The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Great worries. Great resolve. How communities help
Presented by RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD
Life after a suicide
Little Food Pantries
Finding support is key PAGE 16
Feeding the neighbors PAGE 20
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017 Sponsored Content
Caledonia Senior Living And Memory Care
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aledonia Senior Living and Memory Care is part of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society. Established in 1845, the Society is the oldest 501(c)(3) charity in Illinois. Also known as the CHICAGO SCOTS, the Society is one of the world’s largest Scottish cultural organizations. In addition to offering a range of outstanding elder care services, the Society also offers scholarships and organizes events and initiatives to educate, entertain and promote both traditional and contemporary Scottish culture.
According to Caledonia Senior Living President, Gus Noble, “When we built our new home last year for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss, we realized that we needed one allinclusive name to more accurately represent who we are, what we do and whom we serve.” He added, “The new brand identity embodies the priorities and preferences of our community, it exemplifies our core values and it presents our campus accurately as A Place for Everyone, Where Friends Become Family.
Illinois’ oldest charity is launching a range of dedicated elder-care services known as Caledonia Senior Living and Memory Care. The Illinois Saint Andrew Society, which dates back more than 170 years to 1845, is expanding the scope of the services it provides on its North Riverside campus. The campus accommodates two care homes, the most recent of which started to serve people with Alzheimer’s and memory loss just a few months ago. A range of elder-care options are offered on the campus, including specialized memory care, skilled nursing care, sheltered care and assisted living.
The launch of the new name coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the “rebirth” of the Society’s original Scottish Home. In early 1917, a fire destroyed the Scottish Home. Less than 12 months later, it was rebuilt and reopened with a new, more inclusive commitment to welcome those seniors who were Scottish by birth, by heritage or simply by inclination. “We recognize that there is powerful symbolism in launching our new brand in the centenary of our Home’s incredible recovery,” Noble concluded.
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Power of Collective Giving
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ne raindrop, autumn leaf, snowflake may be beautiful, solitary, or unique. When many of each assemble together in one spot, we can witness full rain barrels ready for use when it stops raining, a leaf pile ready for jumping and laughter, and a big, bold snowman created by a neighborhood of children. All are examples of the power of a collective. When each of us contributes our time or treasure to the mission of a nonprofit organization that is good. When ALL of us contribute, that is power. Giving collectively makes significant change. As you read each of the following stories, think about the mission of each organization. Hear the story of impact. Each story may focus on one individual or small group, but represents many who benefit in the same way. The impact cannot be made by one donor or volunteer alone. It takes all of us – collectively – to bring power and action to the mission of the organizations. Participate in the Season of Giving and be part of the power of collective giving.
Inside This year we focus on three compelling issues. ■
SUICIDE/MENTAL HEALTH Coe family, page 14 Chief Anthony Ambrose, page 15 North Riverside survivor, page 16
KRISTIN C. VOGEN
Thrive & NAMI, page 17 ■
FOOD INSECURITY Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, page 18 The Surplus Project, page 19 Little Food Pantry, page 20 PCC Wellness, page 21
Kristin Carlson Vogen President & CEO Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
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Staff
Editor Lacey Sikora Photographer Alexa Rogals Editorial Design Manager Claire Innes Editorial Designers Javier Govea, Jacquinete Baldwin IT and Digital Developer Mike Risher Advertising Production Manager Philip Soell Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Mark Moroney, Debbie Becker Advertising Director Dawn Ferencak Display Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck, Joe Chomiczewski Media Coordinator Kristen Benford Media Assistant Megan Dickel Inside Sales Representative Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Distribution Coordinator Caleb Thusat Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Associate Publisher Dawn Ferencak Business Manager Joyce Minich ON THE COVER: Lucy Flores, Community Outreach Health Education Manager, talks about the different vegetables available on Sept. 28, at the PCC Wellness Austin Farm in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | Photo by Alexa Rogals
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Caring | Suicide/Mental Health
‘Modeling forward movement’ for oneself and a family
LOSS begins holding support meetings in River Forest
River Forest’s Coe family two years out from son’s death By Lacey Sikora
Kristen notes that it was incredibly beneficial to have friends and family alongside them who did not try to repair the unrepairable. Calling or Marc and Kristen Coe of River Forthe outpouring of love and kindness humbling, est, the suicide of their son Hunter she says “It takes a unique soul to be able to sit in 2015 was an entry into a club they with someone else’s sadness and not be comhad never anticipated joining. At 24, pelled to try to fix it.” Hunter had graduated from college, was For Kristen, it also helped to attend Loving engaged to be married and happily employed. Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) meetKristen recalls, “This was not on our radar ings. Now holding monthly support screen for him. Not to be trite, but groups in River Forest, the group he had the world before him. It was offers meetings for adults and teens quite unexpected.” as well as individual counseling for Other family members had those touched by suicide. Kristen struggled with depression, so Krissays one of the keys to support is ten says they had a fluency with recognizing that everyone’s jourthe language of mental illness, but ney with suicide is different. compares their fluency to learn“Individuals who have lost a ing French in the classroom and loved one to suicide need to be then actually being in France and patient with themselves and allow having to order a meal. “Death by Kristen Coe healing methods to take whatever suicide is so jarring on so many form they need to take.” levels. Fluency doesn’t mitigate For Marc and Kristen, one of the how jarring that experience is for survivors of ways to work through their grief was to honor the loss.” Hunter’s memory, and they reached out to the Over the past two years, the Coes have sought Oak Park River Forest Community Foundaout a variety of methods of dealing with their tion for guidance. Remembering what she calls grief. Coe credits therapy for the family, which Hunter’s huge personality, and his ability to includes Hunter’s three siblings, and long walks engage others with his quick wit and kind heart, with her husband, as well as the presence of they sought a productive way to stake a place for family and friends, with helping them on their his legacy. journey. On what would have been Hunter’s 25th birthday, they founded Be the Boat (www. betheboat.org.) Inspired by a prayer of St. John of the Cross read at Hunter’s memorial service in their family room, Be the Boat not only ties in the idea of suffering and love, but the family’s love of boating. With a handmade canoe hanging from the family room ceiling and a kayak crafted by Hunter on display in the house, boating has a special significance to the Coe family. Hunter taught swim lessons and was a life guard, and the Coes decided that
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“It takes a unique soul to be able to sit with someone else’s sadness and not be compelled to try to fix it.”
PROVIDED
Kristen and Marc Coe
providing swim lessons to at-risk children would be a fitting legacy for Hunter’s memory. Kristen says of the effort, “I don’t expect this will be seed money for an Olympic swimmer, but the idea that a light bulb could go off and this confidence could be parlayed into other experiences – we’re trying to seed positive life experiences for others, which is a lovely legacy for Hunter.” Kristen says that their family will always be irrevocably changed by what happened, but recognizes how important it is for her and Marc to help her children continue to live. “It’s important to Hunter’s siblings and to Marc and me to model forward movement and find joy where possible. We are absorbing our love for Hunter and his death into a narrative that allows our children to find joy and move ahead. They have long lives ahead of them.” Today, she hopes that sharing their story will help those facing grief as well as young adults facing challenges. She keeps in her heart the lovable young boy who set off a fire alarm at Logan Airport as a toddler and kept her on her toes the rest of his life. She says that shortly before his death, he ripped a page out of a magazine with the quote, “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” She says, “It’s a great takeaway. He loved passionately. We still have maraschino cherries and truffle oil in our kitchen because he loved them.”
LOSS, Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide, has recently begun holding meetings in River Forest. There is a monthly support group for adults who have lost a loved one to suicide. There is also a new support group focused just on teens who have faced such a loss. The adult meeting is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the third Monday of the month and is held at the River Forest Community Center, 8020 Madison St., River Forest. The teen group meets on the third Thursday of the month from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and is also held at the River Forest Community Center. Rev. Charles Rubey, a Catholic priest who founded LOSS 40 years ago, will offer a Mass of Remembrance for those who have lost a loved one to suicide. That will be on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. at Ascension Church in Oak Park. LOSS is a program long sponsored by Catholic Charities. These events are free and non-denominational. There is no religious component discussed and all are welcome.
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Caring | Suicide/Mental Health
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Oak Park’s police chief talks about son’s suicide A leader in mental health training for police, Ambrose stunned by death
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By Lacey Sikora
ony Ambrose, Oak Park’s police chief, was no stranger to mental health crises when tragedy struck his own family. Thirteen years ago, when he was a commander on the force, he was one of the first two police officers in the state to attend a Crisis Intervention Training class. He brought what he learned in the week-long training course back to the force, where it became an important tool in helping officers deal with families in crisis due to mental illness or suicide. When his teenage son died by suicide while in high school, Ambrose says he never saw it coming. “I’ve been involved with mental illness education years before my son, and people always say to look for signs. I’ve attended numerous classes, and I never saw it coming.” Noting his son’s ready smile for everyone he met, and the hours they spent together every week driving to and from school and hockey practices, Ambrose says, “You always go through the stages of what did I miss? What were the signs? I couldn’t think of any.”
and has grown more comfortable sharing After the loss of his son, Ambrose his son’s story. He’s spoken at MacNeal turned to counseling and regular church Hospital and the Nineteenth Century attendance to try to find some comfort. Club about his experience He also says that as tough and about the need to seek as it is to admit it, he came out professional help. He to the realization that anythinks that people can find body who commits suicide comfort in talking to somehas some form of mental one who understands what illness. they are going through, When Kimberly Knake, but many also need to be executive director of Metro reminded that it’s alright to Suburban NAMI (National reach out. Alliance of Mental Illness), “People have to underasked Ambrose to speak stand, this is very trauabout his personal experimatic. You need people to ence, he wasn’t sure if the talk to. Somebody who is timing was right. “I always trained and can offer you a thought that I wouldn’t talk Tony Ambrose different outlet can make a about it until I retired. I difference.” decided that I would do it. Ambrose remembers his Your life changes forever son Anthony lovingly, callwhen this happens, but to ing him a polite young man who never me, there’s no other option but to help caused any problems. “He touched a lot make sure that other people don’t get put of lives, and I truly believe he did his job in the same position I’m in.” here. I feel his mission was to touch a lot Today, Ambrose serves on the board of of people. He accomplished that, and he’s Oak Park-based West Suburban NAMI and Oak Park’s Thrive Counseling Center gone.”
“People have to understand, this is very traumatic. You need people to talk to. Somebody who is trained and can offer you a different outlet can make a difference.”
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Caring | Suicide/Mental Health
What’s ahead when a parent dies by suicide? Finding targeted support is key says one daughter
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By Lacey Sikora
or Mary Stimming of North Riverside, her mother’s suicide at age 57 in 1990 came as a surprise in spite of her mother’s diagnosis as bi-polar with psychotic features. Her mother, who worked as a nurse, had been diagnosed just a few years earlier with mental illness. Stimming recalls her mother “had a very graceful way of carrying herself. She was endlessly patient, nurturing, caring and unflappable. The irony was, that among friends and family, she gave such a sense that everything would be alright.” Stimming was 26 at the time and had three younger siblings when her mother died by suicide. She and her sister Maureen later co-authored a book, Before Their Time, Adult Children’s Experience of Parental Suicide. Stimming has been active in the group Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) and also serves on the board of West Suburban NAMI. Stimming got involved with LOSS immediately after the death of her mother. She recalls that she was a Sunday school teacher at
amid the agony.” her church in Hyde Park, Stimming found the and her mother died on a group instrumental in Sunday. When she went her recovery. One of the to the church to unlock founders, Therese Gump the door for classes and coined the motto, “joy try to find someone to fill will return.” Stimming in for her, her pastor put says she found that to be in her touch with Rev. true, “but the sense of Charles Rubey, one of the guilt and responsibility founders of LOSS. is really hard to shake. LOSS was founded in Talking to others really 1979 by Rubey and three helps to normalize it, couples who lost children and you get over your to suicide. These couples sense of impotence.” found that general Today, Stimming is bereavement groups did a staunch advocate not address what they Anne Shields Stimming for those dealing with were going through. mental illness and for Stimming found comfort removing the stigma in being in support associated with mental illness. She says groups with others who had lost a family that mental illness runs in her family. “We member to suicide. have a family vulnerability. It is like heart “Seeing people further in the process, disease. You need to take care of yourself made me ask, ‘Could I be there someday?’ if you have it in your family. Your odds of They had that lightness, that joy that was suicide go dramatically up if you have a gone for me. Not short-changing what you parent who committed suicide. You need went through, but realizing there’s grace
family and friends who can say to you that you need to seek professional help.” Noting that today’s health care environment makes finding mental health care challenging, Stimming says that NAMI is instrumental at the national and state level with working with connecting people to help. Statistics show that suicide rates are rising among the middle-aged, and Stimming cites easy access to guns as part of the problem. “Fifty percent of suicides in America are by gun. In Britain, the majority of suicides used to be by gas from an oven until they changed the toxicity of gas used in homes. The suicide rate plummeted. Suicide is an impulsive act. The best description I’ve heard is that it’s like a glass that is so full of water that it’s convex, and you add one more drop of water, and it just spills over.” Today, she says that everyone knows someone living with mental illness, and she hopes that people will be able to realize that recovery is possible. “Hope is real. All kinds of people are living with mental illness. We need to get rid of the stigma.”
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Caring | Suicide/Mental Health
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Oak Park police lead way as mental health allies Innovative ID program underway at Brooks Middle School
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By Lacey Sikora
he statistics are sobering. According to Kimberly Knake, West Suburban NAMI’s executive director, one quarter of the population will have a mental health condition in their lifetime and one in 10 young people aged 13 to 24 will start to experience symptoms of mental illness, but they will only receive a diagnosis six to eight years after the onset of symptoms. Of those diagnosed, only 50 percent receive treatment. As the first responders in the community, police officers are often the first touch points for people with mental illness. Knake cites Crisis Intervention Team or CIT as one of the important training tools for police officers in Illinois. The collaboration between law enforcement and mental health professionals focuses on treatment versus arrest and incarceration. The 40-hour training class prepares police officers to become crisis intervention officers. Knake stresses that NAMI’s programs are free for police departments and residents and says that mental health training not only keeps officers safe but is a public health issue. NAMI works with the Oak Park, Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police de-
partments on CIT train“We partner with Thrive ing and also offers two 24/7, 365 days a year. A lot other tiers of mental of the time, we encounter health training. Mental someone and have two Health First Aid is an choices: arrest the person eight-hour program for or let them go. Neither is first responders and lay a good choice for someone people, and NAMI can with mental illness. We can also come in to police call Thrive, and they can Tony Ambrose departments to provide help that person.” three-hour training Ambrose says he manprograms on a variety dates that all officers treat of mental health topics, such as working people with dignity and respect. “I don’t with families in crisis or involuntary comtell them to treat people how you want to be mitment forms. treated. I tell them: treat them how you want Knake says that Oak Park has one of the your parents to be treated.” highest concentrations of CIT-trained offices As a result of the department’s emphasis in the western suburbs, if not the state. on mental health awareness, officers are find“Oak Park has always been a champion of ing new ways to reach out to the community. the training. Chief (Anthony) Ambrose, and School Resource Officer Kevin Collins works before him Chief (Rick) Tanskley, they take in Oak Park’s Brooks Middle School and has mental health very seriously.” collaborated with the special education teachAmbrose says that NAMI has been instruers in the junior high school. mental in providing training to his officers, He says, “We thought it was a good idea for and says that 40 officers on the 100-plus roster the students to talk to an officer, and let them are currently state certified and that his goal know a police officer can help them if they’re is to have every officer trained and certified. ever in trouble. They learned they can always go to an officer for help. We’ve brought in nuHe says that Thrive Counseling Center in merous officers and even showed them police Oak Park is also an important piece of the cars, so they know it’s safe to approach us.” puzzle. Ambrose serves on the boards of both Noting that students with diabetes or a nut organizations.
“I don’t tell them to treat people how you want to be treated. I tell them: treat them how you want your parents to be treated.”
allergy might wear a medic alert bracelet, Collins came up with the idea of a green silicone bracelet for students with mental health issues. “We wanted a way to get kids in crisis reunited quickly with their families, but we didn’t want to stigmatize the kids. Everyone from teachers to families to police officers can wear the green bracelets, but if you’re a participant in the program with a mental illness, there is a little metal plate in your bracelet with an ID number in it. Only the watch commander can access the name and contact information associated with each ID.” Collins says within each ID there is a place for emergency contact information as well as likes and dislikes that could help officers de-escalate a specific situation. Funded with grants from the Community Health Board of Oak Park Township, Collins says the bracelets are also helpful for older adults with Alzheimer’s or dementia. The program began in March of this year and is already spreading to other communities and states. For Collins, the benefits are two-fold, “There is the safety component of helping people in the community get the help they need if there’s ever an issue, and they also help with mental health awareness, not only for the police department but for the community as well.”
Resources American Association of Suicidology Website: www.suicidology.org Phone: (202) 237-2280 American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide Website: www.afsp.org Phone: (212) 363-3500 L.O.S.S. (Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide) Website: www.catholiccharities.net/loss Phone: (312) 655-7283 NAMI Metro Suburban Website: www.namimetsub.org Phone: (708) 524-2582 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Website: www.nami.org Phone: (703) 524-7600 SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) Website: www.save.org Phone: 952-946-7998 Suicide Prevention Resource Center Website: www.sprc.org Phone: 877-438-7772 Bibliography/Reading: www.suicidology.org/resources/recommended-reading The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Phone: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Provides access to trained telephone counselors, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Caring | Food Security
Close to home, food insecurity a true problem Nearly 15 percent of Oak Parkers need food support
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By Lacey Sikora
t’s easy to think of hunger as an issue that doesn’t affect the relatively affluent communities in the near west suburbs, but Michele Zurakowski, executive director of the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, says hunger is an issue right here in our neighborhoods. “It really does exist here in much larger proportions than people know. The most current reported data, which is for 2016, shows that in Oak Park, over 7,000 individuals are considered food insecure. That’s a 14 percent rate. Even in River Forest, that rate is 5 percent. Hunger is one of those things that you just don’t recognize just by looking at someone.” While there is state-sponsored support in the form of programs like SNAP, Zurakowski says it doesn’t reach everybody in need. “For instance, SNAP benefits are available to most people except able-bodied adults without dependents. If you are in that category, you can only get SNAP if you work 20 hours a week. It can be hard in this environment for everyone to get those hours.”
Photos by Alexa Rogals/Staff Photographer
Dietitian Bri Kellogg (above) hands out turkey pumpkin chili and talks with attendees on Oct. 11, during a nutrition education program at the Oak Park and River Forest Food Pantry at First United Church on Lake Street in Oak Park. (Below) Volunteer Claudia Stepkowski, of Franklin Park, makes turkey pumpkin chili. budgeting and analysis of food. At the food pantry, the most We just got a grant from Walmart visible program is the pantry to support these two programs.” itself. People can “shop” the The food pantry also helps to pantry once a month and receive fill in gaps for at-risk populations. between 60 and 70 pounds of food, During the summer, the pantry which averages 54 meals. For collaborates with Oak Park and Shirley McNutt, an Oak Park resiRiver Forest High School and the dent, the pantry helps fill a gap. Oak Park Education Foundation “I sometimes fall short with to provide lunches for children groceries, and I use the pantry Michele Zurakowski who qualify for free lunches durto make ends meet. They have a ing the school year. The pantry variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, also partners with Oak Park and milk and eggs. I like that it also River Forest Townships to proassists with classes. I went to a vide groceries to Meals on Wheels particinutrition class at Pete’s Fresh Market with pants, who only receive five meals per week a dietician. She showed me the authenticity from Meals on Wheels and often need more of food -- how you have to read the labels to assistance. know what’s in the food.” McNutt says she doesn’t always need to Zurakowski says that education is another go to the food pantry, but there are many part of the mission of the pantry that people months when it is necessary. “I feel grateful might not know about. “We have a Nutrition to have the food pantry. Plenty of people in Education program run by dietitians and volunteers to teach clients basic nutrition Oak Park use the service. I might not see through discussions and cooking demos. them, and they might not see me, but we Our Cooking Matters class is about in-depth all benefit.”
“Hunger is one of those things that you just don’t recognize just by looking at someone.”
Community of Caring | Food Security
Salvaging food and, better yet, making connections Surplus Project, a Big Idea that keeps growing
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By Lacey Sikora
“It felt like a good fit. First, it’s a charitable project. It is good for our adolescents and young adults to have a community project to be a part of. Also, it teaches empathy and greater values.” Frank says that in November 2016, Riveredge began working exclusively with providing meals to Oak Park’s Mills Park Tower, a senior apartment high rise, and recently added Austin-based New Moms to the mix. His group works with the cafeteria staff to package and transport the food, but
n 2016, the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry won the inaugural Big Idea contest, an innovation of the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation. The food pantry’s transformative idea was the Surplus Project, which aimed to connect local institutions with excess prepared food at the end of each day with local charities in need of meals. The $50,000 grant was used to expand the program which repackages food from local businesses and schools and redistributes it to non-profits. Lauren Draftz, the nutrition program assistant, says the program is designed to tackle food insecurity and food waste simultaneously. Currently, the program has five donors: Riveredge Hospital, Rush Oak Park Hospital, Dominican University, Oak Park and River Forest High School and Loretto Hospital. Non-profit recipients include Mills Park Tower, New Moms, West Cook YMCA and Youth Outreach Services, an after-school program in Austin. The Surplus Project beFILE 2015 gan in 2015, and provided about 2,000 meals its first John McKillop E.R manager helps in the efforts with The year. Draftz says in the last Surplus Project at Rush Oak Park Hospital. Nurses and fiscal year, the program other employees at Rush Oak Park Hospital helped package rescued 12,700 meals and extra food that is left over from the cafeteria of the hospital diverted 14,000 pounds in 2015. They partnered up with Oak Park River Forest of waste from landfills. Food Pantry in order to give the food out to those in need. All meals are repackaged following the health and safety guidelines set by the relationship has grown beyond just the the Oak Park health department. food. For a small fee of $60 per month, per site, “The community interaction has been donor institutions can re-package food in great. Our guys are starting a game night new containers with labelled ingredients. with the residents of Mills Tower.” Draftz says the only cost is packaging and Frank says that his residential group that the Food Pantry supplies each of their donors with the containers for the first year. include young men ages 16 to 21 and that all come from backgrounds of trauma and Donors report positively about the effects abuse and have made mistakes themselves. of the program on their own bottom lines, “We are a temporary home for these men she says. “They tell us they’ve become for one to one-and-a-half years. Some of aware of the sheer amount of waste, and them are on parole or wards of the state. It’s they can tailor what they order based on really empowering because these are kids what they’ve learned.” who are often the recipients of charity, but For Riveredge partnering with the Surto get to be the givers and not the takers is plus Project has had positive results. Ben really good for them.” Frank, residential services director, says,
The Landmark, November 1, 2017
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
Community of Caring | Food Security
From abundance, Little Food Pantries feed neighbors Brookfield and Riverside lead way in micro food initiative
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By Lacey Sikora
nspired by the Little Free Library movement which saw small libraries popping up on lawns throughout the suburbs, local charitable organizations are now creating Little Food Pantries that operate under a similar premise: if you have extra, leave it behind; if you are in need, take something for free. On the 3400 block of Grand Boulevard, the Brookfield-Riverside Rotary Club opened a little food pantry in April. Rev. Karl Sokol of Compassionate UMC, who is also a Rotary member, tends the pantry. He says the project came out of a desire to look at needs in the community differently.
“We can make better use of our little plots of yard to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. We can target food scarcity by giving extras to our friends and neighbors.” Karl Sokol
“Instead of talking about food insecurity, why don’t we focus on food abundance? We can make better use of our little plots of yard to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. We can target food scarcity by giving extras to our friends and neighbors.” Sokol’s high school friend, Oak Brook resident Bill Steinhauer, donated his services to build a sturdy wooden cabinet on top of a four-by-four post. He then coated it with marine varnish to protect it from the elements and added a sliding bolt closure. At first, Sokol wasn’t sure what the response to the pantry would be. “We started with a little trepidation. Someone might use it or abuse it, but it’s been a nice, steady flow of users.” The little pantry is used for canned goods and non-perishable items, and Sokol says fresh fruits and vegetables are often left underneath the pantry itself. Located next to the community garden, which has about 40 members, Sokol says that the pantry has benefitted from robust community support. People donate and take canned pet food as well as human food, he says. On the Brookfield Connections Facebook page, he sees people post about buying something for the pantry, so he knows there is
Photos by Alexa Rogals/Staff Photographer
Canned foods and non perishable items are seen on Oct. 9, at the Little Free Food Pantry in Brookfield.
community interest in keeping the pantry supplied. What he likes best about the project is that it’s easily replicable and very low maintenance. Another little food pantry popped up in August at Riverside Presbyterian Church at 116 Barrypoint Road. Located in a well-lit area outside of the office of the church, the pantry offers free food and personal care items 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tara Gregus, a church member, brought the idea to the Mission Committee, and the group embraced it as part of their larger mission to address issues of hunger. The group regularly gathers supplies for area shelters and food pantries throughout the Chicago area and provides and serves meals at the Boulevard in Chicago.
Those interested in donating can bring items to the church office or simply put smaller items in the pantry itself. Suggested items include travel size shampoo,
body wash, soap, individually wrapped toilet tissue, feminine hygiene products, baby food, granola bars, and canned foods with pop lids.
Community of Caring | Food Security
The Landmark, November 1, 2017
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An urban vegetable garden flowers in Austin
PCC teams with Botanic Garden, community to grow fresh produce
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By Lacey Sikora
n Austin, a garden and a farm stand are providing more than just fruits and vegetables to a community in need. Across the street from the PCC Austin Family Health Center, the PCC Austin Farm Stand partners with the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest program, and maintains an urban garden which grows produce for the farm stand. Lucy Flores is the community outreach manager at PCC Austin Family Health Center. She says the programs were much needed in the neighborhood. “According to the USDA, the Austin community is a food dessert with a scarcity of access to fresh fruits and vegetables.” Several years ago, PCC Austin thought about the best way to utilize an adjacent empty city lot and joined forces with the Chicago Botanic Garden to found a growing space. For Flores, it was an appropriate tie in to PCC’s mission of wellness.
Photos by Alexa Rogals/Staff Photographer
Lucy Flores, Community Outreach Health Education Manager, walks between beds of vegetables on Sept. 28, at the PCC Wellness Austin Farm in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. “It’s hard to get to the store to get fresh veg“We wanted to extend our message beyond etables. I love to go and buy corn, green beans, the four walls of our clinic. PCC Wellness is green tomatoes, okra and squash. I wash and a federally qualified health center and our freeze it too because in the winter I won’t have mission is to provide quality medical and those fresh vegetables.” behavioral health service to low-income, She says that one attraction is the quality of under-resourced and under-served communithe produce she finds. “To me, there’s a differties. We have on-site WIC services for new ence. You can really smell the vegetables and moms and infants, and in-house dental care fruit. A peach smells like a peach should smell. also. Nutrition is a part of all of this.” It looks better than what is at the store and cost The farm stand is located at 330 N. Lotus better too.” Ave. and in 2017 was open Tuesdays between Young also says that the sense of comJune 6 and Oct. 31 from 12 to 5 p.m. and one munity keeps her coming back. “At the farm Saturday a month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. stand, I strike up a conversation and meet On top of providing access to affordable, people. We talk about recipes and what we local and organically-grown produce, the Lucy Flores cook. Sometimes I try something that is new farm stand also serves as a model of urban to me, like kale or Swiss chard. I talk to just agriculture and engages the comabout everybody there. Every time I go, I munity in volunteer farming and learn something different. There are all kinds of different educational workshops. Flores notes that many customers of the farm people there.” stand are PCC patients and residents of the neighborhood. She also says that this year, they are seeing a lot more seniors shopping at the farm stand. OPRF Food Pantry “For us, this is great. Sometimes we overlook Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry is located in the lower level of that demographic. Seniors also really need access First United Church of Oak Park to fresh food. Throughout your life cycle you Website: www.oprffoodpantry.org benefit from good nutrition. Plus, seniors are getAddress: 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301 ting out to the farm stand and socializing, which Phone: (708) 386-1324 is good for them. From a community standpoint, research shows that the presence of positive Urban Gardening- PCC Wellness Austin Farm Stand activity deters negative activity, so there are a lot Website: www.pccwellness.org/produce-marketof benefits to having the farm stand here.” Address: 330 N. Lotus Avenue, Chicago, IL 60644 Dorothy Young is a patient and neighbor of the Phone: Lucy Flores at (773) 413-1240 clinic who started shopping there this summer Email: LFlores@pccwellness.org and says that once she saw what they offered, she made sure to go every Tuesday.
“From a community standpoint, research shows that the presence of positive activity deters negative activity, so there are a lot of benefits to having the farm stand here.”
Resources Food Insecurity
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The Landmark, November 1, 2017
g n i c u Introd
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