A Publication of Episcopal Community Services • Summer 2010

OUTREACH
A Publication of Episcopal Community Services • Summer 2010
Planning a
Legacy
Fran and Hal Kellogg, recipients of the
2010 Jane J. O’Neill Award for
Outstanding Service
contents
Letter from the Executive Director
1
Planning A Legacy:
Change is Constant
2
Mutually Beneficial
3
Summer 2010
ECS Outreach is published by Episcopal
Community Services to inform ECS
stakeholders about the work of the agency.
This magazine is sent free upon request and
automatically to current donors and key
stakeholders.
Editor
Robert Formica
robertf@ecs1870.org
215.351.1436
Mission
Episcopal Community Services empowers
vulnerable individuals and families by
providing high-quality social and
educational services that affirm human
dignity and promote social justice.
The Rev. John E. Midwood
Executive Director
Kim A. Shiley
Director of Development & Communications
For address corrections, please contact Arlene
Samuels in the ECS Development Department
at arlenes@ecs1870.org or 215.351.1483.
EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES
225 S. Third Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215.351.1400 phone
215.351.1497 fax
info@ecs1870.org
www.ecs1870.org
Profiles in Service:
Howard and Frances Kellogg
4
Dixie Wigton
4
ECS News
6–8
Illustrating Our Impact:
The 2009–2010 Fiscal Year
in Pictures
IBC
F R O M T H E D E S K O F T H E R E V. J O H N E . M I D W O O D, E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R
L
eading ECS requires balancing several
In May, we had the honor of presenting Howard
priorities, including the quality of our
and Frances Kellogg with the Jane J. O’Neill award for
services, the scope of our program
extraordinary service and philanthropic commitment to
offerings, the wellbeing of our staff,
ECS. Both in their 90s, the Kelloggs have been supporting
and the fulfillment of our mission.
ECS for over 40 years. Mr. Kellogg served as president
Above all of these priorities is stewardship of our
of the board from 1977 to 1980, a time of transition
resources and our reputation. Without that, nothing
for ECS.
else would be possible.
The term “steward” originally referred to a server of
As we honored the Kelloggs that evening, I was
thankful for their continued support. However, I am also
food and drink and is still occasionally used in that
keenly aware that ECS must continue to involve the next
context. Today, stewardship has come to refer to
generation in sustaining our work.
managing the long-term future of an organization and
being a servant to something larger than ourselves.
In a way, that is what ECS is all about. That
We are currently working to expand our base of
support, and our efforts are already bearing fruit. As I
write this, we have just closed the books on our 2009-
commitment is evident in every trustee and staff member.
2010 fiscal year. We had more donors this year than the
Whenever financial decisions come to the table, the
year before despite continued weakness in the economy.
members of our board of trustees strive to balance short-
However, the total dollar amount of all those gifts fell
term needs with the long-term health of the organization.
slightly because many loyal supporters have been forced
ECS employees, from janitors to directors, tell me that
to give a little less. That means we still need new and
our first priority must be our mission. Indeed, they have
returning donors now more than ever before.
suggested reductions in their own benefits rather than see
our work compromised.
This agency has had to make some tough choices over
Our commitment to stewardship and our ability to do
more with every dollar make ECS a wonderful investment
of your charitable contributions and legacy gifts. Thank
the past few years, but we’re blessed to have those choices
you for believing in ECS and our mission. Your continued
to make. Because of our loyal supporters, we have choices
support will sustain our work today and for another
beyond whether to keep the lights on or not. That allows
140 years.
us to sustain programs and invest in our future during
lean times like this, making each dollar we spend go
further for people in need.
As ECS celebrates 140 years, I am thinking of those
who have sustained and endowed this organization
Executive Director
Episcopal Community
Services
throughout our history. Truly, we are standing on
their shoulders.
This issue of ECS Outreach is dedicated to all of those
who are leaving a legacy to future generations through
annual support, volunteer work and planned gifts. Inside,
you can find information on writing or updating your
will at any time in your life. You can also learn about ways
to make a gift that helps you and ECS at the same time.
www.ecs1870.org 1
PLANNING A LEGACY
• You no longer need guardians for minor children
• An adult child marries or divorces
• You want to adjust the distribution of assets among family
members, or balance gifts to family with support of charities
that you value
What Are Your Assets? What Are Your Needs?
Change is Constant:
Does Your Estate
Plan Still Match
Your Life Plan?
M
any of us contemplate estate planning the same way we
think about putting a new roof on the house. There’ll be
a few weeks of dust and upheaval, artisans will peer inside and
watch how we live our lives, then comes a flurry of hammering
and we’re set for another twenty years.
In truth, maintaining an estate plan is a much different sort
of job. It is not a once-and-it’s-done task. Planning your estate
should be a steady occupation, revisited as the variables of your
estate plan evolve. Your assets, your career, retirement, the needs
of your loved ones, your philanthropic priorities and the cost of
transferring property: All of these are likely to be different today
than when you last signed your estate documents.
Here are some of the events that should send you back to
your plan to make sure that it will still produce the results that
you and your heirs want:
How and When Will You Transfer Assets?
• You move to a different state
• Further changes to the federal estate and gift tax are enacted
• Income or capital gains tax rates are increased
• Income-tax treatment of withdrawals from retirement plans to
fund charitable gifts becomes more favorable
Who Will Be a Beneficiary?
• You marry
• You divorce, are widowed, or remarry
• New children or grandchildren are born
• A new job provides significantly better retirement and
insurance benefits than you’ve previously counted on
• You decide to retire earlier than you originally planned
• You decide to retire later, or start a second career
• Now that you’ve retired, your living expenses are higher than
you planned for
• You sell your primary residence, or a vacation home that your
family shared
• Your health, or that of your spouse, has changed, and you
anticipate needing long-term care
• You receive an inheritance or other transfer that significantly
increases your net worth
Remember the Codicil!
You may be hesitating over what you expect will be the time
and expense of preparing all-new estate documents. If the
changes you need to make are relatively minor – a new
beneficiary or the removal of an old one, say, or an increase or
decrease in the amount of a bequest – you can make them
through a codicil. This is a document that states the changes,
but confirms all other provisions of your existing will. It’s
simple and inexpensive to prepare. If you have a revocable trust
instead of a will, the same sort of modification can be made
through a simple amendment to the original trust document.
Always a Wise Change: Add a Gift to Episcopal
Community Services
If this is the time to review
your estate plans, please
consider a bequest or other
gift to ECS on your list of
changes to be made. A
gift through your estate is
an ideal way to support us.
It allows maximum
flexibility in your planning
and does not affect your assets
or cash flow during your lifetime. If
you do add ECS to your will, please let us know so we can
honor you as a member of the City Mission Legacy Society for
those who have made a planned gift to ECS. I
These articles are intended to provide general gift planning information only. Our organization is not qualified to provide specific legal, tax or investment advice, and this
publication should not be looked to or relied upon as a source for such advice. Consult with your own legal and financial advisors before making any gift. Contents
protected under copyright.
2 Episcopal Community Services
Mutually Beneficial:
Gifts to ECS Can
Provide for You and
Your Family, Today
and in the Future
hen is a gift to ECS more than just a gift? How about
when one donation delivers an immediate tax deduction
to you, plus lifetime income for you and a loved one, plus a
legacy for you to support ECS in perpetuity?
Gifts-plus come in several formats, including popular
charitable gift annuities, deferred gift annuities and charitable
remainder trusts. We call them “life-income gifts.” Each offers
financial incentives that can stretch your ability to help ECS
more significantly than you could with an outright gift.
How do gifts-plus work? You transfer cash or appreciated
assets to ECS. We engage professionals to manage all life income
funds and send you income from your gift for the rest of your
life. You claim an income tax deduction this year based on the
value of the assets you gave us, minus the “present value” of the
income interest you retained (a simple calculation, based on
how old you are and how much income you plan to draw from
your gift each year). Income from your gift can be paid to you
either as a fixed annuity or as a percentage of the annual value
of your gift account, which can mean a rising income to you
over time.
allows us to offer significantly higher income rates than we
can for standard gift annuities. It also gives the donor a larger
income tax deduction than a standard annuity. Result? A
substantial tax deduction in high-earnings years, plus an extra
source of income when retirement comes.
• Charitable remainder trusts are individual, customized
charitable plans that offer you maximum flexibility in meeting
both your financial and your charitable goals. Want to change
your gift plan’s investment strategy from growth to high
income? Need to provide income to several beneficiaries?
A charitable remainder trust can help you do it. I
W
Take the Next Step!
Here at ECS, we are ready to work with you through every
step of the gift planning process. We can identify gift vehicles
tailored to your short-term and long-term plans.
While the benefits of planned gifts are similar among most
organizations, ECS offers a level of trust and stability few can
match. For 140 years, we have guarded our resources to
serve future generations. Our commitment to stewardship
provides peace of mind when it comes to your investment
and your legacy.
Please, take the next step and call us today. We will work
with you for as long as it takes to develop a giving strategy
that satisfies your needs. Of course, we can provide information only and urge you to consult your own financial advisor
as well.
Here are some of your planning options:
• Younger donors can make a gift today, but arrange for their
annuity payments to commence at a future date — often
coinciding with retirement. This option, called a deferred gift
annuity, offers several unique benefits to individuals in their
late-40s to early-60s: Delaying the start of income payments
Kim Shiley, Director of
Development and
Communications
Kimball Leiser, Gift
Planning Consultant
Call us at 215.351.1461 or email kims@ecs1870.org
e
• A charitable gift annuity is a simple contract between you
and ECS providing for our payment to you and/or another
beneficiary of a fixed annuity for life. Your income is set when
you make your gift, so you’ll be able to budget it into your
future planning. You can take advantage of two attractive
benefits offered by a gift annuity. First, we generally offer a
somewhat higher income rate for gift annuities than for other
life-income plans. Second, a portion of that income will come
to you tax-free as return of principal, and another portion will
be taxed at low capital-gains rates if you funded your annuity
with appreciated assets.
phi·lan·thro·py (f ˘–lān’thr –pē) –
The effort or inclination to increase
the well-being of humankind, as by
charitable aid or donations.
www.ecs1870.org 3
PROFILES IN SERVICE
Howard and Frances Kellogg
I
n May, Episcopal Community Services presented
Howard and Frances Kellogg with the Jane J. O’Neill
Award for Outstanding Service. It was just one small
way to acknowledge two people who have devoted
untold time and treasure, not just to ECS, but to many
organizations and individuals over the years.
The Kelloggs can’t recall exactly when they first became
supporters of ECS. However, by the time Mr. Kellogg became
the organization’s
11th board
president in 1977,
the couple had
already been
involved with the
organization for
some time.
“I had just
retired as a partner
at Morgan Lewis
when I became
Betty Moran, Fran
president of the board,” Mr. Kellogg said.
Kellogg, Hal Kellogg,
“A couple years later, we were without an
and Ray Welsh at the
executive director, so I stepped in with
2010 Bishop White
much of the day-to-day operations for a
Circle and City Mission
period of time.”
Legacy Society
The ECS of the late 1970s was very
reception, where the
Kelloggs received the different from the organization today. All
Jane J. O’Neill Award
Saints Hospital and the Springfield
for Outstanding
Retirement Residence accounted for 80%
Service. Moran and
of the agency’s $6.5 million budget. The
Welsh are previous
remainder of resources was primarily
honorees.
devoted to pastoral care in institutions,
counseling and other related services.
One ECS program, services to the blind, was discontinued
years ago, yet for the Kelloggs, it continues to this day. In 1978,
Mr. Kellogg became a volunteer reader for Sebastian Demenop,
a Thai immigrant who was then a manager at a state-run social
services program in North Philadelphia.
“He helped me a lot,” Demenop said. “I had several readers
when I was working, but during the SEPTA strike, they couldn’t
get to my office. He was able to come to come to my rescue,
driving in every day.”
Even after Demenop’s retirement in 1992, Mr. Kellogg
continued to visit him weekly to read his mail and other
documents until Mr. Kellogg suffered a stroke last year. Still, six
weeks after his release from the hospital, Kellogg and Demenop
were working together again. At 95, Mr. Kellogg can no longer
drive, so Demenop now takes Para transit from his home in
Haverford to the Kelloggs’ home in the Foulkeways retirement
community in Gwynedd.
4 Episcopal Community Services
“His voice is weaker, but if
he ever gets stuck, his wife will
step in and help,” Demenop
said. “They are great people,
I’m lucky to get to know them.
Our friendship has lasted so
many years.”
For Mrs. Kellogg, ECS was
also a place to serve. In the late
1970s, with all but one of their
five children out of the house, Hal Kellogg, as he appeared in
the Kelloggs moved to Society the 1978 ECS annual report.
Hill, right around the corner
from the ECS main office.
“I did quite a bit of work with social workers, driving people
around to appointments, and going into some very sad home
situations — terrible housing and all that. I remember doing
some things in the office, teaching sewing and other skills,”
Mrs. Kellogg said.
Her work with ECS led her to become involved with prison
issues, eventually chairing the Pennsylvania Prison Society
board. Over the years, she has served a number of
organizations, from board leadership at Settlement Music
School to direct-service volunteer work in hospices.
Dixie Wigton
Dixie Wigton recently retired from volunteer service to
Episcopal Community Services for at least the third time.
Now in her 80s, she insists that her most recent term on the
development committee is her last formal assignment.
She served on her first ECS committee in the late 1970s
and then spent a full 10-year term on the board. Most
recently, she served on the development committee where
she organized ECS presentations in local retirement
communities. While the agency will surely miss her hard
work and expertise, she has no doubt earned her rest.
“You need younger people now to do the work. They
should find out how the organization works, how it does
what it does and why they should support it,” Wigton said.
“Things that engaged people 20 years ago just leave them
cold today. The younger generation has new ideas and new
ways of doing things. That will keep it going.”
Wigton grew up on a ranch south of Santa Barbara,
California, surrounded by acres of avocado and lemon trees.
Shortly after graduating from Stanford in 1945, she moved
to the east coast and married Robert Wigton of Bryn Mawr.
She has been here ever since, although she still owns half her
father’s ranch and maintains a residence in California.
“I can remember
my parents really
emphasizing that
when one has the
means, one should
share it. For me, my
Christian faith has
been a big impetus
to do more.”
“We feel very
fortunate that we’re
able to do a lot for
charity,” Mr. Kellogg
said. “It’s been a large
part of our lives.
We’ve been active
enough in charitable
work ourselves to
know what activities
are useful to
humanity and what
ones we want to give
to. That’s allowed
us to form our
opinions. Most of
the causes we support are church related.”
Indeed, faith is integral to the Kelloggs’ lives, as well as their
charitable work. Mr. Kellogg served for many years on church
vestries and was active in diocesan affairs. Mrs. Kellogg was a
founding member of Church Without Walls, which met in
people’s homes and did not maintain paid clergy, allowing the
congregation to devote its resources to charitable work. For the
last 17 years since they moved from Society Hill to Gwynedd,
“I’m bi-coastal, but even though I don’t have any family here
now, it’s a good place to be. I love living here,” Wigton said.
“They always say Philadelphia is a stuffy place, but it really isn’t.
People are easy to get to know. I have been a member of
Church of the Redeemer, Bryn Mawr for over 50 years and I
still like the old place.”
Wigton has also traveled widely. Before her husband passed
away, the couple would often go on road trips all over Europe.
In past years, she has visited the eastern world with trips to
China, Indonesia and Bhutan. A back injury on her last trip has
slowed her down a little, but she still plans to see a little more of
the world, not to mention visiting her two grandchildren.
Wigton was introduced to charitable work through her
mother-in-law, who was active with Inglis House, a home for
the physically disabled. After serving on the board at Inglis
House, Wigton became involved with ECS through church.
“I’ve always loved ECS. They do a really good job of not
doing Band Aids, but really pulling people up and out of their
cycle of poverty,” Wigton said. “In my era, you didn’t necessarily
have a career, so you tried to do something useful in the world.
It gives you a purpose in life. You can’t just float through life
doing happy things, you have to contribute something. And, as
they always say, you get more than you give.” I
the Kelloggs have
continued to drive
back to their parish,
St. Peter’s,
Philadelphia, every
Sunday.
“I can remember
my parents really
emphasizing that
when one has the
means, one should
share it. For me, my
ECS Executive Director John Midwood
Christian faith has
greets Fran Kellogg at the 2009 Good
been a big impetus
Friends Luncheon.
to do more,” Mrs.
Kellogg said. “Some people give all their money to the arts.
Those things are important and I’m glad people support them,
but I don’t want to be one of them. There are just too many
people with great need in this country where there is so
much wealth.” I
Dixie Wigton, longtime ECS donor and volunteer, at the ECS Bishop
White Circle and City Mission Legacy Society reception.
www.ecs1870.org 5
ECS NEWS
ECS St. Barnabas Mission Celebrates
10 Years at Current Location
W
hen Episcopal Community Services held an event
marking the 10th anniversary of the current location
of ECS St. Barnabas Mission, the celebration
was about much more than bricks and mortar.
Current and former staff, residents and alumni, volunteers, donors,
government and non-profit partners, and members of the community
all came together, illustrating how the success of the shelter for
homeless women and children depends on all of us.
“When I came here it was because we wanted to leave that
dusty basement and this was my dream come true,” said Helen
Allen, the retired former manager of the Mission. “All the things
that are accomplished here are all thought out deeply, planned,
and executed. The mothers always had their individual service
plans so once we had that taken care of we could really focus on
the children.”
The Mission was founded over 25 years ago, when St. Barnabas
Episcopal Church opened its unused classroom space to answer the
needs of Philadelphia’s growing homeless population. As the years
went on, however, the space became inadequate. About a year after St.
Barnabas Mission merged with ECS, the new building opened
its doors.
“I remember being an analyst, coming to the old location and
being very upset that the building was not in the best condition,” said
Leticia Egea Hinton of the Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing.
“In the midst of that ECS was saying to me, ‘we’re going to fix this,’
and they did. The only time I get involved now is when something
doesn’t work, so I haven’t been here in a long time. It’s been
wonderful to see how they have evolved and all the services that have
been wrapped around this program.”
Both US Representative Chakka Fattah and Mayor Michael Nutter
sent official proclamations, and Joe Willard of People’s Emergency
Center, a non-profit partner of ECS, presented ECS with a framed
photograph taken in West Philadelphia. All will be displayed at the
shelter for years to come.
Audrey Wiggins, Edith
Ford, Helen Allen and
Mamie Wiggins. Allen is
the former manager of
the Mission and Mamie
Wiggins helped found
the original shelter at
St. Barnabas Episcopal
Church.
Many members of the ECS Board of Trustees came to help celebrate.
From left, Dick Schneider, Betsey Useem, Darryl Ford, Sunny Hallahan,
Executive Director John Midwood, Board President Kurt Brunner, Jim
Kelch, Mimi Kepner, Ray Welsh and Cliff Cutler.
Joe Willard of the People’s
Emergency Center
presented a framed
photograph of a West
Philadelphia streetscape
to Victoria Bennett,
the director of ECS
St. Barnabas Mission and
John Midwood, executive
director of ECS.
TIMELINE
2000 – Opened doors at new location
2004 – First resident alumni association event
2001 – Established an on-site after-school program for children
2004 – Received city contract for case management
2001 – Playground constructed
2006 – Awarded Keystone STAR as a quality child care provider
2002 – Added health services component
2007 – SBM staff trained in Effective Black Parenting curriculum
promoting positive parenting practices
2003 – Installed 14 computers in the shelter’s lab
2003 – Awarded child care license by the Pennsylvania
Department of Public Welfare
2004 – Initiation of CHOP partnership which brought interns
and residents to provide medical care to shelter residents
6 Episcopal Community Services
2009 – Capital projects included security improvements, removal
of an abandoned building adjacent to the property and
replacement of aging kitchen equipment
2010 – Celebrated 10 years at 6006 W Girard Avenue
Phillies Sponsor Special Night
at the Game for ECS Children
n June 23, the Phillies hosted 15
children from the ECS Foster/Kinship
Care and FAST Housing programs to enjoy a
night at the game in pitcher Roy Halladay’s
personal suite,
“Doc’s Box.”
The youth had
the incredible
opportunity to
meet Halladay
and got a behindthe-scenes tour
of Citizens
Bank Park.
Executive
Roy Halladay signs
Director John
autographs for the kids.
Midwood
accompanied the ECS kids and social
workers on this exciting evening. The youth
selected to attend the event demonstrated
academic achievements during
the school year.
O
Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay hosted kids
from ECS Foster/Kinship Care and FAST
Housing programs in “Doc’s Box,” his
personal skybox at the stadium.
This is the Phillies’ second generous gift
to ECS. In 2009 the team donated $10,000
to support the work of ECS St. Barnabas
Mission. I
Councilwoman Addresses
Foster Parents
ach year, Episcopal
Community
Services chooses the
week of Mother’s Day
to celebrate the foster
mothers (and fathers)
who open their homes
and hearts to children
Councilwoman
in need. This year, the
Blondell Reynolds
ECS Foster/Kinship
Brown
Care Program took
over the South Philadelphia soul food lounge
Warmdaddy’s and welcomed a special guest
speaker, Blondell Reynolds Brown, an atlarge member of Philadelphia City Council.
E
Reynolds Brown sits on the Committee
on Public Health and Human Services and is
a longtime advocate for children. A former
third grade teacher and mother of two, she
credited the
ECS foster parents
and staff for their
commitment to
care for vulnerable
young people.
“Thank you for
reaching beyond the
space of the world
that you occupy, to Charlene Walls with
wrap your loving
Cynthia Trago, director
arms and huge
of children and family
hearts around the
services. Walls retired
most vulnerable in after 23 years as an
our community — ECS foster parent.
children. If only we
could clone you all a dozen times, we
wouldn’t have to worry about any of our
children being in unsafe environments,” she
said. “You have taken it upon yourselves to
wrap your arms around Philadelphia’s
children, and I thank you for that."
The program also honored two foster
parents for five years of service and honored
Dandelene Johnson for 15 years of service.
Johnson specializes in caring for special
needs foster children and has adopted four
children over the years.
“Two of my children do not speak, but
when I see the smiles on their faces, I know
that’s their way of telling me how much they
love and appreciate me,” Johnson said.
The event was also a farewell to one very
special foster mom who is retiring after 23
years with ECS. Charlene Walls has fostered
seven children, adopting two girls and
providing lifetime support for two specialneeds brothers who have recently transferred
into an adult program.
“I had all kinds of plans on what I was
going to do with my life. It didn’t work out.
I ended up being exactly what I should be,
a foster parent. It has been a pleasure,”
Walls said.
To the newer foster parents in the crowd,
Walls had just a few parting words. “You
have a great job ahead of you.” I
Grants Support ECS
is delighted to announce the
receipt of two major grants.
The Fund for Children of The
Philadelphia Foundation has awarded
$50,000 for the Teens Takin’ Over
program. This innovative initiative gives
ECS youth the tools to succeed in school,
in work and in life. Participants develop
ECS
career plans,
build leadership
and life skills,
receive mentoring
and participate in
a unique digital
media project with the WHYY Learning
Lab. The Philadelphia Foundation
established the Fund for Children with
contributions from the Philadelphia
Eagles and Phillies teams through a lease
arrangement with the City of Philadelphia.
This is the fifth time the Fund for Children
has supported ECS’ youth programming.
The Esther Gowen Hood Trust, a
BNY Mellon Mid-Atlantic Charitable Trust,
has awarded $20,000 for ECS St. Barnabas
Mission. The
grant will help St.
Barnabas offer
safe, decent
shelter and
supportive
services for more than 150 homeless
families this year. This is the second time
ECS has received a grant from the BNY
Mellon Mid-Atlantic Charitable Trusts. I
Another Year of Progress at
ECS Urban Bridges
Urban Bridges held its closing
ceremony for the 2009-2010
school year on April 29. The annual event
is an opportunity for learners from the
program’s adult literacy and ESL classes,
as well as their teachers and tutors, to
celebrate their accomplishments.
Alexa, a learner in the adult literacy
program, summed up what many learners
expressed.
“I would like to thank
ECS for giving me the
opportunity to join this
program,” she said. “I
never thought I could
make it this far, but with
the support of my tutors, Latasha gained
Urban Bridges and my
entrance to the
family, I’m going to be
ECS Urban
a better mom, a better
Bridges adult
person and successful
diploma program
in my career.”
after a year of
The adult literacy
study in the
program provides
literacy program.
one-on-one instruction
thanks to volunteer tutors from Villanova
University and St. Joseph’s University. That
way, the program can cater to a diverse
range of abilities and goals. Some students
come to prepare for more intensive GED
continued
ECS
www.ecs1870.org 7
ECS NEWS
classes, while others just want to brush up
on certain subjects in order to help their
children with homework.
For Latasha, a mother of four, gaining
entrance to the Urban Bridges adult
diploma program was the culmination of
a yearlong commitment to the adult
literacy program.
“I waited a long time to get this done,”
she said. “I’m so proud of myself and I’m
so proud of my children because they
encourage me every day to push harder
and do the things I want to do in life.
I will be receiving my high school
diploma on June 28 (2011) and am
applying to college.”
New classes at ECS Urban Bridges,
located in the Olney section of
Philadelphia, will begin in September. For
more information on enrollment, visit
www.ecs1870.org/programs/ub.
training course with Stephen Billings,”
Thomas said. “I mentioned I was looking for
work and he took my resume to ECS. The
rest is history.”
Thomas started as a benefits manager at
ECS, eventually working her way up to
director. She has also worked in the title
insurance industry and as a church musician.
As she begins a new chapter in life, she is
thankful to have had the opportunity to
serve ECS.
“This agency has given me an opportunity to learn and grow and do things I
never really anticipated I’d be doing. I’ve
been given a lot of responsibility and I hope
I’ve carried it out well,” she said. “All in all,
ECS is a great place and does good work, and
I hope it lasts another 140 years.” I
First ECS Faith-in-Action
Walk a Model for Future
piscopal Community Services’ first-ever
Faith-in-Action Walk was supposed to be
a “dry run,” — a small event that would be a
model for a larger event in the future. The
dry run turned into a wet one, but plenty of
hearty walkers still made it to the square in
Prospect Park, PA to show their support.
E
ConGRADulations: This year’s graduating
class of the ECS Urban Bridges adult
diploma program: Latasha Pleasant, Ikeema
Boykin, Claribel Robles Huertas, Brian Ford,
Camille Jones, Bryeashia McQueen and
Eugenia Bennett I
Showing their ECS spirit at the Faith-inAction Walk.
The event was a partnership between
ECS and the Delaware Deanery, which
includes 14 Episcopal churches in Delaware
County. Participants collected sponsorship
donations from over 60 individuals and
walked around Park Square to show their
support for the ECS mission. Many families
also attended the deanery-wide service
focused on the work of ECS, thanks to St.
James Episcopal Church, which opened its
doors as a rain location.
“Thanks to the Delaware Deanery for
making this inaugural event a success,” said
Kim Shiley, director of development and
communications at ECS. “We learned a
lot, which will enable the Faith-in-Action
Walk concept to be extended to a larger
audience.” I
Of Note...
Director of HR Pursues
Ordination
fter 10 years
with ECS,
Director of Human
Resources Elaine
Thomas is departing
to pursue ordination
to the priesthood
in the Episcopal
Church. Thomas
Elaine Thomas is
has received a full
departing ECS to
scholarship to
pursue priesthood
Berkeley Divinity
in the Episcopal
School at Yale,
Church.
where she will
pursue a Master of Divinity degree
starting this fall.
Thomas’ discernment process started
many years ago. In a roundabout way, it even
led to her joining ECS in the first place.
“I was laid off from my job, so I finally
had time to take the ECS chaplaincy
A
8 Episcopal Community Services
Mike Giansiracusa, development officer
for parish and volunteer relations at ECS,
with the Rt. Rev. Rodney Michel during
Giansiracusa’s ordination to the deaconate
at the Philadelphia Cathedral on June 6. I
ECS Trustee the
Very Rev. Judith
Anne Sullivan has
been elected Dean
of Philadelphia
Cathedral. Sullivan
was previously the
Associate Rector
of the Church of
the Redeemer, Bryn Mawr, and also
serves as Chair of the Liturgical
Commission of the diocese. She was a
Canon Residentiary of the Cathedral
between 2004 and 2007. I
Award: ECS volunteer Dr. Faith Midwood
was inducted as a Distinguished Life
Fellow by the American Psychiatric
Association at their annual meeting in
New Orleans on May 24. The association
recognized her clinical contributions,
activities in state, national and local
branches of the APA, teaching
contributions, and participation in
community activities and uncompensated
care. I
Illustrating Our Impact:
The 2009–2010
Fiscal Year in
Pictures
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