Conference News and Notes
for Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Sent to all Vincentians & Staff
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Vincentian Reflection for Easter
Sunday, April 17, 2022
Gospel: (John 20:1-9) On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put Him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb…When Simon Peter went into the tomb and he saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered His head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that He had to rise from the dead.
Reflection: Even on this day when the gospel announces the risen Lord, we feel the contradictions that the resurrection mystery arouses—seeing and believing on the one hand, misunderstanding and confusion on the other. This mystery defies all human understanding. The Easter stories tells us that the resurrection isn’t something we understand, but believe and live. The challenge really lies in seeing and believing the resurrection comes through our own lives of self-sacrifice that bring new life to others. (Living Liturgy, p.108)
Vincentian Meditation: On Easter Sunday Jesus rose gloriously from the tomb and in doing so He has given us, who believe in Him, an assurance that we, too, will, by His power, rise from the dead. There are people who say that there will be no resurrection, that there is nothing after death. When next you hear this, think of springtime. During the long hard winter, you wonder “Will spring ever come this year?” The ground was frozen hard and there was not a sign of life in the fields or on the trees. But now everything is changing. Flowers are appearing, the wheat is growing in the fields and leaves are beginning to appear on the trees. No human power can keep back springtime. Since the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the first signs of an eternal springtime have begun to appear. Each of us has met Christians who, despite great suffering that cannot be explained, have continued to believe that death is not the end. These people are signs for us that Jesus Christ has really risen. (McCullen, Deep Down Things, p. 220)
Who are the “Easter” people you have known?
How will you share their gift with others?
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Your April Formation Opportunities & Events
Exploring Poverty (Rescheduled)
This workshop deepens our sense of solidarity with those we serve by exploring the perspectives of our neighbors in poverty and the differences between socio-economic classes.
Wednesday, April 20 (as rescheduled), 5:30-8:30pm, Ozanam Center
(in the Liz Carter Center, 1125 Bank Street)
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Call-Taking Workshop: “Seeing the Face of Christ via the Phone”
We will discuss best practices in call-taking, record-keeping, and dealing with crisis situations. Extensive Q&A time is included.
Monday, April 25, 6:00-8:30pm, NOC Community Room
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Home Visit Workshop
A chance to hone your skills, share insights and ask lingering questions about the foundation of our work in the Society.
Saturday, April 30, 9:00am-noon, St. Catharine of Siena
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You are also welcome to email your RSVP to any of these events at [email protected] .
Chris Kelley, our new Formation and Service Learning Director, can be reached at 513.345.1767 or [email protected] .
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Additional Daily Lenten Reflection Content
Holy Week is upon us. You can find our full sequence of daily reflections, including Vincentian Stations of the Cross to complete our Lenten progression, on the Members Support & Forms Page of our SVDP - Cincinnati website at https://www.svdpcincinnati.org/conferences-members/member-support/ . Simply enter the password " member " (without quotation marks), then scroll down to 2022 Lenten Reflections where you can click on any of the 4 series releases. While there, you will also find a deep list of resources that are available with a single click.
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Our Council's Easter Observances
Please note the following special provisions for operations of our Neyer Outreach Center (NOC) and Liz Carter Center (LCC) this week:
- We will be open with our normal accommodations on Holy Thursday
- We will be closed on Good Friday
- Our NOC will be open with normal 8am-noon operations on Holy Saturday
- We will be closed on Easter Sunday (as we are on Sundays year-round)
- We will re-open for normal operations at 8am Monday, April 18
Our network of thrift stores will be closed on Easter Sunday and open on normal schedules on the days surrounding Easter.
Thank you for sharing this information with our neighbors and partners in our community.
We wish you and those you love best a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter celebration of our risen Lord's fulfillment of the promise of eternal life for those who stumble yet continue to seek God our Father.
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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 hopefully you! More info to come
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Archdiocese of Cincinnati Beacons of Light Initiative
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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 on 4/26 is entitled Stewardship as a Way of Life. Future 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.
- Are you building enthusiasm for opportunities in your Family of Parishes?
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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. The program will officially begin on 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
EPI update: We have fully extended our current City of Cincinnati's Eviction Prevention Initiative funding. We are thankful for this productive partnership with our city and we are hopeful that our city's budget will provide for a replenishment of this initiative in the near future. In the meantime, we are not extending EPI assistance.
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
The Spice Tour is here! Brought to you by our St Jude Young Adults Conference.
Herbs and spices will make a huge difference to the food our neighbors will transform into meals to be enjoyed. As the saying goes, "Spice is the variety of life". (That is how it goes, right?) Anyway, please know our neighbors will appreciate any spices you can share.
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 2 stops were @ St Bernard (Spring Grove Village) on 4/3 and Annunciation on this past Sun, 4/10; we thank both of these parishes for an abundant harvest. Next up:
Sun, 4/24 - St Joseph (West End) & Cathedral Basilica of St Peter in Chains
Sun, 5/1 - St Francis Xavier
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.
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Word from Our Thrift Stores:
Springtime 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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Cooking Improv with La Soupe
Our Catino Choice Food Pantry is partnering with La Soupe to present monthly Cooking Improv demonstrations in the Teaching Kitchen at our Neyer Outreach Center. Instructors from La Soupe will teach participants basic cooking principles and how to use what you have to create delicious, nutritious meals. The demonstrations will be on the first Wednesday of every month, 11am-1pm. The demos last 15-20 minutes and will be presented continuously during this time frame. Each demonstration will be limited to seven participants.
The interaction is uplifting and the food is delicious.
Our next event is 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 [email protected] for more information.
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CMS is Your Tool!
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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
- Our St Cecilia Conference implemented on 3/1/2022!
- April is here...and we're eager to help you join in - Who's next?
- CMS will deliver its greatest value to you, your fellow Vincentians, and your neighbors when ALL of our Conferences are on board
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 now!
CMS help sessions are available by appointment. Please contact John Wessel at [email protected] 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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Social Security Offices Again Offering In-Person Services
Our local Social Security offices have reopened and resumed in-person services. Learn more at this blog article from Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi.
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More Resources for our Conferences and Neighbors
Conference Assistance Fund (CAF)
March activity:
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You submitted 178 applications
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We approved 194 applications - which means you engaged and provided CAF lift to 194 neighbor households
- 2 applications were withdrawn; 2 were declined
- This was our most active month in over 1 year
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, 4/12):
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You've submitted 59 applications
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We've approved 55 applications, while 2 have been withdrawn
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We currently have 16 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 for her positive, get 'er done presence. 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] . You may contact Dion directly or you may share his contact information with the neighbor so that they may contact him.
Dion is also eager to connect with our Conferences. 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
All requests submitted by April 5 have been processed. We’re able to accept two additional requests per Conference this month. Please send the additional requests to Gabby at [email protected] .
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 [email protected] 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. 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.
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.
If you need additional materials or information, please contact GCWW at [email protected] .
Note: The previously-announced suspension of delinquency/shutoffs expired as of April 1. 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 and runs through 4/15/2022 - this Friday
- 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 both of the remaining Thursdays in April. 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, in your resurrection, you turned unbelief to belief,
increase our faith.
Lord, in your resurrection, you brought joy to the disciples,
fill us with joy.
Lord, in your resurrection, there is hope for a suffering world,
enliven our hope.
Amen.
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