It's Awards Season for LPCS!

Staff and Board members accepting the Emergency Fund Award

It's raining awards at LPCS!  This spring, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter has been honored with not one, but two awards!  On May 3rd we were honored with the Emergency Fund Award, which is bestowed to an organization that improves the lives of people in the community we serve.  A few weeks later on May 18th at the annual symposium hosted by North Park University's Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter was honored with the prestigious Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence! This is a competitive field each year, with previous winners such as The Night Ministry, The Cara Program, and Deborah's Place. The Axelson Award winner was announced at a luncheon honoring the efforts of all of the finalists.  The award was announced via video.  Check it out!

A New Kind of Art Project

Over the month of April, guests of the LPCS and students from the School of the Art Institute worked together to create a collaborative art project.  At the start of the project, no one knew what they were going to create.  The group met once a week for 5 weeks, talking about different ideas and concepts they could work on.  Three different ideas were presented to the guests of the LPCS (not just those in the class), and in the end the group decided the project of choice was to create a new mural for the LPCS dining room.  The next step in the process was to come up with a couple of different design concepts to choose from.  Again, all guests of the LPCS were asked to vote on which concept they liked the best.  "The Sky's the Limit" was the winner!  But this wasn't going to be any ol' mural--it was going to be an interactive mural!  Using a layer of special paint, the group created a magnetic background.  Guests and students then created individual magnetic pieces that can be moved and changed by whoever walks by. 

The guests loved working on the project.  Haley, one of the SAIC students, had this to say: " I am so glad that I was able to have the opportunity to work with my classmates and [the guests of LPCS] to carry out our mural project....It was exciting to see to hear everyone’s ideas each week, and watch them unfold as the mural became realized....I hope that the space remains as dynamic as it was in the beginning, and that people will continue to engage with it and feel the same sense of empowerment as we did."

Thanks to everyone who participated in the project--what a great collaboration!   

Next time you are at LPCS, be sure to stop by and check out the mural, and if you feel inspired, have fun with it!  

The Sky's the Limit completed mural

More photos can be viewed here:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150183308596968.306292.12785941967&l=737c6c5719

Metamorphosis Party a Success!

Thanks to all of the wonderful supporters who came out on Friday night to this year's Metamorphosis Party!  More than 200 party-goers enjoyed festive food and delicious desserts by the Entertaining Company while bidding on great live and silent auction items.  A few bidding wars broke out, but in the end everyone went home happy!  DJ Shaka23 was on hand to spin a mix of songs that entertained the whole crowd.  At the end of the night, more than $92,000 was raised to directly support the programs and guests of the Lincoln Park Community Shelter. 

The goal of the night was not only to raise funds, but also to honor the work of longtime supporters of the organization with the Compassion in Action award.  This year's honorees were the leaders of the four founding congregations of LPCS: Pastor Jeffery Doane from Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, Reverend Tom Henry from St. Pauls UCC, Father Tom Hickey from St. Clement Church, and the Reverend Linda Packard from Church of Our Saviour.  The Compassion in Action Award was established last year to recognize exceptional contributions to LPCS since its founding 26 years ago.

2011 Compassion in Action recipients with LPCS Executive Director. 
From left, Rev. Tom Henry, Rev. Linda Packard, Erin Ryan, Pastor Jeff Doane, and Fr. Tom Hickey