Record #: R2018-1280   
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Intro date: 12/12/2018 Current Controlling Legislative Body:
Final action: 12/12/2018
Title: Congratulations extended to Mary Ann Collins on retirement as director of St. Gertrude's Social Services and Heart to Heart program
Sponsors: Osterman, Harry
Attachments: 1. R2018-1280.pdf

Alderman Harry Osterman

 

48TH WARD

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Resolution

Whereas, Mary Ann Collins is retiring as director of St. Gertrude's Social Services and the Heart to Heart Program after more than 30 years of service to the elderly, homeless, immigrants and families in need in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago; and

Whereas, Mary Ann has directed the social services outreach of St. Gertrude Parish to help with food, rent and utility payments, Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gifts, and other emergency care for indigent individuals and families regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or religious affiliation; and

Whereas, Mary Ann built this small parish ministry into a unique interfaith network of volunteers called Heart to Heart that helps the frailest, older individuals throughout the Edgewater community who live alone and have limited income and no family members to help them; and

Whereas, Mary Ann has championed the idea of volunteers making a difference in the lives ofthe elderly by providing simple services such as grocery shopping, transportation to medical appointments, and an occasional visitor to relieve loneliness, which allows the elderly to remain in their home instead of being forced into institutional care; and

Whereas, Mary Ann's program has trained hundreds of volunteers in respect for and best ways of assisting the elderly so they could provide thousands of hours of quality community service each year.

Whereas, Mary Ann has personally assisted numerous persons in need at all hours ofthe day and night, rescuing frail seniors from heat stroke during summer heat waves, driving others with various medical crises to emergency rooms, relocating seniors out of vermin-infested living conditions, and helping to cut through red tape for indigent individuals seeking assistance from government agencies so they receive all the services they were qualified for; and

Whereas, Mary Ann has also helped hundreds of individuals of all ages by creating the Lending Closet, a one-of-a-kind collection site for reusable medical equipment that is loaned out free of charge to indigent throughout the city, and

Whereas, Mary Ann represented the interests ofand insights into the needs ofthe elderly on Chicago's Senior Citizen Task Force, the Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA), and the North Side Community Providers Association; and

 

 

 

5533 NORTH BROADWAY • CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 606 10 • 773-784-5277 • Fax 773-784-5033

 

Alderman Harry Osterman

48TH WARD

 

 

 

 

Whereas, Mary Ann's Heart to Heart Program was cited as a model for other communities across Chicago with Mayor Daley's 2003 Neighborhoods Alive with Seniors Award recognizing Excellence in Services Provided to Chicago's Senior Citizens, the National Faith in Action and the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce's 2008 Sweet Heart of Edgewater Award; and

Whereas, Mary Ann's leadership, dedication and compassion has inspired others to try starting similar services in other parts ofthe city; and

Now, be it resolved, that the Mayor and members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this 12th day of December, 2018, do hereby honor Mary Ann Collins for her service to the often hidden and forgotten elderly and to the intergenerational vitality of the Edgewater community and of the city of Chicago.

Harry Osterman Alderman, 48th Ward

5533 NORTH BROADWAY • CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60640 • 773-784-5277 • Fax 773-784-5033

 

Be it further resolved, that a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mary Ann Collins.