2013 Winter MCSA Newsletter

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community supports MCSA. Board members and some MCSA staff mem- bers sent letters and personalized notes to nearly. 1,000 people, asking them to help ...
Muscatine Center for Social Action Renewing hope…rebuilding lives 312 Iowa Ave. Muscatine, IA 52761 (563) 264-3278 Fax: (563)263-8906 [email protected] www.mcsaiowa.org

WINTER 2013 “MCSA provides temporary shelter, basic health care, educational and vocational support services for those in need in Muscatine County while working to reduce these needs through long-term social change in the community.”

Board at work MCSA Board members Father Joseph Sia and Linda DePuydt helped serve meals at MCSA on Feb. 23 at Loaves & Fishes. About a dozen volunteers organized by MCSA Deputy Director Chris Steinbach served about 90 people at the meal, which is organized each week by Muscatine residents Pat Wolfe, Lois Newton and Mary Louise Caponette .

2012 Letter-a-Thon The recently completed second annual Letter-A-Thon fundraiser showed how much the community supports MCSA. Board members and some MCSA staff members sent letters and personalized notes to nearly 1,000 people, asking them to help the shelter in its mission. That mission is to provide temporary shelter, basic health care and educational and vocational support services for those in need in Muscatine County while working to reduce these needs through long-term social change in

the community. A total of 246 donors responded to MCSA’s request, giving more than $31,000 to the shelter for an average donation of $126. In 2012, 220 donors gave $25,156. The total amount raised easily makes Letter-A-Thon the biggest individual fundraiser for MCSA. It succeeded because of the efforts of many people, including board member Paula Durham, who chaired this year’s fundraiser.

Stats from 2012 MCSA served a total of 82 residents from October through the end of the year. They were among the 370 total residents served in 2012. The number of residents served in the fourth quarter broke down: Family Shelter, 47 women and 30 children; Overnight Emergency Shelter, 56; Permanent Supportive Housing, 30; Gateway House, 11. For the year, the number of residents served broke down: Family Shelter, 161 women and 73 children; Overnight Emergency Shelter, 125; Permanent Supportive Housing, 26; Gateway House, 12.

Board Members Charla Schafer Doyle Tubandt Fr. Joseph Sia Jane Reischauer Jeff Frye Linda DePuydt Pam Collins Pastor Collette Gould Paula Durham Randy Beimer Sharon Savage Thresa VanWey Travis Sheets Vince Motto Vivian Jardim Wayne Shoultz Executive Director Maggie Curry Deputy Director Chris Steinbach

Another fresh new year is here . . . To banish worry, doubt, and fear, to love and laugh and give!

A season of giving

24/7 MCSA is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is always a staff person at the front desk. Our front doors lock at 10 PM each night for safety reasons, but there is an intercom system should someone need to talk about housing. Access for the physically handicapped is available through both the Iowa Avenue and 4th Street entrances.

MCSA and its residents benefited during the holidays from the generosity of many Muscatinearea groups, businesses and individuals. In the photos, going clockwise from the upper lefthand corner: Good Gifts: Jamie Brookhart of Muscatine stopped at MCSA in November with, from the left: Lucy, Gavin, Grace, Vaughn and Lincoln. His wife, (and the children's mother) Karen, was unable to join the rest of the family in dropping off the games and other Christmas gifts. New Desk: MCSA Executive Director Maggie Curry, from the left, examines the new desk delivered in February to her office by Jeff Hartley, Eric Edkin and Brad Nau of River City Moving and Delivery of Muscatine for Muscatine-based HNI Corp, which gave the desk and new chair to MCSA. Practicing Kindness: Some employees of First National Bank in Muscatine put into practice the bank's Practice Kindness campaign by delivering food at MCSA. They included, in the first photo, from the left: Jolene Battey, Stephanie Hunter-Tuttle, Misty Fues and Melissa Bieri. Colorado students: MCSA Executive Director Maggie Curry and Deputy Director Chris Steinbach accepted microwave ovens donated by students at Colorado Elementary School in Muscatine. The students bought the microwaves with money they raised. Clothes for veterans: Glenda Thielbert, a member of the American Legion Post 27 Auxiliary, organized an effort to collect shirts, pants, coats, belts and the like for the MCSA residents who are veterans. She collected enough clothing to nearly fill the computer lab. Pat Gomez, an MCSA employee, worked to fold, sort and organize the clothes.

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. - Oprah Winfrey

Homeless Prevention Advocacy In 2012, the Homeless Prevention Program at MCSA served 61 homeless or near-homeless households consisting of 75 adults and 107 children. Twelve of these families – or 14 adults and 17 children -- originally had lived at MCSA and since have been placed in rental housing throughout the community. Grants and funding from various sources have helped provide:  Housing deposits and rental assistance  Tuition for Muscatine Community College welding classes  Dental work  Monthly phone cards to help with job searches  GED testing and registration fees  Childcare  Fees for memberships at the Muscatine Community Y  Muscabus tickets  H&R Block tax courses

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Utility bills and deposits Clothing for children and adults Christmas gifts Fees for Iowa State University Extension Clover Kids Barb Fick, the homeless prevention advocate and community resource director, says homelessness has many causes and faces. The biggest need for her clients, Fick said, is to find full-time employment that pays more than minimum wage. To be hired full time, many employers require applicants to have at least a GED and some additional training, Fick said. “Because of that, my biggest emphasis this year has been on additional schooling,” she said. “Connecting students to the MCC GED program and Career Link Essentials is my top priority.”

In her own words I want to express my gratitude to the staff at MCSA for the assistance, compassion and kindness shown to me during my stay at the shelter. Having spent time in other shelters throughout the state ministering to homeless and needy persons fighting addictions and dealing with other traumatic circumstances, I could not help but commend the staff on the cleanliness and welcoming atmosphere at MCSA. It is rare to find such a nice facility. All residents were treated with dignity and respect. The staff showed genuine interest in the welfare and future success of their residents. As the need for this service increases during these economically difficult times, it is essential that people have a safe place to go where they can get immediate emergency housing assistance and counsel on job hunting, skill development, education and family transitioning. I witnessed all of this being offered in a professional and caring manner by all staff. I thank you for going the extra mile to accommodate my needs as well. May the good Lord continue to guide you and bless you as you care for the poor and needy. Lyn Corkery Editor’s note: Corkery was a resident at MCSA in January.

Service Spotlight Chris Steinbach joined MCSA in late October as deputy director. Previously, he was editor of the Muscatine Journal, a job he had held since 2007. In his 23-year newspaper career, Steinbach worked as a reporter or editor at newspapers in Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Idaho. He is an Iowa native who grew up on a farm north of Chariton. Steinbach’s wife, Nancy, works at Musser Public Library. In his new job, he is responsible for fundraising and development, along with marketing and public relations. He also helps with day-to-day operations at the shelter. He is a former member of the MCSA Board of Directors. Steinbach is a member of the Muscatine Rotary Club, the Muscatine Community Y and the Melon City Bike Club. After warm weather arrives, when he isn’t working, Steinbach will spend much of his time biking in preparation for the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, which he has ridden on five previous times.

Current Needs MCSA is in need of the following items: Food: Meals in a can (ravioli, beef stew, etc.) Coffee Popcorn, peanut butter Tuna, chicken dumplings Miniature candy bars, animal cookies, sugar-free candy Personal items: Towels/washcloths Socks (men’s and women’s) Disinfectant spray and wipes Razors and shaving cream Deodorant (men’s and women’s) Laundry soap

This bright new year is given me to live each day with zest . . . To daily grow and try to be my highest and my best!

John and Roberta: A success and love story Theirs is a love story. And a success story -- a tale of how far up people can climb once they hit rock bottom and decide to change their lives. John Skidds, 43, and Roberta Cockrum, 37, were married at Island United Methodist Church, where Collette Gould, incoming president of the MCSA Board of Directors, is pastor. She performed the ceremony, which was attended by about 30 family members and friends. After the ceremony, the newlyweds held a reception at MCSA, the place where they met and fell in love in 2009. “He was living upstairs in the men’s dorm and I was in the women’s shelter,” Roberta said of their first meeting. Added John: “We had a couple of runins … The next thing I knew, I had to meet this girl.” Within a month of their first meeting, John and Roberta were dating. By October of this year, they were engaged. But getting there was a long and slow process -one in which Roberta:  Moved in and out of the shelter at least three times, according to MCSA records.  Spent seven months in the

Muscatine County Jail after being arrested in January 2010 and charged with first-degree theft, which is a felony; and obstructing prosecution of another inmate, which is an aggravated misdemeanor. After being released from jail in July 2010, Roberta moved back into the women’s shelter at MCSA, where she stayed until she moved with John in June 2011 into an apartment at Gateway Apartments, which is an MCSA program. The charges against Roberta were dismissed in September 2011 and she was on probation for a year. For the past seven months, she has worked full time as a computerized saw operator at HON. Staying sober, working and getting married, show how far Roberta, who grew up in Indiana, has come in the four years since she first arrived in Muscatine as a heavy user of methamphetamine. It was a period of her life in which she feared for her life because of associates she knew who were capable of killing her. “I still take things one day at a time,” Roberta said. “But it doesn’t matter how

many times you get knocked down. Get back up. If you want it bad enough, it can happen.” John -- who grew up in Aledo, Ill., and later lived in Las Vegas -- has lived in Muscatine for seven years. He works for Illowa Construction in Blue Grass. This is his first marriage; it’s the second for Roberta. When asked about his wife’s turnaround, John says with a grin: “She met me. Now, she’s doing better than I am.” Looking back on her past and the help she received at MCSA, Roberta said: “It could have made me or broke me, but it made me.”

Staff, volunteers stay busy at MCSA A better bike Charlie Harper of Harper’s Cycling & Fitness in Muscatine has rehabbed old bikes for years and given them to MCSA, including this one. It had been abandoned in the alley between MCSA and Musser Public Library. Harper gave this old Schwinn to his grandson, Ian Henriksen, 15, the son of Eric and Patty Harper Henriksen. Ian Henriksen rehabbed the old bike.

MCSA was a busy place in the fourth quarter of last year. In the months of October through December:  The staff of the University of Iowa Pediatric Dental Clinic at MCSA saw 814 patients. The clinic recorded a total of 643 visits for the quarter.  Dr. Peter Korpi saw 96 patients at the MCSA vision clinic. Of those patients, 72 received a pair of glasses for the first time. A total of 36 patients were referred to Dr. Korpi by Muscatine County Community Services, 24 were referred by the state Department of Human Services, 20 were referred by MCSA staff and 16 were referred by Community Action.  Two volunteers worked a total of 32 hours to assist MCSA staff.  Another 15 people worked a total of 645 community service hours at MCSA.