Gay\nMontague began our program with a community-building exercise. She asked\nus to visualize that our home was no longer safe, that we had to leave for\nissues of physical or emotional safety, and could take nothing with us. With\nall items lost, we were asked to feel our emotions, and put a name to them. Then\nvisualize that someone comes and offers friendship, food, and a safe place. Again\nwhat did we feel? She summarized that despair is replaced with a home,\nloneliness gives way to comfort, and loss turns to gratitude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cindy Barletta, Executive\nDirector, Chadwick Residence<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chadwick\nResidence provides supportive transitional housing to single women or women\nwith one or two children for up to two years. Cindy has spent over twenty years\nworking in the area of human services. She was formerly with the Salvation Army\nand also has worked with Child and Family Services. As a mother of two teenage\ndaughters (one accompanied her to the meeting), her concerns for women\u2019s issues\nare paramount. Chadwick Residence is the local agency that we will be\nsponsoring at the March 19th International Dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cindy\nexplained that she has been at Chadwick Residence only since April, and she\nwears many hats. Since the staff is small, she is responsible for public\nrelations and publicity, trash management, crisis intervention, and just about\nanything that comes up. But this hands-on approach is the main reason she wanted\nthe job, as previous positions have left her feeling too distant from those\nthat she was trying to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chadwick\nResidence was opened in September 1986 and and was named for former board\nmember Axilda Chadwick. It provides supportive transitional housing for up to\ntwo years, affording opportunities for safe housing, self improvement,\nparenting skills training, career guidance, and continuing education. Referrals\ncome primarily from battered women\u2019s shelters, homeless shelters, and a variety\nof other social service agencies, churches, and schools. Some of these women\nhave been released from the Justice Center or prison. The Residence is a former\nconvent, with space for 12 single women, and 5 women with one or two children\n(though these small families still share a single, larger room). The Residence\nhas a small playroom and some community living space, but the home is crowded,\nand staff becomes family to its residents. The emotional support aspect of\nChadwick is essential, helping women make the changes they need to make; without\nit these women quickly revert to chronic homelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Case\nmanagement is comprehensive, not only connecting with Medicaid and public\nassistance, job training and doctors, but also helping the women address the\nquestions \u201cHow did I get here?\u201d and \u201cWhat needs to happen?\u201d The staff helps to\nfind resources and guides the women to take the necessary steps to\nindependence. Cindy provided some statistics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chadwick\nResidence assists with in-house group programs that provide opportunities for\nresidents to support each other. There are educational programs, speakers, and\nliving skills lessons. They do all of this with an annual budget of $270,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chadwick\nis slowly adding permanent supportive living in 12 apartments in the community.\nWhen they left Chadwick, the residents had frequently been overwhelmed by independence\n– friends and boyfriends took advantage of them and disrupted their lives. With\nthis new program, they can call for on-going support. HUD provides the funding\nfor this. Foster families or mother mentors are needed by many of these women\nwho are frightened by their new independence. A long-term goal is another\nbuilding of efficiency apartments with 24\/7 staff for families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How\ncan WTB help? Tutors are needed. Many of the women are working on GED programs,\nbut have low reading levels or can\u2019t do math, can\u2019t even help their children\nwith homework. Chadwick is trying to make the rooms more welcoming and would\nlike renovation sponsors. A variety of household items are needed for when\nwomen move out to apartments: furniture (particularly small kitchen tables) to\npots and small appliances to bathroom cleaner. If you have something to offer\nand can store it until it is needed that is even better as Chadwick has no\nstorage. Evening help would be greatly appreciated, including cooking\nassistance. Since Chadwick has only a bare minimum website, help with setting\none up would be wonderful. Child care volunteers are needed as day care through\nsocial services is very restricted, and not available for doctor appointments,\ntreatment groups or simply grocery shopping. Jan Garman invited Cindy to list Chadwick\u2019s\nneeds on our listserv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nancy\nSullivan Murray knew Mrs. Axilda Chadwick and worked with her. She called her\nthe foster mother of many social services in Onondaga County. She was\nresponsible for the library at Loretto retirement home, programs dealing with\nelder abuse, and women and children services. Chadwick Residence was started\nthrough the efforts of several women in the community who then named the\nresidence in honor of Axilda and asked her to become a board member. It was\nseen as a safe place for women emerging from crisis at Vera House. Axilda was a\nformidable woman, standing up to mayors and congressmen. She saw the Residence\nas diverting a disaster for these women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nresponse to a question from Danya Wellmon, Cindy said that diversity of faiths\nare respected and supported by the staff and residents, including a woman who\nhas recently left who followed Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cindy\nexplained that Chadwick is part of Supportive Housing Network. Members can ask\nhow other groups deal with specific issues. Funding sources also provide\nfeedback between organizations. Since there are several helping organizations\nproviding housing and shelter services, it is usually not necessary to turn\npeople away, but there is frequent turnover due to relapses of addictions, or\npeople not doing assigned chores, etc. However, there is clearly not enough\nlow-income housing in Onondaga County. Not every homeless person is counted, as\npeople go from couch to couch. Compared to twenty years ago, the current\npopulation at Chadwick is less able, mental illness is more prevalent, drug and\nalcohol problems have increased, and social services and public assistance are\nless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cindy\nis excited about a fund raising project called \u201csecond helpings.\u201d Mimi Flack at\nSU read an article about this technique: a hostess invites friends to a covered\ndish meal with a staff member from the target charity invited to speak. Everyone\nbrings a dish to pass and writes a check for the amount that they would have\nspent on a restaurant meal. Substantial amounts have been raised this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina Garcia, Director of\nVolunteer and Youth Services, Onondaga-Oswego Chapter of the American Red Cross<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina\nwas formerly with Loretto as a Geriatric Case Manager and also worked in the\narea of Outreach for Vera House. Her work with the Red Cross has encompassed\ndisaster services, working with fire clients and as an Emergency Case Manager. Nina\nhas also been instrumental in coordinating Red Cross liaison efforts with the\nArmed Forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Referring to Gay\u2019s guided meditation, Nina reflected on the hundreds of fire victims in our own community who have often been left with nothing. The Red Cross vehicle is always recognized and appreciated as the source of hugs, coffee, and assistance tailored to the need. Also, over one million people have been helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Red Cross has served hurricane victims 49.5 million meals, and the number is growing. Shelter has been provided for 74,000 families and 210,000 volunteers were mobilized. Locally, Syracuse has sent 50 trained volunteers to help hurricane victims. And Syracuse has received 150 voluntary evacuees from the Gulf area for whom the Red Cross has made local referrals and helped with resettlement, at a cost of $100,000. The American Red Cross CEO recently wrote a letter addressing the weaknesses and strengths of the Red Cross during the Katrina crisis. This is an on-going process of learning to improve from every experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina reviewed the Red Cross response to recent international disasters: Southeast Asian tsunami, Mideastern earthquake and wars. She explained the international tracings program that operates during natural disasters, political upheavals, and after terrorism attacks. Because the Red Cross is politically neutral, it is trusted worldwide to go into displacement camps and get messages out to family members. Recently Syracuse Red Cross received 24 letters from the Republic of the Congo to be delivered to persons in our area. In the wake of Katrina, many thousands of families have been reunited through the Red Cross website. (Kafi Ahmad told us that she had come to Syracuse with the help of the Red Cross)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina\nsaid that many local Red Cross clubs are raising money for the measles\ninitiative started five years ago. African children under the age of five die\nmore often from measles than from malnutrition and HIV\/AIDS combined. Inoculation\ncosts 80 cents per dose. Students in Oswego schools had a Kiss the Pig contest\nto raise money. Salem Hyde Elementary School is involved as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina\nshowed a brief video showing the Red Cross role in fire response, blood\ndonation, disaster preparedness, measles inoculation in Africa, facilitating\ncommunication between separated loved ones, swimming lessons, help with\ncommunication during military deployment, HIV \/ AIDS education, community\nsafety, CPR classes, and training of volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diane Johnson, Red Cross volunteer recently deployed to Baton Rouge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Diane has been an educator for 39 years from preschool through college and is a seasoned world traveler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Diane was housed in one of the best shelters, a church recreation center (aptly named Our Lady of Mercy), where 40 volunteers each had an army cot and a chair. Lights were out at 10 p.m. and on at 6 a.m. Headquarters were in an old Walmart, with 10 departments including transportation, security, health services, family services, disaster assessment, accounting and Homeland Security. She stressed that a national headquarters with communication, computers and all office facilities had to be set up overnight, with accommodations for hundreds of volunteers to eat and sleep not just in Baton Rouge but a number of other cities. The logistics were incredible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She\nwas less impressed with FEMA, who were spending money recklessly; she felt we\nneed to hold government accountable for the no-bid contracts they are awarding.\nShe felt that our local media has not reported well, and she relies on foreign\nnewspapers (including Chinese) and the BBC website for news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diane\u2019s\nRed Cross job in Baton Rouge was to work with applications by affected\nfamilies. These people were an hour to an hour and a half away from the coast,\nbut still had trees that landed across their homes, or water damage, or roofs\nblown off. On her day off she went to New Orleans\u2019 Ninth Ward. She said the\nhouses were there, but the neighborhood was abandoned, the high water marks\nwere above her head, and black mold and mud were everywhere. She compared the\nsilence – no dogs, or birds – to Dachau, the Nazi extermination camp where\nthere were no more people. In the debris she found household papers congealed\ninto a soggy mass, and photos whose ink had run into modern abstract art\npatterns. She described the utter devastation of the Gulf Coast, where the\nfirst four blocks inland have been scoured of everything but concrete pads, and\nall debris is deposited on and in the 5th, 6th, and 7th blocks or out into the\nGulf of Mexico. Parts of the coastal city of Waveland, Mississippi, are simply\ngone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe past Diane worked in Appalachia, but in the Gulf she saw poverty as bad as\nor worse than she has seen there or anywhere in the world. Many families still\nlive on land their families have occupied since plantation days. Louisiana\nhealth and safety laws do not apply to these lands, and sanitation was\nnon-existent. She described the people as having poverty of education, of role\nmodels, of health (based on generations of malnutrition and lack of medical and\ndental care) and poverty of opportunities. Residents see this as the way the\nfamily has always lived. Well-to-do-people were claiming assistance for damage\nto their homes\u2019 exterior, but soon the Red Cross would consider only interior\ndamage. Those living in extreme poverty received help regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\n21 days Diane was in 200 to 300 homes. She said that the people have lived such\ndifficult lives that they look old even when they aren\u2019t. Everyone should look\ninto the eyes of poverty and understand. Referring to Cindy\u2019s talk, Diane said\nthe situation is the same here in the Syracuse community. She stressed the\ndifference between a hand out and a hand up. She felt Habitat for Humanity is\nin the forefront of helping people do something for themselves. Diane concluded\nby asking us this Thanksgiving to be thankful for family, friends, health, and\nthe opportunities available to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diane\nsaid that estimates have been made about the amount of debris to be hauled\naway. It will need enough 50-foot dumpster trucks to encircle the earth and\noverlap from New York to California just to clean up the Ninth Ward. At the\nrate of 100 per day, It will take three years to haul away the Ninth Ward\u2019s\ndestroyed autos. The responsible agencies are trying to be ecological by\nproviding sorting places where TVs and refrigerators are separated out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because\nthe national attention span is 30 seconds, the results of Hurricanes Katrina\nand Rita will be with us for years. There are still 4000 people unaccounted for\n(more than perished in the World Trade Center). There are victims still living\nin shelters because they have no place else to go. Hundreds of thousands of\nlives have been changed forever by two gals named Katrina and Rita.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women described Chadwick Residence’s supportive transitional housing in Syracuse and Red Cross’s disaster services, particularly after Hurricane Katrina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-7841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-programs","tag-advocacy",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7841"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8990,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7841\/revisions\/8990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n85% do not have a high school diploma
\n75% have been in abusive relationships
\n85% were abused as children
\n55% have a history of drug abuse
\n65% have a history of alcohol abuse
\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n