N E W S L E T T E R Spring 2011 Misericordia Family Festival
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Misericordia Heart of Mercy NEWSLETTER Spring 2011 Misericordia Family Festival Dreams Do Come True - September 11, 2011 Save the date for a fabulous day of live entertainment, food, drinks, auctions, raffles, games and more! The Family Fest brings together thousands of Misericordia’s family members, friends and neighbors for a fun and exciting day that has turned into our largest fundraising event. Misericordia’s Family Festival takes place 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday, September 11, on Misericordia’s campus at 6300 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago. (Corner of Ridge and Devon) Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children and seniors. Discounted tickets are available through August 20. Please use the enclosed ticket ordering form or call 773-273-2766 for more information. *S&C Electric is generously providing free parking for fest-goers, which can be accessed off Devon Avenue, just east of Ridge. A trolley to the fairgrounds will be available. VOLUNTEER! Volunteers are essential to the success of the Family Fest. Contact Theresa Rooney at 773-273-4161 or [email protected] to learn how you can help! ! CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP! Sponsorship accounts for the majority of funds raised at Family Fest. Excellent visibility at the Fest, ad space in the program book and complimentary tickets are just a few of the benefits of corporate sponsorship. Contact Father Jack Clair at [email protected] or 773-273-4165 to learn how your family or company can become involved. CAR & CASH RAFFLES! Organized by Pauline Greco and her fabulous committee, the cash raffle offers a top prize of $50,000, with additional prizes between $15,000 and $500. Tickets are $100, and only 3,000 tickets are available. Buy your ticket before July 21 to get an extra chance in the Early Bird Drawing! Enter the car raffle to win a car compliments of Jerry Gleason & Andy Francis of Evergreen KIA. Tickets are $50, or 3 for $100. To enter, please call 773-273- 4147 or mail your check to Misericordia, Attn: Cash/Car Raffle, 6300 N. Ridge Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660. *Post office regulations do not allow Misericordia to send raffle ticket stubs by mail, but Misericordia will contact you with the ticket number. The stubs can be picked up at the Family Fest if you would prefer to have the actual stub. If you are the lucky winner of either raffle, you are not required to be present or have the stub in hand to claim your prize. Show Misericordia some Lovie! The game plan: Wednesday, June 15, 2011, Bears fans will huddle at the Jean Marie Ryan Center at Misericordia. The starting line-up will include Chicago Bears Head Coach Lovie and wife MaryAnne Smith. Game NEW WAY TO GIVE! time is 6:30 pm. The half-time show will include cocktails, hors Text MIS to 25383 d’oeuvres, pep talk and Q&A with to make a $5 donation to the Coach! You can be part of the Misericordia and enter into a team for $150 and cheer on monthly raffle for fabulous prizes Misericordia with Lovie! To get tickets, please email or call Kevin Connelly like U2 tickets, 2 roundtrip ([email protected] or 773/273/4167). We would like to extend our eternal airline tickets! Through 2011, gratitude to Lovie and MaryAnne for being the Honorary chair-couple and sponsor of your text donation will be the Artist in All event as well as donating tickets for Bears’ home games to “Lovie’s matched 100% by the Lauren Crew” - also known as the Bears Fans who live at Misericordia. Rafferty Family. Stay tuned for Pictured above: Lovie with Edmund, Joe (part of Lovie’s Crew) and Bernadette Boyle. more opportunities to win! Dear Friends, Recently, a Federal Government Agency, funded by taxpayers’ money, has publicly stated that a priority of theirs is to close all congregate facilities for persons with developmental disabilities. Whether they would admit it or not, this would include Misericordia, the Heart of Mercy Center. As any of you who have taken the tour of Misericordia know, the response is always that we should be the “model” for the entire country. Our philosophy is that we are not the only way to share life with persons with disabilities, but a very legitimate way. One great advantage which is ours is that we provide a full continuum of care. We have Mc Auley Skilled Nursing Home for the profoundly disabled, medically involved persons and seven homes in the neighborhood for the most able-bodied residents. There are twenty other residential areas available on the campus serving the needs of non-ambulatory as well as ambulatory persons of varied cognitive skills. Perhaps, our greatest asset is our 31 acre, beautiful campus, where most of the residential houses are located. This includes a chapel, community center, residents’ social center, greenhouse and gardens, an aquatic center with a fitness room, a day program building, gymnasium, laundry, kitchen, baking and packaging area, an art center, and our Greenhouse Inn Restaurant. The campus also serves 150 families in an outreach program for persons living in their own homes. When you come to our campus, you are coming to the “home” of most of our residents. Even for those who live in our neighborhood homes, the campus is truly the center of their lives. Some do have outside employment but this is usually for 2 or 3 days a week and for 2 or 3 hours. Outside employment is very difficult to find especially in our present economy. We must create our own jobs and we do this by utilizing the resources of our campus. Our 600 residents (mostly adults) live good lives. They are happy people who know they are loved and challenged, each according to their unique potential. Their families are grateful, for all any parent wants is for their child (disabled or not) to be living a fulfilled life surrounded by people who respect them as unique persons. We all recognize that our children/adults can’t create a good world for themselves but once it is theirs, they become the gift givers. At Misericordia, we all feel privileged to be able to share life with such beautiful people as our residents. They teach us daily that in their weakness, they are strong. How many of us could/would accept the limitations which are theirs and still rejoice in the goodness of our world? They call us forth, on a daily basis, to be more loving and compassionate. How blessed we are that God has permitted all of us at Misericordia to be so called! Every single day we know our Society is a better place because there is a home called “Misericordia”. And also we know that you, our family and friends, would shout to the mountaintop if any government agency tried to close our home. Let’s remind them they are “servants of the people” and not autocratic entities unto themselves. Thank you and God bless. Sincerely, Sister Rosemary During the 2011 Major State Representatives League Baseball season, the Tom Morrison and Chicago Cubs are teaming Dennis Reboletti up with Chicagoland non- (pictured with Father profit organizations to Jack Clair and Sister provide funding and Rosemary Connelly) awareness. Chicago Cubs after their tour of Charities will donate $2 to Misericordia. Misericordia from each ticket sold to the Cubs game Misericordia thanks the following officials for taking on June 28 when the code time from their busy schedules to visit Misericordia and HOME is used at the time learn more about the issues facing people with of purchase. The more fans developmental disabilities in Illinois. that purchase tickets using WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF Bill Daley the link and code below, the more charitable donations will go to us. Enjoy Cubs baseball and support a cause close to your U.S. SENATORS Richard Durbin, Mark Kirk heart! U.S. REPRESENTATIVES Judy Biggert, Luis Gutierrez, George To purchase tickets for 6/28 visit: Miller (CA), Peter Roskam, Janice Schakowsky http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/ticketing/charitydays.jsp GOVERNOR Pat Quinn Password: HOME FORMER MAYOR OF CHICAGO Richard M. Daley Irish American Hall of Fame ATTORNEY GENERAL Lisa Madigan SECRETARY OF STATE Jesse White The mission of the Irish American Hall of Fame is to recognize and honor the outstanding contributions of Irish STATE COMPTROLLER Judy Barr Topinka Americans to society in the areas of Arts & Humanities, STATE TREASURER Dan Rutherford Business & Industry, Public Service, Sports, Religion, STATE SENATE PRESIDENT John Cullerton Education and Science. A national body of distinguished individuals representing academia, government and Irish- STATE SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER Christine Radogno affiliated organizations from around the United States voted STATE SENATORS Maggie Crotty, Susan Garrett, Don Harmon, on the candidates in December 2010 and January 2011.Our Linda Holmes, Dan Kotowski, Terry Link, Ed Maloney, John very own Sister Rosemary Connelly was chosen in the field Millner, John Mulroe, Matt Murphy, Carol Pankau, Jeff of Religion from more than 300 nominees received from Schoenberg, Ira Silverstein, Heather Steans, Louis Viverito around the world. STATE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE Michael Madigan Winners were inducted into the Irish American Hall of STATE HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER Tom Cross Fame at a Black Tie Awards Gala on Saturday, May 14, STATE REPRESENTATIVES Patricia Bellock, Maria Antonia 2011 at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 North Berrios, James Brosnahan, Dan Burke, Franco Coladipietro, Knox Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630. Michael Connelly, John D’Amico, Monique Davis, Jim Durkin, Sara Feigenholtz, Mary Flowers, Greg Harris, LOVED ONES Elizabeth Hernandez, Louis Lang, Joe Lyons, Sidney Mathias, Karen May, Michael McAuliffe, Kevin McCarthy, Deborah REMEMBERED Mell, Thomas Morrison, Rosemary Mulligan, Elaine Nekritz, When people request donations Harry Osterman, Dennis Reboletti, Angelo “Skip” Saviano, to Misericordia when a loved Art Turner one dies, we are touched that COOK COUNTY TREASURER Maria Pappas they thought of our children and COOK COUNTY SHERIFF Tom Dart adults during that time.