Food needed

We’re getting ready to roll out our new Resource Runners- volunteers who deliver food and other needed items to alumni families.  We hope to deliver food to twenty families each month.  This means we need to keep our food supply well-stocked!  Can you help? 

Families want to make meals for their kids with things like:  

• Rice
• Beans (dry or canned)
• Mac & Cheese
• Vegetables (canned)
• Soups
• Pasta
• Pasta Sauce
• Fruit (canned)
• Toilet paper
• Large (inexpensive) bottles of shampoo and conditioner

These are families’ more pressing needs, and the better we can stock our pantry, the better off they’ll be- better fed, and better able to handle food shortages they face.  Please bring any of these items to the Father Ed Judy House- we’ll be glad to get them out as quickly as we can.  And if you’re interested in doing some of these deliveries, please let us know.

Feast Days

We’ve been lucky to have so many generous volunteers offer to bring in meals on Sunday evenings, that we’re excited to open up some more opportunities to bring in a meal and donate to the program here at Father Ed Judy House. 

Each month, we’ll celebrate a different Feast Day with a meal brought in by volunteers.  The next few months include: 

• Tuesday, February 14^th- Feast of Saint Valentine.  We ask for prayers for an end to violence within intimate relationships.  February is also Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month- see  www.loveisnotabuse.org for more information on teen dating violence.  Donation ideas- self-care items for teens and moms, such as bath products, slippers, etc.
• Thursday, March 15^th- Feast of Saint Louise de Marillac.  As St. Louise is the patron saint of social workers, we ask for prayers for the staff at Father Ed Judy House and for all those who work with those in need.  Donation ideas- bus tokens to help families get to all their necessary appointments. 
• Sunday, April 8^th- Easter Sunday.  As we celebrate new life in our faith, we ask for prayers and advocacy for our families who are also beginning anew.  Families rebuild their lives through many ways, and one of these certainly is through the availability of low-income housing.  Visit the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website for lots of information about political advocacy that impacts families in poverty- http://www.usccb.org/about/government-relations/legislative-issues/legislative-issues-for-the-112th-congress.cfm#domestic
• Tuesday, May 22^nd- Feast of Saint Rita of Cascia- Saint Rita is the patron saint of desperate situations and of loneliness.  We ask for prayers for those many who face desperate situations on a daily basis.  Action ideas- volunteer as a Community Partner to help combat the loneliness that many of our alumni face after they move away from Father Ed Judy House.  For those of you who are already Community Partners, consider giving the family a white rose- they are associated with Saint Rita. 

Do you have a different favorite Feast Day you’d like to celebrate with us here?  Call Theresa and talk about it!

Bowling fun!

We had a great evening bowling with staff and volunteers together a few days ago.  As usual, the volunteers have far superior bowling skills than the staff have, but a fun time was had by everyone. 

Bowling 2012

Barely hanging on

This is an excellent link to a slideshow put out by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, showing some stark examples of the choices that need to be made by families living in poverty. 

Poverty

This data was created for the 2008 poverty threshold; the current yearly threshold for a family of four is $22,314.  If you make less than this, you are considered to live below the poverty line.  The families we serve make nowhere near this amount of money- they average less than $300 each month in income.  The US Conference of Catholic Bishops remind us that January is Poverty Awareness Month, and this slideshow is a great reminder of what that awareness can look like. 

Have Patience…. from “Letters to a Young Poet”

I am happy to share another wonderful piece that Theresa brought to staff meeting yesterday:

“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.  Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

by Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903 in Letters to a Young Poet.

New Volunteer Position- Resource Runner

We’ll be holding an information meeting for anyone interested in becoming a Resource Runner here at Father Ed Judy House.  A Resource Runner is a new volunteer position, aimed at helping distribute food and other needed items to alumni families around the Denver area.  Come learn about our alumni, about the food instability they often face, and about how you can help on a regular basis.

Please join us-

Thursday, January 19th, 12:30 pm
at Father Ed Judy House

If you’re unable to attend, please talk with Theresa and we can find other ways to get you the information and get you involved.  Feel free as well to invite a friend who may be interested, who has some open weekday afternoons.

Newman University

We’d like to send out a GIGANTIC thank you to Newman University.  These students from Wichita spent Tuesday here at Father Ed’s, and WOW, does our house look amazing!  They cleaned, organized, scrubbed, sorted, and generally made the house look beautiful.  We were lucky to have them here in 2010, and we were just as lucky to have them back.  Thank you to all of you- it was a pleasure and a blessing having you here! 

Sign Language volunteer interpreter needed

We have a need for a sign language interpreter who can help out during our Wednesday night group.  If you are able to help out, please call us at 303-866-7641.  This group is very interactive, so an interpreter would be a great asset!  Thank you! 

A Servant’s Prayer

Theresa brings the most amazing prayers to our weekly staff meeting, and we have decided to share them.  You can also find them on the Inspiration page of this blog.

A Servant’s Prayer
by Judy Payne

Lord, give me eyes clear enough to see the hurt in the world,
      Ears perceptive enough to hear your call…
      A brain wise enough to figure a solution
      A voice loud enough to tell of the need
Feet determined enough to seek out the alleys of misery and despair
      Hands sensitive enough to hug, hold and heal
     A heart strong enough to endure the struggle
And a spirit thankful enough to ask, “What more may I do.”

Former Resident in Search of a Laptop for College

I just got a call from one of our alumni who is starting college and is looking for a laptop.  We had the honor of  attending her GED graduation in December and she has quickly moved on to Community College of Denver to begin studies in Human Services. 

Please email us (fejh@ccdenver.org ) if you can help. Thanks!