Volunteer Spotlight - Abbey Baus

For the month of July, we are celebrating a volunteer that has had a huge impact on our Guests’ overall health and wellbeing, particularly throughout our recent Get Healthy! Challenge. Abbey Baus led more health and wellness classes than any other LPCS volunteer, and she did all of this while continuing her regular Daily Living Skills classes!

Several Guests have noted that Abbey’s classes are always exciting, and most importantly they are very informative. Guests are able to take away real, tactful information to be used in the immediate future regarding their health.

Abbey has also demonstrated a keen interest in the Guests’ health and support. I had the privilege of meeting one on one with Abbey on occasion to talk about some more unique ways she could get involved and also some ways that our Guests might benefit from her insight. She was always careful to teach classes that were necessary, and to bring information that our Guests could learn a lot from and continue to use even outside of LPCS.

LPCS is very excited for Abbey, who will be ending her volunteer time (for now) with LPCS so that she can pursue her dream in Atlanta of becoming a Physician Assistant. Abbey speaks about hoping to return to Chicago after her program to do Primary Care in shelters around the city. We feel very grateful for being a part of Abbey’s journey.

“I volunteer to spend time and learn from the incredibly motivated and wonderful Guests of LPCS. I love being part of great conversation and creating an inclusive, happy, and upbeat environment.” – Abbey Baus

Lemonade Stand with a Purpose

This week seems to be a whirlwind of meetings, interviews, and presentations about the Lincoln Park Community Shelter to different groups and students. I did set myself up for this, with an ambitious goal of presenting 10 times in the month of June. Part of it was because I really want the community to know all about the great work we are doing, and another part was because our Fiscal Year ends on July 1^st and, since surpassing my presentation goals a few months back, I really wanted to have some ridiculous number to reach as a final hurrah. 

As I prepare for these presentations, I try to find new and interesting visual aids. Sometimes I use movies or I tell a unique story about a Graduate that is really accomplishing something extraordinary (such as Albert and his win by having such a drastic improvement in his health during our Get Healthy Challenge!). I was going through some past photos and I came across this one that is almost a year old:

This is the photograph that was taken when a little girl decided, completely on her own accord, to start a lemonade stand. After learning about LPCS through a school group that volunteered, she decided that she would like to find a way to give back. While most kids are using their allowances on video games or cd players (I may be aging myself…), Madeline did something unique. She worked for this money, and then she gave it to people in need. 

That was such a wonderful moment for me as a contributor to LPCS. At such a young age, this little girl has recognized that you have to work hard to earn money. Sometimes it means going to a regular job you don’t love, and other times it means standing on the street with a glass of cold lemonade and selling this to nearby customers. 

I also was able to take a moment this morning to  reflect upon the importance of going out to the community and sharing about LPCS. If I go to ten places in a month, and speak to 20 people at each place, I will have reached over 200 people. If in those 200 people, even one person is inspired to help out an organization, such as LPCS, then I will have done something worthwhile.

Madeline is an inspiring girl and I look forward to all of the great things she will do as she grows up!  

What are some creative ways, such as a lemonade stand, that you can think of to raise money for a cause or give back to the community? Please share here!

By: Meghan Freebeck, Community Relations Manager

Get Healthy! Challenge results

Congratulations to our Winners!

For the last 61 days, LPCS has been undergoing a Get Healthy! Challenge in an effort to improve the health of staff, Guests, and Graduates. We had daily walking groups, yoga and tae kwon do classes, breathing exercises, stress relief, healthier meals (provided by our great volunteers!), and numerous health classes offered on and off site. The results of the challenge were wonderful!

Every single person remained at a stable weight or lost weight, often depending upon their goals. The Guests all noted an improvement in their daily health, but most importantly, they were thrilled with the new activities and variety of meals during the challenge.We even finished the challenge by completing the Run Home Chicago 5K together.

Thank you to all of our volunteers that helped us make this possible! We have a lot of new habits and we are excited about remaining a healthier organization!

Here are the Guest and Graduate winners -

Graduate Winner:

Albert L – Albert had achievements in both weight loss and exercise. He participated in healthy activities, joined us at Run Home Chicago, and noted healthier eating habits as well.

Guest Attendance Prize:

Deb W – Deb attended many of the walking clubs, participated in the health classes and fitness classes at LPCS, and also walked at Run Home Chicago.

Guest Achievement Prize:

Jackie T – Jackie was always encouraging of other Guests to join in the walking groups, had a great attitude at each activity, and was perseverant throughout the entire challenge.

Guest Numbers Prize:

Steve G – Steve had the greatest improvement with overall weight, BMI, and body fat.

Volunteer Spotlight - Curtis Ksenak

Our June Volunteer Spotlight, Curtis Ksenak, jumped into the LPCS team like a kid into a swimming pool on the first day of summer! Originally introduced to us through our Board President, Gil Matar, as a new member of the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, Curtis was interested in using his skills to help LPCS. 

Curtis currently works with Responsive Network Solutions, a tech support company that helps small to mid-sized businesses with their computer and tech needs. From the moment we were put in contact, we put Curtis to work! LPCS is always in need of people to help out with our computers, printers, scanners, and all other tech related items – Curtis was the perfect addition to our Tech Team, the group of people we call upon whenever we have an issue we are unable to solve on our own. As a small staff in a non profit, this support is invaluable!

Since then, Curtis has become a regular sight at LPCS, joining us in the morning before work, staying for entire days, and even coming back on weekends and evenings to help with anything that needs fixing! He will tackle anything from a simple networking error to an entire overhaul of our Server, Curtis is dedicated to finding solutions for LPCS. 

In addition to the Tech Support he offers us on a constant, and last minute, basis, Curtis has also joined our Associate Board. The Associate Board is made up of a group of LPCS supporters and volunteers that works with staff and the Board of Directors to develop and implement plans to make LPCS a stronger and thriving, long-term organization. 

We cherish Curtis and his dedication to LPCS; we greatly appreciate all that he does for us and the time that he provides!

“Having worked for a number of non-profit organizations, I know the budget constraints these type of organizations face on a yearly basis.  As a result, I volunteer for LPCS as a way to reduce the costs associated with the organization’s IT system.  The staff and Guests of the Shelter are absolutely amazing and I know when I walk into the Shelter I will always leave with a huge smile on my face.  If you need a place where you want to volunteer to actually make a difference in people’s lives, the LPCS should be your choice.”-Curtis Ksenac

**If you are interested in learning more about the LPCS Tech Team, please contact Meghan at MFreebeck@lpcsonline.org

Metamorphosis Party 2013 - Transforming Lives

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at Metamorphosis Party 2013! We reached our goal in raising over $100,000 to benefit programs of the Lincoln Park Community Shelter, and even surpassed last year's amount!

Rather than tell you about the event, I thought it would be more fun to just show you! Check out some of these great photographs taken by Tennile Sunday Photography.

LPCS is all set to go!

There were some great prizes to be won throughout the night; some people took home dinners at Geja's Cafe, Cubs tickets, bottles of wine, Graduate Photography, and shopping sprees at the Wheel!

Nancie King Mertz painted a scene from Cafe Brauer live at the event.

Compassion in Action recipient, George Kuhlman

The Jazz Quartess Trio played all night

Maria is all set to start her bidding

This quilt was handcrafted by members of Saint Pauls UCC. Congrats to winners Brent and Ann C.

Let the bidding wars begin!

 You can see many more photos from the event at our facebook page. Thanks again to Tennile for capturing the event. You can order photos from the event at her website as well.

Hope to see everyone again next year!!