Barb Powell
Not long after Easter Sunday 2020, Betty Smith received a letter from her dad, which he sent to her at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio. What makes this event more than just another dad sending a student a letter from home is the postmark: April 29, 1947. Today, Smith, 92, resides at Parkvue…
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and for the staff and residents of UCC-related Fairhaven Senior Services in Whitewater, Wis., life during the pandemic fits the bill. During the week of May 18, Fairhaven provided COVID-19 testing for all of its 420 residents and staff members. This included Fairhaven’s Prairie Village 55+ community as well…
The Board and staff of the UCC’s Council for Health and Human Service Ministries (CHHSM) recently released a statement calling systemic racism a pandemic and pledging an increased financial commitment, additional programming, and a larger focus on advocacy work to end systemic racism. The statement was issued at the end of the Board’s virtual Zoom…
For the nurses at Deaconess Nurse Ministry (DNM) in St. Louis, serving others is a calling. Especially during the current pandemic, their role in providing support and care to families in need is critical. One recent story illustrates the need. When the Rev. Donna Smith-Pupillo RN, executive director of Deaconess, read an email from Elizabeth…
A few years ago, Karen Stanford, manager of the emergency department at Advocate Lutheran Hospital — part of Advocate Aurora Health — in Park Ridge, Ill., learned how important it is to recognize and help victims of human trafficking. In a conversation with her children, her daughter — then 12 — casually mentioned that someone…
Thanks to Puentes de Esperanza for this translation: Puentes de Esperanza — Bridges of Hope ha recibido una beca para ayudar a las familias inmigrantes afectadas por la pandemia de COVID-19. Parte de Hoyleton Youth & Family Services en Fairview Heights, Ill., Puentes es una de las 13 organizaciones en todo Illinois que se beneficia…
Puentes de Esperanza — Bridges of Hope has received a grant to assist immigrant families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of Hoyleton Youth & Family Services in Fairview Heights, Ill., Puentes is one of 13 organizations throughout Illinois benefitting from the grant from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). “We are…
During Mother’s Day weekend, moms and grandmas across the country — including in several Retirement Housing Foundation affordable housing communities — received a lovely surprise. Thanks to a partnership between CPS — the group purchasing agent behind the CHHSM Store — and Lowe’s, these mothers and grandmothers received surprise flower baskets. The arrangements were delivered…
Lauren, 19, had aged out of foster care. Without hope, she had drifted from place to place, living in various shelters or on the streets, sleeping at friends’ houses. Then, a therapist from TAYLRD — part of Seven Counties Services, a community mental health agency based in Louisville, Ky. — encouraged Lauren to go to…
From dawn till midnight on May 7, community members from across St. Louis turned out in force bearing toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and other essential items to help UCC-related Emmaus Homes “Fill the Van.” The goal was to fill Emmaus Homes’ 15-seat van with much-needed supplies for its clients. Monetary donations also came in online,…
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