Casa Esther increases aid to those in need
“We always say yes, and then do what we can.”
That’s the motto of Casa Esther Catholic Worker House in Omro, whether that help comes via a rental payment, a security deposit, a utility bill payment, a hotel stay, groceries or a tank of gas.
Father Joe Mattern, founder, and Sara Kosmicki, executive director, have announced that through the help of donors, Casa Esther has been able “to increase the number of people we’ve helped this year exponentially. We have also been able to increase the amount of financial support we share. Each month the number of people turning to us for help grows. With your support we can continue to listen deeply and say yes.”
Currently, the biggest news from Casa Esther is that Bud Mattern, Father Joe’s brother, has offered to match any donations Casa Esther receives up to $5,000. So, any donation you make will go twice as far.
Father Joe and Sara note that this year they have spent hours sitting with people who come for assistance, and listening to their stories. Here are just a few of the stories they’ve heard in the past few months:
They sat over a map while two Venezuelan families showed them the path they traveled through Central America and Mexico to get to the United States, hoping to find a safer life for their children.
They heard many tales of struggle from families who faced illness or injury – cancer, car accidents, mental illness – that threw their tenuous financial stability into a tailspin.
One single father lost both his fiancée and his father in two separate accidents this year. He is struggling to find housing and work while caring for two small children who are also grieving.
They heard the story of a man who opted to remain in prison, employed by the Department of Corrections to run its agriculture program, because he was unable to secure housing upon his release.
And they heard the story of a mother who found herself living in her car with her two children after her apartment was deemed uninhabitable due to high lead levels. She told them how she tried to make sleeping in the car into a game for the children so they wouldn’t be scared.
As of Nov. 1, Casa Esther has assisted 149 individuals in 49 households and has given out $12,806.57 in rental assistance and $1,034.81 in utility assistance. Casa Esther does much more as it continues to promote peace, social justice, education, nonviolence, environmental protection, and other action. It even maintains multiple gardens, providing produce to local food pantries and educational programs for local youths. This year Casa Esther donated hundreds of pounds of produce to pantries in this area and canned 50 jars of tomatoes for the Warming Shelter.
Now the public has the opportunity to take up the challenge of Bud Mattern and add funds to his match offer, and/or become a monthly sustaining donor. Donations can be mailed to Casa Esther, 320 N. Webster Ave., Omro, WI 54963. For more information, including how to donate online, call 920-685-0315 or 920-809-4282.
The third and last in the Advent Organ Concert Series will begin at noon Wednesday in the sanctuary of the St. Mary Church site of Most Blessed Sacrament Parish, 605 Merritt Ave., Oshkosh. The featured organist will be Marty Vajgrt, coordinator of music for MBS Parish. The concert is free and will last approximately 30 to 45 minutes.
Can you spare even a little time on Christmas Day to help at Father Carr’s Place 2B in Oshkosh, or even a couple of days before with preparations? Drivers are needed to deliver Christmas Day meals to the homebound and to those who cannot get to the Place 2B for a free meal that day. Volunteers are needed to help serve meals at the Mother Teresa Center, and there is always a need for more helpers to clean up and put things away. Stay for a noon meal yourself and make new friends and connect with other friends. If you can help, call 920-231-2378 for more information, or visit fathercarrs.org. You can email them, too, at info@fathercarrs.org.
The Oshkosh Food Co-op, 155 Jackson St., has a Giving Tree. All you have to do is pick a tag off the tree and hand it to the cashier when you check out. The cashier will add those items to your purchase for donations to the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry. According to the Co-op, “This is a simple way to help people experiencing food insecurity this holiday season.”
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Oshkosh is seeing an increase in families who are homeless and living in their cars coming for help. Much of this help comes from the shelves of Birdie’s Box, which is on the grounds of the church at 1860 Wisconsin St. (at the intersection with Gruenwald Avenue). The greatest needs currently for Birdie’s Box are hats, gloves, mittens, hot chocolate packets, plastic and regular spoons and forks, oatmeal packets, ramen soup, dry goods, cereal, and peanut butter. Monetary donations also are welcome and are used to help stock the shelves. If donating a check, make it out to Christ Our Savior’s church and, on the memo line, write Birdie’s Box.
The call is still out for donations of any extra 2024 calendars you may have and are willing to donate to inmates at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution. We are reminded by the prison that if you are donating a calendar make sure it is not spiral-bound, and does not have pictures of children, women or weapons. Calendars may be dropped off in Oshkosh at St. Andrew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1100 E. Murdock Ave., or at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, 1860 Wisconsin St.
The second of two City-Wide Advent Reconciliation Services, sponsored by the Catholic parishes of Oshkosh, will begin at 2 p.m. this Tuesday at St. Raphael Church, 830 S. Westhaven Drive.
Traditional songs of the season, and sing-a-longs, will be included when the St. Jude Parish Choir leads songs and is joined by brass preludes on Christmas Eve at the Sacred Heart site, 519 Knapp St. This begins at 9:30 p.m. and precedes the 10 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass at Sacred Heart, which will feature the Adult Choir.
Items for holiday baking are the requested items this month for the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry, 2551 Jackson St. Any basics you would use to bake at home would be welcome for families who want to make and bake this season. Requested items include flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, extracts, frosting and sprinkles, cake and cookie mixes, Jiffy mixes, chocolate chips, evaporated milk, sweetened condense milk, pudding, Jell-O, pie fillings and pie crust.
Thought for the Day: “The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” — Vince Lombardi
Judy Russell of Oshkosh writes about happenings at area centers of worship. To submit news for her consideration, email oshkoshsubmit@thenorthwestern.com with the subject “Church news.” Deadline is 5 p.m. Mondays.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Casa Esther donations to be matched up to $5,000
