Action Assembly 2010

On Tuesday, June 22, 700 residents of the Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and North Center neighborhoods gathered at Temple Sholom  for the Lakeview Action Coalition’s annual Action Assembly.  There, leaders met onstage with elected-officials to both celebrate the accomplishments of the Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC), as well as to address the critical issues and needs facing community residents. The meeting discussed affordable housing, access to healthcare, homeless youth & police accountability, environmental justice, and the state budget crisis.

The Lincoln Park Community Shelter is an active member of Lakeview Action Coalition.  Program Director Betsy Carlson is involved in the Affordable Housing Task Force, working to preserve and improve existing housing stock (such as the Diplomat Hotel and various Section 8 buildings in the area) as well as ensure that affordable options are included in new housing developments (such as the redevelopment of the Children’s Memorial Hospital site).  Case Manager Murray Manus is active in the Healthcare Task Force, working to improve access to affordable health care in our community. Executive Director Erin Ryan is also involved in the affordable housing work, in addition to service as vice president of LAC’s Board of Directors.  LPCS sees a direct connection between our work with homeless individuals and our advocacy within the broader community for increased access to resources.

At the recent Action Assembly, community leaders received important commitments from the local officials to ameliorate the issues highlighted at the event.  For more information about the event and LAC, click here: http://lakeviewaction.org/2010_action_assembly.htm

Bringing a Community Together

About a year ago, I was approached by a young man, Alek, who wanted to do his Eagle Scout project with the Lincoln Park Community Shelter.  For those of you who aren't familiar with scouting, an Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project is the opportunity for a Scout to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of his community. This is the culmination of the Eagle Scout candidate's leadership training and requires a significant effort. The project must benefit a community organization, but it be solely a fund-raising project. After talking a little bit with Alek, we came up with the idea of creating "move-out kits" for people graduating from our program.  Many of our guests only have their clothes and a few personal possessions when they leave LPCS.  The idea was that these kits would include basic items that everyone needs when first moving into an apartment such as a laundry basket, dish towels, dust pans, etc.  Alek set out to organize the collection of new and gently used household items to create these kits.  He created fliers, posted them around the neighborhood, and organized a collection date.  A few months ago, Alek, his family, and some friends brought in everything that had been collected.  In addition to assembling 20+ "Graduate move-out kits," Alek had collected a large amount of other household goods for LPCS graduates to access. There was so much stuff that the LPCS dining room was full!  Once again, the staff of LPCS were moved by how generous this community is to us and our guests. 

Alek has earned over 50 merit badges including Wilderness Survival, Fire Safety, and First Aid.  In addition to these merits, Alek has also held a number of leadership positions within his Troop.  Alek now joins the ranks of Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford and other prominent individuals who have achieved this prestigious status as young men.  LPCS would like to congratulate Alek on his achievement of scouting's highest rank, Eagle Scout.

Happy AmeriCorps Week 2010!

When I graduated from DePaul University last June 2009 with a degree in Political Science and zero desire to go to law school, I was worried. What to do with the upcoming months of my life as I figured out a plan for my future? I certainly wanted a professional experience, but not SO professional that I would be thrust into a maelstrom of bottom lines, hierarchy and business suits. I wanted to continue my activism and follow the trajectory of non-profit work that I had been on for four years. But not SO activisty that I would be organizing protests, getting arrested and burnt out. I wanted the chance to go to graduate school at some point, but didn’t yet know what I would study. For a die-hard planner, this uncertainty was agonizing!

I came across the AmeriCorps website and was happy to find a position at the Lincoln Park Community Shelter for which I felt I had under my belt the work experience necessary. I was excited for the chance to work in the area of homelessness, a topic I had studied in college, but had little hands on experience. Luckily, this has turned out to be a great fit for me! I am so thankful for a job in which I receive just the right amount of supervision and have constant support from my co-workers. My job responsibilities are appropriate for my skill sets, and the challenges I face day to day are manageable and exciting. There is never a doubt in my mind that I am providing a necessary service to people in need, and that I really am fighting poverty! This immersive experience into a non-profit organization (and such a high level one at that) has helped cement my future plans. I’m thrilled to be starting graduate school at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration in the fall! Thank goodness for the AmeriCorps*VISTA program and the “grace period” it gave me between college and the next step in my professional development. This “grace period” has been more enjoyable and rewarding then I could have hoped.

For more information on AmeriCorps, please visit http://www.americorps.gov/  

--Katie McNamara, LPCS Volunteer Coordinator and AmeriCorps*VISTA

Imaginarium

Tables covered in scraps of cloth, markers and paint is not the first thing I would expect to see at a homeless shelter! Let alone an entire dining area transformed into an art workspace filled with students from an elite art school and guests at the shelter sharing laughter and creativity! For the past 6 weeks, students from the School of Art Institute of Chicago have been collaborating with guests in projects such as: making felt from scratch, creating a 3-D wall puzzle, and a visualization of each individual’s strengths weaving into one another.


If this sounds like something you have to SEE to BELIEVE, then come to the finale exhibit, entitled Imaginarium, on Wednesday, May 5 between 5:30-7:30pm at the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 600 W. Fullerton Pkwy. In the students’ and guests’ own words: “The creative exchange between both guests and students has evolved into a sculptural mural project that literally links together and transverses the varying realms of our collective imagination. Celebrate with us and enjoy a night of fun, food and joyous conversation!”

If you have any questions, please email lpcsinfo@lpcsonline.org or call 773.549.6111 x216. We look forward to seeing you at the Imaginarium!

THANK YOU Volunteers!

Sunday marks the kickoff to National Volunteer Appreciation Week.  LPCS would like to take this time to thank all of the volunteers who make what we do possible.  Our untiring volunteers put in more than 14,000 hours every year making meals, teaching classes, staying overnight, answering phones, stuffing envelopes, and more!  Whether you volunteer at LPCS or elsewhere, LPCS would like to say THANK YOU volunteers!

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

A trip to Springfield

Working in such a hands on environment at the shelter, truly at the grassroots level, is so valuable in terms of understanding the day to day struggles of homelessness. But it’s always important to take a step back and recognize the systemic problems that make homelessness happen. Being in Springfield jolted me back to that reality. It is easy to “blame the victim,” profess that individuals need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. But homelessness, at its core, is a musical chairs dilemma. More people than places to sit. This is something that I tried to get across to people I spoke with at the capitol. When I sat down with my state rep, it was apparent that he actually did understand this, that affordable housing is limited. The problem was that he put the burden on the non-profits themselves to find the resources to create all of the housing necessary. The fact that non-profits might not be in the business of MAKING MONEY hadn’t dawned on him. It is important for groups of people to continue reminding our state representatives and senators that fighting homelessness is a struggle that requires the collaboration of non-profits doing on-the-ground work, individuals being empowered to make positive life decisions, AND the government shaping a just and equitable system via their lawmaking.

Being given the brush off by two of my legislators certainly made it clear to me that they are not worried about the homeless population in terms of their ability to shape the next political election. It’s true, persons without a home are much less likely to register to vote, go door to door for candidates, donate to campaigns, and show up at the polls on election day. That’s why it’s important for those of us who DO engage in such political actions to speak out and be the best voice of homeless individuals that we can possibly be. Helping provide day to day services to people in need is something I take pride in. But remembering that shelter guests are a SYMPTOM of the problem, and not the problem itself, is critical. This trip to Springfield helped encourage me to look to legislators in helping ameliorate some of these struggles, as opposed to putting all of the responsibilities on non-profits and the individuals themselves, which I sometimes do. No matter how impressive this shelter is, and no matter how much good work it does, we can’t forget that the buck stops in capitol buildings.

--Katie McNamara, LPCS Volunteer Coordinator, Americorps*VISTA