The Song Fall 2018 Holiday Highlights Inside this issue: Gift Program Letter from the Please consider including Home of the Sparrow in your holiday giving. Executive Director 2 We have three great ways to give for our Holiday Gift Program. Individuals, groups and businesses can all be a part of giving! President’s Column 3 Gift of Hope Shelter Program Our greatest need this year is the Gift of Hope. One spark of hope can Feature Story 4 change the journey of a mother or child for the rest of their life. Volunteer Through our Matching Gift Challenge, you can Double your Impact! Opportunities 6 Thanks to an anonymous donor, every gift received between November 12—December 31, 2018 Homelessness will be matched up to $250,000! Happens to $25 can provide a new pair of shoes for a child Ordinary People 7 $50 can supply a week's worth of gas to get to and from work $100 can pay for a week of groceries or a month of utilities Spotlight: Welcome $250 can provide a week of childcare for a working mother Community Threads! 9 $500 can provide one month's rent for a family. New Frequent Please go to www.HOSparrow.org to leave your Gift of Hope Donation. Shopper Program 10 If you prefer, checks can be made out to Home of the Sparrow Safe from and sent to our address below. Domestic Violence 10 Gift of Opportunity Upcoming Events By giving gift cards, it empowers women to take control of their lives and gives and Sponsorship them the Opportunity to be active participants in purchasing crucial items for Opportunities 11 themselves and their families this holiday season. These items include clothing, shoes, groceries, gas, and prescriptions. We are seeking gift cards to places like Thanks to our Aldi, Meijer, and Walmart, as well as gas gift cards to BP, Shell and Mobil. Sponsors 13 Outreach and Gift of Support Prevention By donating items on our Shelter Needs Wish List, you are providing year-round Program Assists Support to our shelter residents. Check out our Shelter Wish List on page 5. Young Mom 14 All gifts and donations should be new and unwrapped. Please drop off your gifts and donations no later than Friday, December 14th to our Administrative Office located at 4209 W. Shamrock Ln, Unit B, McHenry, IL Our office is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 am—4:00 pm. For more information, please contact Michelle Lusmann at 815-271-5444. Page 2 The Song Fall 2018 Letter from the Executive Director—Matt Kostecki I am so happy to be obstacles they face. Our volunteers, donors, selected as the new To see women and chil- and community are all Executive Director, and dren get out of home- reasons Home of the to be working for such lessness, off the Sparrow has been suc- a well recognized streets, out of shelters cessful for almost 32 organization that does and into housing is a years. Without your great work in the com- daily reminder that time, talent and generos- munity. Helping the people deserve the ity, Home of the Sparrow homeless has always “Opportunity” for a would not exist today. I been in my heart. I better life. This is my look forward to meeting started my career hometown. I was all of you! Home of the working with the raised in this beautiful Sparrow’s mission of homeless at McHenry county, and I am “Providing Hope, Oppor- County PADS, and my happy to be serving tunity and Support” has “Hope” was that, one those in need. many meanings; it’s not “This is my day, I would be a part just giving Hope - it’s hometown. I was of Home of the Spar- I look forward to helping the “Hope” be- raised in this row. My “Hope” connecting our clients come reality, like it did beautiful county, became reality on back into the communi- for me when I was and I am happy Monday, August 13, ty as productive, self- offered the position of to be serving 2018 – my first day as sufficient individuals Executive Director. those in need.” Executive Director. and giving them the best resources I look forward to the —Matt Kostecki For several years, I possible. The journey new, exciting challenges watched this agency can be difficult, but we my staff and I will face as grow. I saw Home of are here to help them we move forward. I’m the Sparrow become a along. We will provide honored each day to lead leader in providing so- the “Support” they the talented team at lutions to ending home- need; we will enrich Home of the Sparrow lessness in McHenry the programs and and work with this County and Northern continue to advance astounding community Illinois. In my experi- the good works of the in which I was so proudly ence, I’ve seen women, organization. It is our raised. Thanks for all children, men, and fam- goal to develop new that you do to make a ilies of all ages struggle and innovative ideas to difference for so many. with issues and go help homeless women through really rough and children become times. It takes a lot of empowered and regain support, strength and independence. determination to overcome the many www.HOSparrow.org Page 3 President’s Column—Joel Zarnstorff If you're in a bad situation, strong field of candidates to been able to borrow a best prac- don't worry, it'll change. help lead HOS into the future. tice of listing higher-end items If you're in a good situation, that are donated to the stores Despite being the youngest Ex- don't worry, it'll change.” on eBay, as an alternative to ecutive Director in the agency’s — John A. Simone, Sr. stocking them in the thrift history, Matt brings with him It was interesting for me to stores. This appeal to a broader years of nonprofit leadership look back at our last news- market has already started to experience, most recently with letter, and find that I wrote pay off in the form of higher Urban Muslim-Minority Alliance about all the changes happen- sales prices for several items, (UMMA) Center in Waukegan, ing in and around Home of the which is important as the retail and before that with PADS/ Sparrow. As the saying goes, landscape continues to see in- Pioneer Center in his native “The only constant is change,” creased pressure from both McHenry County. because if anything, the pace brick & mortar and online com- of change has only increased The affiliation between Home petitors. of the Sparrow and Community since then. Changes in the not- Looking forward, we can expect Threads (CT), a large and inde- for-profit world, changes in the more changes as the agency and pendent not-for-profit thrift retail industry, changes in per- the environment in which it op- store in Arlington Heights, was sonnel and board makeup – erates continue to evolve. completed successfully. Thanks we’ve had a lot going on! Here Through it all, I am confident in to the tireless work of our retail are just a few of the major the ability of our excellent staff, and logistics staff, the staff and changes that have taken place my fellow board members, and volunteers of Community since earlier this year: all our fantastic volunteers to Threads, and the board mem- continue meeting the needs of bers of both organizations, Matt Kostecki joined Home of our clients, each and every day. th Home of the Sparrow is now the Sparrow as its 7 Execu- And of course, none of this CT’s controlling member and tive Director in August, and would be possible without our sole beneficiary. In the past, CT has already impressed the loyal donors, grant funders, and used the profits from its store staff, board, and community community partners who help to provide financial grants to members with his quiet, con- make it all possible. Thanks to all several community organiza- fident leadership style and of you for what you do, and tions, but it now supports HOS passion for the mission and here’s to bigger and better exclusively, and has already values of Home of the Spar- things for Home of the Sparrow! row. After an extensive provided grant funding totaling search process involving $120,000. “Change is the law of life, and those board and staff members, who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” Matt was chosen from a very Another benefit of the affilia- tion with CT is that HOS has —John F. Kennedy Thank you to our Home of the Sparrow Board Members Board of Directors Adjunct Board Members Joel Zarnstorff, President Elizabeth Egel Bob Sharp, Treasurer Dr. Justin Gent Lauren Miller, Secretary Patti Latzke Lisa Gasior Diana Passarelli Tess Reinhard Patrick Coen, Member Emeritus Brian Silver Page 4 The Song Fall 2018 Shelter Program Still Teaches Importance of Personal Choices that’s just a normal part “Life has taken us through of life. We all did very a lot of changes,” Carol well in the program. The said. “Those changes staff, and the other resi- make us who we dents—they taught us become. You never self-confidence. But you know what tomor- had to work hard in the row will bring, but we all program. You had to stay learned that success is focused on your goals.” dependent on individual choices made.” That was not easy. Some of the job searches led to Carol remembers that the Carol, who spent five to stay long” she said.