Alderman Harry Osterman
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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 Le...
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