A Personal note from Rev. Elisheva Clegg

This will be a short note with a reminder of another permanent project to meet an unmet need on behalf of patients and families who are being served by the University of Virginia Medical Center. This charity is the net that is catching many of those most in need who are not served by any other source.

I’m sure you remember that emotional appeal about two weeks ago from Social Worker Teresa Bevins in the UVA Medical Center Pediatric Surgery Clinic. Teresa
stressed the need for food assistance for the parents who linger for weeks and months constantly by their babies as they await major surgery, including so many transplant procedures.

The toll on a parent who must divide their income while sleeping next to their child and also seeking to maintain a home with other children hundreds of miles from Charlottesville is simply unaffordable, and many of these parents simply go without eating because of lack of funds. Teresa made it very evident what was happening in her long e-mail which I posted as the last charity blog entry at http://www.interfaithsanctum.blogspot.com/.

The staff in pediatric surgery voiced their appreciation to Teresa, who called me about how much this support means. Then today, May 12th I received a follow-up to alert me that the staff has been monitoring the food supplies and that first delivery to cover about 3 weeks need is almost depleted. I have responded that IHS will make another food purchase tomorrow and deliver directly to the hospital on May 13th. The deal was: “Let us know when to resupply, and we will.”

Please know that we are personally allowing most couples this year to donate half of their weekend wedding fees directly to the charity for our services. They receive a tax deduction for the donation. We are limited as to how much we can personally allow from personal earnings, and I will be very open with you, that we have reached a limit. As you know, no one associated with IHS receives a salary.

Remember: $5 a month buys 5 meals; $10 a month pays for onenight in UVA Hospitality House; $50 a month allows a family with a child to stay for one night in a commercial hotel until there is room in Ronald McDonald House.

Someone asked if we have a church or a congregation, and T. Wade said, “Yes we do, but they don’t know us; they are those who come from everywhere to be served by a wonderful medical facility, and we are here to make sure they don’t go hungry, and never have to sleep in a car with their children.”

Your compassion with assistance to eliminate these situations of hunger and the stress of where to sleep is making such a difference.

Blessings…Elisheva

A Very Important Request for families of pediatric patients

A Personal note from Rev. Elisheva Clegg

On April 19th I received a very heartfelt and emotional e-mail from Teresa Bevins, social worker at UVA Medical Center. I will not seek to summarize what is so concisely written in her appeal on one detailed page. Names and detailed information is often altered for privacy purposes.

On April 23rd, T. Wade and I met with the Assistant Manager Katherine Runkle at the Barracks Road Kroger Store in Charlottesville, Virginia, who assisted us with sales items and a $10 gift card, and provided at her own expense four(4) insulated carrying bags for frozen foods and then donated half of the expense of the needed items to the charity for the pediatric ward for a 2-3 weeks supply. Teresa’s request was honored within the week, and future deliveries monthly will be determined based on need.

Whether it’s $5.00 for a few frozen meals, $10.00 for a one night stay at UVA
Hospitality House, $50.00 for a commercial hotel room, or whatever is possible for the general fund to meet all of these needs and more, your consideration for support is vital to these patients and family members.

Dear Reverend Clegg,

Thank you so much for your call on Friday. I will give
you a few case scenarios of the types of issues , families of our pediatric patients face while here at UVA.

Case 1: Adam is a 10 year old boy recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure, previously healthy, and now awaiting a heart transplant. This child cannot leave the hospital until a heart is found. His health condition is so precarious that the doctors cannot risk him being discharged at this time. He has lost a twin sibling of the same disorder several years ago. His single mother is struggling to be here and has not been able to work at her job which only pays minimum wage. They live 4 hours away from UVA and mother does not have a car. She relies on gas vouchers I donate for a friend to bring her to be with her child, but also to return home as needed for other children. She has no funds to eat and I secure a donated food box weekly from a local charity, but its contents are not enough for her to survive. She is very gracious and grateful for any food.

Case 2: Carmen is a 2 month old infant with a congenital heart problem at birth. She has never been home and her mother stays by her side and also awaits the time that her child is strong enough to go home after numerous surgeries. Mother speaks little English and father must try to continue to work so they have a home to return to. Father is struggling on low wages and little is left over to feed mother at the hospital and buy the gas he needs to travel here on weekends. Family lives 3 hours away. Mother is scared to leave her child for more than a bathroom break or shower. She also gets a food box but it does not meet all her needs. She is also very grateful for the assistance she gets.

Case 3: Johnny is a 7 year old receiving IV antibiotics for a clean out for his Cystic Fibrosis. He will be here for several weeks. He is one of 4 children in his family. Mom is divorced with no dad present, and her minimum wage job barely feeds the children at home and pays the rent. Mother has no money to eat and also relies on weekly food box from local charity and this doesn't meet her needs when she is here. She relies on extended family to care for the other children and Medicaid taxis to bring her here for the few times she is able to go home and check on the other children.

Case 4: Shania age 9. She and her family were in route to visit grandparents and were hit by another driver which resulted in her breaking a leg and arm. Her sibling sustained a head injury. Her father was injured also and is at another hospital. Mother accompanied the 2 children when they were transferred to UVA from Northern Virginia area. This family lives hundreds of miles away and has limited means. Mother is unable to afford the prices of cafeteria food and the food box she receives is not meeting her needs.

Although, we use food box donations, they are shrinking in size due to the increased numbers needing assistance in the local community. Often, parents have special dietary needs and cannot eat some of what is donated. Also, it is a 24 hour turn-around time before we can receive them and if the admission is on a Friday or the weekend we cannot order a food box until the following Monday which makes it arrive on Tuesday. These parents are struggling to survive and take care of their children. They often sleep bedside by their child and are not getting sufficient rest. Unfortunately, Ronald McDonald house stays full due to the large number of Cardiology patients we receive from all over Virginia due to the fact we are one of the few hospitals that do pediatric cardiology surgeries. We are also the trauma center for a large portion of Virginia and many patients are transferred to us from outside hospitals that cannot meet their medical needs. We in the social work department would be extremely grateful to be able to receive frozen meals for the parents/caregivers of these children so they can focus on being a support to their children. Most of the families we see are struggling financially before they have a health crisis and these crises often cause much stress for them and may lead to other issues without intervention from social work . We would like to be able to have emergency supplies of frozen or microwavable meals to provide support to these parents. If there is anything else you need from me, please do not hesitate to ask and I will gladly comply. Thank you for considering helping these families.

Sincerely…Teresa Bevins BSW, Clinical Social Worker

What we ALL do together matters. Love…US Elisheva

Things You Need to Know To Help Us Grow

The other night I returned about 10 PM from a trip to UVA Hospitality House(HH) in Charlottesville. I had received a call about 5 PM from the Manager requesting assistance with food for a visitor who was simply without funds for eating. HH had some can foods on their shelves, but little else, and the staff had gone out and personally purchased cereal and a few incidental items, but nothing substantial for three days of eating.

One doesn’t need to ask, “How does one come from such a distance with so little to stay for an unexpected duration?” When a person’s spouse is near death, that’s all that one needs to know.

On several occasions in the last months, a person will be staying in HH and we will cover lodging for many days, sometimes working with the HH manager for a negotiated rate for as much as thirty (30) days. Perhaps it is a spouse, as described above, or an outpatient for extended radiation treatment. Too often, the person will already feel that what is being provided with lodging is already generous, and they will not say that they don’t have food money.

Sometimes this situation will not be related by a patient or family member to a social worker, and only discovered later, perhaps at Hospitality House by a staff member.

We are applying again for food grants this year, and hopefully someone will read our requests and offer a boost. Meanwhile, we must continue to allow you to understand the “boots on the ground” reality which continues. One can not depend on grants; at least 80% of all financial support must come from private contributions.

Let me back up and indicate how little it takes to feed someone as described above for the three days. When lodging is available, the per night stay at HH is $10 per person. It’s not asking a lot, but when one simply has no funds to last out their time in Charlottesville, then that $10 might as well be $100. But as you can calculate, as happened above, a 5-day HH lodging stay is $50.

As for food, the request for food stated above was for only three days. I drove straight to a local food store and located the best of the frozen dinners on sale, mostly two for one sale items. I received some good directions over the last months from the Nutritionist at the UVA Cancer Center for what is the best quality, especially for outpatient cancer patients we are assisting.

I came away with nine(9) excellent meals, and a case or 24 bottles of water. The dinners average $1.57 each, and the case was an astounding sales price of $2.50, or about ten cents a bottle. Not counting tax, that was $14.13 for nine dinners for three days of eating, and enough water bottles for extra guests at Hospitality House.

In other words, one person was fed for a total of about $1.67 per meal, or
$5.01 per day, or $15.03 for three days!

Can you see how much a difference you can help me make with $10 for a room, or $5 for a day’s food for one person? Please look at these figures again. Know that I will drive that 20 miles to town every day if asked, but we cannot do it alone. We really need the assistance from private donors.

We are still the largest single contributor but it only stretches so far…

I want you to know that we began this year to offer couples who are hosting large weddings, especially in larger venues of Virginia, Maryland and in Washington, DC, an opportunity to receive a total tax deduction for an increased wedding fee. We allow for a total tax deductible donation to support this charity in lieu of our ministerial fees, but we can only do this a few times monthly in summer.

This extra giving through our own funds can only stretch so far; therefore, I wanted you to know that we are continually giving of our own funds, our own time on call every day for social staff, and we still do not take a salary from this charity.

I am only asking for each of you to consider what is possible on a consistent basis for $5-$10 monthly which is a tax deduction. I know many can afford more, but even these small donations help so much.

Perhaps this very personal description assists in bringing our constant need home, especially lodging. Keep in mind that in our first nine (9) months we have
placed 176 people into 256 overnight rooms. About half were commercial rooms at $50 average per night. March bills are coming due. Don’t forget us.

We feel so very correct about the service we are providing to the patients and families who come with such meager funds from long distances to be served at this marvelous Virginia medical center. Consider us in your giving.

Blessings…T. Wade

The Snows kept coming…as did the need…and the needs were met!

Allow me to come straight to the point. It’s cold, freezing, snowing and this is the third time in the last six weeks! Central Virginia and especially Charlottesville has been front row to each winter blast. Phones, electricity, computers have all been disrupted, and travel eliminated on several days each hit we took. However, business at the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center was as active as ever.

The Social staff at the Medical Center were not deterred, and as needed, each one reached us within hours even with excessive disruptive communication. You will be pleased to know that every request for assistance was met with a YES WE CAN!

We really do need your help. Requests for lodging assistance was and IS very active. During January alone, this non-religious, nonprofit, no stock, public charity with no paid staff booked 42 overnight rooms, serving a total of 32 people. Now it’s time to pay, and only a few consistent contributors remembered us.

As you know by now, as important as there are individual stories to tell as to how we assisted a patient with a child far from home, or a family with children arriving to be near a dying parent, this is the limit which can be stated due to privacy considerations. In several cases the snow simply eliminated travel home to West Virginia, southern and northern Virginia. Without our quick late afternoon and evening intervention with hotel rooms when children were involved or with payments at the UVA Hospitality House for patients to await a ride home, the ability to balance the extra days for these long distance visitors to this major hospital would have been non-existent.

April 15th is just around the corner. Your donation to Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) is tax deductable. Our tax exempt IRS letter is located as a hyperlink on the home page of the website. By PayPal or check, just keep a record of the donation and file it for the deduction.

Most of you may not think of becoming a benefactor for a charity, but a consistent monthly bequest personally or from your business could truly make this endeavor so fundamentally sound…and always allows us to say YES. Whether $10 or more…it’s the consistency which is so very important.

Love…Rev. Elisheva

The snow is melting…the road to UVA Medical Center is active again

Latest entry from Rev. T. Wade Clegg III

The biggest snow of record has melted in Charlottesville, and although extremely cold, activities are now at an increased pace.

The night the snow started falling caught so many off guard along the two lane Jefferson Parkway Highway (Highway 53) in front of Monticello, within hours the highway was shut down from so many cars off the side of the road, and eliminating passing. This was an indicator that anyone being dismissed as a patient from UVA Medical Center from a distance would be in for a surprise.

Fortunately only two people were stranded with no funds to take them through the three days they had to remain in Charlottesville. Both were from West Virginia, and the Hospitality House (HH) was full. There was simply no going over the mountain in a normal vehicle to reach West Virginia. They were extremely appreciative to know that someone was waiting to assist.

Today is January 6 as I write this update. As of the first five days of January, 14 patients and/or family members will be staying in lodging (hospitality house and commercial hotels) for a total of 17 nights. That’s 17 rooms booked in only 5 days. That’s a fast start and considerable expense in just under a week.

As you may know, when I tell little stories of specific situations concerning patients and/or families coming to UVA Medical Center, no names are mentioned. Also, sometimes the distance or place of residence will not be mentioned so as not to touch onto privacy. But – it does assist to let you know again and again the necessity for this charity and the service performed.

Very recently, a patient from no less than 100 miles away, needed to be here for a surgical procedure, not just a routine procedure, but a critical need. The patient has several children, and no supportive partner, just another adult to assist during these trying times. The Hospitality House (HH) can not accommodate the patient who needed the children nearby.

Without a place to stay the day before the procedure, the patient told the social worker that a cancellation was necessary, since funds for lodging were not available. There would not be enough money to feed the kids. They had to be with the patient.

The social worker called and said, “I know it’s late (about 5:30 PM) but this is the situation and this patient needs to have this surgery on schedule tomorrow. Can you help?”

The answer is always YES. Three days in a commercial hotel for the children and adult as they stayed close to the patient, but were able to return to a hotel room each night.

What a difference WE (you and you and us) are all making by securing these rooms, whether in HH or a commercial hotel. The four commercial hotels are five times higher than HH, but we are still afforded the best rates in the community. But as you begin to crunch the numbers, 17 rooms in 6 days is pointing to an expensive month.

Don’t forget about us. Whatever is possible will keep us saying YES when a social worker calls.
Remember – once a social worker calls, the need is now and the person(s) have been screened and the need is absolute. Also - the co-pay fund for indigent clients was fortified again two weeks ago with an additional $200 for the fund to meet needs.

Another reminder! So Important!

In closing, please know that January 19, 2010…that’s a Tuesday from 9 AM – 9 PM, we have been selected for Charlottesville’s Whole Foods Market 5% Day. Such an opportunity! 5% of the net sales to this charity. We will need volunteers for bagging groceries from 11-2 and 4-7 that day, while the advisory group and those less mobile handle a table with handouts.

At this time, we have only two volunteers for the 11 AM-2 PM shift and two volunteers for the 4-7 PM shift for bagging. We could use from 5-6 people each shift. One volunteer couple is among those we married two years ago and lives in Charlottesville. If more people are available, we might add some volunteers to the grocery staff for bagging from 2-4 PM

I just received a note from another couple who is driving up from Asheville, NC on the 18th to spend all day with us on the 19th to assist. That’s about 375 miles one way. Such consideration is so valued. If you are near and can assist, then please e-mail. Of real importance is to contact any friends in the Charlottesville area, and ask them to save their shopping for January 19, 2010.

The address is Whole Foods Market, 300 Shoppers World Court, Charlottesville, VA 22901.
This address is on Highway 29 North (also known as Seminole Trail). Anyone lost in the area that day in route to shop or assist, we will have our cell phones handy at (434) 825-0881 and (434) 825-0556. Cell phones are activated when we are away from home. Remember – Whole Foods has a marvelous deli, one of the best places to dine in town, so come on over and enjoy the visit. Thanks so much for whatever is possible, even if just an e-mail to a friend to SHOP, SHOP, SHOP!

Blessings…T. Wade

If I Had Known Then, What I Know Now … Would I Do It Again?

It’s 10:30 pm…the phone rings, and, the Social Worker on duty at UVA Medical Center is asking if we can help a father with his two little girls with lodging for two or three nights.

• The Case: His wife was transported from a distance of four and half hours to UVA Medical Center for emergency surgery. Because of the children he cannot stay at the UVA Hospitality House. And, he doesn’t have the money for a hotel room. The few dollars he had went for the gasoline in order to drive to Charlottesville. He was also not able to find a babysitter so he had to bring the girls. He does not speak English, and is part-time employed at $8.00/hour.

The process works like this. I call one of the four hotels which is working with us to see who has a room available. I realize that it is going to be hard to place since there is a major concert event in town, and most hotels are booked beyond capacity. I pour another cup of coffee and begin to make the necessary calls. On my third attempt I am able to obtain a room for two nights with the instructions to call back in two days as a third night might be a possibility.

Then I call the social worker back to give her the confirmation number for the hotel. The next couple of hours are occupied with checking bank accounts, paying outstanding hotel bills, going through numerous emails to find out who made a donation, making notes for the next morning to write grant proposals, while uttering at the same time, “We need more money!” In October and November alone, the requests for help were up approximately 200%.

As I refill my cup of coffee again, I thought about that day in October 2008 when we made the decision to form Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) in order to help those people whom we classified as having “unmet needs.” Those unmet needs are well described on our website (http://www.interfaithhumanitariansanctum.org).

I remember sitting with Wade and Sam discussing how we cannot let those people, and some of them with children, continue to sleep in the lobby of the hospital or in the garage if they even have a car. They are not homeless people. These are people caught up in the injustice of the American financial and medical systems. They could not predict in advance that either they, themselves, or their loved one, would end up in a critical situation in the hospital from either and accident or illness.

We are speaking of those individuals who reside more than 60 miles or more from UVA Medical Center. Most are from two to three hundred miles from Charlottesville, Virginia. How hard can it be to form a charity? How hard can it be to give people the evidence that help is needed so the money can just “fly in?”

So we formed this 501 (3)(c) non-religious, nonprofit public charity with no paid staff and ready to respond 24/7 with four telephone contact numbers available day or night to reach us.

After seven months and many thousands of dollars for attorney, accountant, IRS, filing fees, etc., we finally received IRS approval. The last eight months have been trying. The money is NOT “flying in,” but rather traveling by “slow boat.” We are grateful that we have managed so far to respond to every request for help.

The small base of donors who have so graciously signed on with monthly donations, as well as the contributions from friends and family, and with the help of our own personal monies included, we have managed to accomplish the impossible.

It’s now early in the morning. The bills are paid. I am tired and have a slight headache, and I’m asking myself if I had known then what I know now, how hard it is and how hard it was, to do this necessary work, would I do it again?

Just then the phone rings again, and the social worker is on with another request. A cancer out-patient is being dropped off on Saturday for a Monday appointment. The patient’s ride to Charlottesville must return home and come back after the weekend for the patient. Unless an arrangement for a room can be secured, the patient will have no place to stay.

Thank goodness; it’s after the concert and rooms are most probably available.

After securing the room and calling the social worker back with a reservation number, she says, “Thank you so much for helping. The patient could not have come to UVA for the treatment without your help. God bless you!”

Well, there was my answer! Would I do it again? YOU BETCHA … YES YES YES!!! … now I have another cup of coffee.

Blessings…Rev. Elisheva Clegg

When a social worker says “very sick”…it’s critical!

Oct 30 The social worker said, “The wife of a very sick fellow in neuro-intensive has been in hospitality house (HH) for a few days, and simply can’t afford the fee for the extra days. She feels she needs to be near her husband. With his condition, it would really be a relief if she could remain for the week, perhaps six days. She’s about 150 miles from home. Can you assist?”

I suppose one could review this situation and without further info, consider suggesting a return home and return later, but quite literally a round trip home one time by car would entail a gas cost of about $40. When there is room in the hospitality house, that’s four(4) nights to stay and monitor a loved one. It’s a no-brainer to stay if $40 is available to assist.

In addition, one needs to know some of every back story to realize why running back and forth simply is not affordable in so many cases. For one thing, the patient in this case is “very sick.” He is now without work while being treated in intensive care at the hospital. He is the only person employed in the family. This is not a family with savings to run home and back. Indeed, it has been clarified that the wife has already reached her limits for staying in a $10 per night room. Perhaps she needs that amount daily just to eat. The balancing act can be extremely stressful on a family member whose other half is fighting for life just across the street.

If the hospitality house had been filled, and no available beds for the next few days, then this same situation would necessarily be limited to placement in a commercial hotel room for about $50 per night, and that stay would have to be limited to about 2-4 days. As you can readily see, the situation for funding becomes critical when space at HH is simply not available.

Families in such stress do have to make a plan with other family members or friends in these situations, especially if the patient remains for an extended time. But, as we have experienced, sometimes there is no one else to assist, while the waiting becomes excruciating. IHS is providing that extra measure of relief and a treasured measure of time.

When you’ve read the “vision” statement on the website, you will understand why the idea of a large farm house to be able to provide some extra flexibility and access to a kitchen with nutritious meals has to remain an active goal. A house with six rooms initially, then fifteen, then who knows. But consider that HH only has 31 rooms. Fifteen more rooms at a location which can expand would provide for an increase in space of fifty percent. That’s a huge increase. Next year we will pursue ideas of how to realize that goal…but for now we are using every penny to secure nightly sleeping arrangements as requested by the UVA Social Worker staff.

This holiday season please squeeze us on your gift list … and then think of us monthly. October has been the busiest month for needing our assistance. The winter months are the tough ones. We could really use your contribution. Allow us to remove some of the stress so that another family member can bring comfort and security when it is needed the most.

Blessings…T. Wade and Elisheva