Conference News and Notes
for Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Sent to all Vincentians & Staff
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Vincentian Reflection for the Ascension of the Lord
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Gospel: (Luke 24:46-53) Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
Reflection: Sometimes we Christians can get so caught up in the doing that we forget simply taking time to be with our God is as important to our Christian witness as actually doing Christian acts. Taking care with our Sunday worship and even taking time to rest on Sunday can be acts of witnessing to Christ. It’s a challenge to keep some balance in our lives between the demands of our everyday activities and our desire to give God homage and praise. When things get hectic, the first temptation is to skip prayer time because that seems to have the least immediate results for us. Our deadlines and schedules don’t change, but it seems prayer time can be dispensable. In fact, cheating on our prayer time over time can radically affect everything we do. Christian witnessing means God is our focus. (Living Liturgy, p.132)
Vincentian Meditation: If we are to maintain vision in our lives; if we are to be men and women who worship God with our hearts, we must give attention to our prayer. To give attention to prayer means being ready to waste time, so to speak, in prayer. By wasting time in prayer means being ready to sit still in the presence of God, allowing His presence to seep into us and quietly challenge us. It is through prayer that we slowly make Jesus Christ increasingly a point of reference in our lives, for decisions great and small. (McCullen, Deep Down Things, p. 651)
In our Conference, is prayer dispensable or indispensable?
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Your Formation & Training Opportunities
First Friday Fellowship is next Friday, 6/3, @ noon. The topic this month will be Crucial Conversations, how to have the 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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Poverty Simulation is coming up on Sat, 6/11, 9-11am, at our Ozanam Center (in Liz Carter Center, 1125 Bank St): If you, or anyone in your Conference, are interested in participating in this offering and reflecting upon real encountered experiences of our neighbors in need, please register by the end of the day on Monday, 6/6. A minimum number of attendees are required to host the Simulation. For more information, or to register, please use this signup genius link or email Formation@svdpcincinnati.org.
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Looking to volunteer in a different way? The Ozanam Center is hosting more retreats (parish Confirmation, high school, etc) and simulations. We would greatly appreciate any Vincentians interested in volunteering to reach out to us at Formation@svdpcincnnati.org so we may re-develop a list of potential volunteers as the need arises. By volunteering with the Ozanam Center, you help to bring the lived experiences of our neighbors into the work we do to develop a more just world and encounter our Lord in a deeper way.
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Our Council's Formation Committee meets tomorrow (Thurs, 5/26), 10:30-noon, in our Neyer Outreach Center (NOC) Community Room.
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Our 2022 Celebration of Service – Thank You! |
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Special thanks to those who were able to participate in our Celebration of Service event this past Thursday, 5/19, as we celebrated Sherie Marek's and Linda Mueller’s years of support of our organization and of our neighbors in need. Through gifts, sponsorships, and ticket purchases, more than $576,000 was raised in support of our Homelessness Prevention Program! We are humbled by this generous response, which brings relief, care, and hope to our community, allowing families to remain in their homes. Click here to check out photos from the celebration!
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You're Invited!
Wednesday evening, June 15th
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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...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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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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Coming Next Week - 2022 Vincentian Member Survey
As highlighted at our Conference Presidents Meeting, we will be rolling out a member survey so you can share your Vincentian experience and aspirations. Please watch this space for more info, including a link for those who would like to participate on-line via SurveyMonkey (easy for you, easier for us to assimilate your input). We value your perspective and your time, so we will make your participation easy peasy.
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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. Sure sounds like an opportunity to welcome more Hamilton County Catholics to the gift of our Vincentian vocation!
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Beacons of Light will be implemented by our Archdiocese on 7/1, just a little over 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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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.
We are also currently distributing fans on a walk-in basis at our Neyer Outreach Center (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 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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Wishing All a Blessed and Safe Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day is this Monday, May 30. Our prayers are with the heroes who have stood strong for freedom - including religious freedom - and given their life in military service to our country. We remember them and the loved ones who mourn their loss. We also give thanks and extend our deep respect for all who have served to protect the values upon which this nation was founded.
Please be aware of our Council's provisions for this holiday weekend:
- Our Neyer Outreach Center (NOC) & Liz Carter Center (LCC) will be open, operating, and serving our normal hours this Friday & Saturday (5/27 & 28); closed on Sunday (5/29) as normal; closed on Monday (5/30) in observance of the holiday, and re-opening for normal operations on Tuesday morning (5/31)
- Our thrift stores will maintain their normal operating hours throughout the holiday weekend; the lone exception is our Clothing and Household Resource Center (this includes beds pick-up) in our LCC which will be closed on Monday (5/30) to match our NOC & LCC. Special thanks to our Stores team for delivering service & value to our community throughout the weekend.
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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 May activity (through Tues, 5/24):
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You've submitted 127 applications
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We've approved 110 applications; 3 have been declined as ineligible or more appropriately referred
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We currently have 26 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.
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 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
May bed requests have been processed and vouchers have been mailed. June bed requests (up to 6 per Conference) should be sent to Gabby at rahebedfund@svdpcincinnati.org by Mon, 6/6. We will advise if there are additional June Rahe beds available.
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. 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.
The next event is this coming Wednesday, June 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 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
Jesus was taken up in a cloud and reigns as Lord of heaven and earth, promising,
“I am with you always, even to the end of time.”
We ask for balance in our lives between demands of service and prayer,
Jesus may you always be the center of our lives.
We ask for strength to continue as your faithful disciples,
Jesus may you always be the center of our lives.
We ask for the grace “to waste time” in prayer at our Conference meetings,
Jesus may you always be the center of our lives.
Amen.
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