CARROLL UNIVERSITY
SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
Hope Center ‘Socks it to Poverty’ Heather Markovich Editorial Staff
When AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer Coordinator Katy Launius pulled in to the parking lot at The Hope Center on East Avenue for a meeting on Carroll University’s involvement in their Sock to Poverty event, the lot at the community outreach center was nearly bursting at the seams and she fought to find room for her car. “I was shocked that there was this much need that close to campus,” Launius said. The Hope Center, which was formerly a funeral home and is located across from The Women’s Center, can easily be missed just four blocks from Carroll. But out of this small house, a wallto-wall array of services are coordinated that provide basic needs such as financial assistance, clothing and food to anyone of need in all of Waukesha County. The Hope Center, which affectionately calls itself a ‘social ministry,’ has served nearly 230 individuals at its Monday-Friday drop-in shelter since the beginning of this year and has seen this number exponentially increasing each month. In addition, the small building houses a no-charge clothing shop featuring sorted and high quality donated clothes. Any clothes that are not taken are recycled to third-world countries. Since the first of the year, nearly 4,000 individuals have visited the shop. Also in building is a free meal program, serving hot and nutritious meals three days a week, and in the last month about 1,500 meals have been served. Food is brought in from local caterers, the U.S. Government State Coalition, CDBG block, local churches and has even received funding from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. On multiple occasions, Chartwells has been involved in meal offerings. Other notable services offered include Project Move in which donated furniture is delivered to those in need, rent assistance and a child care service at First Baptist Church. With the exception of the child care, all services through the Hope Center are free of charge; not a cent leaves the clients’ hands. “We offer services like these to help people on the low end of the spectrum so they can have the ability to save for other necessities,” Executive Director Ralph Zick said. Run by only four full-time staff members, with nearly 400600 active regular volunteers, the Hope Center is a safe and secure place for Waukesha County civilians in need of the assistance. “This place is also just a giant social gathering for those who have nowhere else to go,” Director of Operations Roy Cheesman said. In cooperation with the Hope Center, Carroll University will be sponsoring a Sock it to Poverty event Oct. 13-22 as a fundraiser for the small, but exceptionally busy, social ministry center. During Sock it to Poverty students will be asked to collect any spare change they may have during the week and place it in a sock. Socks will be given out by Residence Life at the beginning of the week and a table will be set up in the Campus Center. Students are allowed to use clean socks of their own if they wish to do so; as long as they don’t have any Data from U.S. Census holes. At the end of the week, socks will then be collected and all proceeds will go to the Hope Center. “If we had all students and staff donate even $1, think of what a huge difference that could make,” Launius said. “Even just the change at the bottom of [your] purse could make a difference.” “After realizing just the sheer amount of services provided by the Hope Center, it’s stunning to see how easy it is to drive by agencies like these close to [Carroll] that offer all this,” Launius said. “…and now I can understand why the parking lot was so crowded.” Indeed the Hope Center has shown great potential as a guiding and helpful force in the world of Waukesha County’s needy. “This is a true Phoenix here,” Cheesman said. “We’ve taken this small building that was once a simple funeral home and are now supplying hope and future.”
15,338 people of Waukesha live in poverty. That means 1 in 25 people are below the standard living.
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Five Decades
alumni art exhibit The art exhibit will be on display at the Rowe Art Gallery from Sept. 18 through Oct. 16. Photo by Tina Ljujic
Evihn Vaszily Staff Writer
For the first time in nearly five years, the Alumni Art Exhibition has returned to Carroll University and is already looking better than ever, according to event organizer and Assistant Professor of Art Peggy Farrell. The exhibition was originally created with the intention of maintaining a lasting connection with Carroll alumni and check ing up on their ongoing careers. Featured in the exhibit are works from various mediums including photography, oil paints, water colors, mixed media productions, sculptures and copper work. Art works are produced by alumni of graduating classes as early as 1968 and as late as 2008, displaying a long legacy of successful Carroll artistry. In addition to each piece being labeled with information about the artwork, they are also labeled with information concerning the artist. Explanations
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consist of what type of work the artists do, their favorite mediums to work in and even their favorite classes. A notable piece at the exhibit, “Welcome to the Machine,” features jagged, mechanical rod looking objects marked by dark tones of grey against a black background. It was created by Erik Grau who was an alum that graduated in the class of 2008 and now resides in Boston. Earlier pieces included the David A. Powell’s “Loose Marbles,” a wood-work sculpture. Powell graduated with the class of 1968. His sculpture resembles a human brain constructed primarily of wood, marked by the presence of objects such as springs, drill bits and a camera lens, reflecting Powell’s style of using found objects in his work. While there is certainly a lot of variation in style from piece to piece, Farrell noted that all fea-
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tured works of art have gotten very positive reactions this year. “This year’s exhibit is stronger even than past years’ exhibits I think,” Farrell said. “It’s got a lot more creativity, more innovation.” A reception will be held on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 10 a.m.noon and is a part of Homecoming festivities. At 11 a.m., Carroll art faculty will present on the art program, and Associate Professor Amy Cropper will discuss her mixed media drawings, displayed in the Rowe Art Gallery Sept. 7 to Oct. 3. In addition to the Carroll reception on Oct. 2, there will be a tour of three Waukesha art galleries owned by alumni, as part of the Waukesha Art Crawl. Be sure to check out the exhibition which is located on the bottom level of the Rowe Art Gallery and runs from Sept. 18 through Oct. 16.
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