New Staff

We are pleased to announce that we have hired Evette Pena for the staff position at the Urban Center. She is a local woman who is looking forward to sharing her experience and expertise in our ministry. She will be starting the week of January 10, 2011.

Kensington Neighborhood On Edge

Since November 3, three women have been murdered by strangulation and at least three others have been attacked. The police have a description of the man and this week they released surveillance video showing a man who allegedly assaulted a woman and may be responsible for the rape and strangulation of others. He has been dubbed by the media and on the street as the "Kensington Strangler."

Two events took place recently that has the community together. A couple of weeks ago a vigil was held at the intersection of Jasper and Cumberland Streets, where Nicole's body was found on November 13. With white candles in hand about 100 people huddled in the chill night in a vacant lot centered around a make-shift memorial to Nicole. The memorial had been set against a tree with her high school picture, candles, and a teddy bear. Follow the words of family members and community leaders, attendees solemnly marched down Jasper Street to Kensington Ave in a showing of neighborhood support.

Last Saturday a community meeting was held to give people a chance to express their concerns and feelings about the murders and violence in the neighborhood.

The incidences of violence that is connected to the Kensington Strangler has left a real void and a sense of fear in the neighborhood, especially as the perpetrator is still on the loose. While the strings of murders connected to the strangler have received a great deal of media attention, they are connected to deeper issues of drug abuse, prostitution and violence within our community that does not always receive adequate attention by the city, the media, and even the police.

"And it burns, burns, burns..."

The following is Fr. Michael Duffy's reflection on the excitement in our neighborhood this week...

10/25/10 Last night during Mass we heard fire engines, but that is not unusual. But they got louder and louder and there were more and more of them. After Mass we went outside and saw the end of Hagert St alive with fire engines, police cars, emergency vehicles and a huge orange glow with lots of smoke.... The former Cavco Co factory building, abandoned now, was ablaze, completely engulfed in flames and reaching 60 or 70 feet above the roof.

Soon the news helicopters arrived, hovering overhead.

All the houses were evacuated and all roads blocked off. The firemen told the people to evacuate but to leave their animals in their homes. "They'll be all right" they said. (I wonder what the SPCA would think of that?) I had to back three cars out of Hagert St so Katie Sullivan could get her car out which by now was surrounded by trucks and hoses. They hooked up to every hydrant within 3 blocks. All of Kensington was out watching the blaze. Huge billows of black smoke filled with glowing embers would shoot out from the building twisting like tornadoes at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour. Then all our houses and the Inn darkened as the power went out on all the streets. We stood watching for hours transfixed by the power and destructive force of such a huge inferno. Luckily the wind was blowing north. If it had shifter to the west, those embers would have fallen on the abandoned factory at the end our block next to Barbara and Karen's house. If that happened, our whole block would have gone up and we would have lost all our houses on the north side, including the Inn itself. It made us a little apprehensive.

Finally at about 10:30 we walked back to the house to find a channel 6 ABC reporter standing in front of our door. He shoved a mic in my face and asked questions. It was on the 11 o'clock news. But of course I didn't see it because we had no power. Today all our volunteers and many of our guests told me they saw it.

With no power, what do you do in the house at night? You can't read, you can't clean your room. You can't do your laundry. It was odd. I spent an hour with a flashlight crooked between my neck and shoulder and did desk work. Then I decided to take advantage of the situation and I went to bed at 11:30. Very early for me. I had to set my battery powered travel alarm to make sure I got up.

We prepared breakfast at the Inn in the dark with candles all over. Once the sun rose it was easier. But how to prepare the dinner with no electricity? What of all the food in the freezer? We opened no refrigerator door nor did we enter the freezer lest we hasten the spoilage. We planned on giving all the meat away to the guests during the evening meal. Then at about noon the lights came on, power was restored, and so was our sanity.

But all day long the streets were hazy with smoke and the smell of the still burning building. Sometimes it would blow in a different direction and sometimes right up the street at us and into the Inn giving us curls of smoke clouds wafting through the dining room and kitchen. It is now 10:30 the next evening and the fire is still burning. Everything is hazy and the air is heavy with the fire smell. As I look down the street, the firemen are busy with "surround and drown" the term they use for placing fire trucks on all sides of the smoldering building and soaking it with the streams of water with their hoses to prevent "rekindle."

As if Hagert St. isn't exciting enough, the fire added to mix. We are grateful that no one was injured and no homes were lost (even though this morning a insurance adjustor shoved his business card in my hand asking me if I had any smoke damage!). Please be careful with fire. Change the batteries in your detectors and be safe!

As an addendum to this, it has now been a full 60 hours since the inferno first began and the streets are still closed down, fire trucks are still a constant presence, and smoke is still wafting out of the charred building. Demolition is supposedly set to start today.

Job Opening!

Your (somewhat) faithful, beloved blogger is moving on to warmer climates in a few weeks. The blog will remain, but with my leaving, there will be a vacancy that we are seeking to fill. In addition to putting oh-so-much time, effort and personality into this weekly blog, the main thrust of my work was in managing a supportive housing program for single mothers and their children. If you or someone you know are interested in this position, please view this link and follow the directions posted there. I'll be singing my swan song soon so keep an ear out!

The Feast of St. Francis!

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis! We can be grateful for the continued celebration of his life 800 years later and are truly humbled by those examples of humility, grace, and love of creation in our lives today.

Canticle of Creation:

O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God,

to you belong praise, glory,

honour and all blessing.

Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation

and especially for our Brother Sun,

who brings us the day and the light;

he is strong and shines magnificently.

O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon,

and for the stars

which you have set shining and lovely

in the heavens.

Be praised, my Lord,

for our Brothers Wind and Air

and every kind of weather

by which you, Lord,

uphold life in all your creatures.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water,

who is very useful to us,

and humble and precious and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire,

through whom you give us light in the darkness:

he is bright and lively and strong.

Be praised, my Lord,

for Sister Earth, our Mother,

who nourishes us and sustains us,

bringing forth fruits and vegetables of many kinds

and flowers of many colours.

Be praised, my Lord,

for those who forgive for love of you;

and for those

who bear sickness and weakness

in peace and patience

- you will grant them a crown.

Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister Death,

whom we must all face.

I praise and bless you, Lord,

and I give thanks to you,

and I will serve you in all humility.

Health Care Reform TODAY!

Today, September 23, marks the start of the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act. Six months ago, history was made as President Obama signed into action a step towards affordable, universal health care in the United States. This is the first of many installments that will promote general health welfare across the United States, helping to insure more people, to give people the safety net they need, and the opportunity to be advocates for themselves.

The first installment of the Affordable Health Care Act, starting today, will allow young people to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26. It also prohibits employer plans from withholding health care from children under 18 with pre-existing conditions. Further, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to drop people when they get sick. It delineates that there will no longer be lifetime limits on coverage (though doesn’t, at this time, prevent annual limits), and new plans must offer free preventive care. Lastly, patients with new plans starting after 9/23 will be able to appeal decisions made by the health plan to a third party, giving patients more of a voice for themselves and advocating for their own well-being.

The hope is that by expanding who will be covered and putting health care into the hands of those who need it, we will be moving towards a nation where everyone will be covered... eventually. It seems as if the full effects of the plan will not be realized until 2014, but the benefits to those who are currently uninsured and faced with mountains of bills are seeing glimmers of hope with the advent of this benchmark in Obama’s presidency.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Shakespeare's musings in Romeo and Juliet offer quite a point of interest for those choosing a name for a child, a car, a pet, or, say, a supportive housing program. While we fully recognize that simply a name for the house will alter the outcome of the mothers in the program, as everything else owned by St. Francis Inn Ministries is named, we felt compelled to follow suit. Most of our houses are named after people (Juniper House, Mary House, Clare House, Jean Donovan House, etc), but we wanted to name the house after someone or something that could be accessible to the mothers living in the house. And thus, we've settled on St. Margaret House, after St. Margaret of Cortona.
We look to St. Margaret of Cortona as an example of integrity, conversion, hope and strength of character. When Margaret was just seventeen, she left her parents to follow a man who promised love and security. For ten years, she lived, unmarried, with the man who was one day mysteriously murdered, leaving her to raise their son alone.
After being abandoned and forced to raise her child alone, Margaret returned to the home of her father and stepmother, only to be rejected by her stepmother, forcing Margaret to seek refuge with the Franciscans in Cortona. It was here that Margaret began a life of penance, simplicity, and devotion to life in servitude of God.
St. Margaret of Cortona underwent a significant conversion experience from a life in pursuit of earthly things to a soul centered on the Divine. Her radical shift from self-indulgence to selfless love and commitment to something greater not only gives us hope for ourselves, but for the lives of those who will reside in St. Margaret House.
St. Margaret is the patron saint of single mothers, as well as many other patronages. But for many of the single mothers that will live here, their character imbued with the desire to pursue a life of virtue, with little guidance or conviction to follow through, is common. We hope that by looking to St. Margaret of Cortona, the women that participate in this supportive housing program will harness her strength and spirit to seek integrity, conversion, and hope within themselves and their families.