Franciscan Ministries' Newsletter - Summer 2018

SUMMER 2018

The Begging Bowl Newsletter

Growing

IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE Did you know that Franciscan Ministries’ Community Garden is one of the largest community, organic gardens in Greater Cincinnati? And it’s continuing to grow with new spaces being added to accommodate the demand!

This is an aerial view of the Community Garden to give you an idea of what the expansion will look like when it’s completed.

Haircuts from the Heart

Tamar's Center

What makes our Community Garden so unique is that over half of our gardeners are Bhutanese and Nepali refugees. This came about shortly after the garden began when the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor opened their property to community gardeners back in 2010. This caught the attention of a neighbor, Sheryl Rajbhandari. Sheryl is the Executive Director of Heartfelt Tidbits, a non-profit that assists immigrant families with assimilation once they arrive in Cincinnati.

When Sheryl would drive by the property with her Bhutanese clients they would often point to the garden and get excited. Before long, working together, we had our first Bhutanese gardeners. Over the next eight years, participation continued to grow, and now, 49 of our 92 plots are cultivated

by Bhutanese and Nepali families. In

Centennial Barn

Tau House

addition to being a place to grow food, it has become a place for families to gather outdoors and socialize.

The garden is so popular, that for several years we’ve had a constant waiting list of Bhutanese families who want to participate but can’t, due to limited space. This season to address the problem, we are adding ten new spaces, with the potential for additional plots in the future.

If you’ve never been to our Community Garden, we invite you to take a look. Heading west on Compton it will be on your right hand side.

You can’t miss it!

Find out more about our Garden community inside…

Community Garden

Our Lady of the Woods

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Talking about the Opioid Crisis and Human Trafficking News coverage about the opioid crisis in Cincinnati is everywhere. But what does it all mean?

To break it down, Franciscan Ministries' staff, including our Executive Director, Elaine Ward, have been reaching out to community groups, talking about the impact the opioid crisis has on human trafficking and the women we serve at Tamar’s Center.

Franciscan Ministries’ staff have been invited to address groups such as the Rotary Club of Northeast Cincinnati, and parishioners at Good Shepherd Church. Elaine was also asked to speak

at a Good Friday event downtown to bring attention to social justice issues in our area. The goal of these events is to educate and draw attention to victims of human sex-trafficking here in our city.

Through our work and advocacy at Tamar’s Center, we assist women who suffer from addiction and are being trafficked for sex.

Most are chronically homeless. In our presentations, we share the reality of how drug addiction drives sex-trafficking and the exploitation of women.

According to the Federal Office for Victims of Crime, human trafficking is considered modern day slavery and sex trafficking is the most common form of human trafficking in the US. Eighty percent of all trafficking involves sexual exploitation and 98 percent of all victims are women and girls. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, human trafficking is only second to drug trafficking as the most profitable criminal industry.

If your group or church community is interested in learning more and would like to request a presentation, call: 513.761.1697 x185 or email Elaine Ward at eward@FranciscanMinistriesInc.org.

Lights!

Camera!

ACTION! In May a TV crew from CET Public Television visited the garden, on the grounds of St. Clare campus, for an upcoming episode of Our Ohio. The segment will focus on our garden and its relationship with the Bhutanese refugee community who make up over 50 percent of our gardener population.

* Valid on weekday business rate bookings through 12/31/18

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Proceeds from rentals support the social service programs of Franciscan Ministries.

The episode, which is scheduled to air September 8th, is part of the LAST new airing of Our Ohio. The show, which has run for 11 seasons, is a regional program that highlights stories about Ohio's places, faces, and culture. It airs Saturdays at 11am on CET Public Television. Says producer Mark Lammers, “I really feel that in the same way that farms and

Here’s a great recipe to impact communities

By Robert A. Hock, Springfield Twp.* People often express feelings that they are powerless in impacting society. A recent observation of a community garden, however, quickly proclaimed the vast impact a local community garden is accomplishing.

The model is simple. Ingredients are one large field, now hosting 85 individual plots, sufficient fencing to keep deer and other poachers out, sunshine, rain and seeds. Combine these ingredients with willing

neighbors who perform the sweat equity to grow vegetables, fruits and flowers, and pay a nominal fee to farm a plot. The fees help in acquiring tools, wheelbarrows, hoses for water, etc.

The garden is at 110 Compton Road in Springfield Township and is supported by the Franciscan Ministries.

The amazing part is in observing those dedicated enough to till and weed and encounter one another, including diverse ethnicities and nationalities —

many who are recent refugees from Bhutan and Nepal. A spirit is evolving that blends the collective labor, sufficient to donate from their harvests, to yield about a thousand pounds of produce to nonprofit organizations.

The produce of vegetables, fruit and flowers is remarkable, but the community spirit of those are who toil and engage one another regularly is the real harvest.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Timman

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 2018, The Enquirer. All rights reserved. *Reproduced with permission from Robert A. Hock, Springfield Twp and The Cincinnati Enquirer.

fields, gardens and greenery continue to help define Ohio as a state, so too do big hearts. Since this is one of our final new episodes of this long-running show, I find it fitting that we’ll be able to see a touch of all of those things in our story of the Franciscan Ministries Community Garden and its refugee gardeners. It’s a story we’re happy to share because it shows people coming together around a connection to the earth.”

The Community Garden means a great deal to those who till its earth, as you can see from the reprint of the letter to the Cincinnati Enquirer by Robert Hock (see article above), the spouse of one of our gardeners.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PA I D CINCINNATI, OHIO PERMIT# 2580

Franciscan Ministries, Inc. 110 Compton Road Cincinnati, OH 45215

Grant funding from our community makes a difference!

Franciscan Ministries’ focus is on meeting the unmet needs of people who are living in poverty. Our clients are vulnerable and cannot afford to pay for services. That is why we count on the kindness of our donors and local foundations to help support our work.

Recently we were granted $30,000 in general support by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the Joseph A. and Susan E. Pichler Fund, a donor advised fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. This much needed funding will support a Shelter Manager to assist at Tamar’ Center, our program for women who are being trafficked for sex because of their addictions.

Having this new position will allow the program’s director and social worker the opportunity to spend more one-on-

one time with the women, working on goals such as obtaining identification, getting enrolled in Medicaid, finding housing, and working with the courts to clear up legal issues.

The Charles H. Dater Foundation is providing funding for Franciscan Ministries Haircuts from the Heart program. Their gift of $10,000 will pay for a pilot project in conjunction with CISE (Cincinnati Inner-city Schools Education Fund.)

CISE pays for students to attend one of eight Catholic schools in schools in Cincinnati. Ninety–three percent of these students live in poverty. The grant will allow us to offer vouchers to the neediest children. The vouchers will be redeemed for haircuts at partner salons in the children’s neighborhoods.

The General Electric Evendale Employees Community Service Fund (CSF) has long been an advocate of Haircuts from the Heart.

The fund is comprised of personal contributions from GE employees and is used for charitable purposes. We are pleased to announce that the CSF commitment to our Haircuts from the Heart program will continue, with a $4,000 grant to offset program costs.

We are grateful to both Foundations and the GE CSF for their support of our programs. Because a majority of the people we help are living in poverty, these gifts will make a huge difference in the work we can accomplish.