lDear Fellow SIBs,
We are thrilled to announce that The Artist in All™ event will be back LIVE and IN PERSON on Wednesday, November 16 in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In honor of our 25th The Artist in All, we ask all of our SIBS members to support our event by attending, sponsoring and helping to bring in new sponsorships. Last year The Artist in All raised more than $925,000 for Misericordia Home. Our goal this year is to surpass this dollar amount. We can only do this with the collective effort of you and the Siblings Organization.
We need you to:
Rush University is studying a new assessment that measures cognitive skills in children, adolescents, and adults with intellectual disability. The purpose of this research is to explore whether certain types of intellectual or cognitive tests are reliable, valid, and sensitive to improvement in evaluating treatment responses.
There are two tracks to the study – the Developmental Arm for people between ages 4-25 and the Aging Arm for people over 25.
The time commitment for each study is as follows:
By Kathryn Moery
Those two magnificent floors in the building above the new Misericordia Hearts & Flour Bakery and Café invite the curious eye upward from street level. These floors house the Ravenswood programs, which include the art studio for Misericordia residents, and coffee production, creating more opportunities for competitive employment in the community. Visiting the building with Michael Diaz, Administrator of Employment Services and Community Day Services, and Charles Carper, supervisor of the coffee packaging program, we talked and toured the upper floors of this incredible site to see what is happening, and to learn what the future holds.
The second-floor art studio enjoys panoramic terrace views. On any given day, six to eight residents will find inspiration for creating their Artist in All works under the guidance of Allison Slak, a painter and jewelry-maker in her own right. The views outside on the terrace may activate the creative juices and rhythms to flow, but Allison also integrates chair yoga outdoors on the terrace to encourage spirituality and sensory stimulation. On our recent visit, we encountered colorfully masterful renderings of ’57 Chevies, the greens of a peaceful golf course, and the leaves of a tree bursting forth with color as the artist worked. These artists will receive fifty per cent of the proceeds of the sale of their art, closely comparable to private art sales by artists in the community at-large.
There is now an easy way to find all of the upcoming events that need volunteers and to sign up for them using the Events Calendar on the mfa-sibs.org website.
Start by going to mfa-sibs.org. If on your PC, on the right side of the screen at the bottom of the Upcoming Events list, click on View Full Calendar. If on your phone, select Events Calendar on the dropdown under the Home Button, scroll down to the bottom and click on View Full Calendar.
Then scroll down to the Categories list and select Volunteer Opportunity Events. Under Upcoming Events there will then be a list of the events that need volunteers. When you select an event, it will provide more information about the event and a link to SignUp Genuis to sign up to volunteer.
Note that each of those events will also show under the other category it belongs to. For example, the “DSP/CNA Appreciation Event Cheering for Staff” will show up under Volunteer Opportunity Events and under MFA Events.
If you have any questions, contact Diane Carpenter at
Let’s show our appreciation for the DSPs/CNAs/Therapy Aides who are the “backbone” of Misericordia by volunteering for events taking place during the week of September 12 – 16. Volunteers are needed for:
Tuesday, September 13 – El Zorro Tacos Food Truck. Volunteers will greet staff; collect tickets; and keep the area clean. There are four shifts from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.
Please sign up here: signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4EACAE2DA7FBC52-taco
Friday, September 16 – Cheering for Staff at the change of shifts and other key times. Volunteers can sign up for specific timeslots and locations and are asked to bring signs, balloons, noisemakers, etc. We ask that you cheer, clap, wave signs and express your appreciation to Staff.
Please sign up here: signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4eacae2da7fbc52-cheering
All volunteers must be vaccinated and boosted and wear masks at all times on campus. Please have a copy of your vaccination card.
Thank you,
Lisa Masucci & John Butler
MFA’s Staff Appreciation Coordinators
August 31, 2022
"DSP/CNA week starts the Monday after the Family Fest (Monday, September 12th). The staff would love to get notes of appreciation and gratitude. If families would rather do a short video - 2 or 3 min -that would be wonderful, too. Now more than ever, they need to hear from you. They are working so hard and we continue to be short-staffed, their commitment to our residents is amazing. We have arranged for food trucks and raffles and bakery and have scheduled many events during the week. The notes should be written to staff in general, not someone specific. We will post in all the areas and if we get enough videos, we will share as well.
Please send your notes and videos to your director or administrator by this weekend. Thanks very much and looking forward to seeing you on Sunday the 11th at the Fest!"
Mary Pat O'Brien
Our Family Fest Cash and Car raffle tickets are selling like hot cakes. Don’t forget to purchase your tickets and maybe you will be this year’s lucky winner of the $50,000 Grand Prize or you can drive away in a 2022 Kia Forte FE, donated by our good friend, Andy Francis of Evergreen KIA. To purchase or for more information about the Cash and Car raffles, please go to Misericordia Family Fest 2022.For information about Family Fest or becoming a sponsor, please go to Misericordia Family Fest 2022 or contact Lois Gates' Office at
Family Fest is quickly approaching, and we're still in need of volunteers! Please share the link below widely with your friends and family. There are opportunities for people of all ages, and all volunteers receive free admission to the Fest! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050d4caeac23a2f49-20221
by Linda Buchalo
Our second stop on a tour of residential areas on the Misericordia campus takes us to the Marian Center, which is the oldest residence. The campus was once home to the Angel Guardian Orphanage, which closed in 1974, and both the main building and Marian Center now stand in that exact spot. Constructed in 1976, Marian Center is situated within the main building and has two floors, ten apartments, and 88 residents. The apartments are evenly divided—five male and five female living spaces.
Apartments in the Marian Center are designed with an open concept for living room, dining room, and kitchen. To ensure the safety of the residents, kitchens do not have a stove. Each apartment has four or five bedrooms, a den, a control station and laundry room for dirty clothes and storage. Over the years, the space was renovated, with updated flooring, new furniture, updated decor, and an HVAC/air filtration system controlled at the touch of a button. Recently, the project to update the bathrooms, which was halted by the pandemic, has begun again.
During August, Misericordia is recognizing the hard work and dedication of the Supervisors. There will be Appreciation Events on August 25th, which will include catered meals, staff gifts and raffles.
While the Supervisors’ roles vary depending on the residential area, the Supervisors manage the day-to-day routines of the residents, staff and programming and the communication with families. Some areas have a Supervisor on-site 24/7 while others have AM and PM Supervisors. Supervisors are an integral part of the care Misericordia provides to its residents.
We will be making an Appreciation Video to show at the events. We ask that families create a short video (15-20 seconds) expressing your thanks and appreciation for the work of the Supervisors. Please keep the video general, for example, “Thank you Misericordia Supervisors for all you do” and please don’t reference a specific Supervisor or area.
The success of Family Fest, on September 11, 2022, relies on the generosity of the Misericordia community. We are looking for hundreds of volunteers to help in the days leading up to the Fest, as well as on the day of the big event.
Please take a look at the following links and share widely with your friends, family and loved ones -
Volunteer opportunities in the days leading up to the Fest - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050d4caeac23a2f49-2022
Volunteer opportunities on the day of the Fest - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050d4caeac23a2f49-20221
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