Land of the Lost Souls

There are many reasons I enjoy working at the Lincoln Park Community Shelter, but I think they all stem from one of our founding philosophies: community. A lot of effort is put into creating community between guests, between guests and staff, between guests and volunteers, between staff and volunteers, and between staff. Sometimes this is facilitated very intentionally, through things such as Community Meetings, where all of the guests come together to talk about the shelter and what things they can do or change to help each other through this transitional time in their lives. Other times this is done more organically, through the informal conversations between people in the kitchen or community room throughout the day.

One of the intentional ways in which the staff not only works to build community with themselves, but also works to better their understandings of the guests and their varied situations, is through our staff Book Club. Beginning this year, we have read books focused on alcoholism, suicide, and homelessness.

The last book we read was Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets, by Cadillac Man, which chronicles some of his time experiencing homelessness in New York City. The book was interesting in almost an infinite number of ways, but there were some things that stood out most, and were a big part of the discussion we had.

One of the main questions we had was about Cadillac Man's transition from being housed to homeless. He tells readers that before "Cadillac Man" started living on the streets, he lived in a home with his wife and daughter. He had a steady job at a meat market, but when things went under, he was eventually let go. His wife started working, and was supporting them both. He believed that his wife was ashamed of him, and thus, he was ashamed of himself. He acknowledges that he could have gotten a part-time or low paying job, such as working at McDonald’s or Burger King, but that he felt it would have been equally shameful.  Eventually he decided he didn’t deserve to stay, and he left. Since the book is written entirely from his perspective, we all wondered what factors other than shame contributed to his leaving. Was he depressed or experiencing some other type of mental health issue? Did his wife want him to leave, or was that just his interpretation of the situation? It is hard to say what really happened.

We also discussed how intelligent and resourceful Cadillac Man is throughout the book. He talks about the ways he stays warm in the winter (by stuffing newspaper and napkins into his clothing, to create insulation), the various first aid items he has (bandages and antiseptic), and how he earns money (through canning – recycling cans and bottles) and keeps it safe.

A big question we had in relation to our work at LPCS was whether or not Cadillac Man would utilize any of the services we offer. In the book he mentions taking sandwiches from an organization outside of a church, and the importance and rarity of showers, so we think that maybe he would attend our Saturday morning Community Engagement Program (CEP), for a hot breakfast, laundry, and a shower. We do not, however, think he would be interested in moving into LPCS and looking for a stable housing solution. A common theme throughout the book is his belief that he deserves to live on the streets and does not deserve a real home. That belief is one of the reasons why we questioned whether or not he was dealing with a mental illness, such as depression.

Overall, we all really enjoyed the book and the opportunity it gave us to understand another person’s situation. No matter how many people you meet or how many stories you learn, each person’s experience with homelessness is different, and the more you hear, the more you understand that. I would definitely suggest this book for anyone looking to gain more perspectives on homelessness and for a new way to engage with the issue.

If you are interested in seeing what other books are on the staff book club list, check out our Cause Reading List board on Pinterest (Note: you do not have to have a Pinterest account to be able to view).

--Elli Krandel, Volunteer Coordinator

Thank you for Having A Heart, Lincoln Park!

During the month of February, if you had walked down the stretch of Clark Street between Webster and Diversy, you might have noticed bright yellow and pink flyers in the windows of many of the businesses advertising the Have A Heart drive.  If you looked closer, you would have noticed that the Have A Heart drive was for the Lincoln Park Community Shelter.  For the second year, LPCS partnered with merchants along Clark Street to host boxes to collect cereal, coffee, oatmeal, and other non-perishable breakfast items.

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you might be thinking to yourself, "I thought volunteers made breakfast at LPCS," and you would be correct--on some mornings they do.  The opportunity to make breakfast at LPCS is fairly new, so there aren't volunteer groups scheduled every morning, which is where the food drive comes in.  On the mornings that there is no breakfast group, LPCS provides cereal, coffee, oatmeal, and other breakfast items.

The idea for the breakfast food drive stemmed not only from our need for donations, but also from the idea of giving back to the community that has supported us so well for the last 27 years.  Being a community based organization that was founded by a group of concerned neighbors, LPCS likes to give back when it can, in the ways it can.  One of these ways is by encouraging people to shop locally since it has been shown to help with economic sustainability. 

Thank you to all of the individuals who donated to the drive.  While we didn't collect as much as we had hoped, we are grateful for everything that we did collect.  Thank you to Abeille Beauty, AKIRA, BankFinancial, Cycle Smithy, Floyd's Barbershop, Frankie's on the Park, Holtzmann's, Lincoln Park Market, Nest Furniture, New Balance Chicago, Panache, See Eyewear, Siena by Maria, and Spex for participating in this year's drive.  A special thank you to Big Apple Finer Foods who made the generous offer to donate any additional needed items after the drive was over.

We look forward to partnering with the community for the Third Annual Have A Heart drive again next year!

Happy Anniversary LPCS!

On Sunday, February 12th, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter celebrated its 27th anniversary.  The idea for a neighborhood shelter was first formed when a group of Lincoln Park neighbors got together to discuss a way they could help the homeless in their community.  On a cold February night in 1985, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter opened the doors to its first homeless guests.  With the help of four neighborhood churches, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter was born and we have been serving the greater Chicago area ever since.  The LPCS is not religiously affiliated and continues to be completely privately funded.  Truly a community based organization, the LPCS is volunteer-driven with over 1,500 volunteers helping to serve as meals, providing overnight supervision, delivering programs, and more each year. 

While we wish that there were no need for LPCS to exist anymore, we are grateful for all of the support we have received from the community over the past 27 years.  Without your support we wouldn’t be the successful organization that we are today.  So thanks, and here’s hoping that we won’t have to celebrate another 27 years!

To learn more about the history of LPCS, click here. Read about our 25^th anniversary celebration here. 

Want to learn more about volunteering?  See what opportunities are available here.

Goodbye, Katie!

After two years at LPCS, Katie McNamara is moving on to another organization.  She wanted to take the time to say "Goodbye and thank you LPCS guests, volunteers, and staff!" 

When I was a junior in high school, our Humanities teacher gave us the homework assignment to: Intentionally put yourself in a new and uncomfortable position for a day and report back. My friend and I decided to “be homeless for a day”. We went to the thrift store and bought “homeless looking” clothes, allocated only enough money for the train ride from the suburbs into Chicago, left our wallets at home, perched ourselves in front of the train station at Madison and Canal, and begged for change so that we could get back home at the end of the day and maybe get a bite to eat. Looking back, I realize how ghastly naive this was, but I see what my 16 year old self was trying to accomplish. I was searching for some kind of understanding around what it meant to be homeless; what was the day to day experience of these mysterious folks I saw on the streets of Chicago?; is it easy to be homeless?; is it hard?; what are these people like?; should I feel bad for them?; should I help them?

Now, almost 10 years later, and having worked at the Lincoln Park Community Shelter for two years, these answers are coming into focus. Mostly, the answer is “it depends.” It’s no surprise that this is not something one can discover from a one day high school homework project, in which we received an A for effort and an F at “being homeless.” These days, as a graduate student receiving a Master of Arts in Social Work and taking on the role of Case Manager at LPCS, my “assignments” are more sophisticated, but sometimes still as uncomfortable and new. There are serious emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual challenges that our guests face; however, the most surprising aspect of my time at LPCS was that, despite the heart-wrenching stories that come through the door, it is generally a happy, loose, comfortable place to be. I’ve appreciated that our On Track Program sticks to the philosophy of empowering homeless individuals to make life changes; this fosters an environment where the infamous “burn out” of social service providers is largely avoided. LPCS was also a wonderful place to be because of our volunteers. As Volunteer Coordinator, I would often say that opening up my work email absolutely restored my faith in humanity. It was consistently filled with messages from enthusiastic, creative people asking how they can help out.

My next position will be as a social work intern at the Jesse Brown Veterans Administration Medical Center in their Addiction Treatment Program. It is frightening sometimes to consider the countless new challenges I will face in this and future jobs. However, I am comforted by my firm confidence that there is nowhere else I would have rather begun my career than at LPCS. Thank you LPCS guests, volunteers, and staff for an unforgettable learning experience.

--Katie McNamara, Case Manager and former Volunteer Coordinator

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

Our Community

From Left to Right: Jeff Lawler, Elizabeth Rossdeutscher,
Colette Rodon Hornof, Gil Matar, and Deanne Liaros

A few weeks ago, several members of the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce came to LPCS to make breakfast.  Volunteers arrived around 6:30am to begin cooking.  Scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, oatmeal, fruit salad, and toast were on the menu.  Once the food was cooked and set out, everyone helped themselves to the "incredible breakfast," including the volunteers.  One volunteer commented, "What a terrific experience! Everything came together perfectly, and it was nice to have some time with the guests."  

The group came together with the idea that they would come to make a hot breakfast for LPCS guests, once every three or four months.  By the end of the morning, they had decided to do it every month!

Without such a supportive community, LPCS wouldn't be as successful as it is today!  Breakfast is one of the opportunities that we are always looking for volunteers to help with.  If you are interested in getting a group together, contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Julia, to get on the calendar.  You can reach Julia at 773-549-6111 or lpcsinfo@lpcsonline.org.  

Top 10 LPCS Moments

As our 25th year celebrations wind down, we asked several staff, volunteers, and board members to share their top 10 memories--good and bad--of LPCS.  Here is what current Executive Director Erin Ryan had to say...

Last September, I celebrated a decade at LPCS with a surprise party full of friends, co-workers past and present, and the LPCS Board. This started me reflecting on all I’ve learned and experienced in these 10 years. Boiled down, here are my Top 10 LPCS Moments:

1.      I remember my interview at LPCS in August 1999 for a volunteer coordinator position. It was my first job out of college, and I had just moved to Chicago. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into! When I asked why the position had been open for over a year, I was told, “This is a special place, and we need a special person to fill it.” When I was offered the position and started at LPCS, it became immediately apparent that this IS a special place, and I felt honored to have been welcomed into the LPCS family and determined to make it proud.

2.      One of the best parts of working at LPCS is being able to help someone move into their new apartment. One of the first people I helped move was LaVance. Over his 7 months at LPCS, we had established an easy rapport, and I learned a lot from him about recovery and how hard it is to start over in mid-life, reconciling years of disconnectedness from his family and addiction with this new leaf. As we loaded my car with his few possessions and drove to his new apartment – his first in over a decade – LaVance said, “I never thought that at the age of 50, my best friend would be a 23-year-old white woman.” I was so touched that he thought of me as a friend, and that he had learned as much from me as I had from him. This showed me that despite our differences, we all have something to offer each other, and LPCS had allowed that to happen. LaVance is still one of our greatest success stories, 9 years later!

3.      After two years at LPCS, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in social work to improve my skills and prepare me for other roles at the organization. In school, I took an internship with another agency that served women in recovery. The first day of my internship was Sept. 11, 2001. I was introduced immediately to my first client: a woman who was skeptical, at best, about my ability to understand her situation or help her. As we sat, though, watching the TV in awe at the events unfolding, she said, “for the first time, I feel really connected to something bigger than myself.” Joyce taught me the power of community. Those who are on the margins of society are often disconnected from community, and those of us with it usually take it for granted. I have ALWAYS felt a part of something bigger than myself, and I realized that I could help bring that sense of community to the guests at LPCS, and that would be more powerful than anything.

4.      Advances in technology - when I started, we had one computer and no email or website! We did all our volunteer scheduling via phone trees. Our main office was on the 2^nd floor of the church, and the case management office was in the basement. Every time our social worker Evan got a phone call, we had to walk the cordless phone down 5-something steps! Things are so much more efficient now!

5.      Testifying during Zoning Board of Appeals hearings (to get a special use permit and start our renovation); I have never felt so nervous…the reputation and future of the organization was at stake. I felt very alone at the front of the room, being cross-examined about the need for LPCS programs and hoping desperately to make a case. But as I exited the city council chambers and saw over 400 people standing there in support of LPCS and our mission, my confidence was bolstered and I knew that we would win the permit.

6.      Laughing with staff about strange donations: from wedding dress crinoline to gas masks, we’ve seen it all! We’re so appreciative of all the in-kind support we receive, but some things that are not very practical for use by homeless people slip by from time to time!

7.      Waiting up at St. Pauls with Barb, Evan, or Amy for a notoriously late overnight volunteer. We didn’t need two people to stay, but some of our best conversations about the programs and guests happened in the St. Pauls kitchen at 10:30 pm!

8.      Trying desperately to avoid earning the “marshmallow award” – given to staff when we are “soft” on enforcing the rules, then growing into the realization that being compassionate and responsive to an individual’s needs is not necessarily being “soft,” and that sometimes, being “soft” is the best approach.

9.      Celebrating the open house of our newly renovated facility, then watching it flood two weeks later. In a torrential downpour, we had several inches of water all throughout the facility. However, we also had dozens of guests, staff, and personnel from Lincoln Park Presbyterian and St. Pauls down the street furiously mopping and vacuuming up water to save the floors and furniture. I’ve never seen so many people come together so quickly! One guest remarked, ”I didn’t know we were getting a swimming pool!”

10.  Sitting vigil with Mike, a graduate of LPCS who was in hospice at Lincoln Park Hospital. Mike was estranged from his family, and his LPCS family was all he had at the end. Fellow staff members Betsy, Anna, and I took turns sleeping on the couch and sitting with him, and volunteers and even guests who didn’t know Mike joined the rotation to keep him company until he passed away.

There are plenty of sad/confounding moments as well over the years. But these are the 10 I’ll choose to remember because of their lessons and inspiration. Thank you to everyone who has made the last 10 years fly by as I’ve grown and learned so much about the world and my place in it!

 --Erin Ryan, LPCS Executive Director

Giving back, Getting back

Being in transition has given me the opportunity to explore a variety of venues I never would have experienced. Having been in large nonprofits my entire career, I was pleased to be able to experience a community-based not for profit. Budgets may be smaller but not challenges. I signed up for the Legacy Leadership Institute to mentor not for profits a little over a year ago and luckily was paired with Lincoln Park Community Shelter. After meeting the staff, I immediately knew it would be a pleasure to work with them. The staff have big smiles to match their big hearts as well as a tremendous amount of creative energy-a winning combination which adds to their successful operation of LPCS.

From day one I was completely taken by the sense of community at LPCS. Staff, guests, volunteers and board members are all committed to support and serve. The spirit and atmosphere at LPCS is filled with hope and possibilities, not an easy task in today’s world much less in the world of homelessness. Working with LPCS has changed my own conceptions about homelessness. Walking into the lounge area, I was struck with the notion that I could as well be in a local coffee shop, not a shelter. The time spent working with LPCS has been personally rewarding to me; in the process I have become more aware and understanding of the plight of the homeless and much less judgmental. I look forward to more volunteer opportunities to work with the staff and the LPCS community.

--Teri Somrak, LPCS Legacy Leader Volunteer

The Legacy Leadership Institute program focuses on teaching individuals how to develop much-needed funds for important causes. As a Legacy Leader, volunteers put thier know-how into action after being matched up with a nonprofit organization of their choice.  To learn more about the Legacy Leadership Institute, visit http://www.matherlifeways.com/documents/pdfs/LLI-Ind.pdf

LPCS at night

On Thursday night, September 10th, I did my first overnight volunteer shift at the Lincoln
Park Community Shelter. It was a fascinating experience and I could go on about it for hours.

The dinner prepared by volunteers smelled great. Chili for dinner, with apple crisp for
dessert. The first game of football season was on that night. Watching a great game between the
Steelers and the Titans with about a dozen of the guests was like watching it with anyone
else. We even stayed up a bit past "lights out" in order to see the end of the game. They
thanked me for letting them stay up to watch it, but I told them that it was more fun to
watch a game with company than by myself. It was a good time.

One guest asked if he could stay up a bit later to take his new clothes out of their packaging (removing tags, paper wrapping, etc) because he would need them in the morning. He had purchased the clothes with his first social security check. He had a bunch of stuff; it took him about an hour.

The shelter typically runs at full capacity (35 beds)and currently has 24 male and 11 female
"guests." It is a very clean and professionally run facility. I'm pretty sure that if any of us would meet the guests on the street that we would not be able to identify most of them as homeless. If you want to learn more about LPCS or get on the email list, visit http://www.lpcsonline.org/. It's a great organization.

--Gil Matar, LPCS Board Member

My enlightening experience at LPCS

My perception of the homeless and homeless shelters has changed dramatically since I started volunteering at LPCS in August. It was kind of a revelation to meet such a wide range of people classified as "homeless." There are history buffs, yoga fanatics -- people with whom I can easily relate. Before stepping into LPCS, I thought shelters looked kind of like POW camps, with dark, vast sleeping areas full of creaky twin beds. I'd never heard of extended-stay shelters, in which guests take a wide range of classes to get their lives back on track.

As a front-desk volunteer, there is a lot of sitting around and talking to guests/employees/cooks. For me, it's a nice way to wind down after a day of work. I've made some good friends during my time at LPCS, and I'm hoping to get more involved as long as my schedule allows it.

-- Emile Dawisha

Life as a Case Management Intern

Coming out of college as an undergraduate, I went right into graduate school to get my masters in clinical social work at the University of Chicago. I was placed at the Lincoln Park Community Shelter for my first year field placement, and I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive, clinical learning, eye-opening experience. Although my interest lies in medical social work, I had the great opportunity to work with a diverse range of homeless individuals who all have touched me in some way. I learned from all thirteen guests I personally worked with, and feel that I helped made positive life changes for a group of them. As I am leaving LPCS, I feel confident and assured that I’ve made small to large impacts on some of the guests of LPCS. As an intern I was able to not only use my clinical skills that I was simultaneously learning in class during our meetings, but I learned a lot about outside agencies where our guests receive substance abuse counseling, mental health treatment, job training classes, etc. Overall I’ve loved being an intern at LPCS; the staff, guests, and volunteers all made my experience worthwhile.

--Emily Klauder, LPCS Case Management Intern