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NEWS BRIEFS

Z’s Turns One

Z’s Café will celebrate its first anniversary with a party for friends and family of the café and of Samaritan House. Festivities will include complimentary food, wine and music and will take place from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 12 at Z’s, located in the Community Arts Center at 1300 Gendy (next to the Scott Theater). Come help us celebrate a year of helping residents find employment.

It’s that time of year again – the 13th edition of Joe’s Run will take place on Saturday, March 27. You may register directly by signing up at www.joe’s-run.com. You may also download individual or team registration forms at the same site and mail them in. Join us for the 10K run or the 5K walk/run – a fun way to benefit Samaritan House. If you have questions or need assistance just drop us an email at joesrun@samaritanhouse.org. or you may leave a message at 817-424-8838

Annual Report Published

The 2009 Annual Report will be available in early February. If you would like to receive a copy, please contact Aaron Siegel (asiegel@samaritanhouse.org, 817.332.6410, x165). You may also access it on the Samaritan House web site (www.samaritanhouse.org).


	By reducing homelessness, substance abuse, crime, new HIV infections, and the demand for publicly funded medical care, Samaritan House makes Fort Worth a better place for everyone!

Samaritan House News February 2010

Letter from the President

A Treat for Samaritan House Choir Members

Jerry Wyatt, 1951-2009

New Grants Manager Susan Essary

Letter from the President

Steve Dutton

This issue of the newsletter touches on three important facets of life at Samaritan House. You will read about an opportunity for a group of our residents (who give back to Sam House by singing in our choir) to step out and attend an inspiring community event. Sadly, you will also hear about the passing of a member of the Samaritan House family who has given of himself to make Samaritan House a good home for himself and many others. You will be reminded that AIDS is not a thing of the past – residents (and many in the outside community) still struggle with the disease and with the many conditions caused by their HIV status. And finally, you will meet a new staff member whose efforts are essential to supporting our ongoing process of rescuing, nurturing and launching those in need of our services.

A Treat for Samaritan House Choir Members

Eight members of the Samaritan House Choir enjoyed an exciting night out on January 9 at “A Black and White Affair,” the first annual fundraiser for DVA Productions, a new non-profit spearheaded by Sheran Goodspeed Keyton, who provided complimentary tickets to choir members.

Samaritan House Choir

The evening included an elegant buffet and a raffle, but the real excitement was onstage. DVA produced a memorable program that included original poetry recited by Jubilee Theater actors and musical numbers performed by the Mondo Drummers and Kids Who Care. The highlight of the evening was of course Sheran herself, who performed with the group Of Many Colors.

DVA Productions provides educational outreach programs for young people of all ages. The organization uses theater arts as a means to provoke thought and ignite a love of the arts in its participants. Samaritan House welcomes DVA as we all work toward improving the lives of underserved populations of individuals and families.

Choir members were eager to attend this event after having the opportunity to perform with Sheran at this year’s Out of the Box luncheon in November, and the evening exceeded their high expectations. Enthusiasm ran high, and one resident remarked that this was the first time he had ever attended an arts event out in the community.

At the end of the evening, Lloyd, newly elected Activities Director for the Sam House resident council, commented that residents need to get out into the community more, and that he would like to help make that happen. This kind of activity is of great help for residents as they struggle to return to lives of independence and productivity. If you or someone you know is involved in any organization that might make tickets to community events available to our residents, please contact Rick Isaminger, Family Health and Education Coordinator (risaminger@samaritanhouse.org, 817.332.6410, x197).

Jerry Wyatt, 1951-2009

The rotunda of Samaritan House was filled to overflowing on December 29 with family and friends who came to pay their respects to Jerry Wyatt, a resident of Samaritan House since 2007, who passed away on December 23 after a long illness.

Jerry

Jerry was a valued member of the Samaritan House family, a dedicated employee of Z’s Café and recently became a member of the Samaritan House Board of Directors. His generous spirit, deep religious conviction and optimistic attitude made him a role model for many residents and an indispensible help to individuals and organizations he served.

At Samaritan House Jerry found the home he had long sought and the motivation to work toward his lifelong dream of becoming a chaplain. He completed the chaplaincy program at Baylor Hospital and interned as a chaplain at Parkland Medical Center. He was an active member of Southside City Church.

Jerry had another dream: establishing the Christ Foundation. The purpose of the foundation originally was to further awareness of AIDS in the African-American community and its churches. After his cancer diagnosis, he expanded this vision to include ministering to male cancer patients.

At this year’s Out of the Box luncheon in November, Jerry described his Samaritan House experience to those who attended:

All my life I had felt like something was missing, and I blamed other people for that. At Samaritan House I have learned that the missing things are really within myself, and I have had to learn how to replace them. Samaritan House has helped me learn to take the blame off people and to look within for the answers to the 39 years I was out in the trenches of drug use and homelessness...

We take [the help Samaritan House offers] not for ourselves alone but to help other people around us in the House and also outside. What learning to help others has meant to me is that today I have values and self-worth. I have a completely different life.

Jerry’s life at Samaritan House was one that inspired and comforted others. We will miss his unique spirit and open heart.

New Grants Manager Susan Essary

Susan Essary

When Susan Essary, a North Texas native who has called Fort Worth home for many years, saw a job posting for a grant writer for Samaritan House, she had already heard of the agency and knew its good reputation in the community. What she was not expecting when she actually visited the facility, she says, was “to feel it as such a positive place, with such positive residents and staff.” She was impressed with the direction the organization was pursuing, and felt she could help further the agency’s goals.

As grants manager, Susan plays a vital role in finding the financial support that makes Samaritan House’s services and programs possible. The agency’s efficient financial management ensures that our funds go as far as possible, but the cost of providing 350 people with housing and comprehensive support services is substantial.

Government support, on the federal, state and local levels, provides about 70% of funding for the agency, with foundation grants and individual and corporate donations making up the difference. Government budget cuts and a difficult global economic situation have magnified the importance of seeking foundation grants. That’s where Susan’s expertise comes in. Working closely with Chief Financial Officer James Askey and Director of Development Beverly Belle-Isle, Susan is in the process of pursuing a range of foundation requests.

Susan’s prior experience as a grant writer includes work for the SPCA of Texas, the North Texas Regional Library System, and most recently the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, where she worked as a capacity-building project specialist. At MDHA she also helped develop and write policy and procedures and worked with members of Dallas’ Continuum of Care. The Continuum of Care is an entity and process for comprehensively managing and coordinating homeless assistance activities within a community that includes agencies that receive HUD funding. (Samaritan House is a member of the Fort Worth/Arlington/Tarrant County Continuum of Care.)

The role of grants manager includes much more than simply sitting down and writing to a foundation about Samaritan House and asking for money. The first requirement is to understand the agency and its programs and to have a passion for its mission. Susan “got” Samaritan House as soon as she walked in the door, and has been asking questions ever since. Armed with thorough knowledge of the agency, her next (and ongoing) task is research: matching our needs with the interests of various foundations.

Some matches are obvious, but a good grant writer must go beyond the easy picks and think about specific aspects of our programs that may be of interest to a specialized foundation. Even more important, Susan is in a position to recommend ways we can expand and improve our services by identifying funding opportunities that can augment our existing programs or support new ones.

For Susan, the real pleasure of being a grants manager is seeing an idea come to life, first as words on a page and then in action, as improvement in the agency materializes. As a creative thinker, efficient researcher and skilled writer, she has much to offer to Samaritan House.

I’m always moved by and grateful for the courage and determination of our residents as they work to overcome the barriers they face, whether physical illness or learning to function as members of the larger community. I’m also deeply appreciative of the dedication and hard work of our staff as they support and further the efforts of the residents to overcome their challenges. Our volunteers and donors make up the third group essential to the success of what we do. Please join us in helping Samaritan House and its residents thrive.