November 2009

Dear Friend,

Once again I am writing to ask you to invest in Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp. Investments these days can be the source of a great deal of worry and concern, but this one has a guaranteed high rate of return. Sounds pretty good! Not too good to be true, though.

Obviously, our market is different from Wall Street. With Mercy, you do not buy shares in a multinational corporation. You contribute to a local not-for-profit agency that uses those dollars to improve people’s lives in your community.

We can show you a few of our performance measures:

• Mercy averaged 482 clients per day last year;
• 244 clients moved into permanent housing—no longer homeless;
• 66,600 meals were served at our Friendship Center;
• 3,300 people without access to health care were seen by a doctor, nurse practitioner or nurse;
• Individuals and families moved into 139 apartments with rental subsidy and support services;
• Services to women were expanded.

More importantly, we can show you the real return on investment—the changes in people’s lives because of the programs of Mercy Housing and Shelter, our dedicated professional staff and the contributions of our donors:

v  ‘Maria’ came to us in desperation, without a place to live for herself and her six children. We found an emergency shelter for her and the children living in the state, and then we helped her obtain a subsidized apartment. When she fell ill with a non-malignant tumor, we arranged for medical care. When she located a house big enough for her entire family, we negotiated the lease and helped with repairs. Today she has recovered from her illness and is celebrating Thanksgiving with all her children living with her for the first time in many years. They’re all in school and she’s taking courses, too— studying to become a caseworker.

v  ‘Carol’ entered our residential program at St. Elizabeth House, unable to afford the rent on her apartment because she was working too few hours as a department store cashier. We helped her pick up more hours so she could work nearly full time. Hotels were found where she could intern so she could complete a hospitality program at Goodwin College. She graduated from Goodwin last month with honors, and today she’s living independently again.

v  Unable to afford a place for herself and her two children, ‘Martina’ was living with a relative when she came to our family services program at the Friendship Center. Our caseworker found her a job as a cashier at a Taco Bell restaurant and helped her obtain a subsidized apartment she could afford. Now she is doing so well that she is training to become a Taco Bell manager.

v  ‘Luis’ came to our residential program looking for work in an auto body shop. We found him one job at an auto body shop, and when that business closed, another job at another body shop, detailing cars. He has become such a valuable employee that his boss has lent him money to buy a car and also to travel abroad to attend his father’s funeral.  

v  In his own words, after “running amuck—using drugs, doing all the things you aren’t supposed to do,” ‘Patrick’ entered one of our residential programs. Our caseworkers worked with him, and two weeks after he arrived, we tipped him off to a construction job. Now that a hand injury has left him temporarily unable to work, we are continuing to counsel him. “They’re asking me, whatever I need, they can help me with,” he says of the staff at St. Elizabeth House. “They give you all the tools—they give you the opportunity, they give you the direction.”

The economy may be in recession, but as you can see, Mercy continues to fulfill its mission to end homelessness and to alleviate suffering for those in need. We continue to need your help to improve the lives of others.

Invest in us! I’m not sure you can get a better return anywhere.

Thank you for your confidence,

Sister Patricia McKeon, Executive Director

P.S. I hope you will seriously consider investing in Mercy this holiday season.

Capital Campaign

Preserving a National Landmark

Saving a Home

Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation

St. Elizabeth House

Henry Barnard House

A registered national historic landmark, the Henry Barnard House, at 118 Main St., Hartford, requires a thorough rehabilitation. The structure, erected in 1807, was the home of the first U.S. Commissioner of Education, who helped stimulate the growth of the public school system in this country. Barnard also created the state education system.

An addition, larger than the original house, was built behind the house in 1908. The Daughters of the Holy Spirit bought the property and opened a home for working women.

Text Box: Ionic-columned portico fronts the Henry Barnard Home/St. Elizabeth House at 118 Main Street, Hartford, now providing affordable housing for homeless adults and meals for the neighborhood.The combined structures – 36,000 square feet - are owned by Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation, which provides housing for people transitioning out of homelessness. We maintain 58 units for adults who receive case management and job training services, medical care, clothing and meals. We prepare them to live on their own before discharging them. We also run a separate public meals program for homeless adults and neighborhood families.

The structure is in severe distress and requires a thorough rehabilitation. Mercy Housing and Shelter has contracted with Capitol Studios Architects LLC of East Hartford to oversee the renovations. Without renovations, the future use of the building and the preservation of a registered national historic landmark are in jeopardy. Capitol Studios has completed an analysis of existing conditions and has a conceptual design plan that addresses building code deficiencies, and inadequate electrical, heating and plumbing systems. PAC Group LLC of Harwinton will serve as the construction manager and estimates a total construction budget of $7.5 million. Mercy Housing and Shelter has raised $1.7. million and is seeking $3.5 million in 2009 to move forward on this critical project. We are raising the balance from federal, municipal and private sources.

The major components of the project include:

• Replacing leaky plumbing within walls, which has caused extensive wall buckling and partially collapsed ceilings.
• Replacing all 180 windows to increase energy efficiency and restore the historical external appearance of this national historical landmark.
• Upgrading the inadequate ventilation/heating system for energy efficiency.
• Installing fire prevention sprinkler piping in the original 6,000-square-foot residence.
• Remodeling 58 bedrooms, offices and common areas to meet existing building codes.
• Remodeling to address the American with Disabilities Act and meet basic handicapped accessible codes

After the renovations, the units will continue as transitional housing for homeless men and women. But as Hartford’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness is realized, those 58 units will be converted to permanent housing.

Crumbling concrete wall on the western property line of the Barnard Home/St. Elizabeth House that fronts Main Street, Hartford to be corrected in additional initiative.

Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation also is raising funds to correct a crumbling retaining wall that fronts Main Street. We will either replace the four-foot-high wall with a two-foot wall or eliminate the wall and landscape down to the sidewalk. The final design will depend on how much money we raise for this project. Estimated replacement costs are $200,000.

“Preserving a Landmark, Saving a Home”

Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation

Capital Campaign to restore St. Elizabeth House

What is St. Elizabeth House:

• A program of Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp.
• 201-year old, National Historic Landmark
• Birthplace and former residence of Henry Barnard, first U.S. Commissioner of Education and founder of the nation’s public school system
• Current home for 58 formerly homeless adults
• Meals program for up to 250 people a day, six days a week
• Free health clinic operated by the Charter Oak Health Center

What needs to be done:

• Preserve the historic status of the residence
• Upgrade mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems
• Make physical changes to conform to current functional needs
• Make the building accessible to people with disabilities
• Increase residential occupancy to 63 adults
• Repair leaky plumbing, replace all 180 windows, the ventilation/heating system, a fire prevention sprinkler system and the original elevator; renovate 58 bedrooms, offices and common areas need to meet existing building codes.

What’s so important:

• The house is the birthplace and former residence of Henry Barnard, first U.S. Commissioner of Education and founder of the nation’s public school system. It is recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service’s landmark division.
• The 201-year-old house is one of the few remaining examples of early urban federal-style architecture, typical of New England at the time it was built.
• An addition was built 100 years ago in 1908 by the Daughters of the Holy Spirit who ran the home as a rooming house for the city’s working women.
• The Connecticut Sisters of Mercy bought the house in 1983, 25 years ago, and formed Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp. to run programs to help people who are homeless and at-risk of homeless to live independently.
• Since then, Mercy has added five more sites, located in Hartford, West Hartford, and Middletown.
• In 1987, the Community Mental Health Respite Program was created. That program, which was doubled
• in size in 2003, has always served Greater Hartford homeless persons with mental health disabilities.
• In 1992, the Friendship Center’s Family Services Program began serving homeless and at risk families from throughout Greater Hartford.

St. Elizabeth House provides temporary, supportive housing to 58 people. Residents are offered health care, job training, job placement assistance and basic life skills. The House also offers a meals program for up to 200 low-income people a day, six days a week, and provides a free neighborhood health clinic operated by the Charter Oak Health Center.

For more information on St. Elizabeth’s renovation, or to contribute to the capital campaign, please call or e-mail Carl Rodenhizer at (860) 808-2042 or crodenhizer@mercyhousingct.org.

One Person Can Make A Difference

It is possible to do something about ending homelessness. At Mercy Housing and Shelter, it is our mission as counselors, educators and administrators to help guide people who are homeless back to independence and to help people at risk of homelessness to keep their homes.

We do this by providing food, clothing, a comfortable place to sleep, medical care, case management, recovery assistance, job assistance and help getting their own apartment. Key to this are the core values of respect, compassion and responsibility.

The items below are always gratefully accepted. For more information on donations, contact Suzan Bibisi at (860) 808-2036 or sbibisi@mercyhousingct.org

Toiletries
Toiletry items are an on-going need at Mercy Housing and Shelter, especially the Friendship Center where residents of the community may take showers, get clean used clothing and have a hot meal.

Soap, deodorant, combs, toothpaste, toothbrushes, lip protection, razors, shaving cream, shampoo and sanitary products. Travel sizes work best.

Other Necessities

• Umbrellas, baseball caps, large bottles of shampoo, feminine products.
  
• Undershirts, socks, sweaters, sweatshirts and sweatpants, men in XL, XXL and XXXL sizes.
• Small appliances, dishware, cookware and utensils for people moving out of homelessness into their own apartments.
• Clean and gently used twin and full sheet sets, pillowcases and blankets
• New pillows, new mattresses and new towels
• Clean and gently used twin sheet sets, pillowcases, blankets and comforters are needed for the people who live in our transitional housing programs.
• New pillows, mattresses and towels are needed for transitional residents and for people starting out in their own apartments.

Cold weather clothes

• Boots for men and children.
• Hats, gloves, and coats all size for men, women and children.
• Men’s suits and sport coats, near new dress shoes (all sizes for men and women).
• Thick socks, thermal long underwear.

Gift cards: to Walgreens, CVS, Dunkin Donuts, Stop & Shop, Wal-Mart, Target; pre-paid phone cards and bus passes.