Family nurse practitioners revitalize the Esperanza Center Health Services Center
Carol Lake and Karen Scheu Nurse Practitioners Carol Lake and Karen Scheu often finish each other’s sentences. The two bilingual nurse practitioners have been sharing a job at the Esperanza Center since June, 2012, and are very enthusiastic about it. The Esperanza Center Health Services Center has undergone significant changes in the past twelve months [...]
Esperanza Center ESL Program to be Featured at National Conference
Diana Siemer, ESL Coordinator, with Edwin, an ESL student. The Esperanza Center ‘s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESL) Program will be highlighted at the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE) conference February 16 -18 in New Orleans. Last fall, the Esperanza Center introduced a new model of curriculum for the ESL program. The [...]
Cindy Lutz, Assistant Director of Health Services
Cindy Lutz was hired as a staff nurse at Villa Maria in 1989 and currently holds the role of Assistant Director of Health Services/Nursing at St. Vincent’s Villa. Along with Anne Ober, Director of Health Services, Cindy supervises the clinical staff of 40 nurses and medical assistants in the in the residential program, Villa Maria [...]
A Piece of Cake
I'm going to let you in on a secret: Our executive director, Bill McCarthy, loves cake. He also has a background in estate planning. What do the two have in common? More than you might realize. Creating an effective estate plan is like baking a cake: You have to know what kind of cake you [...]
Working with Volunteers for ODBEC
by Matt Cheng Before I started working at Our Daily Bread, I had the worst anxiety. I knew of the legacy of ODB and the fact that they had never closed their doors in 32 years both astounded and intimidated me. I was terrified that I would become known as the Project SERVE member who [...]
Stories from Staff
by Fr. Ray Chase, Agency Chaplain Many years ago I stopped by one of the apartments at the former Villa Maria to visit the staff and kids. One of the children told me that he had made something for me. He disappeared and then quickly returned presenting me with a plaster plaque he had made, [...]
The Volunteer Experience
by Arthur Krieger April is National Volunteer Month, and today we’re hearing from one of our Project SERVE volunteers about the importance of volunteerism, and how people receive even as they give of their time. Everyone knows that volunteers "make a difference". But I'm just beginning to realize how valuable my help is to the [...]
Sarah’s House had a busy Christmas
by Marta Brohawn Hello all! I apologize for not keeping up with the weekly blog. Christmas time/ the month of December in general is the busiest time of year for Sarah’s House; we obtain 80% of all donations during this time! Although it’s hectic, seeing not only returning people but new people respond to our [...]
One-to-One
by Arthur Krieger Hey hey hey! As always this week has been chock-full-o-new-experiences. But the last couple days have been really remarkable. Yesterday and today, I covered for a paraprofessional who works 1:1 with a middle school student all day long. 1:1-ing is my favorite thing about volunteering at St. Vincent's Villa, so these last [...]
ODB Serves Hot Meals on a Snowy Day
by Matt Cheng Last Thursday’s snowstorm showed me just how incredibly dedicated people are towards keeping Our Daily Bread open. Managers slept over, Catholic Charities employees from other sites made their way down, and volunteers still made it in! We had over a foot of snow in the city, but that didn’t stop us; we [...]