I don't usually put these columns here, but since this one is extra-detailed and there is no pastor's/deacon's column, here you go:

Thank you so much to those of you who are faithfully tithing so that we can budget $1000/mo for local benevolence, and also to those who give over and above.  There have been so. many. calls lately! The new client advocate at CAP NEMO is really great about initiating collaboration, and we have been splitting a number of bills for people. Since I last updated you at the very beginning of November (and as of sending this to the printer on December 4), we have provided four nights of emergency shelter, paid on 11 water bills, two electric bills, and helped four people with rent. The Parkview Terrace apartments are receiving tenants now, and several people are seeking help with deposits.  We always wait until they have collected enough from other sources to be sure they can move in (or not be evicted) before I cut a check.
In late October, Deacon Chris asked for help with a pair of work-appropriate shoes for an AM Housing resident.  We do not typically assist with this sort of thing because we tried it once and it went very badly (like, the police had to be called to the store level badly).  Since Deacon Chris was willing to take responsibility for the process from start to finish, we were happy to reimburse him and this time it ended well.
 
The social services coordinator at the Salvation Army has resigned to take a position with Lutheran Family and Children’s Services. This is a case management position, with limited in-house funding.  Unfortunately, this means that there is no one at the Salvation Army to coordinate the Ameren Keeping Current funding, and at least one client has fallen into a crack in the system. Their mother fraudulently established service in their name and then defaulted, which they discovered when they tried to open an account at a new address and suddenly had a $1,200 balance. This gave me the opportunity to contact the customer advocacy manager at Ameren to look into the case, and I’m not part of that communication any longer, but they are in the best possible hands now.

Normally we only help with utilities and housing, but when there is a good bit of collaboration involved, we can sometimes work outside those lines. This month we helped a client of HUD, Avenues, and CAP NEMO, with whom I had extensive direct conversation as well.  CAP NEMO was actually paying for most of a brake replacement (the vehicle was not safe to drive and the client has 3 kids), which is such a rare thing that when they asked us to chip in, I was inclined to say yes.  Normally we would pay on utility bills to free up the client’s own money for expenses like this, but because they fled domestic violence and haven’t yet been able to find employment, HUD pays the rent in full, and they hadn’t yet received a utility bill.

We helped with an ordinary rent payment for a previous client, but this time when we were talking, they disclosed that they were a Truman student, a bit older than the students who begin immediately after high school. The person is under serious financial pressure, with full-time schooling and a part time job in retail, as well as some mental health struggles. I was able to email them a LIHEAP application to get heat taken care of for the winter, and suggest that they visit the financial aid office at Truman to ask about the scholarships that are available specifically for non-traditional students.  I happen to be personally acquainted with the student’s advisor, so I sent her an email summarizing our conversation (with a note that I understood she would not be able to reply, for privacy reasons) and asked the student to sit down with the advisor to do a thorough assessment of their situation.  Now the advisor is more aware of the community resources available, and in turn, she let me know that Truman is planning to have a community-facing office as part of their renovation of Kirk Building to have a central home for student services. Yay for more collaboration!
 
At the very beginning of this month, we had a call from a parent in another state.  Their adult child was developmentally disabled, and a scammer posing as a friend had brought them to Kirksville, then taken all their possessions (including ID, which makes lodging and transportation *very* difficult) and kicked them out.  They were very frightened, and had nothing but the clothes on their back. Working with CAP NEMO, we were able to help get them nights at the Budget Host and some food and personal support for a few days until someone was able to come for them.  Their parents have a number of foster children and weren’t able to drop everything to get here, so they were very grateful that we were able to take care of their child for them.

We had ten guests for the collaborator luncheon on November 6, including four brand new faces. It was heartwarming to send out the invitation and find that those who came last time added some coworkers to be invited this time around. There is a new client advocate at CAP NEMO, and three of the ladies who work in the background there with LIHEAP and other programs also came, and Deacon Chris joined us on behalf of AM Housing. Other guests were from SB40. We had a chili lunch, but we started with dessert first, because Mrs. Gray was in a baking mood and that morning delivered a pan of homemade apple dumplings, which came out of the oven minutes before everyone arrived. Why wait, right? (The main meal was paid for by a private donation, NOT local benevolence funds.  We also have a line item in the budget for Parish Center Hospitality, so please be assured that all of your donations to help people do go directly to people in need.) This meeting is “no bosses and no agenda,” really just an opportunity for Mary Immaculate to thank them for the collaboration, but one action item that arose during the conversation was a request for us to host a larger gathering after the holidays (but still in the winter, because they want chili again!), inviting representatives from every church and agency in town that could be a potential collaborator.  Mary Immaculate is unique in the area, in that we know our budget each month, and when someone calls, we can make a decision on a pledge on the spot (pending documentation, etc.).  Other places either have people fill out an application, or they have to call a committee meeting when several requests have accumulated, that sort of thing.  And we don’t know who can cover what kind of expense, to know where to send people. CAP NEMO and SB40 would be glad to spread the requests around if they knew who else they could call. So it’s on my agenda for the new year to look into putting this together. 
 
HELP WANTED:
#1 A lot of local benevolence can’t be delegated, because I’m the only one here to answer the phone, but if anyone(s) would like to help identify the appropriate contacts at the other churches/agencies in town and work up an invitation and agenda for this big meeting, that would be most welcome!
#2 It’s getting hard to keep up with our distribution of brown bags: making them up, but especially keeping an inventory to know what I need to ask for in terms of donations so that we hit all the food groups. I’ve been caught empty handed twice this month, and I hate to do that to hungry people! We have given out more than 150 since we started, not including the ones for the NEMO Connect event.  If anyone would be willing to be the point person for these so that all I have to do is hand them out and mention when we run low, that would be super helpful.
 
Thanks again for your work in advancing the kingdom of God in Northeast Missouri!