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For the latest news story documenting IHNGC and honoring 20 years of service to homeless families, click here.
October 2010 - A Note from Angela Pancella: As one of our childcare volunteers this summer she wrote this article for Streetvibes: “Are you a volunteer?” a four-year-old wants to know. Another small boy, five years old at the most, is careening through the yard zapping imaginary spider silk from his imaginary webshooters. I help him up when he lands flat on his back at the bottom of the slide. “Thanks, Spidergirl,” he tells me.
I’m at the Interfaith Hospitality Network’s Day Center. Yes, to answer the four-year-old’s question, I am here to volunteer. The task of all us volunteers is simple/complex/humbling/utterly gratifying--we help children play. I’ve been at this twice a week for a couple of weeks now; while the experience is still new, I’d like to share a bit about what I’ve learned so far.
Experiencing Homelessness
The Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) matches religious congregations with families experiencing homelessness. In the evenings, families stay at places provided by a variety of local churches/synagogues, eat dinner and spend time with volunteers from congregations. In the mornings, all the families come to the Day Center (in the old St. Michael church complex in Price Hill) to work on getting into a more stable housing situation--there are several case managers on staff. Most of the day, the children remain under their parents’ supervision. Four days a week, there are morning classes (in budgeting, parenting and life skills) that the adults attend, and then in the afternoons the adults do chores around the Center. It is during these times that volunteers and staff help out most with the children.
I came to IHN after taking classes in early childhood education through the College of Mount St. Joseph and after working at Our Daily Bread in Over-the-Rhine. Through my classes, I’d learned much about the resiliency of children even in times of great hardship. Through Our Daily Bread, I knew folks experiencing homelessness may be going through hardships I can’t begin to wrap my head around. It made me wonder: what would the children at IHN be like?
Imagine...
The first morning I volunteered, Will Leever, IHN’s Child Care Coordinator, brought out uncooked rice in a large tray along with measuring cups, spoons, funnels and plates. A small group of zero-to-five-year-olds clustered round to check out these treasures. (Older children were attending a summer camp, thanks to Cincinnati Public Schools’ Project Connect.) Soon, little chefs were presenting home-cooked pretend meals for us to taste. “What’s this?” I asked a girl who offered a plate of rice.
“Scrambled eggs!”
I acted like I was gobbling it all up.
A three-year-old boy gave me his plate of rice next. That was chicken. Another plate was cake.
So what are the children at IHN like? They are children. They love pretending, they love attention, they love exploring.
Love of pretending means play that mimics adult tasks like cooking, since play is the means by which children rehearse their later lives. It also means that when I am turning a jump rope for a small boy, he suddenly decides the rope is a snake that must be run from, and then a snake that must be caught. In class we talked about how make-believe provides a space where children can feel in control in a world where so much is out of their control. This no longer feels theoretical when my snake-hunting friend grabs the rope triumphantly. “I won!”
The children’s love for attention means that if I help push a child in a Little Tikes car around IHN’s play yard, I must be prepared to give a turn to every other child too--and I must keep careful track of how many turns everyone has had. There is no finer-tuned sense of justice than that possessed by two-, three- and four-year-olds. I give turns as best I can; there will be other opportunities for them to learn how life can be unfair.
Love of exploring means all volunteer eyes have to be sharp. All parents know the lament, “I just turned my back for one second...”--our job is to make sure no one gets hurt, no matter where they run, climb or crawl. I love watching the determination of very small children climbing the ladder on the playhouse--just as long as there’s another volunteer to catch them going down the slide!
Come Play
I’ve loved my time at Interfaith Hospitality Network. I encourage anyone who has an interest in children’s development, who wants to provide support for families experiencing homelessness, and who values play to call them at (513) 471-1100 or email at info@ihncincinnati.org. The more volunteers are there regularly, the more individual attention each child can receive--and children thrive on this. Don’t we all?
...If you'd like to learn more about how you can volunteer, please contact our new Childcare Coordinator, Jeanne Haungs (Will has gone on to pursue higher education in the area of child psychology) at jeanne@ihncincinnati.org or 513.471.1100 ext 17.
August 2009 - Karen Olson, founder and president of Interfaith Hospitality Network, will visit the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati on August 20th at 11am to tour the Lower Price Hill Day Center and meet with IHN GC Executive Director Georgine Getty. Ms. Olson will tour the center to learn more about the local chapter’s efforts and plans to serve the area’s homeless families. The Cincinnati network is one of the most successful IHN networks in the country.
February 2009 - Chicken Soup Cook-Off at Isaac M. Wise Temple. 85 volunteers pitched in, more than 800 people showed up to try the soup, and the event grossed more than $20,000 for the Brotherhood. They use the money collected for various charities, including the Interfaith Hospitality Network, the Lighthouse and scholarships. In addition, each contestant donates a gallon of soup to the Over-the-Rhine Soup Kitchen, so the good that chicken soup can do gets spread around. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
January 2009 - The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati held their annual “Imagine A Tomorrow” fundraising breakfast to increase support for the group’s work on the issue of family homelessness. (Cincinnati Magazine)
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