Safety and Security at Misericordia
by Ernie Stark
One of the areas of administrative responsibility of Associate Executive Director Father Jack Clair is campus security. Recently, I asked Father Jack about how Misericordia keeps staff and residents safe.
- Father, what are the steps taken in the past few years to increase campus safety?
Over the past few years, many things have changed. Some are best kept confidential. Others are quite visible: Locked doors are now the rule throughout the campus not only on all residences, but the Ridge entrance, to areas beyond the Greenhouse Inn, business office and laundry. Elevator access requires ID activation. To enable staff to lock down areas if needed, many doors required new locks to be installed. Bullet proof glass has been installed at public entrances.
Putting Food on the Table
Written by Ernie Stark
Consider the task: ensuring that 600+ residents have nutritious food that meet their individual needs. That’s the mission of the Food Services Department, led by Director Bob Noga, his assistants Jim Ahlfeld and Kyle Rhone, as well as Head Chef Sammy Johnson and Head Baker Freddy Fernandez. Food Services reports to Father Jack, who said “They do all the work.”
The task of feeding Misericordia residents is a complex job, which requires a great deal of organization. Think about the different types of residences on campus and the variety of residents’ needs. For example, some residents can eat typical food while others need their food pureed. Some have dietary restrictions. Some can eat independently, some cannot. Other residents receive tube feeding. There are almost as many specific needs as there are residents.
Two staff dieticians create recipes and plan the meals, meals that can be adapted in a variety of ways that meet the residents’ needs. Purchasing food and other supplies is also part of Food Services. In addition to three chefs and seven cooks, the kitchen staff includes those who prepare the food, scullery personnel and the drivers who deliver meals to the residences.
Meet Father Jack Clair
by Ernie Stark
Many of us have attended Mass with Father Jack or seen him at various campus events. Did you know that Father is responsible for several departments that keep Misericordia running? These include Food Services, Maintenance and Security. Look for subsequent articles about these important departments.
Most of us do not know Father Jack’s personal story or what brought him to Misericordia. Let’s hear that in Father’s own words.
“I was adopted by an Irish Catholic family on the Northwest side of Chicago. My father was a Chicago policeman who grew up on the South side. One of his police duties was to be a crossing guard at a public school where my mother taught kindergarten. That’s where they met. In their 30s, they found out that they were unable to have children. They went to Catholic Charities where they adopted my sister, Sheila, and several years later they adopted me.
Zooming with Bob, Madge & the Heartzingers!
by Julie Carpenter
For nearly two decades, Bob and Madge Erlenbaugh have shared their gifts, enriching the lives of Misericordia residents through music and their tireless leadership as volunteer choir directors for Misericordia’s Heartzingers Choir. The Heartzingers are a choir of 50 residents, led by Bob on guitar and Madge guiding residents who participate through sign language. It is a group that has found a common bond through music, forming a tight-knit family within the broader Misericordia family, for whom the choir’s music brings comfort, spiritual inspiration, joy and profound happiness.
Misericordia residents are bursting with Creativity
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.
Meet the New CILA Director
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.
Community of Believers
by Judy Wall
In January 2021, it will be a full year since we first heard of a new virus posing a threat of contagion across the planet. We now each have a story of how this past year has impacted us physically, emotionally, and financially. But as Misericordia families, part of all our stories is the shared experience of a sudden and massive shift in our continuing journey with Misericordia.
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