A Publication of Mercy Housing and Shelter

Fall 2015

Dear Friends,

The past six months as Executive Director have just flown by. I want to thank Mercy’s amazing staff, dedicated Board of Trustees, and YOU for all that you have done and continue to do in support of the fight to end homelessness. I truly appreciate the uplifting notes and messages that I have received in support of Mercy.

Last fiscal year our programs helped 4,789 people with basic needs, nutritious meals, case management and housing. During that time we also served more than 126,000 meals in all of our programs and helped 144 individuals and families find permanent housing. We didn’t do this alone. YOU helped make this happen.

Even though I have worked for Mercy Housing and Shelter for more than 14 years, I continue to learn many things about the organization and the people we serve. I’m also learning about the costs associated with running our programs and the way our staff help people in need, with minimal resources.

During the first quarter of our fiscal year, we have experienced a shortfall in donations amounting to more than $40,000. This is a considerable amount of money and we are reducing our costs where we can. We need YOUR help to tell people about Mercy and talk to them about homelessness. We need people to know that we have a solution to end homelessness, we just need the resources to do it. We know, that if we can provide intensive case management to individuals in a supportive housing environment, they will be successful in a their own home.

I realize homelessness is a tough thing to talk about. It’s a very difficult subject to get people to respond to. I was more than inspired when I heard some of the coverage of Pope Francis’s visit to the United States. I couldn’t believe he turned down an offer of lunch with our Congressional leadership so that he could have lunch at a soup kitchen. Truly inspiring. If you were like me, you were drawn to watch some of the coverage on television too.

There were so many powerful things he said about helping the poor, but the one statement he made that really stood out to me was this: “Jesus keeps knocking on our door, the doors of our lives. He doesn’t do this by magic, with special effects, with flashing lights and fireworks. Jesus keeps knocking on our door in the faces of our brothers and sisters, in the faces of our neighbors, in the faces of those at our side.“

the people we are helping - because of your support, are our brothers and sisters, and they are hurting and in need. From the bottom of my heart - thank you for your support and for “answering that door, and being at Mercy’s side”.

David Martineau, Executive Director

Dave Martineau has lunch with a client after a Supportive

Housing Workshop

Supportive Housing Lunch & Learn Workshops Recently Offered

As of September 1, Mercy was

providing services to 172 individuals

and their children in 145 units of

scattered site supportive housing

apartments.

As part of their ongoing supportive services, clients are

required to attend a certain number of workshops

throughout the year. The topics vary and address

employment, health, nutrition, wellness, legal issues

pertaining to long term illness and end of life planning. The

following workshops were presented this summer.

“View and Hear It”

The women in the program viewed an inspirational movie followed

by a presentation by a representative from Hartford Hospital’s

Breast Care Program. They were given information on prevention,

early detection, and nutrition.

“Back on Track”

A representative from The American Job Center discussed how to

utilize resources to obtain employment with an emphasis on

employment after incarceration. Suggestions on resume format

and content were offered as wells as interviewing techniques.

“Life Happens”

This two-part workshop had a psychologist address ways to take

care of one’s mental health and relieve stress. Breathing exercises

and techniques were demonstrated to assist them with managing

stress and anxiety. During the second part of the day a Case

Manager showed a movie called “Somebody’s Child” which

focused on end of life decisions. Following the movie, there was a

presentation on living wills and advance healthcare directives.

Clients learned the importance of having one of the two in place so

that loved ones are not left to have to make this emotional

decision.

“Putting it all Together”

Staff, along with a representative from the Connecticut Fair

Housing Center, discussed the rights of tenants and landlords.

Our staff also reviewed the guidelines for our Supportive Housing

Program, emergency contact information, and the expectation of

clients as well as what they can expect from their Case Manager.

Clients listen to a presenter at a Supportive Housing Workshop.

A New Resolve, With Mercy Edward had jobs over the years, at banks, insurance companies, boards of education, and factories. He moved from one place to another, one job to another. He moved on, but he couldn’t move up, because one challenge continued to hound him no matter where he went: addiction.

Crack cocaine and alcohol had taken him from promising to pitiable. “I was always in the wrong place with the wrong people,” he remembers. “Then one day I said to myself, ‘This has to stop.’ Why? “My grandkids.”

He made the choice to be a role model, rather than a cautionary tale, for his children’s children. He entered a detox ward, then a 28-day program, then a recovery house for three months until room became available for him in a long-term recovery house on Newfield Avenue in Hartford. For more than two years, he stayed there battling back the worst of himself - and calling forth the best. He gave up drinking, he gave up his crack cocaine habit, and he even gave up smoking.

“I previously did only what was required, but I didn’t do the aftercare,” he says. “Now I have new resolve. I go

to AA five times a week, I have a sponsor. I surround myself with people who are good for me. We’re all fighting for the same thing: survival.”

With the help of Luis Amaro at Mercy Housing and Shelter, Edward found an apartment in a thriving section of West Hartford, right across the street from a church that holds AA meetings every night. He has furnished the apartment lovingly, giving over every inch of the wall space in his bedroom to symmetrically arranged framed posters of Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Freddie Jackson, Eminem, Jay Z and Lil Wayne. He has a keyboard now and plays it as often as he can, with the hope that he can return to Manchester Community College and eventually get his degree in music education. He sets his goals, the big and small, and completes them one by one. The biggest goal: staying sober.

“The hardest thing was making up my mind to do it,” he says. “The motivation then, was there.”

Having a safe and welcoming home to do it in was key for him. “Mercy’s help makes me more comfortable with what I’m trying to achieve,” he says. “Everyone there knows how to help. It isn’t hard to find the resources I need anymore because I choose to do it - I have a network of support. And my grandkids - they have never even seen me smoke a cigarette. We take the Fastrak, we go to the movies, we go to Bushnell Park and the carousel, we go to the Connecticut Science Center. Helping them helps me.”

What’s next? “To complete school,” he says. “I’m doing things now to grow my world, to open it up. I’m putting my ideas in motion.” He smiles, a wide, hopeful smile. “I’m grateful to Mercy.”

Edward enjoys playing his

keyboard, he says the music is

therapeutic. His favorite song is

“You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban.

Thank you to Jane Gordon Julien, an award-winning writer, storyteller and

speechwriter. Moved by the work of Mercy Housing and Shelter, Jane offered

to use her gift of storytelling to interview our client.

Since 2005, The Muslim Coalition of Connecticut has volunteered at Mercy’s St. Elizabeth House preparing and serving lunch for the residents and clients of The Friendship Center’s Soup Kitchen. Mrs. Aida Mansoor, President of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, explained their desire to volunteer, “when our community was founded, we wanted to encourage our community to serve the greater community.” “Our mission is to promote shared values of mutual respect, mutual admiration and social responsibility though educational and outreach activities.” Their outreach activities include their service with Mercy, as well as other nonprofit organizations. Their Muslim Faith calls upon them to give back. They are taught that nothing is ours, it is only held by us in trust.

Once a month, a different group comes to volunteer and some members even help every month. For many of them they are surprised by the amount of poverty they see in Hartford. Mrs. Mansoor recalled a time when she was able to put a face to homelessness; “one day a man came into the Resident’s Dining Room to eat lunch. I realized it was someone that I knew. He recognized me and we said hello to one another. I never realized he was homeless, he never gave any indication that he was. I realized then that homelessness doesn’t look any particular way.”

In the ten years the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut has been volunteering at St. Elizabeth House, it is estimated they have served more than 15,000 meals. In addition to preparing and serving a meal each month, they also make several in-kind donations of toiletries, hats, gloves, coats, and bath towels throughout the year.

“ Homelessness doesn’t look any particular way”

Building Bridges in Communities

Member of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut hand out socks, hats, gloves and

sweatshirts last winter.

Members of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut serve lunch in The

Friendship Center.

Scout Chooses Mercy for Project

A year ago Sam Spak, a Junior at Northwest Catholic High School,

approached Mercy and agreed to replace the exterior security fencing at

Mercy House, one of our residential living programs for his Eagle Scout

Project. The chain-link fence was more than fifty years old and covered

in overgrowth. Other sections were rusted and broken. Sam created the

plan, obtained quotes and all the necessary permits. His goal was BIG; to

raise $6,000 to replace the fencing around Mercy House. He spent the

winter writing letters to family and friends near and far. By spring he had

raised $10,667 in donations from more than 120 people! He far

surpassed his goal, donating the remaining balance to Mercy Housing

and Shelter. Sam did something we strive to do every day - he raised

awareness about homelessness and introduced Mercy to more than one

hundred new people! Congratulations!

Pictured above: Sam Spak stands behind the new fence and gate he

installed as part of his Eagle Scout Project. With him are Mary

Harrison, Mercy House Case Manager and Dave Martineau, Executive

Director of Mercy Housing and Shelter.

For Information about Mercy Contact the Development Office at:

(860) 808-2036 or visit: www.mercyhousingct.org

If you would like to receive this newsletter electronically, please email us at:

vvendrillo@mercyhousingct.org

Board of Trustees Dennis Gilligan, Chair

Brian Rich, Vice Chair

Thomas Daily

Melissa Gran

Denise Hallisey

Eric Hanly

Sister Mary Etta Higgins

Claudette Labbe

Ira Mozille

Suzanne Nolan

Robyn Peters

Shyamala Raman

Luana Ribeiro

Kellyanna Thompson

Sarah Treese

Cathleen Voelker

Dave Martineau, Executive Director

You can turn your unwanted vehicle into a tax deductible contribution to Mercy. You can donate your vehicle online at www.donationline.com or call 1-877-227-7487. They also provide free towing.

Donate furniture, housewares and more in the name of Mercy Housing and Shelter. Contact Helping Hands Community Thrift Store at 203-782-4800 for furniture pick up in the greater Hartford area.

Ways to Give and Get Involved

We’re Social! Follow Us!

Consider creating a Christmas

giving tree in the lobby of your

organization or business. Write

the name of the item on a gift

tag or paper wreath cutout and

hang on your tree for all to

select. Here are a few ideas

Our Clients Are Always In Need Of:

Your Generous Gift….

$50 gift would provide 12 nutritious meals to feed hungry individuals and families in The Friendship Center.

$100 gift would provide a safe home for a day in our AIDS residence.

$500 gift would keep our Jumpstart to Jobs program open for two days.

$1,000 gift would provide an adult with severe mental health disabilities twenty-four hour care and housing for seven days.

Socks Hats & Gloves Bus Passes Laundry Detergent Soap & Shampoo

Disposable Razors Toothpaste & brushes Deodorant New Full/Twin Sheets New Pillows

New Twin/Full Blankets New Bath Towels Pocket-sized Calendars New Winter Coats Disposable Razors

New Pots & Pans New Winter Coats New Dishes & Utensils Cleaning Supplies Sweatshirts

Table Lamps Stop & Shop Gift Cards Bed in a Bag Body Lotion Cologne

Movie Tickets Walmart Gift Cards Target Gift Cards

Holiday Gifts Our Clients Would Love:

If you, your church, business or organization is interested in sponsoring an

individual or family to fulfill their holiday wishes, or for more information

on how to help Mercy, please contact our office at (860) 808-2055

Shop from the comfort of your home from our NEW Wish List available at Amazon.com. Visit www.amazon.com and search for: Mercy Housing and Shelter Wish List. Our list of basic need items are on there. You can place an order and have them delivered directly to us!