PVM Foundation Your Giving Matters Holiday 2022

Sadly, Helen Crocker’s story is not unique. At 73 years old Helen could not find housing she could afford. Regretfully, she ended up living in her car in a parking lot of a local grocery store.

Your donation offered Helen a new path. A path that included a new home, new friends, new found dignity, and new hope for her future.

She is looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year with her new family at The Village of Warren Glenn. She’ll be celebrating with a festive, fully catered Christmas dinner. This wonderful event is provided by your generous donation. Thank you, donors!

Below is Helen’s story from longtime Southfield resident, to homeless older adult. Your donation changed her life. Such a wonderful Christmas present.

Helen Crocker’s life was turned upside down after the sudden deaths of her husband and father. Mourning the passing of the two most important people in her life was even more difficult as Helen faced her new reality.

Helen’s financial situation was grim. She was left with very, very little income and an apartment she could no longer afford. Furthermore, Helen did not have any local family support. The closest relative was a brother in Florida.

“My husband, my dad, and I all lived together. It was wonderful. They handled the money matters. I was shocked to learn how little I really had on my own,” said Helen. A very small Veteran’s pension from her husband and a meager amount of social security was all she had to live on.

As the seasons turned from summer to fall, Helen found herself sleeping in her car during those cold autumn nights. “I lived in the parking lot of local grocery story. The staff there were good to me.”

Helen lived in her car for several months unsure of her future. Because of your donations she is spending the holidays in her Village of Warren Glenn home in Warren.

Things couldn’t get any worse, right?! Well they did. Her car needed significant repairs. Years of deferred maintenance on the car came due.

As winter approached things needed to change quickly. She found temporary residence at a shelter where she learned about PVM.

Helen’s husband was a proud Veteran. PVM has a Veteran’s preference program, which allowed her to move into The Village of Warren Glenn immediately and have subsidized housing she could really afford. Without this preference Helen would be looking at a 2-year wait. A wait time she did not have.

What happens to others like Helen who are looking for low income/subsidized housing but are not Veterans? “It’s tough, they have to look at other options. A family member, a hotel, or something else. Not a good situation. The waitlists are way too long. It is so heartbreaking,” states Stacey Klooster, Administrator of the Village of Warren Glenn.

Donors to the rescue! Because you make the decision to donate, PVM is in the process of adding 1,200 new affordable housing options in Pontiac, Westland, Port Huron, and Flint. 1,200 new housing options for someone just like Helen who faces desperate times.

Helen has found her groove and is loving having a place to call home. She has made many friends and has been involved in the Village Rummage Sale, participated in three events at The Village Victory Cup competition, and helped out at the Resident Thanksgiving Dinner. She’s looking forward to the Holidays with her new family and in her new home thanks to your donations.

Your donation turned Helen’s life around. Merry Christmas!

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To make a donation, visit pvmf.org or use the reply envelope enclosed with this newsletter.

HELEN WITH WARREN GLENN ADMINISTRATOR, STACEY KLOOSTER.

MOVED OUT OF OUR HOME AND INTO A HOTEL. I WAS DESPERATE. THEN MY MONEY RAN OUT IN THE FALL OF 2021. MY CAR WAS MY ONLY OPTION.”

YOUR DONATION IN ACTION A BRAND NEW COMMERCIAL KITCHENBRINGS JOY TO OLDER ADULTS IN HARBOR SPRINGS

The Holiday Season means delicious home-cooked meals and traditional family recipes passed down from generations. Mmm, Mmm GOOD! Very soon those lovely smells of home-cooked meals will permeate The Friendship Center, located at and in collaboration with The Village of Hillside in Harbor Springs, year-round. Food will be cooked from scratch on-site instead of the prepackaged food currently being brought in for residents and community members. The Friendship Center’s meal program helps address the nutritional and social needs of the community’s older adults by bringing people together to share in culinary creations and conversation.

Because of your donation a brand new commercial kitchen is being constructed. Everything from new commercial grade appliances, a new hood, upgraded electrical/plumbing, and much more will be a welcome addition.

This commercial kitchen will be the new hub for the campus and also the surrounding community. There is already an expanded dining area, perfect for large gatherings, that will now be centered around quality food and fellowship.

As an added bonus, The Village of Hillside will host cooking classes that will focus on cooking from scratch for a group or one person. It’s a great way to bring people together and bring fresh, healthy options to everyone.

This new kitchen will bring joy to many for years to come!

Your donation put into ACTION

Thank you for making this happen.

Joyce Greenier (L) and July Beyrwa (R), residents at Hillside get together for tacos and conversation.

Jen (from the Friendship Center) with Community member Cecilia Goldsmith and her daughter Coleen Sylvain.

PILLOWS, SHEETS OF CARDBOARD, AND TATTERED CAR SUNSHADES LINE THE WINDOWS TO

MATT PRIVACY AND A MEASURE OF WARMTH

IN HIS HOME.

Car shades because the 79-year-old lives in a dark blue 1998 Ford minivan. Matt parks next to a supermarket around the corner from the duplex he called home for a decade. He had to leave when his property owner died. An investor bought the two-unit complex and renovated it beyond what he could pay. Matt’s primary income is $1,200 a month in social security benefits.

“That’s how I became homeless,” Matt said. “I’m just stuck. Like a lot of people.”

Matt’s story is familiar. Many older adults may become homeless due to a lack of affordable housing. If housing is available, it may be in neighborhoods where they are not safe.

When you give today, you will help increase the amount of affordable housing available for an older adult. Your donation will help build 1,200 units. These units will benefit over 2,000 older adults each year.

The Campaign For the Ages will transform four existing PVM Campuses to offer more affordable housing.

LEGACY LIVING LEADS TO LEGACY GIVING

Meet

PVM Legacy Society member Elaine Walton. Elaine has lived at the Village of East Harbor (VEH) in Chesterfield Township for 11+ years. She has been active in the Residents’ Association and serves on the Village of East Harbor Board of Trustees.

But, her family’s legacy at the Village goes back to the very beginning. Elaine’s mom, Mildred, moved to VEH in 1978. She was one of the very first residents to call the Village home. Mildred had a wonderful life at VEH for 22 years before her passing in 2000.

In 2012, Elaine followed in her mom’s footsteps and made VEH her home. She moved to the community because it offered peace of mind. It’s about the security, the support, and the friendships she’s made. “Knowing that if I run into any kind of a problem – physical, mental, financial, along the way, there will be support for me from the Village.”

In 2016, Elaine joined the PVM Legacy Society when she informed the PVM Foundation that a gift to PVM was included in her Will. Her gift would be a percentage of her estate. Elaine and her late husband wanted to share whatever remained in the estate with their three children, their church, and PVM.

Elaine would like her gift to support the VEH Benevolence Fund. She became aware of the Village’s Benevolence Fund because her mom benefited from it. For the first twenty years, Mildred was fine with the limited resources she had.

”My impression of when people leave things to a place that it is always large sums of money. It wasn’t until later that I understood that legacy giving didn’t necessarily need to be that. A little bit from a lot of people goes a long way.”

However, when she needed to move to Assisted Living, the costs increased, and her resources depleted. The fund helped support Mildred’s needs for the last few months of her life.

Elaine said “knowing that my mom was not going to be asked to leave was a great relief.”

Thank you Elaine for leaving a legacy and remembering PVM’s Village of East Harbor in your Will.

Will you join Elaine in the PVM Legacy Society? Please consider adding PVM to your Will. Your support will create possibilities for the next generation of older adults. Have questions? Want to learn more about how you can help secure a brighter future for older adults? Contact Devon Meier, Director of Planned Giving, at 947.247.0995 or dmeier@pvm.org.

PAUL J. MILLER, CFRE, PRESIDENT, PVM FOUNDATION

A Christmas Present to Each Donor

What Do You Call a Present That is Filled with Cheering, Celebrating, and a Little Friendly Competition??? The Answer is the Village Victory Cup!

The Village Victory Cup is a favorite day for PVM residents that many prepare for year-round. I love this day too!

Thank you for donating to the PVM Foundation, so the 2022 Village Victory Cup could occur IN PERSON and virtually (an event solely funded by your donation).

This was 17th Annual Village Victory Cup, which is a competition between PVM Villages - think of a Field Day on major STEROIDS for older adults. Did I mention that there is a coveted trophy that passes between Villages?

Watching the residents all decked out in their team colors, (even a 102 year old!), cheering and competing HARD in Balloon Volleyball, Hoop Shoot, Kickaroo, Wellness Walk, the Puzzler, and much more was something to behold. What a wonderful gift to be together again!

Wellness Walk &hoop shoot!

THANK YOU DONORS

Donors, thank you for your wonderful Christmas present! Without you there are no gold medals won, no team bonding, no tears of joy and, of course no Village Victory Cup won by the residents of the Village of Westland.

Merry Christmas to you, the kind and thoughtful donor.

Paul J. Miller, CFRE President, PVM Foundation

matters GIVING

A publication of the Presbyterian Villages of Michigan Foundation. For more information, questions or story ideas, please contact Paul Miller, at 248-281-2045 or email pmiller@pvm.org.

FULTON, RESIDENT AT THE VILLAGE OF ST. MARTHA’S

BRENDA