What a journey we’ve been on together these past two years. When we started as your MFA chairs in 2019, many of us had never taken part in a virtual meeting or been physically apart from our Misericordia family member for any length of time. Now, it’s a different world.
And yet, what was true then is still true now. Our MFA families are persevering, generous, and flexible. We want to thank each of you for your amazing collaboration and creativity during these unprecedented times! It was clear that MFA families kept support of Misericordia as a high priority – whether it was making masks, delivering meals to residences, fundraising, or doing whatever was needed. Thank you! We literally couldn’t have done it without you.
We are happy to welcome our friends, Jim and Pam Capraro, as the new MFA chairs who started in August. Jim and Pam are long-time members of the MFA Board. We are confident that their considerable leadership, skills and vision will take us forward in exciting ways. We look forward to working with them.
We hope to see everyone in person sooner rather than later!
Thank you,
Laurie & Bill McCarthy
Past MFA Chairs
July 2021
Dear Friend,
On behalf of Sister Rosemary and the entire Misericordia family, we pray that you and your families continue to be safe and well. Normally at this time of year we would be writing to invite you to our annual Misericordia Family Fest. But like 2020, 2021 is very different as we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 restrictions and yet continue to ensure the health and safety of our residents and staff.
In the interest of keeping our entire Misericordia family safe, we have made the difficult decision of postponing this year’s in-person Family Fest once again. However, we still need your support to help Keep Misericordia Strong! In keeping with the traditions set by our dear friend Pauline Greco, the “Queen of Raffles,” over 40 years ago, we invite you to take part once again in our annual Cash and Car Raffle that is now part of our Keep Misericordia Strong Campaign.
We will be offering 3,000 Cash Raffle tickets for $100 each and a chance for 25 individuals to win cash prizes with the grand prize being $50,000! Car raffle tickets will be available for $50 each or 3 for $100 for the opportunity to win a 2021 Kia Forte, generously donated by Andy Francis of Evergreen Kia! The winners will be drawn on September 15, 2021, during a virtual drawing. When we receive your order, we will email you your ticket number(s) upon request. If you would like a copy of your ticket, email
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Misericordia. Since the 1950s, Misericordia has been dedicated to helping persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We are most grateful for your past support and truly rely on you as we begin our next century. We look forward to the time when we can gather together in celebration of Misericordia’s annual Family Fest here on our campus. Thank you most sincerely for your continuous belief in our mission. We are blessed to call you friends and wish each of you good health, happiness and hope for the future.
With grateful hearts,
Lois Gates, Assistant Executive Director
The Greco Family and Friends Committee
July 9, 2021
Dear Friends,
I hope you had a relaxing 4th of July holiday weekend. I am writing to let you know that on Sunday, July 4, The New York Times featured a powerful Guest Essay article from our good friend and fellow MFA parent David Axelrod. If you haven't read it yet, please take the time to do so. I am sharing it in this email as an attachment. We are so grateful to David and Susan for taking the time to share their (and their beautiful daughter Lauren's) story with The New York Times readership and grateful, too, to The New York Times for publishing it. I know that David and Susan have heard from numerous legislators and countless readers who thanked them for sharing this very personal story, and the entire Misericordia community is so grateful, too.
by Rob Figliulo
Great Turnout! Great Success!
On Monday, June 14, almost 700 golfers played in the Annual Misericordia Bums Golf Outing! That’s close to the record number of players in the outing’s 47-year history. It took four private golf clubs to accommodate so many players. Olympia Fields Country Club has two full 18-hole courses (North and South) and is home to many tournaments on the professional golf tour, including the U.S. Open and LPGA. We always use Olympia Fields as our home base where everyone comes together for dinner, a small gathering of about 700. Two other private clubs were used for golf, Flossmoor CC and Edgewood Valley CC.
During cocktails and dinner, we had raffles, silent auctions and a live auction with spectacular golf trips and sporting events including front row baseball, hockey and Super Bowl tickets. All in all, we raised over $700,000 for Misericordia!
July 4, 2021
OPINION from the New York Times
By David Axelrod
Mr. Axelrod was the senior strategist for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. His daughter Lauren lives in Misericordia on Chicago’s North Side.
My daughter, Lauren, turned 40 last month. She is happy and healthy. And that is nothing short of a miracle.
From the moment my wife, Susan, found Lauren blue and limp in her crib at the age of 7 months — the consequence, we later would learn, of epileptic seizures she suffered in the night — Lauren’s life has been a struggle.
These brutal seizures would continue, poorly controlled, for the next 19 years, roiling her developing brain and necessitating an ever-shifting regimen of medications with punishing side-effects, of surgeries and hospitalizations. More than once, we feared we would lose her.
June 29, 2021
On behalf of the entire Misericordia community, we hope and pray that you are safe and well during these challenging times.
Normally at this time of year we would be writing to you about our annual Misericordia Family Fest. But, like 2020, 2021 is very different as we emerge from the COVID-19 restrictions and yet continue to ensure the health and safety of our residents and staff.
In the interest of keeping everyone safe, we have made the difficult decision of postponing this year's in-person Family Fest. Yet, your support is still vital! At some point in the future, we will invite you to participate in the car and cash raffle, as well as sponsorship opportunities.
The Misericordia Development Team
June 1, 2021
Community Day Services (CDS) is in an ongoing state of transformation, working in tandem with the administrative and executive team to insure consistent application of the latest COVID guidance. Together with campus leadership, CDS is committed to continue to expand resident day service opportunities, with both safety and quality at the forefront of decision making.
The spring outbreaks and subsequent mitigation steps slowed the opening progress CDS has begun. Fortunately, CDS had an established in-residence CDS program in place that continued to provide CDS opportunities - every resident not yet returned to in-program services has a dedicated CDS staff available to them Monday through Friday in their residence. CDS measures have limited the number of residents that can be served safely in programs, with residents returning by cohort groups for their safety.
Year after year, a dedicated team of charity runners supports Misericordia in ways that few others could ever imagine doing – running 26.2 miles through the streets and neighborhoods of Chicago to raise much-needed funds that benefit our children and adult residents.
From first-time marathoners to seasoned runners, each Misericordia Heartracer team member commits to raising between $1,250 and $1,750, depending on the date they register for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. This year the event is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 10, pending Covid-19 restrictions.
by Scott M. Mendel
With a new administration in Washington, D.C., a number of legislative proposals are before Congress that could adversely affect Misericordia. There is also a new regulatory initiative in Springfield that can be detrimental to Misericordia’s future plans. Below is a brief summary of these federal and state initiatives. I am always happy to provide additional information or answer any questions. The best way to reach me is at scott.mendel@klgatescom.
Dear TFC Members:
Senators Hassan, Casey, and Brown, and Representative Dingell, have circulated a draft bill called the Home and Community-Based Services Access Act (the “HAA”). They have asked members of the public to provide comments on the HAA. It is critically important that each of you send in your own comments on this proposed legislation.
The HAA is being portrayed as legislation that will help individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, the way it is drafted, it will have a devastating effect on the men and women with the most significant intellectual disabilities. The bill would end any requirement that states provide the services of intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (“ICF/IIDs”). It would also create a strong financial incentive for all states to close all ICF/IIDs, both state operated and private. 70,000 men and women across the country have chosen to live in ICF/IIDs because they have found that these settings best meet their needs and preferences. All of these men and women would be forced to leave their chosen homes.
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