JH For Homeless Veterans

Christmas Mailing

2011-10-21T17:15:00.001-04:00

It's hard to believe that we have to finish our Christmas mailing and have it out the door by the end of Oct. A lot of the posts don't have December meeting so we have to get the mailing to them before their November meetings for discussion.We are sending out app 2,300 pieces. Each mailing will contain a Christmas card and an annual report. The format this year is different and very creative. Nicely done by our volunteer Gert.

Where does the time go?

2011-10-16T20:05:00.002-04:00

We finished our build out over the spring and now have a capacity of 121 beds. Our current census is 105 or so. Some come and some go and some stay. So goes the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction. If a guy hears one thing he doesn't forget it may make a big difference in his life.

I am still doing the Wed night Spiritual Meeting. I don't know if it helps the guys in treatment but it certainly helps me. I have had to really look at my spiritual life and where I'm at in my program.

The Valley Forge Raffle drawing is on the 22nd of Oct - someone will win a nice trip to NYC.

All for now. I need to post here more often.

JH is full!

2011-02-04T16:12:00.002-05:00

We admitted our 107th Veteran today. That is the most we've ever had inhouse and means we are maxed out with a waiting list. I guess the VA goal of ending homelessness among veterans is not quite there.

However if you get all the vets in places like JH and use the HUD definition of homelessness then the problem is solved!

What a joke!!

It's another cold day here today and the forecast is for snow tonight. This stuff is getting a bit old.

Changes

2011-01-08T10:15:00.004-05:00

Busy time at JH. Work has begun on the 5th floor of the Marx center for expansion. Currently we have space for 106 vets but will be able to add app 15 more beds after the construction is complete.

Our Executive Director is currently in Phoenix to escape the Cincy cold. He will be there for about 2 months but will be "working" from there.

I am training a new consultant to take over a good bit of the admin work I have been bogged down in. I will then be able to devote more time to working with vets on long term recovery issues as well as giving more time to the building management functions. No small task since we have 8 old buildings.

That's all for now. Brr, its cold today with a bit of snow.

End of Year

2010-12-28T13:47:00.001-05:00

This has been a very good year for JH. We have completed many major projects and have continued to increase our available beds to help our wounded warriors.

We will go into 2011 with a capacity to house 109 vets, which will quickly increase to around 120 within a couple of months.

JH Christmas Party

2010-12-19T11:14:00.002-05:00

Today, at 1PM, St Paul's Lutheran church will host the Joseph House Christmas celebration. They will serve a full blown dinner, two Santas will be there, and the 100+ JH residents will get numerous gifts. It's always a great time.

We will have some amateur entertainment by staff, alumni and residents. It's not exactly a top notch talent contest but is certainly better than karaoke night at the local watering home.

Will be controlled chaos and fun will be had by all (or at least most).

It's Thursday

2010-12-09T14:48:00.002-05:00

I work 4 days per week 10 hours per day. I have about 2 hours to put in my 40 plus this week.

Busy weekend coming - way to much holiday to be crammed into a few days. Why do we do this to ourselves every year.

We keep doing the same things and expecting different results. Oh yea, they call that insanity!

Cold in Cincinnati

2010-12-07T13:08:00.002-05:00

Today is cold! Oh yea, it's winter in Cincinnati. It was 14 last night with wind chill of zero. Today is a heat wave. Its currently 26. Could be worse I guess.

JH is building toward Christmas. One dinner hosted by a VFW post tomorrow night and another one next week. We then have our big Christmas meal and extravaganza hosted by the Lutherans at St Paul's church on the 19th.

I hope we can all take some time to remember how much we all have to be grateful for. This is a wonderful country we live in and our freedom is being safe guarded by our troupes. God help keep them safe!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T09:48:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since I updated the blog. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since my last post.

We continue to grow. We can now house 105 residents. On Monday it will be 107 and more to come.

We have had a blessed year. Our VA grant money has been increased and we were awarded a new 15 bed grant thanks to the due diligence of our Director, Bill Malone. We've not seen a drop off of contributions in spite of how difficult the economy has been.

Today we are being hosted for Thanksgiving by our friends from St Pauls Lutheran Church. This is the 3 year they have done this for our residents.

My wife, daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren will join us there for a while and then we will have a quite (?) meal at home later this afternoon.

Meetings

2010-03-10T12:00:00.002-05:00

JH Executive/Finance committee meeting March 11th at 12noon at the Erby House on the 2nd floor. Lunch provided.

The second installment of the JH retreat will be Sat, March 13th at 9AM. It will be at:

Dunnhumby, Inc
444 W. Third Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Full board meeting will be held at Xavier at 0630 March 17th.

Snow!

2010-02-09T16:41:00.004-05:00

Today we had some 5 inches of paralyzing snow in Cincinnati. You would think it was the end of the world!

We had to open the back of the Erby House for entrance to the building. The slate is coming off the roof of the Prince of Peace Church creating a hazard for anyone between the building. We have closed off the front and side.

Everything else at Joseph House is humming right along.

Tween

2009-12-09T12:04:00.002-05:00

Here we are, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our Thanksgiving celebration was hosted at St Pauls Lutheran Church on Madison Road. The congregation picked up 15 of our guys and prepared a feast for about 75 JH residents. These are some of the most generous people I've ever met.

They will also be hosting our Christmas part Dec 20th. We are planning on 120 or so for the party. Lots of gifts/donations will be coming in between now and then.

Today the generous folks from the St. James church in Westwood brought us 65 pair of new underware and 5 tee shirts. These are the necessities that new men really need.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-22T13:01:00.002-05:00

Here we are at another Thanksgiving. There is so much to be grateful for. Recovery, sobriety, happiness, acceptance, service, God's grace, just to name a few.

JH census in now hovering around 100 wounded warriors. These guys come to us very broken and needy. Many do recover if they stay around for a while and work the steps of recovery. When they complete the 90 day treatment program and phase up the work really begins. It is out of the hands of the staff and in there hands to apply the tools they have been taught. Some make it and some don't. We can't hope to save them all but just do the best we can do. None of us are God.

Long Time Coming

2009-05-29T21:32:00.002-04:00

I have been remiss in keeping the blog up to date. Sometimes life just seems to happen all around you.

We have grown the capacity of JH from 76 to 100 residents recently. The goal is to always have a few empty beds so we never turn any of our wounded veterans away. But, we are again at capacity. We're not sure what to do but when we "build it they come".

We've begun to see the impact of the economy among our alumni population. We have a couple guys who are still sober, but they lost their jobs and are in need of help. We are formulating a plan to provide transitional housing to some of our alumni, as long as they are clean and sober.

Our 9th annual Armed Forces Day Golf Outing concluded on May 16th. Another successful sold out event. The weather could have been better but I think a good time was had by all. Next up will be the mailing for the Valley Forge Raffle followed by (yikes) the Christmas mailing.

Whew - take a breath!

2009-01-14T13:18:00.002-05:00

The holidays here at JH were busy and wild. The generosity was overwhelming this year. Many organizations gave the guys gifts. We, again, thank our friends from the Lutheran Church for allowing us to use their space and for serving our Christmas meal.

Having said all of that, I for one, am glad it's over. Now we can get back to some kind of "normal" schedule.

I have posted several pictures on the web page if you want to see what went on at the Prince of Peace Church on Race Street in Cincinnati.

Donations

2008-12-10T08:24:00.002-05:00

Donations are flowing in at a fast pace. A lot of generous organizations who truly care about our damaged veterans.

The Christmas gift wrapping crew will be coming in today. A big job with almost 100 guys in the house.

"Thanks"giving

2008-12-02T08:12:00.003-05:00

The Lutheran church hosted a Thanksgiving meal for all the JH residents at the Prince of Peace Church. The food was furnished, cooked and served by St Paul's Lutheran Church. What a great group of generous giving people.

Our Executive Director has returned for the warm confines of his place in Phoenix. It's good to have him back and involved in the JH operation.

We had a major repair job on the 1st floor of the Bischoff House on Vine Street. The floor was in bad shape from water damage and previous termite infestations. Small matter of $30,000 to bring it up to speed. Contributions would be welcomed.

Our resident population is now hovering around 100 damaged vets. 100 is our capacity.

A lot of activity coming for Christmas. We have received generous contributions from numerous sources. An example is 105 very nice knit hats we received from an organization called "Knitters for Obama". Not really a political organization. Just a group from numerous states knitting to help the needy. How nice is that!

Late in Week

2008-11-20T14:40:00.004-05:00

The JH Director has been in Phoenix for a couple of weeks and will return Nov 24th or 25th.

The Prince of Peace church will host the annual JH Thanksgiving celebration. The meal will be prepared and served by St Paul Lutheran Church @ 12Noon.

The JH Christmas party will also be at the Prince of Peace church at 12 Noon Dec 20th. Santa will be in attendance. The meal will be hosted by Christ and St Paul Lutheran churches.

Another Week

2008-11-18T19:39:00.004-05:00

After the whirlwind of last week this week is starting out as the boring and mundane. I am trying to get out a Christmas mailing that will include the JH Christmas card and a flyer for next years golf outing. Around 1500 names in the data base. It's a big job - not exciting.

Met with a foundation today that will be giving us $30K in December.

Meeting with the architect tomorrow to discuss renovations that are being done in the Bischoff House.

Tomorrow at 2:30 the weekly clinical meeting will happen. That's always interesting.

Veterans Day Week

2008-11-16T15:04:00.003-05:00

Nov 11th was Veterans Day. A lot happened for vets this week.

I attended a dedication service Nov 9th at Deerfield Honors Veteran's Park. I rode in with the Rolling Thunder group. The ride was fine but super cold during the service.

Nov 11th was a Veterans service at the Viet Nam Vet Memorial in Eden Park. Super event attend by about 30 guys from JH.

Nov 13th was the High School Graduation ceremony at Princeton HS. 5 vets from JH received their HS diplomas. The event was very well done.

John Erby, the JH Board President, passes in his sleep on Sat night Nov 8th. The service was held on Friday Nov 14th at Hodapp Funeral Home. Based on the attendance John was loved and will be missed by many.

A week of celebration, happiness, sadness puncuated with glimses of reality.

Recent Updates

2008-08-04T17:03:00.003-04:00

It is with heavy sad hearts that we all attended the memorial service for Katie Beeman-Malone on Friday night. It was a celebration of life for our Executive Director Bill Malone's wife, who recently passed away after losing her battle with cancer. Almost everyone from JH was in attendance. The service was officiated by Rev Ron Ewell.

It appears that we have a permit from the city of Cincinnati for the new (expensive) sprinkler system for the Vine Street building. We can now continue with our construction of the 3rd floor.

Our fearless Executive Director left this morning for 2 weeks of vacation in Sun City West. We all hope he has a good and safe trip.

I attended a presentation at Fountain Square today. It was for the Military Order of Purple Hearts. Well done and nicely planned out. Just HOT!

And The Beat Goes On

2008-06-17T09:31:00.003-04:00

We have been waiting for the Cincinnati Water Works to hook up our sprinkler system in the Vine Street building for a couple of months. What are they waiting for? Our construction was stopped by the city because the sprinklers aren't in. Our city and regulated utility at work? If we ran our business this way we would soon go the way of the DODO bird!

Electrical work complete at the Parish house. We now have 2 meters in place.

New lockers have been built in the basement of the Bishoff House for resident storage.

City vs Water Works vs JH

2008-05-12T08:25:00.003-04:00

We have been waiting on the Cincinnati Water Works for several weeks to hook up our fire suppression system. So we spend the money to install the pipe in the building, the city stops our construction work because we don't have the sprinkler system working but we are waiting for the water works! Go Figure!

The work on the 3rd floor at the Parish house continues. The bathroom plumbing is almost complete. The new electrical work to install new service and 2 meters will start this week - maybe.

Building Progress

2008-04-10T10:29:00.002-04:00

The work has stopped at the Parrish House for the moment. The bedroom is nearly complete but the bathroom hasn't started. We hope to shuffle personnel and restart project in around a week. We're waiting for the installation of the new alarm system. The old one is operational but continues to cause problems for our staff and Cincinnati's finest.

The Vine Street building is waiting final inspection from the city so we can activate the sprinkler system. Not sure what the hold up is. But you can't fight city hall.

The second phase of construction has started at Vine. The 3rd floor back will house 9-10 beds when the build out is finished. Probably 3-4 weeks for that to wrap up. What's next? Perhaps a rework of the 1st floor setup.

Misc Stuff

2008-03-27T09:46:00.002-04:00

We are almost complete with the revamp work going on at the Parrish house on Race street. When complete we will provide a nice residence room for a guy moving on in his life transition process. We should see the installation of a new alarm system in that building next week some time.
The PA system installation by the JH staff is moving along. The wiring and speakers are in place for the 4th floor. Hopefully the other floors will be done by the end of the week and we can test. We'll then extend the system to the Shaw House and Bishoff House. Should end up as a very cost effective system that will solve some of our in-house problems.
Battles with bed bugs continues. Agencies in the Cincinnati area are having the same or worse problems than we have. We are fortunate to have a property manager who is quite knowledgable and is on top of the problem.
Phase 1 buildout at the Bishoff is complete. We are waiting for a bid to do the Phase 2 construction. Sprinkler system is waiting final inspection and hookup.

This and That

2008-03-24T16:50:00.002-04:00

We signed a contract to install a new alarm system at the Parish House. Should take care of the surprise visits from Cincinnati's finest!

The first phase of the build out is complete at the JH Vine Street location. The sprinkler systems are almost completely installed. We are waiting for a bid for phase 2 at that location.

I joined the JH staff as a full time employee last week. I am working 4 10 hour days and am responsible for the administrative operations. I have 3 staff members reporting to me.

Alarm System & Construction

2008-03-11T13:58:00.004-04:00

We received a quote for a new alarm system for Parish house. We'll see what we can arrange financially with the church. The exisiting system has been a real pain.
We are doing the rebuild on the 3rd floor of the Parish house. That is progressing well.
The build out of the Vine street building is nearly complete 3rd floor front. Guys have moved in but sprinkler system is still in progress. We will soon do some work in the back section of the 3rd floor to also increase capacity.

Been a while

2008-02-26T18:54:00.003-05:00

We have now signed a lease for the 3rd floor of the parish house, in addition to the 2nd. The alarm system is still causing headaches.
Tomorrow is the JH board meeting at 7AM
Not much else, just the day to day in the dreary month of Feb. Cold and snow.

Admin Update

2008-02-04T21:31:00.001-05:00

The move by the Executive Director into the admin building on the 2nd floor is complete. The antenna for WiFi was pushed up a bit and now the Internet connection is adequate.

We are still struggling with the security system. The police were called again this AM because we blew it!

I think we may also occupy the 3rd floor. A few more details to be worked out before that can happen.

Admin Building

2008-01-26T15:15:00.000-05:00

We moved our Executive Director into the admin building this week. The guys did a great job with fixing it up.
The antenna doesn't seem to pull enough signal from the main router to maintain lock. Guess more work is to be done. Perhaps put antenna up higher?
We will also be renting the 3 floor of the building for a residence. The second floor conference room will be utilized for group on Monday and Thursday. That will give Chaplin Ron and his group more room to spread out. Also very quite and private there.

A Day Off

2008-01-20T12:38:00.001-05:00

Joseph House is in a stand down mode on Monday, Jan 21st for the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Some other events that occurred on the same day in history:

1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
1968 - Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh - One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.

Antenna Update

2008-01-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

The antenna went up on the admin building today. It is pulling a strong signal from the main router and is seeing as many as 15 other APs! Should give us good service when we move into the office space.

Dave and Jeff did a super job on the installation. Looks real high tech!

Jan 16th

2008-01-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

Certainly is chilly here in Cincy. The installation of the WiFi antenna has been delayed as a result of snow and ice. We will attempt to put it up today since it is supposed to be the warmest day of the next 7.

Someone broke into the admin building last Friday morning. The trashed the place, stole a PC an some other items and broke the glass out of two doors. Certainly makes you aware that you can't let down your guard.

First Month Of '08

2008-01-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

Well here we are in 2008, another year has passed. JH had a wonderful holiday period because of the generosity of many.

We are still in the process of our build out. Work should begin on our Vine Street building any day. When complete we will have the capacity to house 92 veterans.

We now have wireless Internet for our staff at the Vine Street building. An antenna is in place that picks up the signal from the Republic Street N router. The next task will be to put up an antenna at the administration building on Race Street to accomplish the same thing. It's a bit more challenging because of the buildings in between. Should work, I think.

Other than that it's just the normal day to day activities of serving our homeless addicted veterans. Always a new challenge.

Between Holidays

2007-12-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

The local community was very generous to JH during the Christmas holiday period. Many donations and gifts were received for the residents.

We are slowly moving from a capacity of 76 toward 92 max. We are currently at 84. The additional beds will be available after the Vine Street buildout is complete in February.

We have resumed business as usual after being off on the 24th and 25th. The next holiday will be Jan 1st and that will be it for a while.

Donations are always welcome. Warm clothing is especially needed this time of year. Stocking caps, coats and warm socks are appropriate.

Chinese Dinner

2007-12-20T16:35:00.000-05:00

JH is being treated to a special dinner tonight. The Korean Methodists are hosting the Joseph House residents, staff, and board for a Chinese dinner at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church on Race Street in the Over The Rhine area. The meal will be served from 5PM until 8PM.

Another indication of the giving spirit that the JH has experienced this holiday season.

JH Christmas Party

2007-12-17T13:41:00.000-05:00

The party was held Sunday, Dec 16th. What a great success! We were hosted at the Prince of Peace Church. Food was furnished by the Cincinnati Lutherans. Lots of gifts were given to the guys. I've never seen so many cookies in one place in my life!
The generosity of all was overwhelming. JH has been given many reasons to be grateful for the support.

Resident Christmas Party

2007-12-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

We will have our annual Christmas party on Sunday Dec 16th at the Prince of Peace Church. It will begin at 2:30PM We have lots of gifts for everyone. Generosity abounds this year.

Our friends from the Cincinnati Lutheran Church will furnish food and music. Should be a great time.

Positive Directions

2007-12-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

On Wed we were awarded a grant from the Steinmann Family Foundation. A representative of the foundation came down from Cleveland to make the presentation and see the JH facilities. She was interested in our operation and asked lots of good pertinent questions. We enjoyed her visit and of course, the money is welcomed.
We learned today the Grant Per Diem increase has been approved. It was a lot of work and a long time coming but it happened. Thank you VA!
Our partnership with the Cincinnati Lutherans continues to evolve. We signed a lease for office space in the administration building and are using the space to deploy the Christmas gifts for the guys.
We are working at putting in the proper equipement in the admin building to give our Executive Director Internet access back to our main building. This will save the agency the cost of adding dedicated Internet access in the new office. Signal is very weak there but we are working at it.
The JH bed capacity has increased from 76 beds to 84 on its way to a maximum of 92 in late Feb 2008. We will do construction in the Vine Street building sometime in January to allow the growth.

Todd Portune Visit

2007-11-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

Mr Portune, Hamilton County Commisioner, made a visit to JH yesterday. He was here to hear about the JH mission and see our facilities.
The meeting was very upbeat. He was interested and asked great questions. We also learned a bit about Todd's philosophy and interests.
I think we may have made a friend. The meeting was truly a "breath of fresh" air as expressed by our Executive Director.
It did point out however, the need for JH to create a 1, 3 and 5 year plan. Work will commence on that soon.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T20:27:00.001-05:00

The Cincinnati Lutheran Church furnished, cooked and served a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for the men of Joseph House, their families, the staff and friends of JH. The meal was served at the Prince of Peace Church on Race street in the Over the Rhine area.

It was very generous and well appreaciated by JH.

JH is hopeful that this new found partnership will be beneficial to the Luthern Churches of Cincinnati as well as to JH.

We reached agreement on rental space. JH will move the executive director into the administration building in the month of December.

Agreement

2007-11-20T10:52:00.000-05:00

Joseph House has reached agreement with the Prince of Peace Luthern Church to utilize some of their office space in their administation building.

Our Executive Director will be moving his main office to this space by the end of January.

Prince of Peace Activities

2007-11-19T18:39:00.000-05:00

We are sending a work crew to the church Tuesday at 10am to clean up the room that will be used for the Christmas gift deployment.

JH has a crew ready to assist with cleanup, unloading of food, setup of the room and cleanup after the meal.

I will attend the meal at 12noon for the invocation by Chap. Ron. I will be taking my mother-in-law, who loves vets, my son-in-law and my sister-in-laws husband. Our family meal will be at 5PM at home.

Should be a great day and the beginning of a great relationship with the Lutheran Church in Cincinnati.

We are waiting for a rental price to see if we more our Executive Director into the Admin building next to the Prince of Peace Church.

Activities

2007-11-16T11:20:00.001-05:00

Our alliance with the Cincinnati Lutherans is progressing. We have agreed to hold our Thanksgiving and Christmas parties and dinners at the Prince of Peace Church.

They are providing us with space to stage our Christmas gift deployment in the administration building.

We are negotiating for space in the admin building for our Executive Director to move into by the end of January.

Once we agree on a rental price we need to figure out a time line and determine Internet access issues.