The entire parish comes together: the youth, commissions, staff, families, parishioners of all ages. Everyone is welcome and needed. It takes place on the first and second weekends in November and several Naperville churches run Harvest Sunday food collection projects on the same two weekends. Of all the churches involved, the project at St. Elizabeth Seton covers the largest geographical area. Typically, between 60,000 and 70,000 food items are collected by SES alone. These items are sorted, packed and loaded onto trucks for delivery. Two local food pantries and two Chicago area food pantries are filled.
We need each other’s help now!
May 14, 2009
SES “ETS” (Employment Transition Support)
Out of Work? Send us your contact info to be posted on our website
Got Jobs? Send them to Deacon Andy for posting on our SES website
Want to help? Send your contact info to become a networker in your field
Have some free services to offer job seekers? Contact Deacon Andy to get you started.
~ Pray for job seekers at every meal, at every Mass, say a rosary every day.
~ Do an hour in the chapel for all job seekers every week.
Contact bjbrock1123@aol.com for chapel hours.
~ Come to our monthly prayer service
Please Contact Deacon Andy 630-416-3325 x772 or ancirmo@wowway.com
Transitional Housing
May 14, 2009
While in the Transitional Housing program, families receive financial support through free housing and other subsidies. This financial support is donated by the Parish during this transitional period. To remain in the program, family members (especially the parents) must set and attain goals designed to prepare them for independent living. This transitional housing period is designed to last between 18 and 30 months for a homeless family. While in the care of the parish, the family is under the close care and supervision of two to four trained mentors who act as the parish’s support and training arm, preparing the parent(s) to get the job training skills or education necessary to find a level of employment which will allow the family to become self-sufficient.
Contact: Tim Brosnan
PADS
May 14, 2009
Each Thursday, October through May, the hungry and homeless gather at St. Margaret Mary Church in Naperville for a hot meal and a place to sleep for the night. One Thursday each month, our parish is responsible for serving dinner and breakfast and hosting a secure and warm environment for the homeless of our area. PADS volunteers are needed to serve supper and breakfast, fix bag lunches, supervise the site and clean up the site on Friday morning.
We work in four to five shifts from Thursday night at 6:00 PM until Friday morning at 7:00 AM.
Contact: Judy Twargoral
Loaves and Fishes
May 14, 2009
St. Elizabeth Seton provides an opportunity for you to participate in helping those in need of basic necessities. We as a church community do this by providing a cart in the Lower Level of the church building for those who want to donate non-perishable food items, cleaning products, and toiletries. If you wish to donate such items, bring them to the lower level and place them on the cart. Each week a volunteer driver from the parish will bring the donated items from the cart to the LOAVES AND FISHES COMMUNITY PANTRY.
Contact: Palma Aikins
Hesed House
May 14, 2009
What can this ministry do for me?
May 13, 2009
Recognizing the stresses placed on job seekers and their families during this time, members of our parish with skills in human resources, finance and other areas meet regularly with job seekers to listen, to pray together, and offer job search advice, direction and focus. We are not a job club, but a support team offering help and networking. A number of parish volunteers from various industries have offered to be networkers in their industry, and their contact information is posted on our parish website.
The mission of this ministry is to provide support to those who are unemployed or under-employed during their time of job transition. Recognizing the stresses placed on job seekers and their families during this time; members of our parish with skills in human resources, finance and other areas offer job search advice, direction and focus. We are not a job club, but a support team offering help and networking. A number of parish volunteers from various industries have offered to be networkers in their industry, and their contact information is posted on our parish website. Our pages on the parish web site also offer job search links, and a number of open positions referred to us by parishioners.
This group provides those seeking work, whether unemployed or under-employed, with sharing and networking; and with guidance and resources to help in job searching during this transition.
Here you will find links to job search resources such as the St. Joseph the Worker Ministry as well as links to selected search engines and databases.
You will also find pages featuring listings of individuals who have stepped up to help. By volunteering their names, email addresses, employer’s company name, and industry, these parishioners are available as networking resources to supply contact information and forward résumés to the right people in their area of business.
Please contact Deacon Andy Cirmo (coordinator):
ancirmo@wowway.com or 630-416-33285 x 772
(All information provided is proprietary and used exclusively for this purpose only)
Elizabeth Ministry
May 13, 2009
What is Elizabeth Ministry?
Elizabeth Ministry is an international movement designed to support women and their families during the joys, trials and sorrows of the childbearing years. Elizabeth Ministry’s mission is to cherish children, encourage families and build community. We offer peer support, mentoring, spiritual nourishment, educational and inspirational resources.
Click to visit Elizabeth Ministry International.
How does it work?
Volunteers become Elizabeth Ministers in the areas they have experienced. For example, a woman who has twins would visit and mentor a woman who is pregnant with twins. Continued support is given throughout the pregnancy and after the birth. This support comes in the form of visits, phone calls, cards, prayer, resources and assistance. The areas of Elizabeth Ministry include, but are not limited to: pregnancy, birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, regretted abortions, infant or child death, crisis or special needs, adoption, fertility and infertility. Support is available for women, men and children. Mothers, fathers, siblings and grandparents can benefit from Elizabeth Ministry.
Who are the Elizabeth Ministers?
Elizabeth Ministers are volunteer representatives of a faith community. They are not counselors, but are present to offer peer support, mentoring and friendship only. No lengthy training is needed. Ministers are women willing to share their presence, stories, and experience in the hope that these will encourage another woman and her family.
Why is this needed?
In past generations, the presence, intimacy, and support needed during childbearing years was found within the structures of family, neighborhood, church and community. Today, these structures are undergoing rapid change. Neighborhoods are fragmented, leaving many families isolated. Our churches have increased in size, making it more difficult to create a hospitable and loving environment. Mobility has caused extended families to be separated by many miles, making frequent visits impossible. Yet, the wisdom drawn from sharing stories of the joys and trials of bringing new life into a family is still needed. The support, reassurance and advice – usually given by the extended family – often needs to come from another source. Elizabeth Ministry is a response to this need.
What are the benefits?
Elizabeth Ministry supports a faith community’s commitment toward the sanctity of life. It is a way to reach young adults as they build their families. Elizabeth Ministry also provides a focused dimension to bereavement ministry and marriage enrichment. It offers wisdom in this age of reproduction technology, while building community.
How do I get more information?
Please contact Maura Marcotte, the Director of Elizabeth Ministry,
by e-mail at maura_marcotte@yahoo.com
Rosebud Program
May 1, 2009
The Elizabeth Ministry of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish now offers the Rosebud Program. The Rosebud Program is the visual reminder of the precious blessing of new life.
On the bottom shelf of a table in the lower level of the church near the alcove with the statue of Our Blessed Mother, there is a basket of different colored silk roses. The colors represent
- Pregnancy (Pink),
- Birth/Adoption (Red),
- Loss (White), or
- trying to Conceive or Adopt (Yellow).
You are invited to remove a rose from the basket, fill in the attached tag, insert the tag in the heart-shaped box on the table and put the rose into the vase. The display is checked weekly by Elizabeth Ministers who pray for and/or contact (optional) the listed people on the tags. Prayers for these intentions are also offered by other groups within the parish, including the Knights of Columbus. All personal information is kept confidential and is shared only on a need-to-know basis with those members of Elizabeth Ministry whose participation is required. Prayer cards for the various situations are displayed next to the vase. Those filling out tags are invited to take a prayer card for their personal meditation.