Ministry Messenger - Nov 2019

Ministry MESSENGER

NOVEMER 2019

Sharing God’s Love by Caring for All People.

Welcome to Ministry Messenger Welcome to the first edition of the Ministry Messenger, a brand new newsletter for all Catholic Charities employees.

Ministry Messenger will be arriving in your inbox on a monthly basis. Our goal is to provide you with a blend of agency-wide news that is important for you to know, as well as give you a peek inside our ministries.

Thanks to Jessica Wingler, Harbor House, for suggesting the name leading up to Agency Day! She earned two raffle tickets for Agency Day 2020!

If you have a question or idea for Ministry Messenger, please email Mary Beth Chambers.

2020 Benefits:

No cost increases, but a change in the process While the cost of carrying insurance will not increase in 2020, there is an important change to the enrollment process which all Catholic Charities employees need to understand.

ANNUAL ENROLLMENT

NOV. 1-14

Our annual enrollment period is Nov. 1-14 and it is an important task not to miss this year, according to Don Herron, director of human resources. That’s because all employees – even those keeping all the same coverages in 2020 – must enroll through an online tool.

“If you don’t enroll through the online tool for your 2020 benefits, you’ll lose what you have as of Dec. 31, 2019; it’s that simple,” Don says, stressing the importance enrolling online.

Don explains that new employees hired since the spring have already been using CoreSource’s new online tool.

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We did it! United Way Goal Met!

December

Last minute donations pushed Catholic Charities over our United Way goal for the campaign, meaning that the organization will be closed the entire day Christmas Eve. Don Herron, director of human resources, happily reports that 79 employees contributed to this year’s campaign, raising a total of $15,937.58. Seven increased their donations in the final days of the campaign to push us over the goal of $15,500.

Catholic Charities will be closed Dec. 24, 25 and 26.

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Freeman leading renewed OVW efforts Jessica Freeman, formerly the coordinator for Rapid Rehousing, is taking on a new assignment as coordinator for our three-year OVW transitional housing grant.

The grant from the federal Department of Justice, Office of Violence against Women, provides transitional housing services and intensive case management for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.

The three-year grant period begins Nov. 1 and allows us to restart our OVW Transitional Housing Ministry after a brief absence.

Ellena Park, currently a shelter support provider at St. Anthony Family Shelter, will become the new Rapid ReHousing coordinator Nov 4. The office for Rapid ReHousing will relocate to SAFS.

#GivingTuesday aims to freshen St. Anthony Family Shelter After opening its doors to some 2,000 families during the past 12 years, St. Anthony Family Shelter is ready for a refresh.

That is why SAFS will be the focus of our #GivingTuesday campaign this year. Through the Fresh Rooms 4 Fresh Starts campaign, our goal is to raise $25,000 to update and refresh the 13 rooms that provide homeless families with privacy and shelter. This year #GivingTuesday is Dec. 3.

Here is what we hope to accomplish in each room as part of the Fresh Rooms 4 Fresh Starts campaign: • New AC/heating units

• Recondition dressers

• Repair and paint walls, ceiling

• Install new closet organizers

• New bed frames, mattresses and bedding

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• New sofas, dining table and chairs • Replace or strip/wax floors

Refresh bathrooms with refurbished vanities, new faucets and mirrors, shower curtains, towel holders and towels

• New televisions and DVD players

WAYS TO PARTICIPATE Here’s how you can support Fresh Rooms 4 Fresh Starts between now and Dec 3.

HOST

Host your own fundraiser on Facebook in support of Catholic Charities and #GivingTuesday. Facebook donations are matched dollar for dollar by Facebook until their match runs out.

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ENGAGE

Engage on our Facebook posts about #GivingTuesday. Like, comment and most importantly, share them with your Facebook friends to spread the word on our campaign.

D ONATE

Consider donating to the campaign yourself. Go to CatholicCharitiesWichita.org and select “Donate.” Choose “#GivingTuesday” from the dropdown.

“It’s not how much we give, but how much LOVE we put into giving.

- Saint Mother Teresa

SEK receives Pritchet Trust Grant Our Neighborhood Financial Stabilization Project will be able to help more people in Crawford and surrounding counties in southeast Kansas thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Pritchett Trust.

The funding is designated to assist families with at least one minor child in the household who are facing a financial crisis. Families have access to financial management curriculum, budgeting materials, referrals and resource navigation to help them stabilize their household while becoming self-sufficient.

The Pritchett Trust Grant will allow Catholic Charities to help families with rent and utility payments in order avoid homelessness or losing a necessary utility service.

Tannehill moves into new role As program director for Our Daily Bread for nearly three years, Matthew Tannehill demonstrated a knack for developing partnerships which helped the ministry keep its shelves stocked while serving more than 10,000 people a year.

Now, he is going to put those skills to work on a broader scale in his new role as director of mission development and strategic initiatives.

Matt will lead efforts in developing new initiatives that advance the mission of Catholic Charities, working with both current staff members and external partners.

His first initiative will be to develop community partnerships that lead to job training and placement for many of the homeless or near homeless clients that we serve. The initiative is funded by an estate gift we received which also provides client assistance for required identifications, work clothing and transportation.

“Our Daily Bread is heavily reliant on partnerships with other organizations, such as parishes, businesses and other non-profits, and it was exciting to work with those groups and see their commitment to serving those experiencing food insecurity,” Matt says. “Now I’m looking forward to finding new partners who can help the broader mission of Catholic Charities and our new initiative on sustainable employment.”

A 2011 graduate of Friends University, Tannehill spent much of his time working for non-profits in Kansas City and Wichita prior to joining Catholic Charities in February 2017.

ODB Saturday Holiday Hours Our Daily Bread Food Pantry will be open: Saturday, Nov. 9

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Saturday, Dec. 14 9 a.m. - noon

rather than the usual fourth Saturday due to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Matt Tannehill says the change in November is also to accommodate area Thanksgiving food distributions that will happen Nov. 23.

Stuff the Box for Harbor House Join area businesses and organizations who are helping Catholic Charities “Stuff the Box” with much needed supplies for the women and children served by Harbor House Domestic Violence Shelter.

Drop off these types of NEW items Nov. 4-15: household products, baby supplies, children and adult clothes, and school supplies.

Boxes are located at several area businesses, to view a wish list or learn more, visit CatholicCharitiesWichita.org.

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Gratitude: A shortcut to a joyful life

By Lisa Butler, LCMFT, LCAC Cana Counseling As a licensed marriage and family therapist, I have often told people that there are no shortcuts in true progress, but I am lifelong learner of new strategies and perspectives.

Fr. Kent Hemberger of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Andover, recently spoke on gratitude as a shortcut to a joyful spiritual life—a simple path to God (10/13/19 podcast available at www.svdpks.org).

And Brene Brown, a well known social researcher, has echoed this notion with her research strongly indicating that gratitude leads to joy whether one is religious or not.

It is not the other way around as she originally hypothesized that people who were already joyful then practiced gratitude.

Gratitude is the path to joy, love, and contentment in this life according to both science and faith.

Here’s to a practice of gratitude and feeling joyful as we celebrate Thanksgiving this month and continue on the path of joy, love, and contentment before us.

Transforming with KLC grant Catholic Charities is one of 33 new organizations from across Kansas to receive a 2020 Leadership Transformation Grant from the Kansas Leadership Center, Wichita.

A grant application was made to KLC as part of our Staff Engagement component of our 2019-2021 strategic plan. In its initial year, our grant provides 40 spots for staff to attend the three KLC offerings of Leadership Edge, Lead for Change and Equip to Lead.

The Leadership Transformation Grant is a three-phase process that helps organizations develop a shared language for problem-solving, greater collaboration skills and the internal capacity to address and intervene in the most daunting adaptive challenges.

Introducing the Faithful Servant Fund “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master’s joy.”

(Matthew 25:21)

Faithful Servant

In Matthew’s gospel we read the parable of talents.

The story of the three servants with whom the master entrusts portions of his wealth. Two of the three servants use their talents to grow the portions that they were given, while the third hid his portions rather than risk losing them.

This parable provides the inspiration for Catholic Charities to formally name a fund to associate with raising unrestricted dollars to support our various ministries. We would like to introduce the Faithful Servant Fund.

Wendy Glick, executive director, says the name and parable on which it is based, reflect the good efforts of those who give of their treasure to Catholic Charities.

“Just as the faithful servant doubled the portions of his master’s wealth that were entrusted to him, the funds donated to Catholic Charities grow when we use them to benefit those in our community who need our help,” Wendy says. “As those dollars help the homeless, the hungry, the lonely and the abused, there is a ripple effect that spreads throughout our community.”

In the coming months, we will begin using the Faithful Servant Fund name in our efforts to raise unrestricted dollars for the organization.

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Remember our veterans Nov. 11 As Americans pause to remember our country’s military veterans Nov. 11, keep in mind that we have a ministry that provides assistance to vulnerable vets throughout south central and southeast Kansas.

The Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) project is designed to assist very low-income veterans and their families who are facing homelessness.

Qualified veterans and their families living in the 25 counties of the Diocese of Wichita receive assistance

2020 Benefits Continued “Overall, those who have already used the online system have reported that it’s easy to use and, much like other online shopping sites, comes complete with a ‘cart’ for you to review your selections before you submit,” Don says. “And, it keeps a running total of how much you will pay out of your paycheck for coverage.”

to obtain and maintain stable housing through case management, life skills training, credit repair, childcare assistance and temporary financial assistance. Here’s a shout out to Eric Arganbright and Diana Brasuell for running our SSFV ministry.

ENROLLMENT QUESTIONS?

CONTACT DON AT EXT. 1251

Don says employees can prepare for their online enrollment by having the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for all of their dependents handy.

Employees wanting to keep all of the same coverages will simply need to review and confirm. Those wishing to make changes will have the opportunity to do so Nov. 1-14.

Important to Note Annual enrollment is Nov. 1-14.

All employees must enroll online for all 2020 benefits.

Beginning in January, the employee-responsibility portion of premium costs will be spread across 24 pay periods rather than 26. Premiums will be collected from the first and second pay periods of a month; if a month has three paychecks, the third one will not have premiums taken out.

CoreSource is becoming Trustmark Health Benefits as of Jan. 1, 2020. Same company, new name.

ADS capital campaign making progess The dream of bringing our Adult Day Services to a single campus that is more welcoming for program participants and more efficient to operate is getting closer to becoming a reality.

The Blessing Families, Enriching Lives capital campaign has reached nearly 75 percent of its fundraising goal thanks to the generosity of individual donors and foundations, says Wendy Glick, executive director.

In mid-October, we received notification from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation that they will grant $750,000 in matching funds to our capital campaign, meaning that new donors giving before April 1, 2020, can essentially double their contribution with the matching funds. In addition, another donor has pledged $850,000 as a capstone gift to push us over the finish line when we get close.

“As we work to secure our financial goal for the campaign, we also are working with architects and designers to develop a more detailed plan and timeline for the actual renovation,” Wendy says. “It is exciting to look at the building in its current condition and envision how it can be transformed to more efficiently serve current and future program participants for years to come.”

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Cheers to a successful Agency Day And to some successful spaghetti towers!

SERVICE ANNIVERSARIES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Congratulations to these employees celebrating service anniversaries this month.

Don’t forget to wish your fellow co-workers a happy birthday this month. if you’re feeling nice, maybe even bring them a cake!

Nov. 1

Terry Holmes, SAFS, 12 years

Nov. 2

Regina Lane, HH, 15 years

Nov. 3

Nov. 2

Tanya Jones, SAFS Joyce Mahoney, Admin

Richard Tracy, Facilities, 14 years

Nov. 4

Lisa Butler, Cana

Nov. 4

Brittany Loomis, Admin, 6 years

Nov. 10

Mikah Kemper, HH

Nov. 6

Jaimie Williams, SAFS, 4 years

Nov. 11

Veverly Baskin, HH KC Wakefield, ADS

Nov. 12

Cole Schnieders, Admin

Nov. 15

Alan Jacobs, SAFS

Nov. 16

Mary Cassity, ADS Lenita Lohman, ADS

Nov. 17

Gary Wilson, Admin

Nov. 18

Elijah Craun, ADS

Nov. 26

Agustina Correa Arce-Cox, Immigration

Nov. 30

Cathie Daley, SAFS

Nov. 20

Casey Brown, SEK, 2 years

Have a PAW-some day!

Joke of the Day A teacher asked her students to use the word “beans” in a sentence. “My father grows beans,” said one girl. “My mother cooks beans,” said a boy.

A third student spoke up, “We are all human beans.”

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