On Site Services - FY 2012/2013

MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM - 1,121 Contacts A contributing factor to homelessness is mental illness. Our collaboration with the Homeless Outreach Nursing Center focuses on connecting with and stabilizing the lives of the homeless mentally ill. Twice weekly at our Breakfast Program, mental health staff provided information/referral and general screening services to 782 guests and direct mental health services to 339.

Robert, a long term volunteer with the Breakfast Program

LEGAL ASSISTANCE - 68 Clinics

Unresolved legal issues are often barriers to housing and job acquisition/retention. Our collaboration with the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, along with volunteer attorneys, addresses such issues at both our Breakfast and Dinner Programs on a weekly basis. At the Breakfast site, 49 clinics serving 123 guests were held. Municipal citations comprised 33% of issues dealt with; next closest, all at 6%, were driver’s license recovery, criminal, and landlord/tenant issues. The Dinner site offered 19 clinics serving 17 guests with the majority of issues focusing on landlord/tenant and municipal citations.

MEDICAL ASSISTANCE - 39 visits

Staff from St. Ben’s Medical Clinic provided blood pressure checks and medical referrals at our breakfast site for 244 guests and conducted flu shot clinics serving 55 guests.

SUNDRIES FROM THE AVENUE - 25,060 Items Distributed

Toiletry items (soap, lotion, shampoo, laundry soap, combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant) were distributed monthly to guests at our St. James’ Saturday Lunch by Sundries from the Avenue, a ministry of St. James’ Episcopal Church. This ministry is particularly important at this downtown location where a majority of Gathering guests are homeless.

BAG LUNCH/SANDWICH PROJECT - 82 Distributions

Sixteen different groups provided bag lunches or sandwiches for Gathering guests to take home with them following the Saturday Lunch meals. This is especially important on Saturdays since the next large scale meal available is not until noon Sunday. An estimated 13,625 bag lunches were distributed valued at $20,438.

Preservation Peppers donated by the Witte's Vegetable Farm c/o Bill Balbach

FRESH PRODUCE PRESERVATION PROJECT - 1,330 Pounds Frozen

This project (in its third year in 2012) focuses on preserving excess donated produce received during the growing season for use in our winter meals, providing additional flavor and nutrition. The 2012 growing season suffered a severe drought affecting the amount of produce available. However, 2,225 pounds of bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots and green beans were still donated by area farmers, gardeners and food banks. 43 volunteers (270 donated hours) processed the donations into 1,330 pounds of frozen produce.

Program Information - FY 2012/2013

Numbers and activities listed below are for our fiscal year – July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012

Total number of meals served in Fiscal Year 2012/2013: 150,336

Hot, homemade meals are served to all who come at no cost to the recipient.

BREAKFAST - 50,179 (ave. of 200 guests/meal)

Breakfast is served Monday through Friday mornings at our downtown site, St. James’ Episcopal Church, 833 W. Wisconsin Avenue. The majority of breakfast guests are adult males; 60-70% homeless. Legal, medical and mental health services are provided on site.

DINNER - 11,694 (ave. of 118 guests/meal)

Dinner is served Monday and Wednesday late afternoon at our south side location, Christian Faith Fellowship Church East, 724 S. Layton Blvd. Dinner guests come from the surrounding neighborhood; diverse in age and ethnic background.

Youth Volunteers in the serving line at the Dinner Program

SATURDAY LUNCH - 26,156 (ave. of 513 guests/Saturday)

Saturday lunch is served at the above two sites and at Our Next Generation Neighborhood Center (ONGNC) , 35th & Lisbon. Guests at ONGNC are primarily African American with 20-30% children. Lunch is also provide on the 4th Saturday of the month at Mt. Carmel Lutheran church, 82nd & Center.

SHELTER MEAL PROGRAM (SMP) - 53,949 meals

The Shelter Meal Program provided three meals every day to residents of three shelters managed by Community Advocates: Women’s Refuge homeless and domestic violence shelters and Autumn West, housing for adult mentally ill. Community Advocates funded the program and the Gathering provided the staffing, food and delivery of services.

Shelter Meal Program Staff Meeting

OUR NEXT GENERATION COLLABORATION - 8,358 meals

This tutoring/mentoring program at 35th & Lisbon – one of our Saturday Lunch sites – serves a light meal four afternoons each week to program participants of middle school and high school age. The Gathering provides the underlying support for these meals.

Coolbot Cooler Room Construction Almost Completed

You may have heard of a project the Gathering is doing thanks to a grant from the UWM Cultures and Communities Program Office. Through this grant, the Gathering is partnering with UWM professor Dr. Phillips and her undergraduate class entitled "Practical Approaches to a Sustainable Future." The class is growing their own produce in ten garden beds. They are learning the science behind creating sustainable human systems and food production. As an added bonus, the class will be working with the Gathering's Fresh Produce Preservation Project to learn how to safely preserve the produce they have grown. 

Already, the class has donated close to fifty pounds of produce to the Gathering's Fresh Produce Preservation Project.

Another perk of working together, is that the Gathering is constructing a Coolbot Cooler room (pictured above!). In a space donated by All Saint's Cathedral, construction has begun! The room is made out of studded wall panels with polystyrene foam insulated walls. Using a window a/c unit and some innovative technology known as a Coolbot, the insulated room will be able to get down to temperatures close to 30 degrees F. This room is perfect for storing produce while it is waiting to be preserved! It greatly increases the Gathering's ability to accept produce donations and is a huge asset to the Fresh Produce Preservation Project.

Construction on the room should be done by the end of this week, just in time for the UWM student's preservation session in early October. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates! Special thanks to all of our supporters who made this room possible, especially All Saint's Cathedral, the UWM Cultures and Communities Program Office as well as Dr. Phillips. Also, thanks to board member Jim Lerquin who did much of the room's physical construction! and Ron Khosla, creator of the Coolbot who has been crucial in answering our Coolbot questions.

Giver’s Honor Roll

The Gathering Board of Directors thanks the following generous supporters giving $250 or more between May 11, 2013 and July 31, 2013.

$15,000 - $24,999 Northwestern Mutual Foundation The Grainger Foundation

$10,000 - $14,999 Mary McKey Charitable Bequest Trust Roundy’s Foundation

$5,000 - $9,999 1 Anonymous Donor Hunger Relief Fund of Wisconsin Gerald and Elaine Mainman

$2,500 - $4,999 Gardner Foundation, Nonprofit Management Fund, United Way of Greater Milwaukee Donor Choice

$1,000 - $2,499 Johnson Controls, Community United Methodist Church - Elm Grove, Christ Church Episcopal - Whitefish Bay, Silas Johnson, Kuehl Family Foundation, Mike and Ginny McBride, Ab Nicholas, St. Joan of Arc Parish - Nashotah

$500 - $999 Gathering Memorial Fund - Greater Milwaukee Foundation, GE Foundation, Claire Greene, Eugene and Gwendolyn Lavin, Daryl and Kim Lueck, St. John Chrysostom Episcopal Church - Delafield, Marilyn Schlosser, Seaman-Goes Family Foundation, Maureen and Gary Shebesta, Will Ross Memorial Foundation

$250 - $499 Joe and Marlene Bruno, Peter and Elizabeth Gottsacker, Greg and Jackie Johnson, MKEfoodies, Dr. David Paris, Dick and Betty Peterson, Luciano Sanchez, Trinity Episcopal Church - Wauwatosa, Teresa Trostmiller

Youth Volunteers at The Gathering

Youth actively promote the Gathering’s mission. They participate by: raising money for meal programs at school fundraisers, sharing their unique talents, volunteering on a regular basis and spreading the Gathering’s mission to friends, family and more. I want to introduce you to two of the groups of youth who are helping out the Gathering this summer: YouthWorks and Micah 6:8 Summer Work Camp.

YOUTHWORKS:

Every summer, YouthWorks—an international organization—coordinates service trips for over 30,000 jr. high and high school students and adult leaders in North America. One of their trip destinations is Milwaukee, where they work at various social service organizations throughout the city, like the Gathering. When they are not doing hands-on service, the youth participate in educational activities, evening gatherings, explore their faith and more.

Every Wednesday throughout the summer, various YouthWorks volunteers serve dinner at the Gathering’s south side site. While volunteering with the Gathering, the groups focus on building relationships. “If you don’t hear people’s stories, you can’t relate and you won’t understand why you’re here,” explained Zach, one of the trip’s leaders.

Grace and Morgana hand out sandwiches in the serving line

Morgana, a youth in Zach’s group said that guest interaction was the most important part for her as well: “I am excited most for the face to face interaction. It’s an opportunity for me to be more social,” she explained.

MICAH 6:8 SUMMER WORK CAMP:

 In June, a group of youth from three different churches in the Mukwonago area: St. James, St. Peter and St. Theresa Catholic Church, formed the Micah 6:8 Summer Work Camp. Different teams of teens and their adult supervisors worked tirelessly for three afternoons to improve the Gathering’s St. James location—site of our Monday-Friday breakfast program and a Saturday lunch.

Some of the work they did included: scrubbing, cleaning and painting the kitchen’s walls and ceilings; repainting the nurse’s office; repainting an orange stripe to brighten up the guests’ hallway; building and donating a little free library; cleaning closets, appliances, chairs, tables and walls; replacing door knobs and locks and even more!

The groups name is based on the bible verse Micah 6:8, which calls us, “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The group’s service first approach left the Gathering’s breakfast site looking fresh and clean.

Micah 6:8 workgroup--worked hard, played hard

Fresh Produce Preservation Project Update

The Fresh Produce Preservation Project (FPPP) was started in 2010. Milwaukee area food sources donated large amounts of extra produce and the Gathering staff and volunteers froze and preserved the produce to be used in winter meals. Since 2010, the FPPP has relied on many volunteers who have preserved approximately 5,938 pounds of corn, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, apples, onions and more.

As someone who came into the project with a lot of interest but not a lot of answers, I am amazed when I think about all I have learned in my first year with the FPPP. From freezing, canning and food handling courses to practicing recipes and interacting with some really positive and motivating volunteers, it has been a year of real growth. In the off season this year, I have been lucky enough to meet with a lot of Milwaukee area food preservationists and food justice organizations. Everyone I have come in contact with has been supportive of the FPPP’s mission and has offered to circulate information or help with produce donations. Through these connections I hope to strengthen the project’s presence in Milwaukee as well as increase produce donations.

One particularly interesting connection the FPPP has made this year has been with the Cultures and Communities Program office at UW-Milwaukee, thanks to a Community-University Partnership grant. With this grant, the Gathering will be teaming up with Dr. Phillips (Program Coordinator of the Conservation and Environmental Sciences department) on a project entitled, “Practical Approaches to a Sustainable Future with the FPPP.” Through this project, twenty students will be growing their own produce in garden beds on campus. The students will then harvest the produce and, through a preservation session with The Gathering staff and volunteers, will preserve it and donate it to the FPPP where it will be used in winter meals.

Special Thanks to everyone who volunteered last season!