Conference News and Notes
for Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Sent to all Vincentians & Staff
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Vincentian Reflection for Pentecost Sunday
June 5, 2022
Gospel: (John 14:15-16; 23-26) Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandment. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always. Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him…. I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
Reflection: By this indwelling of the Holy Spirit we ourselves become advocates of God’s presence for others. This gift of the Spirit, then, makes its demands on us. We must monitor the way we live so that others truly see us as advocates of God’s presence bringing new life. This new life that we share with others might be so simple as a reassuring touch or helping hand, or as demanding as giving of our time and money. Living the paschal mystery means that we bask in the good gift of God’s life that the Spirit brings. Pentecost is a celebration of both the gift of the Spirit and the effects of that gift - we are sharers in the one body of Christ who take up Jesus’s mission to preach the good news of salvation. (Living Liturgy, p.140)
Vincentian Meditation: One of the messages which the Church received from the Spirit of God at the Vatican Council II was that it should do more for the poor of the world. Over the past fifty years the Church has increased her interest in the poor. Not only has the Church tried to lighten the sufferings of the poor, but she has tried to be more efficient in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ and His Church to the poor. Pope John Paul II has said, “He who lacks material resources may be poor, but he who does not know the way which God marks out for him is even poorer. “What does it profit a man,” asks Our Lord, “if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul?” (Mark 8:36) What, my dear friends, will it profit us if we gain the whole world for the poor, but do not help them to find the way which will lead them to God and the happiness of heaven? (McCullen, Deep Down Things, p. 255)
How are we poor?
How do we help the poor among us to find the way which will lead them to God?
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Your Formation & Training Opportunities
First Friday Fellowship is this Friday, 6/3, @ noon. Our topic this month is Crucial Conversations: how to have important conversations in our lives in ways that reduce tensions and open us to better fellowship. To login for this Zoom session, please click here on Fri, 6/3, @ noon:
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The Poverty Simulation offered for all Vincentians, or even prospective Vincentians, is next Saturday, 6/11, and being held from 9-11am at the Ozanam Center (in the Liz Carter Center located at 1125 Bank St.). For all those attending, please sign up prior to the end of the day this coming Monday, 6/6. For more information, or to register, please use this signup genius link or email Formation@svdpcincinnati.org.
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For more detailed information on these events, and other opportunities in Vincentian Formation, please see the Formation Update sent out this past Friday afternoon, 5/27, which contains insights for the entire month of June and July.
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You're Invited!
Wednesday evening, June 15th - just 2 weeks away
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Traditionally known as our Summer Meeting - always with an emphasis on bringing Vincentians together to celebrate summer with friendship, food, & fun
- Hosted this year @ St Matthias in Forest Park, a home of Our Lady of the Rosary/St Matthias joint Conference; this shelter offers fresh air and a roof over our heads
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All Cincinnati District Council Vincentians invited; no charge
- Come with fellow Conference members, prepared to enjoy existing and add new friendships...a great opportunity to connect with others in your Family of Parishes
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Please RSVP now to reserve your place and enable us to make proper advance accommodations; RSVP by contacting Olivia Scheper at oscheper@svdpcincinnati.org or 513.345.4986
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Our 2022 Vincentian Member Survey is Live!
Your Vincentian experience and aspirations matter to us. Please invest a few (5-10?) minutes to share your perspective in this survey which was developed with your fellow Vincentian members of our Conference Life Committee. We encourage you to participate on-line, via SurveyMonkey, which can be accessed right now by simply clicking on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RFJW3SN . Alternatively, your Conference may make on-line access available at your upcoming Conference meeting. If you prefer to participate by completing the survey on paper, you can find a printable version by clicking on this link:
Completed written surveys can be submitted by mailing to:
St Vincent de Paul - 2022 Vincentian Member Survey
1125 Bank St
Cincinnati, OH 45214
Attn: Olivia Scheper, Conferences Support Coordinator
This survey will remain open until Thurs, 6/30/2022.
We will summarize and analyze the responses submitted; share key take-aways; and utilize this info to determine actions to better serve you.
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Catino Choice Food Pantry Volunteers Needed
Are you looking for an additional way to live out your Vincentian calling? Our Catino Choice Food Pantry (Neyer Outreach Center, 1146 Bank St) has seen rising numbers of neighbors accessing our pantry over the last few months and we’re in need of additional volunteer support to meet the demand. We have a particular need for volunteers who can help in the morning (8am-11:30am) and in late afternoon (2-4pm). Come by yourself, with your spouse, or with a small group from your Conference.
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Your Conferences Support Team - Who Does What
Repeated for your benefit, with further progress & evolution anticipated:
CAF applications & assistance; thrift store voucher forms & stickers; Christ Church Plumb Line; Vincentian recruiting displays & brochures; Conference Locator Map; changes to Conference members roster; volunteering in Conferences Support
Quarterly reports; questions about referrals for neighbors; our SVDP-Cinn’s Members webpage content; Conference officers training; training workshops
Tom Roberts, Director of Conferences, troberts@svdpcincinnati.org , 513.345.4910 Beacons of Light, Families of Parishes; Conference strategic or leadership matters; weekly Conference News and Notes; support team members visiting Conference meetings; Council events; twinning & CAF contributions; Conference Life Committee; facilitating support for your Conference beyond our Conferences Support team
Our team is here to serve you.
Please also note that each Family of Parishes, and the current Conferences within the respective Family of Parishes, now have a designated primary contact point-person, which is either Sunnie Johnson-Lain, Senior Director of Services, or 1 of the 3 Conference Support team members listed above. Our Conference Presidents have received a reference document identifying these relationships.
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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. How can we introduce and invite more Hamilton County Catholics to this gift of our Vincentian vocation?
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Beacons of Light will be implemented by our Archdiocese on 7/1, now just 1 month away. 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. The final Phase 0 - Warm-Up gathering of this initiative will be 6/21, entitled Love in Action. This will transition us from Phase 0 into Phase 1 - Leadership - which begins 7/1.
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The Heat is On... and Our Summer Heat Relief Program is in Full Swing
Our AC request form is available for our neighbors to complete a request at https://SVDPcincinnati.org/AC . Vincentians are welcome to complete a request on behalf of a neighbor. Vincentians can also arrange to pick-up (@ our NOC, M-F, 9am-3pm) & deliver an AC for mobility-challenged neighbors who have been notified their request has been approved.
We are currently distributing fans on a walk-in basis at our NOC. Neighbors can request & receive a fan during our normal operating hours.
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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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CMS Tips & Tricks
John Wessel, our Resource Analyst, has created a series of over 30 easily viewed and absorbed videos that are available to you 24/7 on our CMS Support Page, https://www.svdpcincinnati.org/cms-support-page/. Password, if you are prompted: member .
CMS helps you better engage and lift your neighbors. And it will help us better attract & deploy resources to assist these same neighbors experiencing need.
Our latest progress: 2 more Conferences - Our Lady of Victory & St Gertrude - have shared intentions to implement CMS effective today, 6/1/2022...at least 7 more Conferences are in our pipeline toward implementation...and further enhancements of CMS are on the way!
Join fellow Vincentians & Conferences and make this leap forward - for our neighbors and fellow Vincentians - now!
Whether you are a current CMS user - or soon to be one - Help sessions are available! Please contact John at jwessel@SVDPcincinnati.org, or by phone at 513.562.1823 to schedule a group or individual session.
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More Resources for our Conferences and Neighbors
Conference Assistance Fund (CAF)
We, together, extended $431,850 in total FY2022 CAF assistance for the 7 months ended 4/30/2022.
Our final May activity:
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You submitted 161 applications
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We approved 159 applications; 4 were declined as ineligible or more appropriately referred
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We currently have 14 applications in progress toward approval
We have received authorization to extend up to $60,000 in CAF assistance per month until our 9/30 FY2022 year end. We were granted special authorization to extend to $70,000 for just the month of May - and we fully extended this increased amount.
Please take note: As shared with all Conference Presidents in April, and revisited during our Conference Presidents Meeting, a Conference must be utilizing CMS to access CAF assistance effective our 10/1/2022 start to FY2023. While there are multiple reasons for this step forward, one of the most exciting is that we are actively seeking to fully integrate our CAF process - from application to assistance extended - within our CMS tool. This should deliver better visibility and efficacy for all.
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. We encourage you to fully consider our neighbor's situation and other resources - including community partners & programs and your Conference's own funds - 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. We have the Pfizer vaccine. 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 Manager, Dion Crockett, is eager to work with you to assist neighbors you are serving who have been affected by the criminal justice system. If you would like to host Dion at a Conference meeting, get together with him in another way, or discuss a particular situation, Dion can be reached at 513.562.8851 or dcrockett@svdpcincinnati.org .
Rahe Beds Fund & Program
June bed requests (up to 6 per Conference) should be sent to Gabby at rahebedfund@svdpcincinnati.org by this coming Mon, 6/6. We will advise if there are additional June Rahe beds available.
Our "new and improved" Conference bed request form (to accommodate up to 6 requests) is now available on the member support and forms page of our website.
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. Please be aware that our beds cost and resale pricing have risen significantly.
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.
SafeParish Training
St. Vincent de Paul takes seriously the safety of the children and vulnerable adults who we serve in our ministry. As a Catholic lay organization, we are required to adhere to Safeguarding standards that are consistent with those of our Archdiocese. If you engage with anyone under the age of 18 or with vulnerable adults as part of your work with SVDP, or if you have questions about whether you should complete this training, please reach out to Alec Jewell at ajewell@svdpcincinnati.org for more information on Safeguarding or to register for SafeParish training/background checks. We appreciate your efforts to ensure a safe environment for the neighbors who we serve.
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. All recipes are based off ingredients found daily in our Catino Choice Pantry. The demonstrations are on the first Wednesday of every month, 11am-1pm. Neighbors are encouraged to sample the delicious dishes and discuss preparation and ingredients with our staff, volunteers, and resident La Soupe instructor Chef Mona!
The next event is today (Wednesday, 6/1). 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. There are eligibility stipulations. Tenants must qualify by completing an online application at assistance.mygcww.org .
Renters can also call 513.591.7700 to receive assistance from the call center to complete an application. There is also 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. Renters not residing in Cincinnati city limits but living in Hamilton County can visit https://erap.hcjfs.org/ for utility assistance. If you need additional materials or information, please contact GCWW at GCWWCares@gcww.cincinnati-oh.gov .
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.
Additional info on public assistance resources can be found at energyhelp.ohio.gov
State of Ohio Program for Struggling Homeowners
Save the Dream Ohio helps eligible Ohio homeowners facing foreclosure and/or who cannot afford to pay their mortgage payments, utility payments or other related housing costs as a result of economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The state of Ohio was awarded $280 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for the program. Click here for more information:
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 of the remaining Thursdays in June. 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
Seeking the grace of the Holy Spirit, we pray,
Come, Holy Spirit.
That the winds of Pentecost may move us to deeds of love,
Come, Holy Spirit.
That the fire of Pentecost may breathe new hope into the hopeless,
Come, Holy Spirit.
That we may lead the poor to find their way to God,
Come, Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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