Good Neighbors page
Opportunities to show our commitment to community
Brought to you by the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference
|
Good Neighbors pageOpportunities to show our commitment to community Brought to you by the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference |
This
new page, started at the 2004 holiday season, will contain a sampler of ways
to help each other. It will grow faster if YOU send us your candidates for inclusion:
contact us!. Tell us also if you come across
someone who should be honored as a good neighbor, such as the man who goes around
picking up the trash in east Hyde Park, or the lady or kids who clean the snow
way beyond their property line.
Other pages with volunteer and helpfulness suggestions are, Collaborers
in the Community, Community Resources,
Ending
Homelessness, Affordable
Housing inits., Disabilities
Task Force,(hpdisabilities@aol.com),
Green Hyde Park, History
and Preservation, Nonprofit Organizations,
School News and opportunities;
UC Schools Outreach
and University and Community,
Art
News. To Neighborhood
Goals and goal-building. Visit Collaborers
and Friends
of Blackstone pages for numerous volunteer opportunities.
Hyde Park Disabilities Task Force A coalition of the 4th and 5th wards, DARE, HPKCC, HP Chamber of Commerce, Older Women's League, SECC, UC Police. It seeks to make Hyde Park businesses accessible to persons with disabilities and their service animals, to improve our paths of mobility, and improve etiquette including with bicycles and autos towards all with limited ability. A Caring Community. Learn more at the hydepark.org Disabilities page, hpdisabilities@aol.com, or 773 363-4368. |
And support, volunteer to help at the Special Olympics! Games are inter alia at Stagg Field. http://www.soill.org.
Tsunami
and Katrina and Tibet victims aid. You can go to Google- Help is right on the
homepage.
Yes, tsunami villages have not been able to get back to
normal, and Katrina victims still can't pay their way in motels--the FEMA cut
off has been pushed back. Most media websites and the newspapers list the large
and small legitimate collectors of relief aid. Most churches and synagogues,
universities, charitable organizations are, or can point in the right direction.
The major national organizations are the Red Cross (1 800 HELP-NOW, www.redcross.org),
UNICEF (www.UNICEF.org)
and CARE, Intl (www.careusa.org).
Red
Cross and Salvation Army (esp. for goods) will be helping the Gulf Coast and
New Orleans Hurricane Katrina victims. Others: visit AOL or your internet provider's
homepage or NBC5.com etc.
Another link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/philanthropy/red-cross.html.
Special appeals, announcements, seminars. Post to us or give suggestions at hpkcc@aol.com. By dates
4th on 53rd Parade and Party- help needed before, during incl. games, after - Call Ed Fetters at 773 241-6800, Rep. Currie's office 773 667-0550, or 4th Ward office (Ed Keller) at 773 536-8103.
Co-Op members still seek to lessen burden of layoffs
Hyde Park Herald, February 6, 2008
Hyde Park Cooperative Nominating Committee head Jay Mulberry is calling on members to lend a hand to former employees of the Hyde Park Co-Op and is forming a new organization to provide that assistance. "The meaning of 'coop' is not 'grocery store," said Mulberry. "It is cooperation. I see this activity as a continuation of the Hyde Park Co-Op by other means."
Friday, Mulberry will meet with members and former employees of he Hyde Park Co-Op to see how they can help each other and how other scan help them. The event is sponsored by "In It Together," a group organized by a number of Co-Op members concerned about employees. It is co-chaired by Finley Campbell and Jay Mulberry.
A Website has been set up at savethecoop.com/InItTogether. Eventually, it will serve as a means to help the community assist the former employees, and of helping the employees help each other, Mulberry said.
The meeting will be at
7 p.m. Friday at the First Unitarian church, 5650 s. Woodlawn Ave. For information
or to volunteer support, call [773] 288-1242 or email employeehelp@coopmarkets.com.
Ronald McDonald house reopens in splendid, friendly new quarters north of 55th. December 13, 2007, seeks volunteers.
Hyde Park Herald, December 19, 2997. By Georgia Geis
A large crowd braved the brisk wind last Thursday to witness the ribbon cutting at t he new 30,000-square-feet, Victorian-styled Ronald mcDonald House at 5444 S. Drexel Ave. The 22-bedroom house has amenities that would rival any luxury hotel.
Architects George Pappageorge and David Haymes with their colleagues designed the house with an elaborate turret, oversized windows and a wrap-around veranda to fit in with the turn of the century row houses on Drexel Avenue. "We pride ourselves in being a god neighbor," said Doug Porter, Chief Executive Officer of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. "We strive to fit in with a neighborhood."
The house was designed with a "Growing Tree" theme based on the popular children's book and is double the size of the original Ronald McDonald House that opened in Hyde Park in 1986 and that will make the work of volunteers like longtime Hyde Parker Noel Brusman easier.
Brusman has volunteered for the Ronald McDonald House for twelve years and has met countless families dealing with a child's serious illness. Brusman said one man's story stands out. A young man from the east cost whose twins were just born was flown here with his one baby who was born with cancer. The man, whose baby dies without ever seeing his mother, was a resident a the home for ten days. "He said eh felt very supported during this terribly sad time. He has come back to visit," said Brusman. In lieu of sympathy gifts, he asked that his friends make donations to the Ronald McDonald House in Hyde Park, brusman said.
Brusman said this story is typical for those staying at the house and this is why she volunteers eight hours a week, doing everything from admitting new guests to loading the dishwasher. "I have never stopped being touched by it," said Brusman, who stated volunteering after she retired from high school teaching. "My eyes tear up along with theirs."
According to Porter, many Hyde Parkers have been involved with the house, for example one generous Hyde Park resident who wishes to remain anonymous donated a million dollars for the project. Porter said he wants the neighborhood to feel welcome at the house and said there is a conference room for meetings and get-togethers.
"It is a big day, it has been a lot of work," said House Manager Mardelle Grundlach, who started herself as a volunteer 20 years ago. Grundlach said a lot of Hyde Park people volunteer at the house. She said there are many volunteer opportunities and "everyone is welcome." Grundlach said she is especially happy about the private bathrooms, which wil make a big difference for the families.
Besides the private bathrooms the house has age-appropriate play rooms from the toddler room, which can be seen from the kitchen, and a family room to a teen room equipped with video games. The house also boasts a computer room, a state of te h art kitchen with five fully equipped work stations and a chapel that will provide a place for reflection where the families can see the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital through the huge picture window.
Brusman said one thing people could do is make dinner for the families. Many school, church and work groups come in to make dinner for what typically is 25 people. Brusman said working at the house give her a sense of being blessed. "I just say thank you, God. I have five healthy children and 11 healthy grandchildren," said Brusman.
For more information about volunteer opportunities, call Grundlach at 773 324-5437.
Volunteer for the U of C Folk Festival 2nd weekend of February 2009 or one of their other events such as fidler's picnic or shapenote. visit folkfestvolunteers@googlemail.com or call 773 702-9793.
Help on park workdays. From home go to parks main or Burnham (1st Sat ams), Jackson (2nd, 4th Sats 10 am), or Nichols, or Washington, Kenwood May Clean and Green.....
Save the date September 20, Saturday, 9-noon. Beach Sweep and Clean at Jackson Park. Alliance for the Great Lakes. Volunteers and team leaders will be needed. Until registration and details site is up, contact Julia at jkelso@greatlakes.org.
Washington Park Natural Area Workdays. 3rd Saturday of the month from March-October (March 15, April 19, April 26 Arbor Day, May 17, June 11, July 19, August 16, September 20, October 18. May 1 is a big aquatic planting day. 9-noon meet at southeast corner of lagoon near Fountain of Time. (March meet at the fieldhouse). Tools and gloves provided. Steward Madiem at 773 203-3418 or Becky Schillo, Stewardship Coordinator at 312 742-4072. Please call as a head count is needed.
Hyde Park Herald, March 19, 2008. Jackson Park seeks volunteers
Hyde Parkers can welcome spring by volunteering for the first Jackson Park work day of he season form 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The tradition of volunteers work days first started in Jackson Park's Bobolink Meadow and the Wooded Island in 1988.
"These areas need a lot of attention," said Ross Petersen, who has been directing the work days for six years.
Volunteers can expect to do general garden work, removing invasive species such as buckthorn and mulberry bushes, and replanting native vegetation to restore historic nature areas. Petersen said he usually gets about a dozen volunteers to help, six of whom volunteer through the non-profit group Chicago Works [Chicago Cares?]
"We would like to reach out to school, church, community groups to help out on our work days," said Petersen. The volunteer work days are on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month and start at the Darrow Bridge. Tools and refreshments are provided. For more information, call Petersen at 486-0505.
In other news, the Wooded Island working group was given special recognition for their hard work by the Friends fo the Park during the organization's annual luncheon last month.
Nichols Wildflower Meadow- 2nd and 4th Sundays, 4-6 pm.
Burnham Nature Sanctuary n. of 47th by Metra/Lake Shore Drive 1st Saturdays 9:30.
Anyone wishing to participate in the Hyde Park affordable housing collaborative. Coalition for Equitable Community Development, can call George Rumsey, 773 955-4455 or Pat Wilcoxen. Website http://www.iocillinois.org/ There find the CECD webpage.
Find out how to join the Hyde Park Disabilities Task Force and its outreach teams. Disabilities page.
You can host or help with a charity event to aid local hunger programs. Call Hyde Park Union Church at 773 363-6063 or visit http://www.hpuc.org, click Hunger Programs.
La Rabida Children's Hospital, 65th and the Lake, seeks volunteer tutors. The focus is on basic math and reading skills for 4-6 year olds. Commitment of at least one hour a week. Sessions are 4:30-7:30 p,./ Tuesdays and Thursdays. October 2- early May. 773 256-5985.
Going green bike collection for working bikes. Learn about next year's collection at www.workingbikes.org. Chase bank.
Or bring it to Blackstone Bicycle Works, 6100 S. Blackstone. Donated bikes help fund educational programming including the earn-a-bike program, mechanical skill training and entrepreneurial training for area youth .Tuesday through Friday 2-5 pm Saturday 12-5 pm. 773 241-5458. www.experimentalstation.org.
Join the Kiwanis in their projects for children and adults. For more information about Kiwanis projects or to participate contact Jon Will at jnwassoc@sbcglobal.net. Nationally, Kiwanis.org. (More in Community Resources page.) Children are also welcome to participate through the Builders Club and Key Club/
Blue
Gargoyle gives local politicians, business leaders and citizens a chance to
IMMERSE themselves in the realities of poverty at
Hyde Park Union Church. Participants will assume various roles, followed by
discussion. This is expected to recur. Call 773 955-4108.
Become a Voluntee Adult Literacy Tutor. The Blue Gargoy.e provides
fdree literacy educain an GED instruction to anyone seeking to improve skills.
Next training Tuesday June 10, Thursday June 10, Th June 12, Tues. June 17,
TDh June 19. 6-9 pm.At 5638 S. Woodlawn.
VOLUNTEERS ARE ALWAYS NEEDED FOR THE BIG BIKE RIDES OR RUNS/WALKS IN THE AREA. Chicago's Half Marathon, TriMasters Aug. 4 (call 5th Ward Office, 773 324-5555), Boulevard Lakefront Tour Sept. 9...(call Chicagoland Bicycle Federation).
Hanging Baskets in the business districts again are seeking donations. Call South East Chicago Commission at 773 324-6926. Visit our Hanging Baskets page.
The U.S. Army has opened up offices, for example in the General Jones Armory at 5200 S. Cottage Grove Avenue, to help support, inform and serve soldiers deployed from this and like facilities and their families. It's the Family Readiness Group.
"These are young men and women who have left their jobs, in some cases their schools, and their families to serve their country overseas for the next year. Family members are left here trying to cope not only with fear, but sometimes with financial problems, with health problems, with family crisis..." It's staffed entirely with volunteers. Needed: people to talk to the soldiers and family members, help with shopping trips,...
Karen Hunt, 708-753-1803 or ispy78@aol.com
A resident, Yvette Anderson, is seeking to form a cancer survivors group and to crate an outreach center. Anyone able to help, contact Anderson at msydanderson@yahoo.com, PO Box 53-163 Chicago, IL 60653.
Volunteer at The Hyde Park Art Center's 24-hour celebration! of its first year since the opening of its own facility. Fri. April 26 8 pm-27 5 pm: Creative Move THREE.
The Hyde Park Art Center is celebrating their second year in a brand-new
facility with *Creative Move TOO,* 24 hours of free hands-on-art-making,
exhibition tours and artist talks, a parade, live music and performances. Last
April, the Hyde Park Art Center welcomed over 7,000 visitors to its grand
opening; this year the Art Center celebrates with another all-day, all-night
celebration of art, community, and creativity.There are a lot of exciting things happening, but we can't do it all without
some help! We are looking for volunteers for a variety of activities
throughout our 24-hour celebration, including greeting visitors, helping
performers set up, assisting our teaching artists, and manning the
membership booth. Volunteers are asked to work a minimum shift of four
hours. You'll get a free Hyde Park Art Center t-shirt and we'll keep you
going with free snacks during your shift.
If you'd like to be a part of *Creative Move TOO,* or if you'd like for more
information, please contact Colleen Coyne at 773-324-5520 or email
ccoyne@hydeparkart.org.
Blackstone Bicycle Works and the rebuilt Experimental Station seek volunteers.
6100 S. Blackstone. Connie Spreen is one of the officers. 773 241-5458.
These cross boundaries as they engage youth, teaching real skills and responsibility alongside academic engagement (to aim toward college and business), serving as safe haven, and giving hope and sense of achievement. It currently has 24 regular enrollees and several taking"just in time learning."
The Experimental Station is like a commune for incubator and successful businesses, arts, environmental (especially) , and education programs. Heavily engaged are the University of Chicago Service Center, Civic Knowledge, summer Links, BSD and more.and the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. Volunteers welcome!April 4 2008 Experimental Station holds a benefit program 5-8 pm at 61st and Blackstone to prepare as one of 3 gardens to nourish the South Side food desert with fresh food and a sense of community. In addition to the garden at 61st and Blackstone, it also sponsors the Woodlawn Buying Club, a wood-fired oven and the Urban Farm Project. They began planning a farmer's market in 2007. Featured in the market will be fruits vegetable, dairy, organically raise meats, and some non edible handmade wares- Sat mornings 9-1 May 17-Oct. 25 61st and Dorchester. Hope is to include live music, cooking workshops, nutritional information. Food stamps, WIC, Farmers Market Senior Nutrition Program will be able to purchase through Electronic Benefits Transfer. There is a large contingent of volunteers who are learning these businesses. Founding members are sought at the benefit that wil feature emcee Theaster Gates (artist and staff UC Civic Knowledge and Sustain Partners), music by the Josh Abrams Quartet, hors, bevs, wine tasting's by Damien Casten of Candid Wines, food demos, raffles of regionally grown foods. $20 advance, $25 at door.
Brickyard, connected with ChristWay Chapel at 64th and Woodlawn? is another with a community garden and involved in Sust-partners, Partnership for a Sustainable Chicago.
Maggie LaBarbera wrote in the Oct. 18 Herald, Many thanked to Sophie Johnson for a fine article on the Food Pantry. My 14-year-old daughter read it at breakfast this morning and immediately wanted to see how much allowance she had saved up so she could donate it to this excellent program. I hope and trust many of your readers will have the same reaction. Top
Join the Wright Team, the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. Lead tours, help visitors in Oak Park of at Hyde Park's Robie House. Fall training class forming. wrightplus.org, volunteer@wrightplus.org, 708 848-1976.
Oriental Institute is looking for docent volunteers. Lots of perks. Contact the Volunteer Office t 773 702-9507, oi-education@uchicago.edu.
Back
Again- Flower Power. SECC
and Chamber of Commerce have contracted with Panoramic Landscaping to install
2 seasonal planting and water and maintain all the baskets on 53rd and 55th.
Cost is $26,000. The University pays half and matches additional dollars. Send
checks to Flower Power at SECC, 152 E. 53rd Street, 60615. 773 324-6926.
$590 all for a pair of baskets. $295 one, $150 plant material pair of baskets,
$50 for one.
Collecting goods, seeking volunteers, holding benefits for the season or victims
Black Star Project seeks mentors for school kids: "One Thousand Mentors, One Hundred Schools." Share your life experiences with kids in Hyde Park and Bronzeville schools, along with student mentors. Shoesmith is one of the schools that has and appreciates the mentors.
The Blue Gargoyle Adult Literacy Program seeks tutors. Next training 5638 S. Woodlawn. 773 955-4108. Blue Gargoyle is again seeking volunteers and tutors--it uses 85 in morning and evening classes and in one-on-one with students. The next training is June 10, 12, 17, 19 6-9 pm at headquarters, 773 955-4108.
The Blue Gargoyle, a key social agency on the South Side based in Hyde Park, in February 2006 launched a 3-year $575,000 fund drive, in light of uncertainties of governmental funding. The near-loss of city funding ($400,000) of the Gargoyle employment agency that serves Oakland-Bronzeville and South Shore and other residents (a stoppage blocked by Ald. Hairston and Preckwinkle and state legislators including Barbara Flynn Currie) was a wake-up call that showed the Gargoyle it needed to go far beyond gala banquets and general and foundation appeals. To be a tutor: volunteer@bluegargoyle.org. To donate: Blue Gargoyle Adult Learning Program attn Marcia Guthridge, 5638 S. Woodlawn, 60636. The Gargoyle, whose annual budget is $2.3 million (90 percent from government) is a critical, special niche part of the South Side safety net (especially with dispersal and changed rules for former CHA residents), providing services that range from employment/employability training to literacy, family training, and a top-rated alternative high school in Bronzeville. Over 12,000 a year are served by 35-year-old Blue Gargoyle, which started as a student and community coffee house in University Church. A peculiar problem for agencies such as the Gargoyle is that a red flag is raised with the government whenever money has to go to "administrative" costs--and these kinds of services cannot be provided right on the cheap. The Gargoyle needs its 53 part and full time staffers. Ald. Hairston
says, "The Blue Gargoyle has always provided a very valuable service.
It is important the community support their work. More about the Gargoyle in News from Collaborers in the Community page. To learn more or make a donation call 773 955-4108 or visit www.bluegargoyle.org. |
Kiwanis collects clothing, toys and food. 773 324-8645.
First Mt. Calvary M Baptist accepts donations for food giveaway M-F 10:30-6:30. 6118 S. Kenwood. 773667-3209.
Hyde Park Seventh Day Adventist Church, 4608 S. Drexel Blvd., needs volunteer help Tuesdays and Thursdays with the soup kitchen. 773 288-0429.
Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Food Pantry. 1169 E. 56th at Hyde Park Union Church needs volunteers to distribute food, fill food bags Friday and Saturday mornings Jan Deckenbach, 773 702-7034.
Streetwise needs volunteers. 1201 W. Lake. 312 829-2526. 312 554-0060 also given.
Help stop litter--and clean street gutters before they flood, and clean snow and ice too!
Residents of condo buildings on Everett Avenue are increasingly frustrated with the problem of litter on the street, curbstrips, sidewalks, and yards. We've had no luck getting the alderman's office or streets and sanitation to help with prevention. We'd like to do whatever we can to raise awareness and let neighbors and visitors know that we care how the area looks. Perhaps something like the following could be posted on your good neighbors page.
Keep Hyde Park Boulevard
and the whole neighborhood beautiful
Residents of Everett Avenue are concerned with a persistent littering problem.
Trash from cars is dropped in the street and along the curbs, and pedestrians
are dropping trash along the curb strips and yards. We appeal to our neighbors
and visitors: please don't litter! Every dropped candy wrapper or stray newspaper
adds up, making the neighborhood look shabby, unwelcoming, and uncared for.
We care, but we have been unable thus far to convince the city to supply and
empty trash bins or post signage. Please help keep the neighborhood clean and
pass the word that littering is unacceptable on this street. If other
neighborhoods have found successful
solutions to this problem, --or anyone else--please post your
ideas here at hpkcc@aol.com.
We will send them to neighbors.
Please support the Blue Gargoyle Service Centers. Programs supported include Adult Learning, Bronzeville Academic, Counseling Program, Family Learning, Youth Tutoring, Employment Training and Readiness.
Help a south side neighbor improve in reading, writing, math or computers:
Become a Volunteer Adult Literacy Tutor.
You can work with a south side neighbor who is striving to improve his or her education. By sharing your skills and enthusiasm for reading, writing, math or computers, yu can help change someone's life. This set of programs teaches those 16 and older. Tutors attend initial comprehensive training workshop then met individually with a student or small groups 2-4 hours a week.
Training- Tues. Jan. 17, Thurs. Jan. 19, Tues. Jan 24, Th. Jan. 26 6-9 pm.
5638 S. Woodlawn. Call Daschell at 773 955-4108.Volunteers needed- Blue Gargoyle Youth Tutoring After School Program
Individual or group, CPS students grades 1-12, math, reading, core courses. M-Th 3-6. Volunteer opportunities for adults 18 and older. One on one, small group. Call 773 955-4108 x301, www.bluegargoyle.org.
Old computers for Schools. Although the city now has several collection points for old computers and other electric devices, an alternative that refurbishes these for schools is Computers for Schools, 3350 N. Kedzie, Dock 2. 773 583-7575. Chicago Theological seminary also has a program.
It's
never too late even though the retailer's programs may have expired! For fall
2006
Help buy 12,000 needy kids their school supplies; CPS' School Supplies Drive
for Homeless Students. Less than $15 at www.kitzforkidz.com
or call 800 974-KITS. You
can also drop off donations at FOX Studios, 205 N. Michigan. Did you know
that homeless students in CPS is up from 3,500 in 2000 to 9,000 today?
There
are many opportunities to give to or receive from needy (especially homeless)
kids school supplies programs. Home Depot and Staples have 2 different programs
that get the kits to the school of your choice. There is also a website....
www.kitzforkidz.com or
800 975-KITS for purchase of kits. CPS Director of External Resources Alyson
Cooke says the priority is the 9,000 homeless students. Prepared school supply
kits are available to purchase, separated into 3 grade levels.. Supplies such
as dictionaries, folders, safety scissors can be dropped at FOX News downtown
also. And your name will be entered in the raffle to win a BB King guitar donated
by his daughter.
Host a foreign student in your home. Here's an appeal, passed on by Dina Weinstein,
with contacts.
Here is information about hosting an international student from Chicago's
Sister City office:
From KARIN TINTA ktinta@cityofchicago.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends of Sister Cities,While attending the annual Sister Cities International Conference in Spokane, Washington, I met with some representatives of AYUSA, a wonderful organization morally supported by Sister Cities International of Washington D.C., who organize international student exchange programs.
I am taking on a volunteer role of Chicago Host Family Coordinator with AYUSA, and I wanted to reach out to you to see if you would like more information on how to host an international student in the near future. Please see the following link and information, and let me know if I can add you to my interest listing for future consideration.
I speak from personal experience, having participated in two study abroad programs in university, that these types of exchanges absolutely change the lives and futures of the students and families involved.
Thank you in advance for your time. Regards,
Karin Tinta
International Program Coordinator
Chicago Sister Cities International Program
Department of Cultural Affairs
78 E. Washington St., 4th Fl.
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312-744-9181
Fax: 312-744-2178
ktinta@cityofchicago.org
www.chicagosistercities.org
___________________________
http://www.ayusa.org/
"AYUSA is a non-profit 501.c.3 educational and cultural exchange organization with headquarters in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, AYUSA has provided opportunities for more than 37,000 students from the U.S. and around the world to live and study through our programs.
"At AYUSA, we believe that the greatest way to learn the true heart and soul of a culture is not through a tour of its monuments, but by opening your heart and home to a young person from a distant land. All across the world, teens yearn for more knowledge of the American way of life, our language and our ideals. When you choose to host an AYUSA international exchange student, prepare to embark upon a unique and exciting journey. Simple day to day activities, family dinners or holiday traditions become brand new experiences with a fresh perspective and new insight. Along with a suitcase and passport, these amazing young people bravely carry their heritage and values across the world with the hope of living, learning, and sharing with an American host family.
"Welcome A New Family Member!"The host family/student bond is the most important part of the AYUSA program. Your exchange son or daughter looks forward to full participation as a member of your family. This includes sharing quality time as well as household chores.
"Your student will strive to create a special friendship with each member of your family. Young children enjoy a patient, playful, big brother or sister. They often learn bits of foreign language ahead of their peers, and develop an early appreciation for cross-cultural friendship.
"Older children and teens often look to this new family member for companionship and shared interests. A trip to the mall or attending a sporting event, becomes a new experience, appreciated through the eyes of an exchange sister or brother. American teens develop a more open-minded perspective, and a greater thirst
for world knowledge -- better preparing them for work in the global marketplace of the future."Adult families without children at home, enjoy filling their nest with the laughter and warmth of a new son or daughter. Students love the undivided attention, and enjoy exchanging ideas and customs with their host mom and dad.
"Hosting Equals Fun & Learning!
"Hosting an AYUSA student is a wonderful learning experience for the whole family. Social studies textbooks come to life as you sample a cake baked the Brazilian way or a dish of Japanese-style rice and vegetables. A simple family discussion about German politics or a fun lesson in Spanish slang, adds color and interest to an ordinary day. Host brothers and sisters often incorporate this new cultural knowledge into school reports, presentations and research projects. Teachers have a special appreciation for these enrichment opportunities provided at home."
There
is always a severe shortage of blood in the Chicago area. Sufferers from Sickle
Cell need continual transfusions and matches are difficult. The University of
Chicago is one accepting donations of blood and platelets. 773 702-6247.
LifeSource needs bone marrow. Could you be a match? find out Sept. 10, 9-1 at
Northern Trust 2nd floor, 7801 S. State. This is the Rhonda Whiteside-McCoy
Bone Marrow Drive. Call Alma Dodd at 773 520-1551. YES, EVEN IF ONLY IN MIDDLE
AGE, MULTIPLE MYELOMA COULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR BACK DETERIORATION, especially
if you are African-American (it's in the top 10 killers of African-Americans).
ORGAN DONATION. The Secretary of State's Office provides a form with Driver license or Illinois ID signup. Note, family consent is no longer required, but should be informed. For information about the program, call toll free 800 210-2106 or visit http://www.LifeGoesOn.com.
Yvette Anderson appealed in the Herald in April 2006 for sponsors for herself and others in the 3 day walk event of 60 miles September 8-10 for the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. www.the3day.org.
Look around- many places are selling holiday cards made by their patients, clients et al. Comer and La Rabida children's hospitals. Ray School. La Rabida sells about $100,000 raising between $5,000 and $7,000!
University of Chicago Hospitals Comer Service
Committee is making dolls used to show children what procedures are
to be done on them. Heather Refetoff is in charge.
You can donate your old computer or cell phone for reuse- Don't dump them, they're toxic and orgs or less affluent or (for the phones) women needing a press-for-emergency-help device. Contact www.carenet.org, phones: Rep. Currie's office, 1301 E. 5rd St., 773 667-0550.
Old
computers are also accepted, refurbished by persons with challenged abilities
who are professionally trained to do this, then sold or given at reduced cost
to individuals or to organizations of limited means. The program is managed
locally through Chicago Theological Seminary. They would appreciate hearing
from you.
Many find great satisfaction in volunteering at our museums, hospitals such as University of Chicago, the Neighborhood Club or the Blue Gargoyle Service Center. Museums with strong volunteer programs include Museum of Science and Industry and the Oriental Institute. Others work with religious organizations or local nonprofits or in schools and parks: Search the pages at the top or Parks home to find contacts.
Volunteer
at the Blue Gargoyle or Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.
The Blue Gargoyle Adult Learning Program seeks volunteer literacy
tutors. Training is on January 18, 19, 25, and 27 2005, 6-9 pm. Daschell Phillips
773 955-4108. Watch for next Gargoyle volunteer training. The
Neighborhood Club is looking for volunteers for the Annual Pancake Breakfast
April 2 and setup April 1.
Volunteer to visit with others, from children to the elderly. One organization is Little Brothers, Friends of the Elderly. Also the Jewish Community Centers.
Visit the Help Line and Community Resources--almost all the organizations and service agencies there could use volunteers.
Do a favor- see that walks are clear-- see what the law really requires and how it also reassures.
Merry Bolt, a member of the Conference, wrote this appeal in the Herald, February 2, 2005:
The recent snow can be trying and to some dangerous. We neighbors can do better. Do your part by making sure the snow you shovel or plow isn't deposited on your neighbor's walkway, driveway or in front of his garage. If you hire someone, make sure he understands that he won't be paid if he deposits snow on a neighbor's property. Churches or temples that plow their parking lots but fail to clear their sidewalks are sending mixed messages to the community.
It would also be great if bus stops, paths leading to bus stops and crosswalks could be cleared early and routinely. Many in our neighborhood, including the elderly, depend on walking or buses for transportation.
You can join and get together a team from such organizations as Chicago Cares (located 300 W. Adams, 312 780-0800) to do work in, among others, our parks (Jackson and Spruce are two that make frequent use of Chicago Cares teams, Nichols sometimes does), schools and schoolyards, elderly housing, and much more.
There are so many ways to be a good neighbor by being green. Only 13% of households participate in the Blue Bag program--can't we boost that a little? Call 311 for information--there are free distribution programs. There is the Hyde Park Garden Fair Committee, leading a pack of greening programs.
In addition to nearly every org. in this page (or our Nonprofits and Community Resources pages), college students can volunteer and learn a lot about this and surrounding communities through the UC Service Center, Center for Urban Schools, Civic Knowledge Project, and
Urban Life CenterOrganizations
such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs seek volunteers.
Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago tutors in Hyde Park (and many
other) schools. To volunteer. 312 727-0637.
Look in Education
Resources-Tutoring--nearly all of the providers listed accept qualified
volunteers.
Pantries.Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council looking for supporters, volunteers as the needy escalate. Did you know": Volunteers count in the quota of food for needy from the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The Council thanks the many who have significantly increased contributions and closed the big deficit at the end of November!! See further on the reorganization now necessary for HP Food Panty.
As reported in the December 15, 2004 Hyde Park Herald, the number of families seeking food assistance jumped 162% from June to September 2004 (122 to 320) putting a great strain on volunteer organizations such as Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council. The Council, made up of 40 congregations and groups, has put out an urgent appeal for help. The Council looks to other organizations to help families get food, particularly the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which since 1979 has grown into a network of over 600 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters--20 in the Hyde Park to Bronzeville neighborhoods. Being a member of GCFD, the HPandKIC pays 7 cents per pound for USDA food. And it gets credits towards food purchases through volunteers it sends--$5 per volunteer hour up to a certain percent. Please note that the Depository does not help the Council raise funds.
Chairman of the Council's Hunger Program is Rev. Susan Johnson, pastor of Hyde Park Union Church. She notes, "Some people have been temporarily displaced since the Chicago Housing Authority resettlement," Johnson said. Also contributing are increased long-term unemployment and the end of the 5-year grace period under the former TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). See details in Ending Homelessness. she sent 3,200 appeal letters in November 2006. Funds also came from the Thanksgiving service at Rockefeller. More appeals are coming in December and January. Donate online at http://www.hpuc.org.
Especially needed are items not covered by food stamps such as soap, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo. Also sought are canned meat or fish, tea , coffee, sugar , cooking oil, and flower. 773 363-6063.
(See the Help Line page for description of the Food Pantry monthly grocery distribution (since 1982), now at Union Church and the Kitchen at St. James.)
Also contributing since 1992 is Council member Church Home at Montgomery Place, 5550 South Shore Drive. Director is Dr. Robert Petite.
90% of proceeds from the Interfaith Service at Rockefeller Nov. 23 went to the under funded Hyde Park pantry. Maybe $10,000.
Other contributors are the schools--Whitney Young student organization Jack and Jill volunteers organize boxes of food at he Hyde Park Food Pantry and read to children. Kenwood students do likewise.
St. Gelasius closing leaves shelters overwhelmed. But still operates in some capacity as St. Gelasius/St. Columbanus- contact Calvert House Catholic Center for information on collections, volunteer help. (Update of Nov. 2005)
Hyde Park Herald, December 22, 2004. By Nykeya Woods
The recent closing of the St. Gelasius Church food pantry in Woodlawn meant that nearby First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, 6400 S. Kimbark Ave., has had to provide hundreds more needy families with food out of its pantry. Rev. Gerald Wise said that due to the increased numbers, First Presbyterian has had to turn away some hungry families. "We can't carry [the load]," Wise said. "[St. Gelasius] had done such good."
Wise worries that his congregation of 189 members cannot handle the new burden. There are people waiting as early as 7 a.m. for the hot meals they serve on Tuesdays. And Thursday's food pantry, which has always begun at 11 a.m., is now running out of items after only one hour, he said.
First Presbyterian's pantry has been handing out 150 bags of groceries a week since St. Gelasius Church moved out of the neighborhood, thereby closing its 6415 S. Woodlawn Ave. food pantry.
"Susan [Johnson of the Interfaith Council] was right on the money," Wise said, referring to the Dec. 15 Herald article on food pantries. "A lot of people are working and aren't making enough money."
Soup kitchens are places hungry people can go for a hot meal and food pantries offer groceries to needy families. The following is a list of neighbor food pantries and soup kitchens.
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Hyde Park Union Church-see Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith-Hyde Park Pantry in Helpline.
United Church of Hyde Park. 1448 E. 53rd St. Breakfast for the Hungry last Saturdays. 773 363-1620.
First Presbyterian Church of Chicago,6400 S. Kimbark Ave., hosts a food pantry every Thursday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and also hosts a soup kitchen [Tuesdays 1 pm]. For more information, contact Kenneth Martinez or Harold Witherspoon at 773 363-0505.
Second Faith Temple COGIC, 424 E. 49th St., hosts a soup kitchen every Friday between 6:30 pm. and 7:30 p.m. For more information contact Robert Robinson, Jr. at 773 625-0799.
Project Care, 710 E. 62nd St. hosts a food pantry every Thursday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.. For more information, contact Janett Nelson at 684 685-9688.
Hyde Park [and] Interfaith,5600 S. Woodlawn Ave., hosts a food pantry once a month on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and also a soup kitchen Monday through Friday [at Kenwood United Church of Christ, 4608 S. Greenwood] beginning at noon. For more information, contact Bob Naftzger at 773 363-6063.
Lutheran Child and Family Services Refugee Settlement, 6127 S. University Ave., hosts a food pantry every Thursday between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. For more information, contact Lonnie Richardson at 773 753-0600.
St. Philip Neri Service Center, 2132 E. 72nd St. hosts a food pantry every Tuesday between 10 a.m. and non. For more information, contact Margaret Williams at 773 363-1700.
Parkway Garden Christian Church, 6600 S. King Dr., hosts a food pantry every 4th Saturday of the month between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. for more information, contract Rev. Edward Morris at 663 667-0770.
St. Phillip Lutheran Church, 6232 S. Eberhart St. hosts a food pantry every Tuesday between 10 a.m. an noon. For more information contact Ella Jefferson at 773 846-0393.
Martin Temple Community, 6930 S. Cottage Grove Ave., hosts a soup kitchen every Monday between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. For more information, contact Betty Davenport at 773 493-8624.
Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, 1238 E. 46th St., host a food pantry Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. For more information, contact Roderick Wilson at 773 548-7500.
St. Elizabeth Church, 50 E. 41st St., hosts a food pantry every 4th Saturday o the month between 10 a.m. an noon. For more information, contact Lanzie Harris at 773 268-1518.
Tabernacle Baptist Food Pantry, 4130 S. Indiana Ave., hosts as food pantry every 3rd Friday of the month between noon and 4 p.m. For more information, contact Minie Bruce at 773 624-6722.
Ebenezer Baptist Church Food Pantry, 4501 S. Vincennes Ave. hosts a food pantry every Tuesday between noon and 2 p.m. For more information, contact Georgia Coleman at 773 373-6144.
Operation Pull Grant Memorial, 4017 S. Drexel Blvd., hosts a food pantry every Friday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and a soup kitchen every Tuesday between 1 p.m.and 3 p.m. For more information, contact Rev. Leroy Sanders at 773 285-5819.
Kenwood United Church of Christ, 4608 S. Greenwood Ave., hosts a soup- kitchen Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between noon and 1 p.m. and a soup kitchen every Tuesday between noon and 1 p.m. For more information, contact Rev. Leroy Sanders at 773 373-2861.
Hyde Park Seventh Day Adventist Soup Kitchen, 4608 S. Drexel Blvd., hosts a soup kitchen every Wednesday, between noon and 1 p.m.. For more information, contact Jewell Lenoir at 773 373-2909.
Hyde Park and Kenwood Food Pantry being reorganized, pressure and demand threaten to overwhelm. October 11 2006 Herald. By Sophie Johnson
Last week's treacherous thunderstorm left..the Hyde Park and Kenwood Community Food Pantry --located in the Hyde Park Union Church, 5600 S. Woodlawn Ave.,--cut off from the power they needed to supply clients with emergency groceries.
Rev. Susan Johnson and other volunteers were in a frenzy to find another area kitchen to relocate to so their USDA frozen meat wouldn't spoil. They were finally able to move their operations to the Bartlett Dining Commons at the University of Chicago for two days until the church had fully regained power.
Unfortunately, power outages are the least of the problems currently facing the Hyde Park and Kenwood hunger programs. Within the last few years, the Interfaith Council-sponsored Community Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen have fallen into dire financial straits. For the first time since the Food Pantry opened in 1981 (with the Soup Kitchen following suit in 1982), the Interfaith Council can no longer afford to fund these programs.
"Our situation is pretty precarious at the moment," said Johnson, who is spearheading a committee to broaden the support base for the hunger programs in the area. Due to an increase in demand and less food available through the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry have hit the bottom of their remaining finances.
These programs would benefit from a change in governance, Johnson thinks. "I want to see them supported by the community," she said. "This is a reasonably affluent, socially- and economically-diverse community that ought to be able to support its more vulnerable residents."
Johnson and the Hyde Park Union Church--where she is the reverend--will be taking over fiscal management of these programs for two years until a new financial base can be built.
Those who are passionate about the hunger programs are committed to their survival. With 500 people--including those with mild to severe physical or mental disabilities, single parents, and residents between jobs--benefiting from the food pantry, and up to 200 people a day receiving noon meals from the soup kitchen six days a week, these are arguably programs Hyde Park and Kenwood cannot afford to lose. At noon on Monday through Saturday, the Kenwood United Church of Christ is filed with volunteers and guests working together to set up, cook, and serve each other with respect. after the preparation is done and the meal is ready, Senior Minister Leroy Sanders gives a spiritual pep talk before guests and volunteers enjoy their lunchtime meal. Johnson argues that this easygoing, quiet group of people is a portrait of the community at its best. We've never shut down, we've never closed early, [and] we've never run out of food," Johnson said. "I'm not going to let this rough period change that."
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Thanks to the many organizations, congregations and businesses that provided the needy with Thanksgiving and will provide at Christmas and the other coming December and January holidays and festivals. Many provide benefits for the givers also. Here is one example of an annual collaboration: Top
St. Martin de Porres and Kiwanis and friends.
This year Kiwanis will adopt families from St. Martin de Porres House of Hope, 6423 s. Woodlawn, for food baskets and clothing on December 18. Helping are Kenwood Academy homerooms, Powells Bookstores, 57th St. Books. 773 324-8645.
Others include First Unitarian, Hyde Park Vineyard, Metropolitan Apostolic, Christ the King Lutheran School, Haymarket House (4910 King), Subway, Harris (bring in new toys through Dec. 18 for Toys for Tots- 773 241-5100), K.A.M Isaiah Israel.
St. Martin de Porres House of Hope takes clothing, food staples, and other need items.
6423 S. Woodlawn. (773) 643-5843
Battered women and children shelter and services incl. job training, child care, tutoring, GED, substance abuse rehab. Volunteers esp for tutoring children, taking them on outings, visiting the women. Food, clothing, and monetary donations welcome (canned and boxed food and baking supplies).Another shelter: First Unitarian Cathedral Shelter Program. 5650 S. Woodlawn. 773 324-4100.
Hyde Park Interfaith Cluster/Transitional Housing Project- inquire for need of volunteers. See contacts in Community Resources. http://oicillinois.org.
Select social service agencies and facilities needing volunteers
All kinds of Walks/runs/bike rides for various causes need participants and volunteers. One is :
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Holds a Lakefront Overnight Walk "Out of the Darkness" July 26-27 2005. www.TheOvernight.org. 888-NIGHT-05, 888 644-4805.
There are many services and institutions in and out of the neighborhood that take in or mentor from tots to seniors, such as Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, including their Friends First program. 1140 W. Jackson, 312 738-6365.
Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline. Contact Elizabeth at 312 252-0520 x 12. Help survivors of assault and abuse. Answer the only 24-hour toll-free citywide hotline in Chicago. Crisis intervention work, referrals. Non-judge mental. Men also needed for outreach side. 50 hours of training, 12 hours a month commitment on hotline.
Chicago Association of Retarded Citizens. 5333 S. Greenwood. 773 241-5700. Currently seeking, inter alia, potential foster parents. (Info meeting April 20).
Chicago Recovery Alliance. Locations throughout city. Dan Bigg 773 471-0999. cra@attglobal.net. www.anypositivechange.org. Syringe exchange, medical care, overdose prog., safe educ., shelter referrals, legal assistance. Full training.
Court Appointed Special Advocates. Darryl Calhoun, 312 433-4928. 1100 S. Hamilton 8 West. Non legal advocate and friend for a child in the court system. Training provided.
Unity Hospice. 439 E. 31st St. Doris Mitchell, 312 949-1188. Support to terminally ill patients and their families, visiting, reading, conversing, sharing meals, light errands, companionship. 8 h0urs training provided.
Sell or give your goods to help: Christian Industrial League, Salvation Army accept goods (the Co-op?).
The Caring Closet, formerly on Harper south of 53rd, has moved to South Shore.
Deja Vu Consignment Boutique.
5212 S. Harper. 773 667-2118. Clothing including business. Replaces The Caring Closet (now in South Shore) selling at low price and almost giveaway for homeless. Tuesdays through Thursdays 4-7 pm, Fridays and Saturdays 10 am-6 pm, Sundays noon to 5 pm. Seeking new or nearly new women's business and parts suits and designer clothing. Appointment req, price will be decided. Consigner gets 40% of profit.Kilimanjaro sells hand-crafted art, clothing, jewelry. Much of the profit goes to One Tree of Black Artists of America, which raises money for homeless and abused children in America and Africa and to teach artistic children about entrepreneurship.
Foster, retarded, senior programs etc.
Chicago Association of Retarded Citizens.
Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. Senior care
Chicago Child Welfare League- see in Help Line.
Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, including Friends First Mentoring Program
The Friends First mentoring program matches adult volunteers with at-risk youth in the community. The volunteer and youth go on outings together to parks, museums, zoos, etc., and the Friends First volunteer serves as a friend and positive role model. Outings are typically on weekends, 3-4 times a month. We take care to set up a good match between the mentor and a specific youth; we provide ongoing support, we help to find fun, free things to do in Chicagoland, and we give tips on building a friendship. Friends First mentors must be at least 21. To learn more about this volunteer opportunity, please go to www.mercyhome.org or call 312-738-7552.Kristin B. Meyer, MSW
Director - Friends First and Volunteer Resources
Mercy Home for Boys and Girls
(312) 738-6365 http://www.mercyhome.orgSeniors Volunteering: Chicago Dept. of Aging's Light Up Chicago One To One. (312) 744-5795
There are so many agencies linking up seniors and youth to help each other. One that is seeking volunteers of all ages and serving clients in Hyde Park is Little Brothers--Friends of the Elderly. 312) 455-1000.
Friends of Battered Women and their Children. 773 274-5232.
Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) and
Rape Victims Advocates 228 S. Wabash, 312 663-6303 and
Family Violence Prevention Fund
Kiwanis nationally and locally is a good organization to give to and volunteer with as its activities are focused and practical but highly various, and include hands on helping while being part of socializing-civic organization.
Hyde Park Kiwanis
(see above on coordination with St. Martin de Porres)
President
Clifford Doyle, vp. Richard Nayer, secretary Gwendolyn Teamer, treasurer Jon
Will.
1509 E. 53rd St., Box 120, Chicago IL 60615, 773 324-8645.
Purpose: To raise money for charitable purposes locally and nationally, including
Christmas gifts for local indigent children, supporting the Neighborhood Club,
supporting a camp for disabled children, research in medicine related to children,
and the 57th Street Children's Book Fair in September. And it fosters sociality
and the business community. Watch for the peanut vendors several times a year.
Looking for young additions!
Late Sept. is peanut day. More info in Collaborers
in the Community.
"We're a group of men and women in Hyde Park who are members of a world-wide service organization founded in 1916. The Hyde Park Club dates from 1921 and is composed of business and professional leaders; it is non-sectarian, apolitical and non-discriminatory. Our cause: to serve kids!"
Activities:
-Support Hyde Park Neighborhood Club
-Cosponsor 4th on 53rd July community parade
-Support the Blue Gargoyle Youth Center's Tutorial Prog dram
-Underwrite the board and room costs of a physically handicapped child at Kiwanis Twin Lakes summer camp
-Cosponsor the 57th Street Children's Book Fair
-Prepare food and gift baskets for needy families during the holiday
-Mentor a family from St. Martin De Porres battered women's center going off welfare
-Sponsor and actively support the Kenwood Academy and King High School Key Clubs
Neighborliness comes in many forms: not parking in handicapped spaces unless you qualify with the sticker, cleaning up after snow or ice, sparing time, or, Dina Weinstein argues, not giving a dime to panhandlers
The 2004 city ordinance on aggressive panhandling provided the following:
Application: Complete ban on panhandling within 10 feet of a bus shelter or bus stop, a public transportation vehicle or facility, any vehicle parked on a public street or alley, a sidewalk cafe or restaurant, a gas station or within 10 feet in any direction of an ATM machine, bank or currency exchange.
Fine: 1st and 2nd within 12 month $50. 3rd within 12 months $100. No jail time.
Police say most violations are with aggression. This means touching, chasing, yelling.
Help for panhandlers doesn't come in a dime
Dina Weinstein, Herald commentary, November 24, 2004
I haven't seen one particular Hyde Park street character in a while. I wonder where he is even though when I see him (and some days our paths cross a few times) I'm filled with a mixture of pity and fear. I feel pity for him because he always looks bloated and raw. Maybe it's the effects of a beating, Maybe it's the effects of alcohol abuse. He walks the streets of Hyde Park, looking behind him, as if being pursued, sometimes changing his course. He is often overdressed for the weather, sometimes with gloves.
I feel fear because there is an air of aggression around him; I don't have a sense of this man's mission. He seems unpredictable. And we often cross paths without another soul around. He never asks for a handout, but it's somehow common knowledge that he doesn't have a home and he lives in the 53rd street Metra station [sic]. My friend offered him food once and he declined it. That friend said he didn't make much sense. His communication was impaired. Perhaps you've seen him too. And you'll let me know if he's OK.
There are a whole cast of street characters on our streets. Many are asking for a handout. Take a walk down Hyde Park's main commercial strip on 53rd street and you'll pass psychotics, junkies, crack heads, alcoholics, panhandlers and drug dealers. Go through Nichols Park, there's an encampment of homeless. The other day, I saw a street character looming behind the utility boxes behind Borders. I think he was urinating. It was not a pleasant site for me or my two small boys.
According to a Chicago Police Department beat cop, people come from all over the city to Hyde Park to panhandle and hustle because people here don't mind giving money. Another cop put it this way: the neighborhood is more liberal than others and people usually are generous.
But police would tell you that as much as those street people seem to be in need, handout s don't help. More often than not, when you give a dollar or some change, you're just enabling an addiction or habit. It may be heartbreaking to stonewall an often blunt, aggressive or pathetic appeal, but Hyde Parkers have got to stop giving money on the street. Police hand out information cards to people who appear to be in need, which are put together by NAMI, the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Chicago. The card offers resources for homeless, substance abusers and crisis/mental health services in Chicago. Officers have told me that moments after they hand out the car they find them discarded on the sidewalk.
But the spirit of giving is sometimes instantaneous. Most people do not think of a panhandler when they are inside their homes. The urge to give often comes up when one is about to pass a panhandler and rummages for change or a bill or two. I would seek out those selling Streetwise, a newspaper dedicated to empowering men and women who are homeless. Streetwise vendors are legitimate; they must display a badge to prove they work for Streetwise. Sixty percent of what you give goes into their pockets. They are in no greater financial condition than a typical panhandler, yet they sought out Streetwise as an alternative.
I asked one vendor why she sells Streetwise. She told me that she does not have any other skills but cannot hold her hand out to beg for money. To donate to Streetwise, call 773 554-0060 or email abarner@streetwise.org.
[Be aware there is a new ordinance regulating panhandling--see Public Safety.]
Brother,could you spare some time?
Dina WeinsteinHerald commentary November 24, 2004
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we've got. Often this time of year, we give to those in need. I urge Hyde Parkers to put their resources into legitimate organizations. Shoppers at the Hyde Park Co-operative stores can easily give $1, $3 or $5 donations while in the check-out line to the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council. This organization operates a food pantry and an open kitchen. The pantry distributes emergency supplies and groceries to residents living between 39th and 60th Streets, and Cottage Grove Avenue to the lake on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers help package, recycle, clean and do clerical work. The kitchen serves hot meals at noon Monday through Friday.
Greater
Chicago Food Depository.
4100 W,
Ann Lurie Pl. 773 247-3663. www.chicagofoodbank.org
A not-for-profit food distribution center trying to end hunger
in the community by distributing donated an purchased food through a network
of 600 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Information on how to start a food
drive is available. Needs volunteers. Has walks yearly.
Seniors Volunteering: Chicago Dept. of Aging's Light Up Chicago One To One. (312) 744-5795
There are so many agencies linking up seniors and youth to help each other. One that is seeking volunteers of all ages and serving clients in Hyde Park is Little Brothers--Friends of the Elderly. 312) 455-1000. More above.
The
Hyde Park Garden Fair Committee
A
programmatic committee of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference
Contact: Sue Purrington, 773 363-4368. President: Lesley Bloch.
www.hydeparkgardenfair.org,
www.hydepark.org, Committees, Garden
Fair.
Purpose: Beautify the community and promote gardening and green space through
volunteers and proceeds of its spring and fall sales at Hyde Park Shopping Center.
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. 18 S. Michigan #806. 312 236-8714.
Real Men Cook/Real Men Charities. Includes Sweet Potato Pound Cake for sale in Jewel and Cubs and a cook book for sale, "Real Men Cook: Rites, Rituals and Recipes for Living" by Kofi Moyo. Activities range from prostrate cancer awareness to annual cookout in the South Side YMCA, building healthier communities physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, connectively. Rael H. Jackson, 773 651-8008 or 773 459-4115.
Salvation Army. 7158 S. Indiana. 773 487-2600, www.salvationarmy.org. An evangelical Christian based movement which works in more than 108 countries around the world. Programs vary from alcohol and drug rehab to youth ministries to continuing education to soup kitchens. Volunteers needed, especially holidays. You can donate on line. Top
Connected with UC Hospitals or not, they are a good place for you to volunteer --and here are a few of their extramural programs:
The Hospitals say: Volunteers are Vital! Do you have friends who enjoy making new friendships, Are they curious about where you work? Why not invite them to become a volunteer! We are looking for friendly, out-going people to become greeters and way-finders at our hospitals. For information, call 773 702-4421 or visit volunteers@uchospitals.edu.
University
of Chicago University Service Center.
Not
just for students or UC related anymore. Volunteer information sessions January
10th and February 7, 6 pm, 5525 s/ Ellis, Ste. 160.
Day of Service in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 10 am -reservations
required.
ucsc@uchicago.edu, 773
753-GIVE.
University of Chicago Service League (now open
to all)- Do many activities and sponsor
many programs throughout the community as well as at the University.
Vitas Healthcare. 1424 E. 53rd st. Bereavement, life-enrichment, patient care provided for terminally ill patients. Volunteers needed. 708- 283-6230.
Unity Hospice. 439 E. 31st St, suite 213. Doris Mitchell or Bryan Hodges, 312 949-1188. Support to terminally ill patients and their families, visiting, reading, conversing, sharing meals, light errands, companionship. 8 hours training provided.
Unity Hospice volunteers make a difference. Bryan Hodges in Hyde Park Herald January 26, 2005
We at Unity Hospice wish to celebrate our Knitting Angels at Breakers program at the Edgewater nursing home located at 5333 N. Sheridan Road in Chicago. The Hospice is located at 439 E. 31st Street, Suite 213, Chicago and provides end of life care for patients with terminal illness.
The seasoned volunteers at this nursing home are heavenly sent. They spend countless hours carefully knitting shawls, booties and scares for our terminally ill patients. Jacques, the activity director, solicits participation through the nursing home's newsletter. These hand crafted wonders are the perfect holiday gifts for terminally ill patients and their families. To earn moe..call Bryan Hodges at 312 949-1188.
Holiday cards by and for kids. There are many such with sales going to charity. University of Chicago Children's Hospital, Ray School and many others make and sell such, usually based on designs by children. Watch here for list in December, 2005. Top
Being a responsible pet owner, many of the items below required by law. Visit also Dog Friendly Area page and Dogs off Wooded Island.
Owner's responsibility when an animal bites:
Call 911 or 311 as appropriate
Top
Volunteer with the committees and programs of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference: (contact us)