Date: March 5, 2021
To: Misericordia Family Association
From: Michael Diaz and Tina Stendardo; Community Day Services Administrators
Dear Misericordia Families,
We hope you all are well and staying safe. We wanted to provide you with an update on the re-opening of our Community Day Services (CDS).
Dear SIBs,
Thank you for tuning in to our video presentation for our Annual Sibling Meeting yesterday. In case you missed it, below are the important links for this year:
In a year marked by unprecedented events and drastic interruptions to daily routines, we continue to be struck by the resilience, creativity, perseverance, and generosity of our Misericordia community. Not only does the staff continue to show up for their shifts during severe snowstorms – our windows today look out on snow flying up, down, backwards and sideways – but their presence is more than just showing up. They continuously bring their dedication, creativity and express their love to our residents. We are so thankful to them.
Our families are also making a profound difference to our community. We are grateful beyond measure for the continued expressions of support, generosity, and thoughtfulness of so many MFA families. Thank you. We simply couldn’t have made it through last year and into this new year without you and this incredible community.
by Linda Buchalo
An important part of the Community Day Services program, the Misericordia art department offers residents the chance to explore various forms of art. If you’ve attended the Artist in All event at the Art Institute, you know that Misericordia residents are bursting with creativity and that the staff in the art department have a knack for bringing out that talent.
After reviewing the current MFA Bylaws, the Bylaws committee has made a few recommended changes. In addition to stylistically reformatting the document, the two most significant changes are:
1. Expanded financial controls designed to ensure that the MFA financial processing and record keeping are fully transparent and at the highest standards of not-for-profit organizations.
2. Specific approval of online meetings and elections.
Act now to protect employment opportunities for our loved ones with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities!
IT WILL ONLY TAKE YOU A MINUTE
Congress is currently considering a bill that will phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This provision has been in existence for over 80 years and has promoted employment of individuals with significant intellectual disabilities. The phase out of Section 14(c) will cause the closure of many work programs operated by non-profit agencies and designed for individuals with significant disabilities. Without these work programs thousands of men and women across the country will lose their jobs. Many of these men and women cannot obtain or retain competitive employment at the minimum wage. For those who do have competitive employment, it is typically for only a few hours a week. The non-profit work programs employ these men and women for the balance of their week.
Please Click here to send an email to your two Senators and your Representative asking them to remove the portions of the bill that will phase out Section 14(c).
Dear Siblings,
Please save the date for Sunday, February 28 for our Annual Sibling meeting. Due to COVID regulations, our meeting this year will be a pre-recorded virtual presentation that will be emailed to you on that date.
We so wish we were able to gather together as we have in years past. However, that is still not possible. We thought it would be important to hold to tradition by keeping the last sunday in February for our Annual Meeting.
Dear Friends,
I hope you have had a healthy and happy start to the New Year. We continue to be blessed here at Misericordia and know how much we appreciate your friendship and generous support. I am excited to share with you that our good friends at Evergreen Kia have gifted us with a new Kia Niro EX (Runway Red - Valentine's Day gift??) to raise funds via a Winter Car Raffle for our programs. Evergreen Kia has been our Family Festival car sponsor too for the past 20 years, but during this challenging time they wanted to help us even more by gifting a second vehicle to us. The winning raffle ticket will be pulled on Friday, March 19. The winner will have the option to select either the Kia Niro OR a $15,000 cash prize.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking on: WINTER CAR RAFFLE REGISTRATION. For any questions, please call Lois Gates at 773-273-4160, or email her at
Thank you for your consideration, thank you to Evergreen Kia, and good luck to all. Please keep us in your prayers, and know that we continue to ask God's blessings on you and yours.
Sincerely,
Sister Rosemary Connelly
Executive Director
The Misericordia Heart of Mercy family has much to celebrate! February 4th marked the 100th Anniversary of Misericordia!!
In 1921, Misericordia first opened its doors as a maternity hospital for women of meager means, at 2916 West 47th Street on the Southside of Chicago. A little more than 30 years later in 1954, Misericordia recognized an even greater need in society—helping young children with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities. Our very own Sr. Rosemary Connelly came to Misericordia South in 1969. And in 1976, Sr. Rosemary along with 35 staff and 39 residents took a leap of faith and moved to our current campus at 6300 N. Ridge. From this humble, yet noble, beginning grew Misericordia as it is known today.
We remain #MisericordiaStrong!
Watch A Century of Compassionate Care Video here
by Kathryn Moery
Last August, Misericordia welcomed Katie Peterson as the director of the fourteen CILA homes located in Chicago and neighboring suburbs. What you may not know is that Katie has grown up with Misericordia. Misericordia runs in her family. Her husband, Evan is the QIDP at Shannon. They, along with their two young children, George and Joanna, lived at the Eisenberg home for three years. Her son was born on Family Fest day in 2016 and baby Joanna’s first home was Eisenberg. The Peterson family now lives a block away from Eisenberg, and remains close to the Eisenberg ladies.
Katie began with Misericordia as a volunteer while attending Loyola University. She moved into an internship at the Shannon Apartments during her senior year before graduating with a degree in Human Services. As an intern, she worked in programming and with the Shannon Apartments’ clubs. After a year in Boston, Katie returned to Misericordia where she worked as the assistant QIDP in the Rafferty Home and in Mercy Glen, before serving as the QIDP at Eisenberg for four years. Before her promotion to CILA Director, she was the Rafferty QIDP for four years.
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