2022 Summer Heat Relief Plan.”
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Referring Neighbors for our Council's
Centrally Administered Assistance Programs
At this point in time, we have fully extended all (City of Cincinnati) EPI and (Hamilton County) TANF funding made available to us. We are, for now, not extending assistance from either program.
Availability of assistance through publicly-funded programs is fluid. We will continue to pass along new developments so you can manage expectations accordingly.
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Our St Jude Young Adult Conference Invites You to Join
the Spice Tour
A collection container will be touring parishes around Cincinnati over the coming month; donors can drop off any herbs and spices they may wish to donate. The Spice Tour's first 3 stops were @ St Bernard (Spring Grove Village) on 4/3; Annunciation on 4/10; Cathedral Basilica of St Peter in Chains this past Sun, 4/24. Thanks to all who have passed the salt & pepper. Next up:
This Sun, 5/1 - St Francis Xavier & St Joseph (West End)
During the week, feel free to drop donations off just behind the front desk in our NOC. The donation harvest will be available to our neighbors shopping the Catino Choice Food Pantry in our NOC and our network of pantries throughout our Council's footprint.
Spicy is nicey!
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Insight & Invitations from Our Thrift Stores
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Helpful reminder: The vouchers you issue are redeemable for 30 days (previously 14) from the issue date you note on the face of the voucher - and you can make the issue date the date you expect the voucher to be delivered to your neighbor, as traditional mail service can take a few days currently; both of these accommodations are extended to make it easier for your neighbor to realize the assistance you/we are extending.
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Spring is Bundle Sunday Season - Hosting a Bundle Sunday is a great way to engage your fellow parishioners, create visibility and awareness of your Conference's good works, and connect unwanted / unutilized clothing & household goods with neighbors who will appreciate them through our network of thrift stores. Our stores' team is eager to partner with you to make hosting a Bundle Sunday a snap. Just call us @ 513.421.2273 (421-CARE) to make it happen.
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Demand for furniture (for voucher redemption and purchase) is currently exceeding the pace of donations we are receiving. Do you have surplus furniture you'd like to donate? Just call us @ 513.421.2273 (421-CARE) to make it happen. Thank you for repurposing this furniture with someone who will truly value it.
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CMS is Your Tool!
- Look for CMS Tips & Tricks, direct from John Wessel or your fellow Vincentians, on the Members page of our website, under Member Support and Forms "Learn More" tab, "CMS Support"!
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36 Conferences have implemented CMS and are benefitting from its functionality
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9 Conferences have onboarded since June, 2021
- CMS will deliver its greatest value to you, your fellow Vincentians, and your neighbors when ALL of our Conferences are on board
- Our St Cecilia Conference implemented on 3/1/2022...and no one seized the opportunity in April!
- April is almost ready to give way to May...9 Conferences are currently exploring how they will implement CMS to do good better, including St Saviour and Cathedral/St Xavier who both expressed intentions this past week...we're eager to help them and you join in
- This is a question of when, not if - What are you waiting for?
- Bottom-line: This tool helps you better engage and lift your neighbors. And it will help us better attract resources to assist these same neighbors experiencing need. Join fellow Vincentians & Conferences and make this leap forward - for our neighbors - now!
CMS help sessions are available by appointment. Please contact John Wessel at Jwessel@svdpcincinnati.org or 513.562.1823 to schedule a session, which can be for groups or individuals.
If prompted for a password, enter “ member ”, all lower case and without the quotation marks.
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More Resources for our Conferences and Neighbors
Conference Assistance Fund (CAF)
We, together, extended $81,567 in March for an FY2022 YTD total CAF assistance of $373,576 (with 6 months down, 6 months to go).
April activity (through Tues, 4/26):
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You've submitted 127 applications
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We've approved 118 applications, while 3 have been withdrawn
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We currently have 18 applications in progress toward approval
We offer thanks to those Conferences & their donors who have recently twinned through CAF, to our Conferences & Vincentians who are submitting quality applications, to our volunteers who are processing these applications so promptly, and to Olivia & Alec. As has been our recently repeated message, we encourage you to fully consider our neighbor's situation and other resources which could be deployed as you discern a request for CAF assistance. This is particularly applicable to neighbor situations where the total $ required exceeds the sum of the assistance you can assemble - and please remember there are other programs available in our community which have provisions for much higher assistance caps. If you are contemplating extending CAF assistance as a more-immediate bridge due to extended turnaround times for other publicly-funded community programs, please make sure our neighbor is in the queue for these other programs to which they should be eligible. Advocate for & with our neighbor to seek these community resources!
Our Charitable Pharmacy is Still Providing COVID Vaccinations
The CDC has recently released new guidance on boosters for those most susceptible to severe COVID complications. Want more info? Our Charitable Pharmacy staff is available to answer any questions. You can contact Dr. Rusty Curington at rcurington@svdpcincinnati.org and a Pharmacy team member will respond.
Our Re-Entry Program
Our Re-Entry Program is eager to work with neighbors you are serving who have been affected by the criminal justice system. This includes individuals who are currently incarcerated or have been incarcerated in the past; it also includes people who have had interactions with the criminal justice system but have not been incarcerated. It can also include neighbors who have a family member who falls into one of these categories. If you are serving a neighbor who may benefit from these services, which include:
- Direct assistance, including rent, utility, and other basic needs assistance
- Referrals to employment and housing resources
- Case management
- Advice related to expungement and child support issues
Please refer them to our Re-Entry Program Manager, Dion Crockett. Dion can be reached at 513.562.8851 or at dcrockett@svdpcincinnati.org . You may contact Dion directly or you may share his contact information with the neighbor so that they may contact him.
Dion is eager to connect with our Conferences. Dion is looking forward to being with our St Dominic Conference on Mon evening, 5/23. If you would like to host Dion at a Conference meeting or get together with him in another way, please reach out to him.
Rahe Beds Fund & Program
We have fully extended our budgeted number of beds for April. We will begin accepting requests again this Mon, 5/2. Please send your May bed requests (up to 5 beds per Conference) to Gabby at rahebedfund@svdpcincinnati.org by Thurs, 5/5 - Cinco de Mayo!
If your Conference is considering purchasing beds to extend as assistance, you can get info, including current pricing, or purchase by contacting Dave Chidlow, Stores Retail Resource Manager, at dchidlow@svdpcincinnati.org or 513.853.1002. Your purchased beds will be picked up at our CHRC within our Liz Carter Center.
We still have a limited number of cribs & pack ‘n’ plays available for neighbors with children too young for beds (under age two). These do not count against the limit of two Rahe beds per household per lifetime. If you have a neighbor who is in need of a crib or pack ‘n’ play, please contact Gabby at rahebedfund@svdpcincinnati.org. We will provide the neighbor with a voucher that can be redeemed at our CHRC.
Do you have questions about our Rahe Beds Fund & Program?
Please click on this link Bed Program Conference Guide to review our most current information, which includes some updates to the way beds assistance should be entered in CMS.
Cooking Improv with La Soupe
Our partner La Soupe teams with our Catino Choice Pantry to present monthly Cooking Improv demonstrations in the Teaching Kitchen at our NOC. Instructors from La Soupe engage participants on basic cooking principles and how to use what you have to create delicious, nutritious meals. The demonstrations are on the first Wednesday of every month, 11am-1pm. The demos last 15-20 minutes and repeat continuously during this time frame. Each demonstration is limited to seven participants. The interaction is uplifting and the food is delicious.
Our next event is this coming Wed, 5/4. No pre-registration is required. Feel free to share this information with your neighbors, or if you’re interested in getting involved in our Teaching Kitchen programming, please reach out to Demi Schoenherr at dschoenherr@svdpcincinnati.org for more information.
Education Center Within Our Neyer Outreach Center
Our NOC Education Center is available for neighbors to use during our operating hours: Monday - Friday, 8am - 4pm, and Saturday, 8am - noon.
Christ Church Plumb Line
Olivia Scheper, Conferences Support Coordinator, is our central contact point-person. Plumb Line only accepts assistance referrals from this single SVDP point-person.
As a reminder, Plumb Line can assist with $400 of past due rent for neighbors who are currently working.
All referrals to Plumb Line should be sent to:
Olivia Scheper
Phone: 513.345.4986, ext 239
Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW)
GCWW's Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program provides funds for assistance for eligible tenants residing in the City of Cincinnati. The funds will pay GCWW water, sewer, and stormwater charges. Any accrued charges during March 2020 (the start of the pandemic) or after are eligible to be paid with these funds.
Tenants must qualify by completing an online application at assistance.mygcww.org and certifying that their household income is at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). Renters can also call 513.591.7700 to receive assistance from the call center to complete an application. If eligible neighbors have balances prior to March 2020, those charges will not be paid with these funds. However, neighbors can enroll in a flexible payment plan through the PromisePay Portal. GCWW customers can visit GCWW.promise-pay.com for details about the program and how to enroll. Customers who have paid their accounts and/or have an active payment plan on their GCWW account(s) and keep up with their current charges will be removed from the delinquency/shutoff process.
Renters not residing in Cincinnati city limits but living in Hamilton County can visit https://erap.hcjfs.org/ for utility assistance.
Note: The previously-announced suspension of delinquency/shutoffs expired as of April 1. GCWW announced this past week that we will resume shutoffs and tacking on late fees this coming Mon, 5/2. Please encourage our neighbors with past-due balances to proactively address their obligation before they face a disruption of service.
Duke Energy
For questions on accounts or pledges for neighbors requesting utility assistance, please contact Duke Energy's Centralized Agency Team at 800.241.3194. Advocates are currently available Monday through Friday, 7:30am - 5:30pm.
Seasonal developments:
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The Winter Reconnect Order went into effect on 10/18/2021 and expired 4/15/2022
- Find more info at energyhelp.ohio.gov
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Duke Energy has provided a series of toolkits to help their customers. We have posted these resources to our website; you'll find the webpage at this link: https://www.svdpcincinnati.org/2021/12/20/winter-utility-bill-resources-for-neighbors/ We will continue to update this page as we receive additional content.
City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County COVID Assistance
There is still a substantial sum of COVID federal economic recovery & relief emergency funding available in our area. If you encounter a neighbor who has experienced financial hardship due to COVID, please refer them to https://513relief.org .
Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation (CEIF) Vision Clinic in our Neyer Outreach Center
The Vision Clinic operates by appointment on certain Thursdays as designated by CEIF. Our Vision Clinic is open, 8:30am - 3pm, tomorrow and each Thursday in May. A limited number of walk-in exams can also be accommodated. To schedule an appointment, or to inquire for additional info, please call 513.207.6140.
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Call to Prayer
Lord Jesus, you rose from the dead that we might live,
fill us with faith and trust!
Help us to do the little things well and so reflect your life,
fill us with your compassion!
And, in all circumstances of our life give us the grace to say,
“It is the Lord.”
Amen.
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