Conference News and Notes
for Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Sent to all Vincentians & Staff
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Vincentian Reflection for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Gospel: (Luke 4:14-21) Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Reflection: We would guess that Jesus introduced a long, pregnant pause, before he said what the synagogue people could hardly expect: “Today, this Scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing.” We are still in the time when the scroll has been set aside, when all eyes turn to Jesus, and there is a pregnant pause. Now we - our own lives - fill the meaning of the pregnant pause. We can do so because, like Jesus, in our baptism we also have been anointed with the Spirit. And so, we are called to look for the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed among us. We don’t have to look very far! “Today this passage has been fulfilled” is now true only when we ourselves respond to those around us who need a nourishing, strengthening, joyful word. (Living Liturgy, p.46)
Vincentian Meditation: In light of Vincent’s regular practice of taking the imitation of Jesus Christ as the model of behavior, the saint, in Jesus’ manner, chose the words of this Gospel: “He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,” as the motto of his life and ministry. Jesus modeled doing before teaching. Accordingly, Vincent noted that Jesus first integrated “fully into his life every type of virtue.” That was his preparation, after which our Lord, then went on to teach, by preaching the good news of salvation to poor people, and by passing on to his apostles and disciples what they needed to know to become guides for others. As followers of Vincent, we must imitate Christ the Lord, first…imitate his virtues and then we can go out in service to the poor. (Melito, St. Vincent - Windows on His Vision, p. 45)
How is this Scripture passage from Luke being fulfilled in your life today?
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Formation Opportunities & Events
Prayer Partners
The primary goal of our Society of St. Vincent de Paul is to grow in our own personal holiness. To support and encourage our growth in that area, SVDP has a Prayer Partner Program open to any Vincentians, staff, and volunteers who want to grow in their prayer life and faith with each other.
Prayer partners connect to share prayer requests, pray together, and/or talk about their faith. They will also receive a monthly prayer prompt that can serve as a focus for discussion and prayer that month, if desired. You and your prayer partner decide how often you will connect (we suggest weekly) and in what form (in-person, text, email, phone call, video call, etc). Prayer partners share three months together; the pairings switch every quarter.
Please email Formation@SVDPcincinnati.org by this Friday, 1/21, to sign up for this cycle of prayer partners. Pairings will be sent out next week.
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Calling all Conference Spiritual Advisors
Our first round of Spiritual Advisors gatherings of 2022 is here! This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know your fellow SA’s and share challenges, triumphs, and ideas with each other. There will be a very loose agenda of prayer and reflection, citing of current Spirituality and Formation resources and events, and plenty of time for sharing.
We are once again offering these get-togethers at a variety of times and dates in hopes that you will find one that is convenient for you. All sessions will be held via Zoom for this quarter in order to be as safe as possible. We will meet at the following times:
- Today (Wed, 1/19), noon - 1pm
- Tomorrow (Thurs, 1/20), 5 - 6pm
- Tues, 1/25, 2 - 3pm
- Next Fri, 1/28, 8 - 9am
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Archdiocese of Cincinnati Beacons of Light Initiative
We've rescheduled the meeting of our Conference Presidents, dedicated to Beacons of Light, from Sat morning, 2/12, to Sat morning, 3/19/2022, 9am - noon, site TBD. This is in recognition of the current increase in COVID cases and our strong preference to gather in-person to nurture relationship, especially within families of parishes. More info to come.
We encourage you to stay current on Beacons of Light developments at BeaconsAOC.org . Much opportunity ahead!
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Our Next Resource Spotlight: Resources for Veterans
There are thousands of homeless and struggling Veterans who are our neighbors in Cincinnati.
Meet Chris Macklin, manager of Cincinnati's Easterseals Military & Veteran Services, who will share his own story of returning to civilian life and present the many support programs Easterseals provides to Veterans, followed by Q & A.
Please make plans to join us via Zoom this Mon, 1/24, 10:30-11:30am. Join us via this link:
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Hamilton County Links for COVID Information & Resources
For your ease, we relay the following links, as provided by Hamilton County:
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COVID Vaccine & Booster Available Now in Our Charitable Pharmacy
Our Charitable Pharmacy is now able to provide the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID vaccine - as initial treatment or as a booster - for Ohio residents.
How do you or a neighbor get a vaccine from the Charitable Pharmacy?
- We have both Pfizer and J&J vaccine available at both our NOC & Western Hills locations on a walk-in basis at no charge.
- All Ohio residents are eligible. There is no income requirement or expectation to certify for ongoing services.
- Allow 30-45 minutes to complete paperwork, receive the vaccine, and be monitored by a pharmacist for any rare allergic reactions.
- We will ask to see a photo ID and vaccine card documenting any previous vaccines. If anyone does not have this documentation, we will work with them to find other documentation options.
Our new addition of the Pfizer vaccine is particularly relevant because:
- Anyone 12 years or older may receive the Pfizer vaccine as their primary 2-dose vaccination or as their single-dose booster.
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Pfizer is the only COVID vaccine approved for minors. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to sign a consent form.
- This vaccine may be used as a booster 5 months after completing the initial 2-dose series.
- The CDC has preferentially recommended the Pfizer vaccine as a booster over the J&J vaccine.
The J&J vaccine still has relevant applications:
- Anyone 18 year or older may receive this vaccine as their primary single dose vaccine. This vaccine is ideal for anyone who is required to be vaccinated before returning to work because they can be fully vaccinated in one dose.
Our Charitable Pharmacy staff is available to answer any questions.
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Voice of the Poor Corner
Tomorrow (Thursday, 1/20) Voice of the Poor kicks off its 2022 webinar series with strategies to advocate for our neighbors in poverty. With approx 1,000 Vincentians here in our Cincinnati district, we can make a real difference if we work together. The webinar begins at 3:00pm EST. to join, please Register here .
As the old adage goes, “All politics is local.” Just today our Voice of the Poor members learned that developers are seeking to turn the upper part of the former Macy’s downtown headquarters into 330 apartments, and not a single one of these apartments is considered affordable housing. (Could a single mom with two children earning $17 per hour working full time afford a two-bedroom unit?) The developer is headed to City Hall this week to get a 30-year TIF (funding). Voice of the Poor intends to contact City Council today to ask that some of these new apartments be affordable or refuse this funding. As Vincentians, we believe that funding affordable housing is the best way to move our neighbors out of poverty and into a stable environment.
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Winter Coats Still Available
Neighbors from throughout Hamilton County who have not received a coat from us this season may now come to our Neyer Outreach Center (NOC, 1146 Bank St) and request a coat voucher. Neighbors must bring their photo ID and an ID for all household members who will be receiving a coat (even if they’re not present). Limit of one coat per person.
Alternatively, if a neighbor approaches your Conference with a need for coats, you can email Erin Nowak at enowak@svdpcincinnati.org with the name and DOB for all family members who would like a coat, as well as the address where the voucher should be mailed. This may be the Vincentian’s address, in which case the Vincentian would then give the neighbor the voucher, or the neighbor’s address. Vouchers will expire 30 days after the issue date or on March 1 (whichever comes first). Vouchers can be redeemed for a coat at any of our SVDP thrift stores.
Is your closet full, thanks to a bountiful Christmas? Got a coat that is only warming a hanger these days? Winter Coat Donations are still being accepted through Sun, 1/30. More information about this year’s drive (including responses to some general FAQs) can be found here: SVDPcincinnati.org/coats . Alternatively, please reach out to Renee Berlon at rberlon@SVDPcincinnati.org if your Conference has donated coats to share.
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Our CMS Momentum
We, together, have expanded our count to 34 Conferences who have implemented CMS and are benefitting from its functionality. 2 Conferences have onboarded in January and 5 more are in our active pipeline. If you are not utilizing CMS currently, there is no better time than the present to onboard to CMS. The web-based version of CMS is a significant improvement from the previous desktop version. It is quicker, more reliable, and supports multiple devices. Additionally, you’ll see improved turnaround on financial closing; quicker access to all neighbor data throughout our district; better reporting availability for your Conference meetings; and a secure location for all of your go-forward data for future reference. There is also the capability to load some past neighbor data that you may wish to retain and have available to you. The feedback from Conferences who have onboarded since the arrival of the new version has been overwhelmingly positive. And John Wessel, your Resource Analyst, is here for you throughout.
Bottom-line: this tool helps our Vincentians better engage and lift our neighbors. Make 2022 the year you make this leap forward!
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.
CMS training videos are located on our svdpcincinnati.org website, accessed via the Members tab, or just use this link:
If prompted for a password, use the word “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 extended $53,118 in CAF assistance in October; $64,678 in November; & $53,637 in December for an FY2022 Q1 total of $171,433; our comparable FY2021 Q1 total was $157,616.
Our January activity through Tues morning, 1/18:
- You've submitted 76 fresh applications
- We've approved 94 applications
- We have 27 applications in process toward approval
Our budgetary provisions are $60,000 per month through March. We are able to roll forward underextended provisions to cover a monthly overage. January is shaping up to be a predictably active month. 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.
Margaret Rahn & our wonderful volunteers (now 13) are intently processing and approving applications...and Olivia Scheper is now contributing as well!
Rahe Beds Fund & Program
Neighbors now take their bed vouchers to the Clothing and Home Resource Center in our Liz Carter Center (LCC, 1125 Bank St) to be redeemed. Please make sure your neighbors are aware of this change. We have fully distributed our budgeted number of bed vouchers for the month of January. You can contact Gabby with any questions at rahebedfund@svdpcincinnati.org.
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 Clothing and Home Resource Center 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. Please note that these are available while supplies last, so please wait until you have confirmation from Gabby before telling the neighbor we’ll be able to assist them. If we have cribs or pack ‘n’ plays available, Gabby will make arrangements with either you or the neighbor to pick up the item from our NOC.
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. If you’re a Vincentian with computer knowledge you’d like to share, please reach out to Alec Jewell, Volunteer Manager, at ajewell@svdpcincinnati.org .
City of Cincinnati's Eviction Prevention Initiative (EPI)
We have extended our collaboration on this initiative and we are actively accepting and processing applications for this assistance from eligible City of Cincinnati residents in Conference footprints.
Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF)
Our Social Services team is once again extending assistance with rent and utilities through the TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) program. This program, through at least June 2022, will pay for up to four months' rent for neighbors who meet the following criteria:
- Hamilton County residents
- US citizen or qualified non-citizen
- Has custody of at least one minor child and/or at least six months pregnant
- At risk of homelessness
- Have a household income that is below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (currently $53,000/year for a family of four)
If you are serving a neighbor who meets these criteria, please encourage them to call our Help Line at 513.421.0602 and leave a message that includes their interest in exploring their eligibility for TANF or other centrally-administered assistance and that they were referred by your Conference. If the neighbor has an eviction notice, they should include this fact in their message too. A member of our Social Services team will return their call as soon as possible. Please note that not all eligible neighbors will receive this assistance and manage expectations accordingly.
Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW)
GCWW kicked off a new Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program in December. This program provides funds for GCWW utility assistance for eligible tenants residing in the City of Cincinnati. The funds will pay 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).
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.
At this time, the delinquency/shutoff process will resume on April 1, 2022.
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Apply Today! Tenants residing in the City of Cincinnati can access the ERA Application at assistance.mygcww.org . Renters can also call 513.591.7700 to receive assistance from the call center to complete an application.
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Renters not residing in Cincinnati city limits but living in Hamilton County can visit https://erap.hcjfs.org/ for utility assistance.
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:
- The Winter Reconnect Order went into effect on 10/18 and runs through 4/15/2022
- The HEAP Winter Crisis Program began on 11/1/2021
- Find more info at energyhelp.ohio.gov
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Soaring Winter Utilities Costs - Duke Energy has provided a series of toolkits to help their customers navigate. 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 huge 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 .
Note: The Hamilton County 513 Relief Bus (the Hamilton County Equity and Resources Mobile Tech Bus) will be available to neighbors at 1916 Central Parkway, outside the Ohio Means Jobs office, for these winter months. They are doing vaccinations there on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so these days could be busier. More info available here .
Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation Vision Clinic in our Neyer Outreach Center
The Vision Clinic operates by appointment on certain Thursdays as designated by CEIF. Great news! Our Vision Clinic is open, 8:30am - 3pm, each Thursday this month, including tomorrow...and all 4 Thursdays in February too. 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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Monitoring & Responding to the Current Surge in COVID Cases
Our community and nation are experiencing a strong uptick in COVID cases as the highly-contagious Omicron variant spreads. We are staying current on CDC guidance and taking responsive measures here at our NOC & LCC, while continuing to serve our neighbors. We encourage your Conference and you to determine your own potential adjustments to operational activities as we navigate this together. Evidence supports the value of current COVID vaccination status to mitigate risk.
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Call to Prayer
To the indigent and those who are in despair,
Lord, send us out to bring good news to the poor.
To the abandoned poor of the inner city,
Lord, send us out to bring good news to the poor.
To the captive, blind and oppressed among us,
Lord, send us out to bring good news to the poor.
Amen.
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