During the month of September wellness events featuring massage therapy were offered to the Burn, Trauma ICU, Pediatric ICU and Labor and Delivery units of Stroger Hospital of Cook County. More than 75 medical personnel (nurses, doctors, social workers and unit administrators) participated across the two-week wellness event. Each recipient of a massage also received a small thank note stating “Your compassion, optimism and kindness do not go unnoticed. You are appreciated.” A heartfelt thank you is given to Tayonon Holistics and Gayleforce Healing Massage and Bodywork for their gifted massage therapists and the Helen Brach Foundation for the grant [...]

On Saturday, September 11, Bishop Anderson House hosted the first session of the Latinx Spiritual Care Visitor Training Program. All eight sessions are being videoed and will be incorporated into our online learning management system. Thanks to the United Thank Offering grant which is underwriting a major portion of this initiative. We are grateful to have professional chaplains and healthcare professionals sharing their areas of expertise and continuing our legacy of learning!           

By The Rev. Thomas S. Rogers, III On May 18, the Bishop Anderson House staff had a retreat where we looked at where we are at right now with COVID-19 and all that is going on in the world.  We did this by shifting our thinking from cause and effect (A + B = C) to systems thinking – taking in our wider context and thinking systems (i.e. Christmas tree lights on a Christmas tree where if one light goes out, the whole strand goes out).  At the heart of the theory of living human systems is the idea that [...]

One of the things that happens in many organizations is a group will engage a topic like bringing in an outside speaker or read a book, but when the board at Bishop Anderson House engaged social responsibility and racial justice they had an action step: hiring a community-based chaplain to facilitate relationship and community building through the provision of spiritual, emotional, physical and social support to families, business, corporations, schools and groups in the near West side of Chicago. I am pleased to announce that after a search process involving 15 applicants, three phone interviews, and two face-to-face interviews, we have [...]

Chaplain Micheal Smith provides spiritual support for patients recovering from serious injuries in the Burn Unit at Stroger Hospital of Cook County. During the harshest weather months the Burn Unit experiences a significant increase in patients, including a large number of housing and food-insecure patients. Many homeless patients are immediately faced with the challenge of securing food after discharge, for some even when he or she is being discharged to a shelter. Recognizing this essential need, Micheal partnered with Burn Unit nurses, social workers and staff dietitians to create "Samaritan" backpacks with non-perishable items to [...]

The nurses, technicians and doctors all lined up and clamored for what Chaplain Rose was bringing to them--no, not the snack baskets she replenishes weekly. They were yearning instead for spiritual nourishment and wanted her to anoint their hands in healing oil. To commemorate Nurses Week, Rose and Chaplain Micheal made sure that the hard-working and hard-caring nurses on the units could have their tired and dry hands blessed by scented and soothing oil--a reminder that they are each agents of healing, following the call to soothe those in their care.

Oh what a night! A "roomful" of over 100 guests from across the country laughed and cried their way through the May 2nd Healing One, Healing the World spring benefit.  Full of positive energy and contagious enthusiasm, Paddle Raise Queen Kay Lewis shared heartfelt stories of the impact that Spiritual Care Visitor Training has made in her life, and in doing so, blew through all previous paddle raise records by securing pledges and donations of over $67,000. Our honorees Linda McMillan and Martha Gano gave brilliant presentations about their love for Bishop Anderson House, and we enjoyed the group presentation [...]

Individual and group participation is welcome. Cost per individual: $10, includes 2 copies of Five Wishes Cost per group of 10: $35, includes 10 copies of Five Wishes Your copies of Five Wishes will be mailed to the address provided, and the link to the Zoom workshop will be emailed the week prior to the date selected. To commemorate National Health Care Decisions Day, Bishop Anderson House offered 2 virtual workshops on Advance Care Planning using the Five Wishes format. We have learned from COVID-19 that not one of us knows what is around the corner. Completing [...]

The first session of 2021 Spiritual Care Visitor Training kicked off in January with Zoom retreats introducing active listening, the cornerstone of the course. The students, from the Chicagoland area and Wisconsin, and are now completing the 7 online modules at their own pace. Students practice their skills 2 hours per week by providing (virtual) spiritual care, and writing 2 verbatims, which provides time for reflection on their visits. Next session begins with the virtual retreats on August 21 and 28.  Learn more here, or contact Kim at Kim_Lessner@rush.edu.

The energetic Friends of the House team spent the end of 2020 planning a collection of warm winter items for Hope's Table and the CORE Center of Cook County. "I was blown away by how many people came together to donate to community members in need," shares Lesli Vipond, a member of the Friends of the House board. "We'd hoped people would participate in the clothing drive, but the support from the community and our business partners was honestly so much more than I could have imagined. What a bright spot at the end of a long year!" Bags [...]